Senator Eliot Shapleigh - El Paso, Texas

There hasn't been a huge outbreak of people trying to impersonate voters, but the item was deemed an emergency — bigger than the state's sinking economy, bigger than education or any number of other issues you can mention but won't hear about once the brawl starts.

Supporters of voter identification say law-abiding citizens will have no qualms about proving their identity to protect the sanctity of the ballot box. Opponents counter that an ID mandate is intended to discourage voters sensitive to past discrimination at the polls.

At issue is whether voters should have to present an identification card that includes a picture before they can vote. Republicans argue that Texans need a picture ID to get on a plane, check out a book and write a check and that it's not too much to use the same kind of precaution when voting.

Abbott spokesman Jerry Strickland said Abbott would not testify. He attributed the decision to Sen. Robert Duncan, R-Lubbock, who as the Senate’s president pro tempore is set to preside over today’s hearing before the 31-member Senate sitting as a committee of the whole.

Grocery shoppers can read labels and avoid trans fats, along with all those extra calories and sugar and sodium. But parsing the ingredients in a restaurant meal is not so easy, and that’s particularly relevant to Houstonians. When it comes to dining out, Houston leads the nation, with an average of 4.2 restaurant visits per week. (The national average: 3.2 times.)

Establishing a bipartisan commission to draw congressional districts in Texas got another boost Monday. The Senate State Affairs Committee approved the bill 6-3 and sent it to the full Senate.

Rep. Rafael Anchia, D-Dallas, asked a colleague today to look into alleged voter irregularities in a 2008 school board election in Progreso in South Texas—and also whether Attorney General Greg Abbott’s office failed to pass along its knowledge of the allegations in response to inquiries from Anchia and state Sen. Kirk Watson, D-Austin.

The bill -- which along with a second bill filed Tuesday were among the first legislation presented by Craddick this session, according to the Texas Legislature online -- would look to restrict credit service agencies that offer quick cash loans by using a person's vehicle title, canceled check or authorization to debit accounts at a future date as a security against the debt they're taking on.

In Austin, on Tuesday, March 10th, Republicans will try to pass a law to suppress your vote. Please come help. I ask you come testify, advocate, and help us fight for democracy. Let Rick Perry and the Republicans know that your vote and our democracy are too valuable to mess with!

The 296,000 job losses Phillips is forecasting for this year would mean a 2.8 percent decline in Texas payroll employment between December 2008 and December 2009 – the fastest rate of job loss since 1986.

A new study from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners released Monday showed that the average annual premium in Texas for the most common homeowner policy was $1,409 a year, considerably more than the nationwide average of $804. Florida was second at $1,386 – after a jump of 28 percent in one year – and Louisiana was third at $1,257.

The stimulus bill recently passed by Congress includes incentives to states to expand benefits to many more jobless people, including part-time workers and those who have cycled in and out of the work force, who are not covered in many states.

The 81st Texas Legislature is just a few weeks old and already industry representatives are peddling to lawmakers their cherry-picked statistics, or offering up excuses that don’t bear up to serious scrutiny, or changing the conversation away from consumer prices.

Irresponsible posturing and fear- mongering fanned by state Sen. Dan Patrick, R-Houston, won't deter an ounce of illegal drugs from coming across the border nor do anything to quell the violence associated with narcotics trafficking.

Castro and state Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston, filed legislation that would require Texas schools that offer sex education to provide students with comprehensive, medically accurate information about sexual health and relationships.

State Rep. Frank Corte, R-San Antonio, asked Abbott last year whether Texas would face a constitutional challenge if it adopted a law similar to one approved in Arizona that rescinds business licenses of companies caught hiring undocumented workers.

There’s another $10 million to prevent gunrunning to Mexico, and a few pots of money for those willing to compete for grants to supply equipment to fight drug trafficking or produce uniforms, tarps, or steel construction material for the “Buy American” clause.

Texas could receive $555 million in federal stimulus money if it changes the law to allow more people to qualify, but Perry has said he is opposed to using the federal rescue money to expand programs.

Combs said she expects the state to lose more than 100,000 jobs by September. About 27,000 already have been lost year to date. Even if more than 100,000 jobs are lost, that is only about 1 percent of the current Texas work force of more than 10 million, she said.

"When only 27 percent of eligible veterans receive a (Veterans Affairs) pension and only one in seven of eligible veterans' survivors receive a pension, we need to reach out," said state Sen. Eliot Shapleigh, D-El Paso, who was at a Northeast Veterans of Foreign Wars post Friday to announce the creation of an online newsletter to inform Texas veterans of their options.