Senator Eliot Shapleigh - El Paso, Texas

Texas legislators will have to answer a variety of questions over the next 22 days.

Which state programs are most worthy of taxpayer dollars? Should they cap college tuition? How will they regulate the insurance industry? Can college students legally carry guns on campus?

As usual, these issues and many others remain unresolved as lawmakers enter the final three weeks of their 140-day legislative session.

The House and Senate will rush to pass legislation in the next few weeks. Lawmakers will zip through some bills with little debate, committees will meet hurriedly around their chairmen's desks, and legislative lawyers will work around the clock to find the precise language that legislators want in their bills.

But many bills will die in the lower chamber beginning this week, as key deadlines kick in for managing the last-minute logjam of legislation. For example, bills that haven't been approved by a committee by today will die there unless lawmakers can attach them to related measures that still have life.

Just 51 bills — of more than 7,000 filed — had reached Gov. Rick Perry's desk for his signature by Thursday, so lawmakers have miles to go on just about every major issue.

So far, the story of the session has been more than $10 billion in federal stimulus money that lawmakers used to patch holes in the state budget, avoiding severe cuts even as state revenue is projected to fall.

"It could have been a bloodbath," said Harvey Kronberg, who publishes the Quorum Report, an online Capitol newsletter.

Some things simply won't get done, either by design or because of a lack of time. And others will be vetoed by the governor. But until then, legislators harbor hope that their priorities will become law.

Voter ID

As passed by the Senate, legislation requiring voters to present identification at polling places before casting a ballot would take effect in 2010 and allow two nonphoto IDs as an alternative to one picture ID. Prospects in the closely divided House are uncertain on this highly partisan issue.

'Choose Life' license plates

Texas voters would have the option of buying license plates that say 'Choose Life,' a measure touted by Gov. Rick Perry that seems certain to pass. Both the House and Senate have approved the license plates, and the House added a 'Choose Adoption' plate.

Abortion ultrasound

The original proposal would have required women seeking an abortion to have an ultrasound first. In the version approved by Senate, an ultrasound would be offered but not required. In the House, the issue is awaiting committee action.

Gambling

Legislation would allow casino gambling in a dozen Texas cities and on Indian reservations, with approval from voters statewide. A Senate committee hasn't approved a bill, and the House bill is stalled in the Calendars Committee while authors try to round up 100 votes needed for passage. That's a high hurdle, especially this late in the session.

Governor's Mansion restoration

The House has agreed to fully fund the $27 million project, but the Senate has provided only about half the money and remains hung up on several questions, including whether to close Colorado Street to improve security and whether to allow a two-story addition to the historic manse. A House proposal to buy an Enfield neighborhood home that is a carbon copy of the mansion for the governor to live in and turn the real one into a museum is dead.

Guns on campus

A bill that would allow students with state handgun licenses to carry guns on campus appears stalled in both chambers. Supporters insist it will come up for floor debate in coming days, but it faces an uncertain future — thanks to university officials lobbying against it. Opponents are marshaling their forces to stall and then kill it. But in a gun-friendly Legislature, its chances may be better than expected.

Education

Tuition regulation

Legislation would impose a moratorium or limits on tuition increases at public universities. The Senate has approved a bill that would limit the University of Texas and many other schools to 5 percent per year or the rate of inflation, whichever is lower. House members also want to limit increases but perhaps not as severely.

Top-tier universities

Legislation would provide a pathway for some of the state's so-called emerging research universities to compete with each other for extra funding to join the big leagues. The House and Senate have approved similar measures, but differences need to be ironed out. Budget conferees haven't decided how much money to allocate.

Top 10 percent law

The Senate approved a measure scaling back the number of students that public universities would have to admit under the law guaranteeing a spot to those graduating in the top 10 percent of their Texas high school class. That bill and a similar House measure — either of which would ease an admission crunch at UT — have cleared House committees but have not advanced to the floor, a sign that the debate there won't be quick or easy. House members rejected changes in the law two years ago.

School accountability

The overhaul of the state's school accountability system won unanimous House and Senate approval. Crafted by the education leaders in both chambers, the bills aim to reduce the focus on standardized testing, end the prohibition on promoting students who fail the statewide tests and provide low-performing schools more time and flexibility to improve.

Health and human services

Statewide smoking ban

The proposal backed by cycling champion Lance Armstrong, as filed, would have banned smoking in indoor workplaces, including restaurants and bars. A House committee passed a scaled-back version, and the measure is pending in a Senate committee.

Children's health insurance

The Senate has passed a bill that would allow certain families that earn more than the income limit for the Children's Health Insurance Program pay to join. It could add about 80,000 children to CHIP. A House panel has passed a similar measure. A House committee also has approved a measure that could add about 258,000 children to Medicaid by expanding the enrollment period from six months to a year.

State schools

A bill, designated an emergency by Perry, that would add an inspector general for the troubled institutions for people with mental disabilities has passed the Senate and made it through a House committee. The authors of proposals to shutter some of the 13 institutions say they've abandoned that push because it wasn't politically feasible.

Teen tanning restrictions

Children under age 16­½ wouldn't be able to enter a tanning bed under legislation that has cleared the House and a Senate committee. Opponents argue that it interferes with parental decisions, while supporters say it's a way to prevent skin cancer.

Budget and taxes

State budget

The budget is very tight, though not as tight as it would have been without the billions of federal stimulus dollars. Budget writers are hunkered down in conference committee to resolve differences between the House's $178 billion proposal and the $182 billion Senate version. The rainy day fund, which is expected to have $9.1 billion available, was not tapped because lawmakers expect it will be needed to address a very difficult budget two years from now.

Margins tax

Businesses with less than $1 million in total revenue will be exempt from the revised business tax under a House bill that won unanimous approval last week. The change, which would cut state revenue by $172 million, has strong bipartisan backing in the Senate and from Perry.

Unemployment insurance/stimulus

Against Perry's wishes, the Legislature is pushing ahead to enact the changes required for Texas to get $555 million in federal stimulus money to extend unemployment benefits to more workers. A number of procedural traps could doom the measure, which narrowly passed the Senate and could come up in the House any day. The bill must go to Perry by May 19 for legislators to have the opportunity to override a possible veto.

Environment

Solar power

Legislation would jump-start the solar power industry by creating a pot of money that would provide subsidies to people who want to put solar panels on their roofs and utilities that want money to build big, concentrated solar facilities. The money, from a surcharge on electric bills, could amount to as much as $100 million a year for five years. A measure has passed the Senate, but a similar House bill has had trouble getting out of committee.

Air quality

Legislation would improve air quality with $4,000 rebates for the purchase of plug-in hybrid vehicles, grants for pollution-cutting equipment at power plants, higher energy efficiency standards for appliances such as DVD players and pool pumps, and instructions to several state agencies to participate in federal negotiations about how to track greenhouse gases. It has passed the Senate and is in a House committee. One sticking point unlikely to make it into law: a measure considering the cumulative effects of air pollution across the state when awarding permits to power plants.

Criminal justice

Texas Youth Commission reform

After disagreements between House and Senate leaders about how and whether to shrink the Texas Youth Commission and to fund new community-based rehabilitation programs, lawmakers appear to have reached a tentative deal that could shift Texas' juvenile justice policy from large state-run lockups to county-run treatment programs and small state centers. A final deal could come Tuesday; look for last-minute posturing over details.

Prison security

House and Senate budget writers have set aside about $16 million to install cameras, metal detectors and other technology in the nine state prisons that are plagued with the most contraband. A bill to allow prison officials to jam cell phone traffic, if a federal law is changed, is moving very slowly to the House floor amid opposition from cell phone companies.

Transportation

Road-building funds

Efforts to end or substantially reduce the amount of gas tax and vehicle fee money going to the Department of Public Safety, so it can be used instead on dirt and asphalt transportation projects, ran aground in budget-writing committees. Legislation to allow local governments to raise money independently for transportation, contingent on public votes, lost momentum in the House after passing the Senate.

Other

Congressional redistricting commission

Two abortive tries to get this bill moving in the Senate give a hint of its future: DOA. Republican stalwarts hate GOP state Sen. Jeff Wentworth's proposal because it would cede some of their power to draw boundaries. If the bill reaches the House, expect Republicans to kill it there.

Hill Country zoning control

Legislation giving Hill Country voters the power to regulate land development in 15 counties has passed out of the House County Affairs Committee and is awaiting placement on the House calendar. The Legislature historically has been unwilling to grant counties more zoning authority. Similar measures in the Senate aimed at all Texas counties have failed in previous sessions.