The Evening Brief: May 2, 2012

New in The Texas Tribune:

• State Business Group Joining School Finance Lawsuit: "The Texas Association of Business announced today that it has joined a school finance lawsuit against the state, demanding a study of school system efficiency."

• Railroad Commission Hopeful Goes With the Flow in New Ad: "'Isn't it about time we elected political leaders that have enough sense not to pee on an electric fence?' asks Roland Sledge, a Houston lawyer vying for a seat on the Texas Railroad Commission, in a funny online ad."

• Help Offered From Midland in Chinese Dissident's Escape: "When a blind human rights lawyer in China escaped house arrest last month, one of the first people to hear the news was a Midland-based nonprofit organization's president, who offered to help the dissident leave China."

• Judges Question State's Efforts to Stymie DNA Tests: "The state's highest criminal court had tough questions today for state lawyers who have objected for more than a decade to DNA tests for death row inmate Hank Skinner."

• Updated: Straus Shakes Up Communications Team: "After announcing that Jason Embry, the Austin American-Statesman's Capitol bureau chief, was joining his media team, House Speaker Joe Straus has named another hire: Erin Daly, U.S. Rep. Doc Hastings' communications director."

• Interactive: How Much Do Superintendents Make?: During the 2011 legislative session, we compiled a salary database of all the state’s highest-paid school administrators: superintendents. After a year and a $5.4 billion reduction in state funding to public education, we are doing it again.

Culled:

• Texas Gov. Perry says God forgives people for their ‘oops moments,’ even if US voters may not (The Associated Press): "God forgives people for their 'oops moments' even if the American electorate does not, failed Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry said Wednesday at a breakfast to celebrate the National Day of Prayer."

• Texas cuts 7,000 workers over past year (The Dallas Morning News): "A state auditor's report showed that state agencies have cut their employment ranks by 5 percent since this time last year. Higher education, which went through sizeable staff cuts a few years ago, also has shrunk, but at a lesser rate. State agencies, currently at 147,100 full-time equivalent positions, were pared by 7,322, with some of the biggest downsizing coming with prison correctional and probation officers at the Department of Criminal Justice, which lost 2,000 employee positions."