The Midday Brief: Top Texas Headlines for March 17, 2011

Your afternoon reading:

• "Hoping to cushion the impact of proposed state budget cuts to public education and health care, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst said Wednesday that a special subcommittee will be named Monday to find $5 billion in nontax revenue for use in the next two-year budget cycle." — Panel to hunt for nontax revenue, San Antonio Express-News

• "How hard will it be to keep Senate Republicans, much less Senate Democrats, in line behind a two-year budget that cuts far, far more deeply than the one passed in 2003? For the past 48 hours, lobbyists and social services advocates have been pointing to remarks Tuesday morning by Sen. Kevin Eltife, R-Tyler, as proof it'll be cussedly difficult." — Eltife: 'We're playing a game ... and I'm not going to be a part of it', Trail Blazers

• "In a significant new move to find ways to reduce whopping cuts for public schools, legislative leaders this afternoon revealed that they are considering a plan to cut Texas’ prison schools from the budget to save $123 million." — New budget cut target: Prison school system, Postcards

• "With the support of law enforcement, social service professionals and advocates of ending sex trafficking of minors, Sen. John Cornyn introduced legislation Wednesday to end modern-day sex slavery." — Sen. John Cornyn seeks to stop domestic sex trafficking, Texas on the Potomac

• "Dallas Rep. Jeb Hensarling, in a fresh push to curb the government role in the housing market, is filing a bill today to dismantle mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac." — Rep. Jeb Hensarling takes aim at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, Trail Blazers

New in The Texas Tribune:

• "A top adviser to President Barack Obama conceded last week that terrorists seeking to unleash havoc in the United States could use Texas’ porous border. But some security experts say that isn't likely to happen." — Officials Say Mexico Could Be Used by Terrorists

• "The State Sovereignty Committee, which meets today to discuss bills related to federal health care reform, was likely formed for efficiency’s sake, and to create a kind of heat sink for contentious debate." — Texplainer: What's the Select Committee on State Sovereignty?

• "A Texas law dating back to the 1800s that keeps hospitals from directly hiring doctors comes before lawmakers today, in a flurry of bills designed to remove the ban — either for an individual hospital district, or for all the state's rural hospitals." — Rural Hospitals Hope to Change Hiring Law