Enlarge Bob Daemmrich

State Rep. Bill Zedler, R-Arlington, votes 'aye' to table certain instructions to conferees on HB1 budget bill on May 6, 2011.

The Senate finalized its budget negotiators on Thursday, a day after the House named its representatives to the budget conference committee. Together, the 10 lawmakers will hammer out a final form of the budget document to be presented to the two chambers later this session.

Looking back over the conference committees' rosters shows a lot of continuity. Three names, for instance, have been at the head of each chamber's set of conferees since 2005. In fact, the House roster of conferees from 2011 remained the same for 2013.

And here's a fun fact: Lois Kolkhorst is the only lawmaker since 2005 to serve as both a House and Senate budget conferee.

Enlarge Texas Legislature

.

Enlarge Texas Legislature

.

Enlarge Texas Legislature

.

Enlarge Texas Legislature

.

Enlarge Texas Legislature

.

Enlarge Texas Legislature

.

Enlarge Bob Daemmrich

State Rep. Denis Bonnen at the front microphone while taking amendments on HB11 border security bill March 18, 2015.

With the appointment of budget conferees this week, the two chambers can now get to the business of hammering out a final form of the budget that can be put before lawmakers for final approval.

One can only hope that they communicate better once they get behind closed doors than they have in public this week.

The gamesmanship between the House and Senate usually accelerates around this time of session as lawmakers begin to take notice of the fact that their bills are sitting around not getting discussed across the building.

The chattering has only gotten louder as the week has progressed. The architect of the House’s approach to border security funding this session, Dennis Bonnen, pointedly complained about the Senate’s tactic of passing its own bill rather than work with the bill sent over by the House.

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick later complained of bills sent over from the Senate that haven’t been referred to committee yet on the House side. And, of course, there was the fractious legislative breakfast this week where Gov. Greg Abbott was forced into the fray after one of his signature issues, high quality pre-K, was lambasted by an advisory panel working with Patrick.

The budget, of course, will never succumb to legislative neglect. It is, as it is often remarked upon, the only bill that has to pass in every session.

But the House and Senate haven’t been on the same page with this budget because of their different approaches to granting tax relief. It's a problem unique to this legislative session and an unusual one at that — they can't agree on how to give tax revenue away.

The Senate cooks its tax relief proposal — predicated on property and business tax cuts — directly into its version of the budget.

The House favors a different approach on tax relief, based on a reduction in the state sales tax rate along with a business tax cut. And on the tactical level, the House prefers to keep the discussion on tax relief separate from the budget debate.

In keeping with that approach, the House on Wednesday gave its budget conferees nonbinding instructions to keep tax cuts out of budget talks. The Senate included no such instruction to its conferees on their appointment Thursday.

House leaders on Wednesday promised that they planned to raise the issue of tax cuts on the floor soon. That promise was borne out on Thursday when Bonnen’s tax cut bills were placed on the House floor agenda for Tuesday.

The final outcome of the House and Senate impasse is hard to predict because there’s not really room to compromise. Either the conferees will talk taxes or they won’t.

In other words, one of the chambers is going to have to budge more than the other. Who’s it going to be?

Enlarge Paul Lowry

Railroad Commissioner Ryan Sitton is calling for a hearing on seismicity issues, one day after the journal Nature Communications published a Southern Methodist University-led study concluding that gas industry activity “most likely” triggered a series of earthquakes that shook the Barnett Shale towns of Reno and Azle from late 2013 through early 2014.

“This hearing will help us gain a better understanding of the Azle data and determine what measures, if any, should be taken," Sitton, a Republican, said in a statement. “I appreciate SMU’s work on this issue and look forward to an engaging, thorough discussion that considers all scientific evidence available.”

“In light of SMU’s study, I am calling for invited testimony from the Azle operators and SMU research team to present their respective research on this important issue at the Railroad Commission as soon as possible,” Sitton’s statement said.

*****

In other energy news this week, lawmakers are once again attempting to change the name of the state regulatory agency overseeing oil and gas activity. It, as readers no doubt know, goes by the anachronistic name of the Texas Railroad Commission.

A constitutional amendment by state Rep. Larry Phillips, R-Sherman, and accompanying legislation would swap out the old name for the more accurately descriptive name of the Texas Energy Commission.

After testimony was taken, the proposed amendment and bill were left pending in committee.

*****

Job growth in Texas ran at 1.6 percent in January, slipped to 1.3 percent in February and dove into negative territory in March. The state lost 12,000 jobs, a 1.2 percent decline, according to numbers from Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas released this week.

The bank is forecasting the state’s job growth rate to linger between 0.5 percent and 1.5 percent in 2015. The weakened job market is being attributed in part to the impact of the collapse of oil prices.

Disclosure: Southern Methodist University is a corporate sponsor of The Texas Tribune. A complete list of Tribune donors and sponsors can be viewed here.

Enlarge

We started off this week’s survey of politics and government insiders with a question about the political future of Leticia Van de Putte, the former state senator and Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor now running for mayor of San Antonio.

Early voting in the May 9 contest begins Monday. And with current Mayor Ivy Taylor and a couple of other former officeholders — Texas House alum Mike Villarreal and former Bexar County Commissioner Tommy Adkisson — in the 14-person field, we asked what the future holds for Van de Putte.

A bit fewer than half thought that Van de Putte would win the election and that this will be her last political job. One in five thought she would win the election and then again seek statewide office. A similar number thought she'd lose the upcoming election and then retire.

Another 10 percent thought she's going to lose the election and then run for something else.

As a follow-up, we asked for the insiders' thoughts on how selected issues will move the needle with voters in the Alamo City. Two in five cited gentrification and downtown development issues. Almost as many named police and fire contracts. Trailing behind were the minimum wage (20 percent), the city's nondiscrimination ordinance (18 percent) and the status of ride-sharing businesses, like Uber and Lyft (16 percent).

Pivoting to the state contracting fiasco at HHSC, 52 percent of the insiders thought the blame will fall on the state agencies while another 31 percent thought the office of the previous governor — i.e., likely presidential candidate Rick Perry — would be held responsible.

We closed by asking about the latest kerfuffle in Texas' relationship with the federal government — this time over the feds' move to pressure the state into expanding Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act by threatening to withhold dollars currently helping hospitals treat patients who are unable to pay for care.

The insiders were almost evenly split between saying the state would not capitulate even if it meant losing hospital dollars (37 percent) and saying the two sides would figure out a compromise position (36 percent). Another 25 percent thought nothing would be decided immediately and that things would stay as they are until the next legislative session.

We collected comments along the way, and a full set of those is attached. Here’s a sampling:

Enlarge Emily Albracht

.

Predict Leticia Van de Putte's political future:

• "She is a true Texan, too valuable a public figure to retire from politics and she is the same gracious person I first met in 1991. I would beg her not to take the HUD Secretary position if it is offered, it is the Democrat 'minority' cabinet position. She could better serve elsewhere, Secretary of Commerce is more in line with her skill set."

• "She will probably win but she was an awful statewide candidate and she has a weak resume. She won't win another election in Texas and even if Hillary is elected president, there is no place to put her."

• "Left off other choice. Mayor of San Antonio then cabinet appointee for President Clinton."

Enlarge Emily Albracht

.

Which issues will sway San Antonio voters the most when picking their next mayor?

• "I grew up in San Antonio and most people care more about the Spurs bench players than they do about city politics. Mayoral races are inherently difficult to predict because it's such a small electorate. I don't think an issue will sway voters, more than which candidates get their people to turn out."

• "The city faces the same dilemma any other city headed by any Democrat mayor, progress at the expense of their political base, same song, next verse."

• "Economic development - bringing higher paying jobs to SA and providing the educational and training opportunities to do so. Uber/Lyft are being pushed by local and state lobbyists as more important issues to the city than they really are."

• "I can barely keep up with what's going on in the Capitol and you want an opinion on a non-legislative election in a city an hour away (on a very good day)?"

Enlarge Emily Albracht

.

A House panel is launching an inquiry into contracting practices at 11 state agencies following the HHSC fiasco. On whose doorstep will the blame for the state’s contracting problems ultimately fall?

• "It rolls downhill to the agencies. The Legislature always blames agencies. The elimination of agency boards to provide oversight, a part-time Legislature and the lack of executive branch capacity and resources makes these problems inevitable."

• "There were a number of bills passed last session that attempted to do the very thing the Legislature is investigating, expanding the no bid list, favoring Texas headquartered companies, etc. The blame lies with the individuals, not the procurement/contract process itself."

• "Of what political benefit is it to blame the guys who are no longer there? Not likely to blame the new guys. And we're (the Lege) sure not going to claim the blame. Let's get those all those darned bureaucrats, guilty, or not."

• "The old governor used to 'approve' contracts over $100k. Something they don't want you to know."

Enlarge Emily Albracht

.

The federal government is pressuring Texas to reconsider whether to expand Medicaid to cover childless adults by threatening funding for hospitals. What will happen?

• "Yeah, because Texas generally gives in to pressuring from the federal government. The correct answer is Texas will file suit to maintain its FREEDOM. And probably lose. Again."

• "Consider it the cost of Texas being left alone to do its own thing. In other words, it will gladly surrender federal dollars to avoid being compelled to act in a manner it deems not Texan and responding to federal threats is not Texan."

• "Consequences are catastrophic for safety net and community, rural hospitals, and thus profound economic local consequences. Tragically, political consequences will be diffused by time and distance, and will lag the closures by one cycle."

• "They've each drawn their own political line in the metaphorical sand. On to litigation."

Our thanks to this week's participants: Gene Acuna, Brandon Alderete, Clyde Alexander, Jay Arnold, Charles Bailey, James Bernsen, Andrew Biar, Allen Blakemore, Tom Blanton, Chris Britton, Raif Calvert, Lydia Camarillo, Kerry Cammack, Snapper Carr, Elna Christopher, Harold Cook, Kevin Cooper, Beth Cubriel, Randy Cubriel, Curtis Culwell, Denise Davis, June Deadrick, Tom Duffy, David Dunn, Gay Erwin, John Esparza, Jon Fisher, Tom Forbes, Neftali Garcia, Bruce Gibson, Scott Gilmore, Eric Glenn, Kinnan Golemon, Jim Grace, Wayne Hamilton, Bill Hammond, Ken Hodges, Deborah Ingersoll, Mark Jones, Robert Kepple, Richard Khouri, Tom Kleinworth, Sandy Kress, Nick Lampson, Pete Laney, James LeBas, Homero Lucero, Vilma Luna, Matt Mackowiak, Mike McKinney, Steve Minick, Bee Moorhead, Mike Moses, Keats Norfleet, Robert Peeler, Allen Place, Kraege Polan, Gary Polland, Jay Pritchard, Jay Propes, Ted Melina Raab, David Reynolds, Chuck Rice, Carl Richie, Kim Ross, Grant Ruckel, Andy Sansom, Jim Sartwelle, Barbara Schlief, Stan Schlueter, Robert Scott, Steve Scurlock, Ben Sebree, Christopher Shields, Nancy Sims, Ed Small, Martha Smiley, Larry Soward, Leonard Spearman, Dennis Speight, Bryan Sperry, Colin Strother, Sherry Sylvester, Sara Tays, Jay Thompson, Trey Trainor, Vicki Truitt, David White, Darren Whitehurst, Seth Winick, Angelo Zottarelli.

Enlarge Todd Wiseman

Friday, April 24

• Texas Tribune conversation series, Energy: The Next Five Years; 3300 Dyer St., Dallas (12-1 p.m.)
  

Monday, April 27

• Early voting begins in San Antonio municipal elections

Wednesday, April 29

• Public charter school rally; 1100 Congress Ave., Austin (11 a.m.-2 p.m.)

Thursday, April 30

• National Center for Policy Analysis speaker series, James Rickards; 5201 Westgrove Drive, Dallas (9:30-11 a.m.)
• Texas Agricultural Land Trust seminar, Going, Going, Gone: Changing Land Use in the Trans-Pecos & its Impact on Ranching & Wildlife; East Highway 90, Alpine (10 a.m.)

The House and Senate each named their budget conferees this week. The 10-member group now sets to work reconciling the differences between the two chambers' approaches to setting the state's spending priorities for the next two years. Among the sticking points are differing approaches to more than $4 billion in tax relief.

The chairman of the House General Investigating and Ethics Committee launched an official inquiry Monday into contracting practices at 11 state agencies. The action is aimed at finding out if contracting irregularities found at HHSC are more widespread in state government than currently thought.

The House this week passed legislation that would move investigation of corruption cases against public officials from an investigative unit in the Travis County DA's office to the official's home counties. In addition, Texas Rangers would be tasked with taking the criminal complaint.

Ina Minjarez captured the runoff special election on Tuesday to fill the vacant Bexar County-based House District 124 seat. The former prosecutor could be sworn in next week. She takes over for José Menéndez, who won election to the Texas Senate in February.

Two Houston attorneys will replace Collin County District Attorney Greg Willis as the Texas Rangers look into his friend and business partner Attorney General Ken Paxton. That relationship has figured into questions as to how an investigation into Paxton's failure to register with the state securities board would proceed.

Lionel F. "Fred" Solis of San Antonio has been appointed by Gov. Greg Abbott to the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles for a term to expire Feb. 1, 2021. Solis is a retired U.S. Army colonel.

Abbott also appointed a trio of appointments to the board of regents of Texas Southern University:

• Wesley Terrell of Dallas
  
• Derrick Mitchell of Houston
• Marilyn Agatha Rose of Houston (re-appointment)

Their terms expire on Feb. 1, 2021.

Margaret Kripke will retire as chief scientific officer of the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas on the selection of a successor, no later than Aug. 31. She was brought on two and a half years ago to help reform the grant awarding process at the then troubled agency.

The University of Texas at Austin has named a provost to replace Gregory Fenves, who was hired as the school's next president this week. Senior Vice Provost Judith Langlois will hold the interim job starting May 26. She currently oversees graduate studies.

Texas Civil Rights Project Director Jim Harrington announced this week his retirement from the organization he founded nearly 25 years ago. He said his plans include "speaking, writing, and perhaps co-counseling a case or two."

Disclosure: The University of Texas at Austin is a corporate sponsor of The Texas Tribune. A complete list of Tribune donors and sponsors can be viewed here.