The Week in the Rearview Mirror

After grilling Gov. Greg Abbott’s three University of Texas System regent appointees last week, the Senate Committee on Nominations on Thursday recommended all of them to the full Senate for confirmation. Two of the nominees received "no" votes from Sen. Konni Burton, R-Colleyville, who had pressed them on the UT Law School Foundation.

After meeting behind closed doors for almost seven hours, the University of Texas System Board of Regents did not name a finalist to replace Bill Powers as president of the University of Texas at Austin on Wednesday.

The House Appropriations Committee on Thursday tentatively approved $105 million in funding for hundreds more DPS troopers, but not before some border lawmakers on the panel questioned how the DPS would prove the money is being spent wisely.

The 8,900 U.S. Border Patrol agents stationed on Texas’ border with Mexico can clock in next week knowing they’re still going to get paid after Congress on Tuesday voted to fund the Department of Homeland Security through September.

If voters approve, some of the taxes collected on car sales would be dedicated to building and fixing highways under the first two pieces of legislation to clear the Senate this session. Teachers might also see a pay boost under the measures.

Texas public high school seniors who failed the state's mandatory exams might still get to graduate this May under a bill pushed by state Sen. Kel Seliger, which passed Senate Education Wednesday.

Doctors, law enforcement officers, and family members of crash victims gathered Thursday at the Capitol to testify in support of a statewide texting-while-driving ban. Supporters are hoping the third time's the charm. Similar legislation was vetoed in 2011, and another bill in 2013 failed to gain traction.

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