The Midday Brief: Nov. 29, 2010

Your afternoon reading:

• "A group of hunger strikers at the University of Texas at San Antonio are staging a rally at 3 p.m. this afternoon at the San Antonio office of Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison … to urge the Dallas Republican to pass the DREAM Act." — Hunger strikers plan immigration protest at Kay Bailey Hutchison's office, Texas on the Potomac

• "Audit the accounts. Find the right software. Amend House rules in January to require that all members’ travel expenses and reimbursements be posted online simultaneously with their posting on the members’ accounts. It can’t be that hard. We’re only talking about 150 people." — Watchdog says Taylor doubled-billed for travel, BurkaBlog

• "As the North Texas Clean Air Steering Committee has tried to find ways to bring the Metroplex into compliance with federal ozone standards, the Barnett Shale has been the issue that has dominated those discussions." — Barnett Shale dominates talks about area compliance with ozone standards, Fort Worth Star-Telegram

New in The Texas Tribune:

• "For years, the state paid private providers who care for people with disabilities to handle their clients’ case management. But an 11th-hour change inserted into the budget last session stripped them of that responsibility, giving it instead to quasi-governmental Mental Retardation Authorities — and potentially creating a conflict of interest." — Private Providers Fight Back Over Service Change

• "The director of the Center for Effective Justice at the Texas Public Policy Foundation on the criminal justice challenges lawmakers will face next session (and how they can get the greatest return for each dollar spent), why eliminating prisons could be the most cost-effective way to improve safety and why creating new criminal offenses is the wrong thing to do." — Marc Levin: The TT Interview