The Midday Brief: May 20, 2011

New in The Texas Tribune:

• "The Senate Higher Education Committee approved a higher education funding bill this morning that Gov. Rick Perry has said is critical to his approval of the state's two-year budget. But the Senate's lead budget writer said that hasn't made much difference in advancing budget negotiations." — Budget Update: They're Still Stuck

• "State Sen. Jeff Wentworth charged today that his San Antonio colleague, House Speaker Joe Straus, used undue influence last night to strip an amendment allowing concealed handguns on college campuses out of a fiscal matter's bill." — Wentworth Blasts Straus Over Campus Carry

• "A bill that would clarify and expand the jurisidiction of the Forensic Science Commission appears to have fizzled in the Texas House after legislators became worried that Gov. Rick Perry was using it to take control of what has become a highly politicized and controversial entity." — Forensic Science Commission Reform Fizzles

• "The Federal Trade Commission is warning that one of the key Medicaid reform bills trumpeted by Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and Sen. Jane Nelson, R-Flower Mound, could substantially harm consumers." — Feds Warn Medicaid Changes Could Harm Consumers

Your afternoon reading:

• "The House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee has shot down a proposal to allow state legislators and statewide elected officials to carry their concealed handguns anyplace they like." — House: No to guns-everywhere for Lege, Postcards

• "A Republican senator said that once the so-called puppy mill bill hits the upper chamber he will suggest new language to protect hobby breeders from what opponents say are onerous restrictions on dog and cat breeding operations. " — Republican senator wants to alter puppy mill bill language, Trail Blazers

• "Betting on the come is exactly what House and Senate Republicans are doing with Governor Rick Perry as they press for a final budget deal before the legislative session ends on Memorial Day." — 82nd Legislature rolls the dice, betting on the come, BurkaBlog

• "After Republicans successfully filibustered President Obama’s judicial nomination of California law professor Goodwin Liu on Thursday, Texas Sens. John Cornyn and Kay Bailey Hutchison are applauding a different nominee of his — J. Rodney Gilstrap for U.S. district judge in the eastern district of Texas. In a reversal of a recent trend, Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Austin, found himself in agreement with the Republican senators." — Lloyd Doggett agrees with Cornyn, Hutchison on something — a Texas nominee for federal judge, Texas on the Potomac