The Waxahachie Republican talks about the size of the budget shortfall, the possibility of new revenue sources and why he'd support legalized gambling.

The chairman of the House Appropriations Committee on the Tea Partiers and other hyperconservative types who oppose him in his district.

The chairman of the House Appropriations Committee on why he'd back legalized gambling as a source of revenue for the state's coffers.

The chairman of the House Appropriations Committee on what lawmakers should do with the Rainy Day Fund.

In our TribLive conversation this morning, state Rep. Jim Pitts, R-Waxahachie, the chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, spoke frankly about the certainty that state employees would be cut as part of the Legislature's solution to the budget shortfall — and he said furloughs for employees who aren't cut may be ordered as well.

Full audio from my TribLive conversation with incoming House members Larry Gonzales, R-Round Rock, Jason Isaac, R-Dripping Springs, and Paul Workman, R-Austin.

For our first TribLive conversation of 2011, I interviewed Larry Gonzales, R-Round Rock; Jason Isaac, R-Dripping Springs; and Paul Workman, R-Austin, about the Speaker's race, the budget shortfall, immigration, the Tea Party and how they and other newbies will navigate the 82nd legislative session.

Full video from my TribLive conversation with incoming House members Larry Gonzales, R-Round Rock, Jason Isaac, R-Dripping Springs, and Paul Workman, R-Austin.

At this morning's TribLive conversation with three incoming members of the Texas House, state Rep.-elect Larry Gonzales, R-Round Rock, explained why being Hispanic and being a Republican are not incompatible.

Galbraith on why the Lege meets only every two years, Hu picks the year's best political moments on video, Ramsey on the personalities who mattered in 2010, Stiles on lobbyists with conflicts of interest and what the census means for redistricting, yours truly on the new Cameron Todd Willingham documentary, Grissom on cockfighting and Trillin on Sissy Farenthold: The best of our best from Dec. 23 to 27, 2010.

An exclusive excerpt from "Incendiary," a forthcoming documentary about the Cameron Todd Willingham case.

Filmmakers Steve Mims and Joe Bailey Jr. are putting the finishing touches on a new documentary about the Cameron Todd Willingham case that focuses almost entirely on forensics — on the science behind arson investigations like the one that led to the Corsicana man's arrest, conviction and execution following the death of his three small children in a 1991 house fire. Mims and Bailey aren't political activists; the former lectures in the University of Texas' Department of Radio-Television-Film, while the latter is a graduate of UT's law school. But they were so moved by an article about the Willingham case in The New Yorker that they decided to tackle one of the most controversial topics in the modern era of state's criminal justice system. Well in advance of the film's release, they've carved out this excerpt of about eight minutes exclusively for the Tribune.

Ramsey on what a GOP supermajority means, Ramshaw on a crime victim not eligible for crime victims' compensation, M. Smith on grave matters and state regulation, Hamilton on the college pipeline at San Antonio's Jefferson High, Hu on a senator's anticlimactic return, Grissom on the coming closure of juvenile lockups, Aguilar on the return of residents to their drug-war-torn Mexican town, Galbraith on next session's energy agenda, Philpott on the legal fight over federal health care reform and Stiles on the travel expenses of House members: The best of our best from Dec. 13 to 17, 2010.

M. Smith and Butrymowicz of the Hechinger Institute on charter schools and public schools making nice in the Valley, Ramsey's interview with House Speaker candidate Ken Paxton and column on the coming budget carnage, Hu on the Legislature's disappearing white Democratic women, Grissom on the sheriff who busted Willie Nelson, Hamilton talks higher ed accountability with the chair of the Governor's Business Council, Aguilar on the arrest of a cartel kingpin, Ramshaw on the explosive growth in the number of adult Texans with diabetes, Philpott on state incentive funding under fire and Galbraith on the greening of Houston: The best of our best from November 29 to December 3, 2010.