The approaching legislative session — now less than a day away — has pushed one politician squarely into the spotlight.

With the 83rd Texas legislative session beginning Tuesday, Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune looks at the priorities and challenges facing legislators as they head into the 140-day lawmaking scramble. 

An upcoming expansion of the Panama Canal will boost Texas exports but not do as much for imports, according to a report commissioned by the Texas Department of Transportation.  

Doctors in the Rio Grande Valley are leading the charge to restore cuts to Medicaid in the last session. They want lawmakers to ensure that Medicare and Medicaid benefits add up to 100 percent of dual-eligible patients' bills. They're expecting a fight.

The most observant Trib fans may have already noticed: There are some small-to-the-eye but big-for-the-site changes to how we organize news and information.

A day before the start of the 2013 legislative session, Texas Comptroller Susan Combs delivered much-improved budget news compared with two years ago. Lawmakers will have $101.4 billion for their next two-year budget.

Here's a list of the Twitter handles of the 120 state lawmakers who do the communications thing 140 characters at a time.

A new report estimates that the federal government spent $18 billion on immigration enforcement efforts in fiscal year 2012, about 24 percent more than it spent on all major law enforcement agencies combined.

Your evening reading: Combs delivers improved state budget news; Huffman to lead Senate Republican Caucus; Cornyn calls Hagel "profoundly wrong" on national security issues

The Health and Human Services Commission says the Texas Women’s Health Program has a greater capacity to serve impoverished women than its predecessor, a joint state-federal program that ended after the state excluded clinics affiliated with abortion providers.