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• Stacking the Deck

  By Ross Ramsey Jan. 20, 2003

  Lt. Gov.-elect David Dewhurst waited until the Senate had voted on its rules—maintaining the powers of the Lite Guv—but not for his inauguration to name committees and their memberships. Unlike his predecessor, who led a Senate with a one-vote Republican majority, Dewhurst fronts a Senate with a 19-12 GOP advantage, and he tilted the table strongly in their favor. Democrats will chair six of the 15 committees in the Senate, but only one of those panels—Veterans Affairs and Military Installations—will have a Democratic majority. The major committees will have solid GOP majorities: Finance, 10-5; Business and Commerce, 6-3; Education, which gets school finance, 6-3; and Health and Human Services, where budget cuts could be focused, 6-3. State Affairs, which typically gets a range of major legislation, also has a 6-3 Republican majority. Full Story 

• All About the Money

  By Ross Ramsey Jan. 13, 2003

  No matter what you thought you heard during the election season, in the session starting on Tuesday, everything will be a sideshow to the main act: The state budget. Full Story 

• Ask Santa for a Five-Pound Sack of Money

  By Ross Ramsey Dec. 23, 2002

  The governor's budget might be more than a doorstop this session. The three Republicans who'll be running things in the Pink Building seem to be on the same page, saying they'll team up on one starting budget instead of doing the usual thing. The usual thing: The governor presents a budget. The Legislature ignores it. The Legislative Budget Board prepares a budget, and that's the working document for budgeteers for the rest of the session. Full Story 

• Texas Democrats' Circular Firing Squad

  By Ross Ramsey Dec. 16, 2002

  Some Texas Democrats, stung by the results of last month's elections and left with only a short list of candidates who might make a strong statewide ticket four years from now, are circling the party headquarters in a bid to replace Molly Beth Malcolm as chairwoman of the party. Full Story 

• The Signpost Up Ahead: Ethics

  By Ross Ramsey Dec. 9, 2002

  The ethics dust-devil whirling around Rep. Tom Craddick, R-Midland, is unlikely to harm his upcoming election as Speaker of the House, but it could make more trouble for him during the legislative session. It has made some House members on his side skittish—not an unnatural state for politicians in a time of change, and not a permanent condition. And it has emboldened and encouraged some of the people who don't want the Republicans to do well in their first session in charge of things since the inventions of such contrivances as telephones, automobiles, income taxes and Velcro. That's not a permanent condition, either. Full Story 

• The Wrong Kind of Boom

  By Ross Ramsey Dec. 2, 2002

  Republican budgeteers missed a shot at limiting the amount of spending to be done by the next Legislature, falling a vote short in their attempt to tie the state budget to a conservative measure of economic growth. And the numbers will have another chance or two to balloon over the next seven months, as lawmakers wrestle with the sputtering economy. Full Story 

• The Other Big Deal

  By Ross Ramsey Nov. 25, 2002

  The state budget is a big deal in Austin and in scattered pockets around the state where people who make their livings by knowing about this stuff are paying attention. But even though the people in the bubble—we include ourselves in that gray world—are certain that the budget and taxes will be the centerpiece of the legislative session, regular people have something else on their minds. Full Story 

• A Boiling Pot, Full of Lobsters

  By Ross Ramsey Nov. 18, 2002

  Former legislators who were lobbying for various businesses last session will be working in or advising top management in the Pink Building during the next legislative session. That happens to some extent every time there's a regime change or a big staff turnover, but the combination of those types of changes has the doors spinning at the state Capitol. Full Story 

• A Viewers Guide to Election Night

  By Ross Ramsey Nov. 4, 2002

  Give the Republicans the edge, but the top four statewide races in Texas are as competitive at the tape as they have been in years. The GOP candidates are telling those who will listen that they've got the U.S. Senate and gubernatorial contests in the bag, but their actions suggest things are closer, with John Cornyn gripping President George W. Bush's coattails (and Bush isn't even on the ballot) and Gov. Rick Perry running the kind of final days Hail Mary ad normally associated with trailing and desperate campaigns. Full Story 

• Turnout Tales

  By Ross Ramsey Oct. 28, 2002

  It's almost impossible to read election results into early turnout numbers, but it's possible to tell whether various efforts to excite voters are working. The trouble is seeing past the political spinners who are trying to get their voters worked up while putting voters on the other side to sleep. Full Story