Interactive: The Budget Battle

Lawmakers had two big budget problems to solve this session: a $4 billion deficit in the current biennium's budget and an estimated $15 billion revenue shortfall for the 2012-13 biennium. After a regular session full of heated debates and contentious "fiscal matters" bills, lawmakers are still at the Capitol hammering out the final details.

We’ve culled The Texas Tribune’s coverage of the budget shortfall to link readers back to the major budget stories of the session. This interactive timeline follows the money through the regular session, capturing the debates, the drama and the developments along the way.

The graphic is color-coded. Blue stories cover developments in the budget process at the Legislature. Stories specifically related to the Rainy Day Fund are in turquoise. Red stories cover developments outside the lege — like the comptroller’s pronouncements and the University of Texas/Texas Tribune polls. There are also a few tidbits in gold from Gov. Rick Perry. If you get confused along the way, the green stories provide a clear update on where everything stands. Click on the legend to highlight stories of a particular color. Also look out for the LiveBlog, TribLive and multimedia icons, which indicate special content is available inside the story.