The Texas Retired Teachers Association says it does not endorse any of the controversial budget amendments filed by freshman House Republicans that would put more money into the teachers' health insurance fund.

Leaders in the Legislature decided this was the year to move more than $6 billion in income off the books. While they argue it improves budget transparency in the long term, in the short term it creates the illusion that this year's budget plan is growing less than it is.

About a dozen freshman Republicans in the Texas House have filed dozens of amendments to the state budget with the same goal: defunding various programs and agencies and putting that money toward retired teachers.

Gov. Rick Perry and the Texas Department of Transportation are arranging to temporarily fund air traffic control towers slated to close next month at 13 Texas airports due to federal budget cuts related to the sequester.

An exit ramp so important it warrants mention in the Texas budget is just one of the many "riders" in competing spending plans proposed by the Texas House and Senate.

The Senate Transportation Committee heard testimony Wednesday on two bills addressing criticisms stemming from the proliferation of toll roads and toll lane projects around the state.

Both the House and Senate are proposing spending about $194 billion over the next two years. But there are key differences between the two plans.  

Call it the Rick Perry gold rush: The governor wants to bring the state’s gold reserves back from a New York vault to Texas. 

The $193.8 billion budget approved by the House Appropriations Committee includes an extra $2.5 billion for public education. The bill is smaller than the Senate budget by about $1.7 billion.

The Texas Senate approved a $195.5 billion budget Wednesday that even supporters called an intermediate step toward a final spending plan for the next two years. 

The $195.5 billion budget that senators will vote on Wednesday includes $1.4 billion extra for education and pay raises for most state employees. A House committee is expected to vote Thursday on its version of the budget.

State Sen. Kevin Eltife, R-Tyler, is engaged in a long-term campaign to convince his fellow legislators that the state's bond debt is an urgent problem and that tax increases are part of a conservative solution.

House and Senate leaders have come to the same painful conclusion: spending from the Rainy Day Fund is subject to the constitutional spending limit. They disagree on what to do now.

Thirty-six years before U.S. Sen. Rand Paul held a nearly 13-hour filibuster, a Texas senator filibustered for 43 hours in the Texas Senate, setting a world record. 

Since relinquishing their seats in January, 11 former House members and one former state senator have registered as lobbyists with the Texas Ethics Commission — and several of them are working for clients in industries they regulated in the Legislature.