For a Texas governor — especially for one embarking on a reelection bid — that headline perfectly describes a successful special session. Voters didn't get hurt, weren't aroused, and have no real reason to give it another thought. Full Story
There aren't any real surprises on Gov. Rick Perry's agenda for the special session starting next week, and not much controversy, either: He clearly wants to get lawmakers through this thing in a hurry. Full Story
An interview with Katherine Youngblood Glass, the Libertarian Party of Texas' candidate for governor. Full Story
We're entering the last days available to the governor to consider bills. Anything not vetoed by midnight on Father's Day will become law, with or without Rick Perry's signature. Full Story
There will be a special session to finish work left undone by the Legislature, but the final date hasn't been chosen, and Gov. Rick Perry has declined to say what's going to be on the agenda. Full Story
The legislative session ended like a bad marriage, with the House walking out before the argument was over and the Senate, in a sulk, staying behind to break all the plates. Full Story
It's down to fixing the differences between House bills and Senate bills and getting final sign-offs and sending them to the governor for signatures, vetoes, or approval without fingerprints (unsigned bills go into law automatically). Full Story
This is the season when the Legislature's power wanes and the governor's power waxes. Full Story
Remember the cartoons where the sheepdog and the coyote would meet at the time clock every morning, say hello, ask about the families, punch in, harass each other all day, then greet each other pleasantly as they punched out for the evening? Full Story
You get the feeling that this legislative session is just like the last one, run in reverse. Instead of starting with a whimper and closing with a bang, it started with a bang. It shows no signs of ending with one. Full Story
If you're not under pressure, the House is sort of an interesting Petri dish right now. Full Story
Check your rear view mirror. Full Story
Six weeks left. It's getting busy. Full Story
Coming soon to a House near you: The first real look at how this bunch votes on tough issues. Full Story
The Texas Senate approved a $182.2 billion budget that includes over $10 billion in federal stimulus money, avoids across-the-board cuts in state agencies, and leaves the state's $9.1 billion Rainy Day Fund untouched. Full Story
Texas can get $556 million in federal stimulus money without any permanent changes in its unemployment insurance program, according to an advisory letter from the U.S. Department of Labor. Full Story
Our bracket says Pitt will win the NCAA men's basketball championship. That doesn't mean it'll happen. And if it does happen, we won't be able to claim (honestly, anyway) that we knew it was gonna happen. We'll just have guessed right. [eds. note: After this was written, Pitt lost to Villanova, failed to make the Final Four, ruined our bracket, and painfully proved our point about predicting the future.] Full Story
Gov. Rick Perry says the state should turn down $555 million in federal stimulus money tied to unemployment insurance, because the requirements are too strict, prompting some lawmakers to say they'll push to get enough support for the program to go around him. Full Story
The "county fair" section of the legislative session — the part at the beginning that's taken up with glad-handing and rattlesnake roundup demonstrations and mariachis and pre-schoolers and city and county and association "days" at the Capitol — is coming to a close. Full Story
You're really out in the weeds when you find yourself listening to arguments about reform provisions for unemployment insurance, but that's the first of what might be a series of firefights over the federal stimulus money available to the state. Full Story