The Midday Brief: December 2, 2009

Your afternoon reading:

• "The surveys will kick off prior to the March primaries and will focus on the contests for governor and other statewide offices." — Newspapers join forces for political polling — Texas Politics

• “The settlement represents one of the largest — if not the largest — single checks the state has written to settle a legal claim, according to the comptroller's office.” — $24 million settlement reached over disabled parking permits — Austin American-Statesman

• “Fifty-nine new felonies, and even the prosecutors don't know what they all are!” —Parole Board: Texas created 59 new felonies this year — Grits for Breakfast

• “Demographic researchers have compared America’s two most populous states, California and Texas, in an attempt to identify why the former is imploding economically, and the latter is growing and creating wealth.” — American as Texas Vs. California — Texas Insider  

• “The candidate filing period for the 2010 Texas elections opens on Thursday but many candidates for the Texas State Board of Education are already off and running – and early indications are that far-right incumbents on the state board will face stiff challenges for re-election.” — SBOE Races Take Shape as Filing Approaches — TFN Insider

New in The Texas Tribune:

• Short-term, high-interest lenders are clustered in neighborhoods where the median household income is less than $50,000 a year. — Debtors' Treadmill: Treasure Map — The Texas Tribune

•“Texas and Alaska are the only two states holding out against the move toward standards — which may cost the state between $350 million and $700 million in federal money.” — TribBlog: Federal "takeover" of Texas schools? — The Texas Tribune

• “Seriously, this is very good news for Texas — for anyone who wants to have an independent measure of public opinion on issues of the day and races on the ballot.” — T-Squared: Poll Position — The Texas Tribune