The Midday Brief: April 15, 2011

Your afternoon reading: 

• "Texas drivers will be given the green light to crank up their speeds to 75 mph on major divided highways as early as this fall under legislation tentatively approved by the House on Friday." — Texas drivers: Get ready to crank it up to 75 mph on divided highways, Dallas Morning News

• "The Texas House voted to transfer new authority to Texas Comptroller Susan Combs on Friday, and members only vaguely alluded to the significant data breach at her agency that was revealed earlier this week." — House OKs new authority for comptroller, Postcards

• "Robert Paul, a doctor who lives in Fort Worth, is saying maybe, telling a newspaper that he has 'thought about running' for the seat representing Texas in the Senate that is being vacated by Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, who is not running for reelection." — Another Paul son is mulling a Senate run, Politico

•  "The authorities have arrested 16 police officers and charged them with protecting a criminal gang suspected of murdering dozens of people and dumping their bodies in farmland about 90 miles south of the Texas border." — 16 Officers Arrested in Mexico Deaths, The New York Times

New in The Texas Tribune: 

• "The Texas Legislature is faced with a budget challenge that pits the Republican majority’s desire to cut government spending against a vulnerable target: nursing homes." — At Nursing Homes, Fears of a Budget Armageddon

• "Texas faces a hefty cut in federal funding for some environmental projects as a result of the recent budget deal in Washington." — EPA Budget Cuts Will Impact Texas Water, Sewer Programs
   
• "Oil prices have risen recently, as unrest in the Middle East continues. Gasoline prices have gone up in tandem. In Texas, a gallon of gas costs a dollar more than a year ago. For state policymakers, a crucial question is how higher prices at the pump will affect Texas' estimated $15 billion to $27 billion budget gap. The answer, of course, is that it's complicated." — Texplainer: How Will High Gas Prices Affect the Budget?