Senator Eliot Shapleigh - El Paso, Texas

Ogden left his fingerprints on countless bills by adding an amendment that effectively gave him veto power. The "Ogden Amendment" would kill a bill if money was not appropriated for it in the $182 billion budget, and Ogden was the gatekeeper to the budget.

They were able to reach a number of those objectives before the session ended last week, but some achievements came in spite of the legislators' continual bickering with one another and in some cases with other lawmakers and state leaders.

Listening to real concerns back home, research before session, hard work during session and great staff make all the difference. Each of these bills can make a real difference in the lives of every day El Pasoans.

Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and the Senate Republicans lit the fuse in January. The bomb went off in the House in May. In slow motion.

"If border lawmakers want greater state investment in their communities they need to start objecting to an inadequate state budget that reflects misplaced priorities, says state Sen. Eliot Shapleigh."

"Tempers flared on the legislative session's last weekend just as they did at its start, with a key GOP senator saying Saturday that the session's central theme is “lack of leadership” by top leaders of his own party."

Lost in all the controversy over the Senate’s decision to adjourn Sine Die was the death of Sen. Judith Zaffirini’s SB 42. The bill addresses whether “proportionality” should be used in determining state contribution to community college retirement plans. It’s the sort of issue that makes your eyes glaze over, but is immensely important to community colleges.

Faced with dangerous conditions inside Texas' institutions for the mentally disabled and a massive waiting list for community-based care, lawmakers didn't pick sides – they improved both.

"Lawmakers successfully triumphed over the powerful tobacco lobby to pass a bill that will use monies from taxes levied on smokeless tobacco to assist physicians in repaying their school loans."

"The Texas Legislature voted Saturday night to scale back a program under which Texans who graduated in the top 10 percent of their high schools were given automatic admission to the state university of their choice. The action put limits on a 10-year-old experiment to increase diversity in the colleges."

After months spent agonizing over the loss of millions of dollars in funding for civil legal services for the poor, state and local legal aid officials say the Legislature has come through with desperately needed funding.

What began as "the sunny" 81st legislative session ended overcast this week as political wrangling and well-funded special interests clouded opportunities to bring thousands of jobs to Texas and position us as a leader in the new energy economy.

The Eighty-First Legislature was like Seinfeld: a show about nothing. It was dominated by an event that was a year away, the looming 2010 Republican gubernatorial primary battle between Rick Perry and Kay Bailey Hutchison, and by issues that were political rather than substantive, none more so than the session-long battle over voter ID. And it achieved nothing, other than an endless succession of dying bills, forlorn hopes, and bitter recriminations in the closing days.

“I think our local representatives understood the issue and understood the colleges’ needs,” Michaelis said. “Sen. Averitt has more than one community college in his district, we asked for his support, and he gave it to us. The sad thing is he never had a chance to vote because Dewhurst wouldn’t bring it up.”

"State Sen. Glenn Hegar has issued this press release in response to what he called the “harsh attacks” and “patently false” charges by Sen. John Carona on his handling of House Bill 300, the TxDOT Sunset bill."

"Sen. John Carona is mad as hell and he isn't going to take it anymore."

"Sen. John Carona was unable to get enough support for the Local Option Transportation Act among Senate and House negotiators, dooming the provision when the TxDOT sunset bill goes to floor votes tomorrow."

"House members called on the federal government Saturday to stop forcing unfunded mandates on Texas, approving a states' rights resolution that was nearly derailed by a technicality earlier this month."

"State Sen. John Carona, still smarting from the death of his local-option gas tax plan, is considering a filibuster of the adoption of the Texas Department of Transportation sunset bill."

"Legislators on a House-Senate conference committee trying to hash out a compromise on a bill that would reform the Texas Department of Transportation seem not to have made much progress over night on the biggest unsettled issue."