Politics

It’s so close folks: There's just three weeks until the 83rd session of the Texas Legislature comes to an end.

But for many lawmakers, this week is the real end of all the work to turn campaign promises into legislation. Because for most bills that originated in the Texas House, it’s pass or pass away Thursday night at midnight.

In recent days, Texas state senators have expressed opposition to passing bills this session to expand where Texans can carry their concealed handguns – places like college campuses.

But on Saturday, House members passed a number of gun-friendly bills, including one that would make it easier to bring concealed handguns into campus buildings – classrooms included. House Bill 972, by State Rep. Allen Fletcher, R-Cypress, says colleges and universities are not “crime-free zones.”

The National Rifle Association is having its national convention this weekend in Houston.

The gathering of an expected 70,000 people comes a little more than two weeks after a measure that would expand background checks failed to pass the U.S. Senate, which the NRA considers a victory.

It’s been a tumultuous week in the Texas Capitol. A House bill that would have spent $2 billion from the state’s rainy day fund on water infrastructure projects was sunk Monday night on a procedural point of order.

Texas is a gun-friendly state. I’m not telling you anything you didn’t already know. That fact is easy to see during any given legislative session, when bills are often filed expanding where people can carry in the state.

Texas health agencies report more foster children take psychotropic medication than other children in Medicaid. Experts say foster care youth need it to deal with trauma and mental disorders.

But a bill in the Texas Legislature aims to monitor the handing out of prescriptions to these minors. 

Alright class: get out your pencils, it’s quiz time. 

True or False: If a bill is brought up for debate in the Texas House, and a majority of lawmakers support the bill, nothing can defeat it.

Time’s up.

Who said True? O.k. none of you get pudding after dinner.

So far this session, lawmakers have berated the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas – or CPRIT -- for its handling of some taxpayer-funded grants.

But today, a House panel heard testimony on why the agency is vital to Texans. 

As the legislative session comes to a close, no one knows yet if the next state budget will include across-the-board pay raises, but a workers groups claims state workers haven't seen a raise in years.

The Texas State Employees Union said on their website that most state workers haven't seen an uptick in wages since 2009.

You might have heard a major effort to pay for water projects went down in flames last night in the Texas House. House Bill 11 would have spent $2 billion out of the state’s rainy day account to finally fund the state’s 50-year water plan.

Texas college students are a step closer to being allowed to bring concealed handguns onto campuses.

That's after the state Senate passed a bill today that would let students, as well as faculty and staff, who have concealed carry licenses, to bring firearms onto campus. Guns would not be welcomed, however, inside classrooms or libraries.

(We updated the top of this post with a recap at 11:45 a.m. ET.)

Joking that a reporter's question Tuesday about whether he has "any juice" left to get things done in Washington made it sound like "I should just pack up and go home," President Obama paraphrased Mark Twain:

"Rumors of my demise may be a little exaggerated," the president said, as he predicted that an overhaul of the nation's immigration laws will be among the things that get accomplished in his second term.

The investigation into the April 15 bombings at the Boston Marathon is widening, with authorities looking at about a dozen people to see whether they might have helped the two main suspects either before or after the attack, law enforcement officials familiar with the probe tell NPR's Dina Temple-Raston.

Only four weeks until the end of the 83rd Legislative session. As the days wind down, we’ll see more and more bills hitting the House and Senate floors.

Budget, Budget Everywhere...

The only must-pass bill, the state budget for the next two years, will garner much of the attention this week, even though that bill has already passed the House and Senate.

One Texas senator wants to allow more counties to set up specialty courts for minors charged with prostitution. The aim is to help juveniles forced into sex trafficking. Many of these victims either end up in Texas or travel through the state along major highways. 

State Sen. Leticia Van de Putte, D-San Antonio, says the majority of minors involved in prostitution are sex trafficking victims.

Yesterday we talked about how the opening of the Bush Museum and Library in Dallas begins the rehabilitation of the former President’s political past. Today, let’s look at how the Bush Institute, the policy think-tank section of the Bush Center might affect the country’s political future. 

A state lawmaker is calling for the resignation of Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg, who’s serving a 45-day sentence in the county jail after pleading guilty to a charge of driving while intoxicated.

State Representative Phil King, R-Weatherford, says if Lehmberg doesn’t resign, the state’s Public Integrity Unit should be moved from her office to the Texas Attorney General’s. The unit investigates corruption by lawmakers.

President Obama has spoken at two memorial services in just over a week — one for victims of the Boston Marathon attack and one for those who died in the chemical plant explosions in West, Texas. In both speeches, he focused on victims and survivors.

But other Democrats are using these events to talk about another subject: the role of government.

You've probably heard there was a little ceremony in Dallas today to dedicate the George W. Bush Presidential Center. The event included speeches by all the living U.S. Presidents, to officially open the 43rd President’s library, museum and policy think-tank.

Negotiations with the federal government to expand Medicaid in Texas are at a standstill, according to the head of the state’s health agency, because he’s waiting on the Legislature to give him direction.

“If I were to go up and say, ‘Oh what if we try this or try that,’ only to come back and find that that very day the Legislature had passed legislation saying, ‘You may not talk about that,’” Health and Human Services Commissioner Kyle Janek said at a TribLive event held by our political reporting partner the Texas Tribune, “it would be a waste of my time to start negotiating pieces.”

Today, Texas became the first state to have three presidential libraries.

All five living U.S. presidents gathered this morning on the SMU campus in Dallas to dedicate the George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum.

Update: The library dedication at the George W. Bush Library has concluded.

Here’s more coverage from KUT News and NPR:

• Agenda Texas: The Legacy of Governor George W. Bush
• Bipartisan Praise at Bush Library
• Five Presidents to Help Dedicate George W. Bush Library Today
• Photos: Inside the George W. Bush Presidential Center

Original Post: Pres. Barack Obama will help dedicate the George W. Bush Presidential Library today.

The latest developments in the investigation into the April 15 bombings at the Boston Marathon and related news include:

Update at 2 p.m. ET. FBI Says Suspects Planned Explosions In Times Square, New York Mayor Bloomberg Says:

The George W. Bush Presidential Center will be officially dedicated tomorrow on the Southern Methodist University campus in Dallas. Dignitaries from across the political world will be on hand to get a peek at the 13th official Presidential library.

The George W. Bush Presidential Library has its dedication Thursday at Southern Methodist University in Dallas.

Former first lady Laura Bush says one of the most emotionally moving museum exhibits focuses on the 9/11 attacks.

Travelers are facing more flight delays around the country and here in Austin because of budget cuts forcing air traffic controllers to take time off.

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, has accused the Federal Aviation Administration of “deliberately engineering flight delays and inconveniencing passengers and creating hardship just in order to try to make a political point.”

A Texas Senate bill that would let students carry concealed handguns on college campuses is dead this legislative session, with one senator saying it’s time for a “cooling off” period. 

The chair of the Senate Criminal Justice Committee says he gets why some want to legalize concealed carry on college campuses. Students are doing it illegally, he says.

A bill codifying and clarifying the roles and responsibilities of Texas' higher education governing boards, regents, systems and institutions has reached the Texas House of Representatives after passing the Senate.

House Rep. Don Branch, R-Dallas, gave his take on SB 15 to the Higher Education Committee.