Some state lawmakers don't trust themselves not to spend more money than they really think they should spend. They want a law that would tie their own hands.

For the last week of the year, we picked a sampling of our best of 2012: Hamilton on four-year graduation rates from Texas colleges, Ryan and Galbraith map the troubling levels of the state’s water reservoirs, Galbraith on groundwater fights in the Panhandle, Aaronson on the state insurance commissioner’s turbulent first year, Grissom, Ryan and Dehn on prosecutorial errors in Texas, M. Smith on what to do with failing school districts, E. Smith’s “Satan” interview with Gov. Rick Perry at TribFest, excerpts from “Oops!” ^— Root’s book on the governor’s presidential campaign, Rocha on the tussle over the Women’s Health Program, Ramshaw on a controversial effort to control Medicaid costs, Batheja examines the boom in toll roads, and Aguilar on “restorative justice” on the Texas-Mexico border.

Criminal prosecutors are investigating allegations that Kenneth "Buddy" Barfield, a top aide to Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, embezzled hundreds of thousands of dollars from Dewhurst's campaign accounts.

Third parties — outsiders — can't vote in the race for Speaker of the House. But the lawmakers who will actually elect the speaker next month are listening, and acting, on what's going on outside.

The year began with Rick Perry's first political losses and ends with speculation about his future and about the entire political organization chart in Texas. A last look at what happened in between.

Gov. Rick Perry's strikingly disastrous presidential bid, U.S. Sen.-elect Ted Cruz's surprisingly successful campaign and a Legislature full of fresh faces were among the top political stories of 2012. Jay Root and Ross Ramsey take a look back.

The courts aren't expected to finish their work on school finance until after the regular legislative session, giving lawmakers an excuse for leaving some expensive work incomplete for now.

Texas is a gun state, more likely to expand gun rights after a mass killing than to restrict them. While there are proposals to buy back guns or restrict sales, Texas leaders are pushing to allow guns in more places.

A successful challenge to House Speaker Joe Straus would be a serious show of strength for outside activists. A big defeat, however, could undermine their influence just as the 2013 session begins.

Limiting the terms of lawmakers and other officeholders was a sexy idea 20 years ago, when Republicans were trying to unseat Democrats. Now it's back.

M. Smith finds school choice already under way in some local districts, E. Smith grills a top energy regulator on conflicts of interest, Root reports on ethics reforms proposed by Tea Party activists, Ramshaw looks at elective surgery’s correlation to the state map, Galbraith and Murphy update the mapping data on the state’s lingering drought, Grissom finds fewer convicts being sent to Texas’ death row, Batheja reports on criticism of state economic incentives from the business community, Aguilar finds political activists in Texas organizing to watch Mexico’s government and Aaronson has details on the governor’s support for banning abortions after 20 weeks: The best of our best from Dec. 10 to 14, 2012.

In the race for speaker of the Texas House, everybody has the votes they need. Or they're well on their way. Or at least that's what they're telling the rest of us.

House Speaker Joe Straus has the votes to win reelection, according to his loyalists. But he's got a declared opponent and another in the wings, and they've got a month to work with.

Election season ends Saturday, in a way, with the start of the biennial blackout on campaign contributions during a legislative session. 

Speaker Joe Straus won his leadership post with the support of Democrats — which gives some conservatives fits. If his just-announced challenger, David Simpson, builds a similar bipartisan coalition, can he hold on to conservative support?