The Midday Brief: June 20, 2011

New in The Texas Tribune:

• "State Sen. John Carona, R-Dallas, couldn't muster the votes in the Senate Business and Commerce Committee this morning to pass out the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association bill — one of the key reasons lawmakers are in special session." — As Special Session Winds Down, TWIA Fight Continues

• "State Rep. David Simpson, R-Longview, is making a last push to get anti-groping legislation added to the special session agenda." — Simpson Asks Perry to Add TSA Bill to Call

• "A statewide ban on smoking in public places made little headway this morning as the Senate Health and Human Services committee put off action on SB 28." — Senate Committee Delays Smoking Ban Action

• "After public resistance from Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and Empower Texans, an Austin-based conservative activist group, voters in a suburban Fort Worth school district turned down a 13-cent local tax hike over the weekend." — One School District Says No To Higher Property Taxes

Your afternoon reading:

• "Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) is being encouraged to enter the presidential race by the members of the Texas delegation he’s consulted about a White House bid." — Members of Texas delegation push Perry to run for president, The Hill

• "The Texas Legislature is becoming more like the place Texas Republicans love to hate. So says Finance Committee Chair Steve Ogden, R-Bryan, reflecting on a session in which GOP leaders on the all-important budget bypassed a tradition requiring a two-thirds vote in the 31-member Senate to bring up legislation — a tradition meant partly to foster consensus by giving the minority faction a voice." — Senators say chamber's two-thirds rule is dead, San Antonio Express-News

• "Republicans head into 2012 united in their disdain for an unpopular, Big Government-loving, internationalist president. The name of that president: George W. Bush." — GOP magic trick: Making George W. Bush vanish, Politico