Gov. Rick Perry issued more than two dozen vetoes Friday, including a line-item veto that wipes out funding for the Travis County prosecutors who investigate government fraud and public corruption. He also vetoed a bill that would have had Texas law mirror gender wage protections in the federal Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009.

Full video of Thursday's TribLive conversation about Texas Monthly's list of the Best and Worst Legislators, with Paul Burka, Erica Grieder, Sonia Smith and Brian D. Sweany.

The procedures that led to the state's five-year, $468 million standardized testing contract with Pearson were the focus of a Senate panel's hearing Tuesday on legislation that would change how the state handles future agreements.

State Sen. Dan Patrick, R-Houston, at a Tuesday hearing delivered an impassioned plea in support of the tax credit scholarship plan that is a critical part of the school choice reform package he has pushed this session.

In a marked departure from 2011, the state Senate on Wednesday passed a two-year budget with relative ease.

Protesters on Monday attempted to turn up the heat in the simmering legislative debate over public education in Texas.