The Midday Brief: June 9, 2011

Your afternoon reading:

• "Democrats scored a minor victory Thursday when House members voted to spend any growth in the state's rainy day fund over the next two years on student enrollment increases in public schools." — House agrees to spend extra rainy day money on schools, Trail Blazers

• "The Texas House is right back where it was three months ago, buried under a deep stack of potential budget amendments that run from F1 funding to charter schools." — House mired again in budget amendments, Postcards

• "During a post-legislative session conference call hosted by The Grassroots Texans Network, conservative activists took sharp aim at the Republican majority in both the Texas House and Senate for a perceived passivity in effectively tackling the conservative agenda, and they prepared to lay the groundwork for a statewide campaign to replace GOP incumbents with candidates they consider more conservative." — On conference call, Texas tea partiers plot against GOP incumbents, The Texas Independent

New in The Texas Tribune:

• "The Texas House Redistricting Committee approved a new version of the congressional map that makes a few tweaks, mainly in North and South Texas. But the overall goal remains the same: Maintain and expand Republican power in Washington." — Redistricting Map on Its Way to Texas House

• "U.S. law enforcement officers in Hidalgo County received heavy fire today from alleged drug cartel operatives along the Rio Grande, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety." — DPS: Officers Fired Upon by Gangs in Mexico

• "Some critics of the state budget process, including here at the Tribune, argue the Legislature suffers from a lack of leadership in the face of a confused public that doesn't understand. But check the poll numbers: Republicans are giving voters what they seem to want." — Guest Column: Tea Party + GOP Legislators = Zero Budget Heroics