The Midday Brief: May 24, 2011

Your afternoon reading:

• "Political geography junkies will have to wait a little longer to see how Texas gets divvied up in Congressional redistricting. The chair of the Senate Redistricting Committee, Kel Seliger, R-Amarillo, just confirmed to LegeLand that it won't happen this session." — Congressional Redistricting Dead This Session, The Austin Chronicle

• "Gov. Rick Perry gathered supporters, legislators and television cameras on Tuesday to ceremonially sign legislation requiring sonograms of women seeking abortions." —  Perry heralds sonogram law, Postcards

• "For Republicans who want to be president, one of the most crucial primaries is well under way: the Bush primary." — For Republican Hopefuls, the Bush Primary Is Well Under Way, The New York Times

• "It would be riskier to sue a business in a Texas court under a bill meant to cut down on frivolous lawsuits that unanimously passed the Senate Tuesday." — Senate passes 'Loser Pays' bill unanimously, Trail Blazers

• "Senate Education Committee Chair Florence Shapiro, R-Plano, says she believes a special session is a certainty if lawmakers don’t approve a new school finance plan to distribute a reduced amount of state aid." — Shapiro on school finance: 'We’re in the 12th hour,' Texas Politics

• "Senate Education Committee Chairwoman Florence Shapiro Tuesday made a pitch for the Senate school funding plan that would determine how $2 billion a year in funding cuts — $4 billion over the next two years — would be distributed among school districts. In a letter distributed one day after the House was prevented from considering its own school finance plan, Shapiro, R-Plano, sent a letter to all House and Senate members touting the funding plan approved by the Senate last week." — Sen. Shapiro makes pitch for Senate school finance plan, Trail Blazers

New in The Texas Tribune:

• "Legislation that would grant the state authority to erect southbound checkpoints near the Texas-Mexico border was successfully revived today after lawmakers attached it as an amendment to a bill concerning record sharing by the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles." — Southbound Checkpoints Given New Life in Senate

• "The U.S. Census Bureau released data this week showing how many people moved to and from Texas in the last year. California sent more people our way than any other state — and we lost the most Texans to Oklahoma." — On the Records: Mapping Migration to Texas

• "The Senate today passed the 'reptile bill,' which creates regulations for hunters who want to collect snakes and horny toads along Texas highways." — Senate OKs "Reptile Bill"