The Midday Brief: Sept. 30, 2010

Your afternoon reading:

• "Gov. Rick Perry's appointees to state agency boards and commissions have been very, very good to Perry. According to a new study, the Republican governor has collected $17 million from his appointees." — Rick Perry appointees lavish governor with campaign cash, Trail Blazers

• "No one in Texas has done more harm to Bill White’s campaign (with the exception of Rick Perry and White himself, by not releasing his taxes) than his successor as mayor, Annise Parker. No sooner had she taken office last January than she threw White under the bus with the comment, '[F]or years we have spent more money than we have taken in.'" — Too late, Parker recants, BurkaBlog

• "The 50 state Medicaid programs absorbed 6 million more recipients since the recession started, and yet, thanks to federal stimulus dollars, states were able to cut their contributions by 10 percent last year and 7.1 percent this year." — State Medicaid chiefs see pressure on purse, Trail Blazers

• "Eight out of nine House members from the Houston area voted in favor of a compromise roadmap for the future of NASA that was adopted by the House last night on a vote of 304 to 118." — Houston-area House members backed NASA compromise, Texas on the Potomac

New in The Texas Tribune:

• "The executive director of the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition on how criminal justice austerity measures demanded by state leaders would affect Texas prisons, poor people accused of crimes and the counties responsible for both overseeing overcrowded jails and ensuring that defendants get fair trials." — Ana Yañez-Correa: The TT Interview