The Midday Brief: Top Texas Headlines for Feb. 28, 2011

Your afternoon reading:

• "Rep. Jim Pitts, R-Waxahachie, the House's lead budget writer, today filed bill that would draw down nearly $4.3 billion of rainy-day money to cover the state's deficit in the current two-year cycle." — Pitts urges using $4.3 billion of rainy-day cash to cover deficit in current two year budget cycle, Trail Blazers

• "It's a good thing Rick Perry's not running for president. If he were thinking about seeking the job as leader of the free world, he'd be in a heap o' trouble.  The latest evidence that the Texas governor isn't a household name in conservative circles: He finished 11th in a presidential poll conducted by the Tea Party Patriots after their first American Policy Summit in Phoenix this weekend." — Rick Perry finishes 11th in Tea Party Patriots' presidential straw poll — good thing he's not running, Texas on the Potomac

• "Texas' proposed 2012-13 budget is precariously balanced on the assumption that lawmakers will approve legislation that reduces what the state owes to school districts by between $9.3 billion and $9.8 billion. But practical and palatable solutions for erasing 23 percent of direct school aid are proving elusive." — No easy answers for deep budget cuts in education, Austin American-Statesman

New in The Texas Tribune:

• "The growth of the state’s Hispanic population and the rise of immigration as a political issue put Texas Republicans in a tight spot — especially the ones with statewide aspirations." — For Republicans, the Hazards of Red Meat

• "The Senate Nominations Committee voted 4-2 today to recommend approval of the state forensic board Chairman John Bradley's appointment. Sens. José Rodríguez and Kirk Watson voted against Bradley's nomination." — Forensic Commissioners Answer to Legislators

• "Anthony Graves, who was freed from jail this year after spending 18 years behind bars for brutal murders he did not commit, sued the state of Texas today to officially clear his name and to force the Texas comptroller to pay him for the time he was wrongfully imprisoned." — Exoneree Sues to Clear Name, Get Compensation

• "Corpus Christi's Flour Bluff ISD has blocked extra-curricular clubs from meeting on campus to make sure it's complying with federal law after denying approval of a gay-straight alliance." — To Block Gay-Straight Alliance, School Keeps Clubs Off Campus