The Midday Brief: May 31, 2011

Your afternoon reading:

• "Texas lawmakers opened the special session Tuesday — and quickly adjourned. The Senate will come back on Thursday and the House will return on Wednesday — although House members were told not to expect any floor action this week." — No quick action in special session, Texas Politics

• "Gov. Rick Perry has vetoed legislation that was aimed at tightening the state’s rules on when online retailers must collect sales taxes on Texas transactions, the bill’s author said this morning." — Perry vetoes bill related to online sales tax collection, Postcards

• "A last-minute blunder in the Texas House has killed a bill that was designed to save taxpayers $13.4 million by requiring imprisoned felons to pay more for their own health care, officials said this morning." — Prison health care mistake could cost $13.4 million, Postcards

• "Mild-mannered Texas House member Elliott Naishtat, the VISTA worker from Queens who came to the Lone Star State and stayed, has a message for U.S. House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, the Ayn Rand disciple who is steeling congressional Republicans' spines for the hard job of taming the welfare state: We will bury you." — Paul Ryan, beware: Elliott Naishtat's after you & your 'end Medicare' plan, Trail Blazers

New in The Texas Tribune:

• "And now there's a congressional map. The House and Senate redistricting committee chairs today unveiled the proposal, which includes new open seats west of the DFW Metroplex, in Central Texas, in South Texas and in Houston and East Texas." — Lawmakers Unveil Congressional Map

• "State Rep. Warren Chisum, R-Pampa, walked the floor shaking hands and receiving hugs from his colleagues in the waning hours of the 82nd regular session, which — after 22 years in the Texas House — will be his last." — Warren Chisum Looks Back at a Life in the Lege