UPDATED: The state unveiled proposed redistricting maps, saying some of the parties in that litigation have signed off on at least some of the lines.

There's still that pesky problem after the maps are drawn: When will Texans vote?

This week, the redistricting judges in Washington did the judges in San Antonio a favor, telling them the D.C. panel won't be ruling on its part of the case for a month. The Texans can start drawing maps.

While our fearless host Reeve is away on special assignment in Florida following Flemish folk singers of the 60s, Ben steps in to lead Evan, Ross and special guest star Jake Silverstein (the editor of Texas Monthly) in a discussion on the next state budget, redistricting and campaign finance.

At our Hot Seat conversation at the University of Texas-Pan American in Edinburg on 1/24, state Sen. Juan "Chuy" Hinojosa, D-McAllen, and state Reps. Veronica Gonzales, D-McAllen, and Aaron Peña, R-Edinburg, discussed cuts to public education, redistricting and other by-products of the 82nd Legislative Session.

Federal redistricting judges in San Antonio told lawyers Friday they won't be able to hold primary elections in April if they don't make substantial progress on maps by early next week. But some want the court to slow down, even if it delays the elections again.

Three federal judges in San Antonio are going back, literally, to the drawing board for new political maps for Texas, and to decide when to have primary elections. The same things, in other words, they were trying to work out in November.

Texans again face the possibility of having to vote two separate times this spring in the state's primary elections.

Hours after the U.S. Supreme Court tossed judge-drawn redistricting maps for Texas, a panel of federal judges set a Feb. 1 conference on what comes next — timing that could endanger the April 3 primaries.

The U.S. Supreme Court threw out court-drawn Texas redistricting maps on Friday morning, saying a panel of federal judges should have used the Legislature's maps as their starting point.

For our latest nonscientific survey of government and political insiders, we asked about the sliding primary dates, who it helps and hurts, and whether there is still a need for federal review of the state's political maps.

The Supreme Court examines a simple question without an easy answer: Delay the Texas elections, or use maps that haven't been vetted?

Texas politics are on hold.

For this week's edition of Inside Intelligence, we asked about election delays, redistricting maps, who is hurt and helped by delays, and whether Texas still ought to be covered by the Voting Rights Act.

If the federal courts don't come up with political maps in the next three weeks, Texas probably won't be able to hold primary elections on April 3.

The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments Monday in Perez v. Perry, the current Texas redistricting case. Some selected quotes — some from judges, some from lawyers — follow.

The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments about Texas redistricting today and now must decide whether the state's primaries must be delayed to buy time for the courts to approve new maps.

The bet here is that the U.S. Supreme Court wouldn't have taken the Texas redistricting case if they thought it was a good idea to hold elections using the San Antonio court's plan. If it was, why issue a stay, set arguments, and risk delaying the primaries?