The Evening Brief: Aug. 10, 2012

Culled:

•   Perry back to Iowa Fair, now stumping for Romney (CNN): "A year ago in Des Moines, Iowa, Texas governor Rick Perry worked the Midwest crowd, glad-handing his way to voter approval for his own 2012 presidential bid. Saturday, Perry will do the same but for his former opponent Mitt Romney. Texans for Rick Perry announced Friday that the former Republican contender would campaign for the current presumptive GOP nominee at the annual Iowa State Fair."

•   Republican hopefuls jockey for 2016 (Politico): "On Saturday, a trio of once — and possibly future — presidential candidates will speak to a conservative forum in Iowa hosted by the group Citizens United and a prominent Iowa social conservative organization, the Family Leader. Rick Santorum, Mike Huckabee and Texas Gov. Rick Perry will all appear at the event."

•   Texas members of Congress dip once, twice, three times at the public trough (Texas Watchdog): "Of the state’s 34-member U.S. congressional delegation, 12 are taking a pension from a public retirement plan, according to financial disclosures filed by the politicians."

•   Texas firm sees 401(k) loan gold on Capitol Hill (Reuters): "The idea of the Retirement Savings Security Act is to protect employees who borrow from their 401(k) retirement funds — and their beneficiaries — in the event that they die or become disabled. … The bill already has strong backing. It is sponsored by Texas Representative Peter Sessions, the National Republican Congressional Committee chairman, and has bi-partisan support from four co-sponsors."

New in The Texas Tribune:

•   When It Comes to Transparency, There's Room for Improvement: "Lawmakers say they want transparency and that the public should be able to see their finances. But state disclosure requirements allow officeholders and candidates to report their financial interests vaguely enough to hide their interests."

•   San Antonio City Council OKs Castro's Pre-K Proposal: "An initiative from San Antonio Mayor Julián Castro that would direct a portion of sales tax revenue to fund full-day pre-kindergarten unanimously passed the City Council, leaving it for voters to approve in November."

•   UNT Health Science Center May Combine With University: "The University of North Texas System Board of Regents may be on the verge of combining the University of North Texas System Health Science Center in Fort Worth and its flagship institution, the University of North Texas in Denton."

•   Meningitis Vaccine Rules Could See Some Changes: "In 2011, Texas became the first state to mandate that all students who come onto college campuses be vaccinated against bacterial meningitis. But even supporters may be pushing for a few revisions to the statute next session."

•   Advocacy Groups Don't Want GEO to Run State Hospital: "A coalition of influential Texas organizations is pushing back against the proposed privatization of a state psychiatric hospital by GEO Care, a subsidiary of a prison operations group that has a troubled history in Texas."