The Midday Brief: June 15, 2011

New in The Texas Tribune:

• "The bill has pitted Republican Gov. Rick Perry and trial lawyer Steve Mostyn, the largest Democratic donor in Texas, against one another, and it is a key reason that lawmakers are in a special legislative session." — House Tentatively Passes Windstorm Insurance Bill

• "Texas Monthly's list of the Ten Best and Ten Worst Legislators in the 82nd Session has finally been released. Who made the cut — and how did our Texas Tribune insiders do with their predictions?" — Texas Monthly Reveals Best and Worst List

• "House lawmakers gave early approval to a bill designed to let Texas take control of Medicaid and Medicare from the federal government after a high-decibel argument between the measure’s Republican author and Democratic lawmakers." — House Gives Early Nod to Health Care Compact

• "Texans are hammering away at Barack Obama for failing to secure our borders and for refusing to put forward a comprehensive immigration-reform plan, but the number of federal prosecutions for 'illegal re-entry' has quietly skyrocketed under his administration." — Illegal Re-entry Cases Surge Under Obama

• "The current controversy dominating the higher education headlines in Texas is nothing if not nuanced. See if you can read between the lines and figure out who made what comment in our latest quiz." — Quiz: Who Said What About Higher Ed?

Your afternoon reading:

• "It will fall to the national presscorps to step up the scrutiny; the GOP candidates will hardly be in a place to question Perry. After all, his ultra-conservative bona fides make Tim Pawlenty and Mitt Romney look like raging moderates — hardly the image they want to present." — What National Reporters Aren't Asking Rick Perry (Yet), The Texas Observer

• "In the wake of Monday night’s CNN debate, the cable-news world is abuzz with speculation about the possible entry of Rick Perry, the governor of Texas, into the race. If he does, an important question will inevitably arise. Should he be rick-rated as a Respectable, an Eccentric, or an Implausible?" — Respecting Rick Perry, The New Yorker

• "Megan Liberman and Jeff Zeleny discuss the possible presidential campaign of Gov. Rick Perry of Texas. Also, a conversation with a reporter who has covered Mr. Perry for years." — Video: Will Rick Perry Run?, The New York Times

• "The Texas House of Representatives approved a bill last month banning 'intrusive' airport screening searches, but the legislation stalled in the State Senate after Washington threatened to consider halting flights to Texas if screeners were prevented from doing their jobs properly. … Its sponsor, Representative David Simpson, a Republican from Longview, Tex., discusses." — Q&A: Texan Defends Proposed Ban on 'Intrusive' Airport Searches, The New York Times
  

• "The majority of Texans disagree with lawmakers who have pushed bills that would prohibit sanctuary cities, allow guns on campus and strip funding from those affiliated with abortion providers, a poll released Wednesday shows." — Texans split on hot-button legislative issues, Trail Blazers

• "Most Texans don’t want handguns on college campuses and support the new pre-abortion sonogram law, although they reject efforts to strip state funding from abortion providers, according to an independent poll." — Texans not uniformly conservative on social issues, Postcards