Vol 32, Issue 13 Print Issue

Quotes of the Week

This is my first year here, and I'm not sure what is normal. But I'm pretty sure it doesn't usually devolve into discussion of a person's sexual history.

Freshman state Rep. Stuart Spitzer, R-Kaufman, on the budget floor debate that erupted over his amendment to move money from HIV prevention programs to abstinence education

I sincerely have enjoyed this process. When you’re a CPA by background, you’re sort of like a hog in a mud puddle.

House chief budget writer John Otto, expressing sheer delight to his House colleagues at managing the 17-plus-hour floor debate on the state budget

It made me not want to breathe.

Texas Tech researcher Greg Mayer on his discovery of the prevalence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria downwind of Panhandle and South Plains feedlots

I can't tell you how many times I would be in the Oval Office with President Reagan, and he would say, 'Jim, I'd rather get 80 percent of what I want than go over the cliff with my flag flying.'

Former presidential adviser and Cabinet secretary James Baker to Texas Monthly, refuting the image that has developed of Ronald Reagan as "a hard-line conservative ideologue."

The Week in the Rearview Mirror

The House this week passed a $210 billion, two-year budget. Action on the only legislation required each session now heads to the Senate, where different funding priorities are in play.

In an unusual, strongly worded report, a Travis County grand jury recommended this week that University of Texas System Regent Wallace Hall be removed from office but did not hand down an indictment against the controversial regent.

A scathing investigative report of the Health and Human Services Commission's $20 million deal for fraud tracking software revealed "operational defects" within the agency's procurement process.

A week after his entry into the presidential race, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz announced that he's raised about $4 million over those eight days. Also, he registered in double digits — 13 percent — in the most recent Washington Post/ABC News poll and in the "top tier" of GOP hopefuls in a Public Policy Polling survey.

The city of McAllen, Houston Community College and Texas A&M University have applied to host a presidential or vice presidential debate in 2016, organizers announced Wednesday. 

Disclosure: Texas A&M University is a corporate sponsor of The Texas Tribune. Houston Community College was a corporate sponsor in 2012. A complete list of Tribune donors and sponsors can be viewed here.

Political People and their Moves

Pete Gallego announced on Thursday that he'll run to retake the CD-23 seat he lost to Republican Will Hurd in November. The Alpine Democrat said he will embark on a listening tour through the district during the summer, followed by a series of campaign kick-off events in the fall. The seat is considered the only swing congressional district in the state.

Ina Minjarez and Delicia Herrera advanced on Tuesday to a runoff in the special election to fill the vacant Bexar County-based House District 124 seat, which is open after the election of the seat's previous occupant, José Menéndez, to the Texas Senate.

Former San Antonio Congressman Charlie Gonzalez is stepping down as senior adviser to that city's VIA Metropolitan Transit. His two-year stint at the agency included serving as senior vice president of public engagement. He said his plans include returning to his work as an attorney.

Colette Pierce Burnette was named the next president and chief executive officer this week of Huston-Tillotson University, the private, historically black college in East Austin. She is the school's first woman leader since the 1952 merger of Samuel Huston College and Tillotson College created the university.

Disclosure: VIA Metropolitan Transit was a corporate sponsor in 2014. A complete list of Tribune donors and sponsors can be viewed here.