The state will have $77.3 billion in general revenue during the next two-year budget cycle, Comptroller Susan Combs said this morning. The comptroller estimated the Rainy Day Fund will have $9.4 billion in it at the end of the 2012-2013 biennium and that the size of the current deficit is $4.3 billion. Full Story
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Tomorrow's the big day, but in terms of action, today might be bigger. Full Story
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For the year's first installment of our nonscientific survey of political and policy insiders on issues of the moment, we asked whether Joe Straus would win another term as speaker, whether the next speaker should share power with the Democrats when doling out committee chairmanships and other assignments and whether the Republican Caucus is the right forum for picking the leader of the House. Full Story
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For our first TribLive conversation of 2011, I interviewed Larry Gonzales, R-Round Rock; Jason Isaac, R-Dripping Springs; and Paul Workman, R-Austin, about the Speaker's race, the budget shortfall, immigration, the Tea Party and how they and other newbies will navigate the 82nd legislative session. Full Story
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The House Republican Caucus will meet today to debate whether it should choose a favorite in the race for speaker of the House among the three candidates: the incumbent, Joe Straus of San Antonio, and Warren Chisum of Pampa and Ken Paxton of McKinney. But the vote's not binding. So why do it? Full Story
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Here's the layout for next week, in 100 words or less: Comptroller's release of her estimate of how much revenue the state will bring in by the end of August 2013; Tea Party rallies; GOP caucus vote on whether to show a preference for a speaker followed, maybe, by said vote; opening day with swearings-in of members (most statewides are already sworn in, with the exception of the top two, who get the treatment a week after the session starts), the official vote for speaker, and adoption of rules by the House and the Senate; and budgeteers' release of the proposed budget for 2012-13. Full Story
The Texas criminal justice system is increasingly the destination for mischief-makers, some as young as 6, in the state’s public schools, according to a new study, which sheds light on what is a rapidly growing part of school budgets: campus security. Full Story
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Republicans might not all like House Speaker Joe Straus, but he's got a better chance than his predecessor to lead the House to "fiscally responsible, limited and just government," according to Debra Medina, the conservative activist and former Republican gubernatorial candidate. Full Story
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The 82nd Texas Legislature convenes in Austin this week, and while it’s not as much fun as the circus — usually — it’s more important and does have its share of comedy and drama. Full Story
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Hamilton on what demographic change is doing to higher education, Stiles interactively looks at fines levied last year by the Texas Ethics Commission, Ramshaw on the struggle of foster kids to hang on to their belongings as they're shuffled around by the state, Philpott on whether a sales tax increase could plug the state's budget hole (and whether it's possible to enact one), Grissom talks to jail conditions expert Michele Deitch, M. Smith and Dehn on how electronic textbooks are made, Galbraith interviews on Texas Parks and Wildlife head Carter Smith, yours truly on the dark art of revenue estimating, Aguilar on the strange bedfellows lining up against state enforcement of immigration laws and Chang on the bleak hopes of needle exchange advocates: The best of our best from Jan. 3 to 7, 2011. Full Story
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A speaker preference vote in the House Republican Caucus is "simply the right thing to do," state Sen. Dan Patrick, R-Houston, said Friday night, wading into a roiling controversy that has pit Republican against Republican in the aftermath of November's election. Full Story
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The Texas Forensic Science Commission heard testimony from four fire experts today to gather evidence about the reliability of the arson investigation that led to the 2004 execution of Cameron Todd Willingham. Half said investigators got it right, and half said they were wrong. Full Story
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The state has shut down Daystar Residential Inc. in Manvel, the facility where The Texas Tribune and the Houston Chronicle revealed that staff had forced young girls with disabilities to fight each other. Full Story
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Watch the Innocence Project livestream of the Texas Forensic Science Commission, which gathers today in Austin to question arson experts on the evidence used to hand Cameron Todd Willingham the death penalty in 1992. Full Story
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Your afternoon reading: gay divorce upheld; U.S. House to correct oath slip-up; Paul Krugman on Texas' woes Full Story
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Over the objections of state Attorney General Greg Abbott, an Austin appellate court has upheld the divorce of a lesbian couple married in Massachusetts. Full Story
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For some, the enemy of their enemy legislation may be their friend. Full Story
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Advocates for shuttering Texas' institutions for people with disabilities say they have a big plus in their column this session: the state’s giant budget crunch. Full Story
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In Texas, the largest oil producer in the United States, the demand for carbon dioxide is soaring, because it can help squeeze oil out of formations deep in the earth. That's why the idea of of capturing it and pumping it underground is gaining traction in the power sector. It sounds like an exercise in environmental idealism: Take the heat-trapping gas — belched prolifically from coal plants, which generate 45 percent of the nation’s electricity — and bury it, benefiting the atmosphere and combating global climate change. Of course, it is something of an environmental conundrum that stowing the greenhouse gas underground can also help to produce more fossil fuels. Full Story
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The biggest caucus in the Texas House is the Republicans', now with 101 members. Next? The Democrats', at 49. And then there’s the freshman class — one of the biggest in years — with 38 members. All but six are Republicans, and many of them replaced Democrats. They face some challenges. Full Story
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