Hot List Day 129

Day 129  of the 82nd Texas Legislature

LINE OF THE DAY
“Sanctuary cities is dead in the Senate.”
Sen. Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa after  senators unanimously voted to replace all the language in the House’s sanctuary city legislation, with language from the Senate’s homeland security bill.

OBSERVED
With most eyes focused on the fate of the budget, an important bill reforming eyewitness ID procedures passed quietly out of the Senate Wednesday. As Dave Mann reports, House Bill 215, would would reform the identification process—and could literally save lives.

BEST OF THE REST
With the clock winding down on the session, Texas lawmakers are still struggling to reach an agreement on the budget, and a special session this summer is seeming more and more likely. The pressure even prompted Gov. Rick Perry to get involved yesterday. In his latest column, Austin American Statesman reporter Jason Embry writes “lawmakers may well find the consensus they need in the final hour. But they might not need a miracle if someone had shown more leadership in all the previous hours.”

WHAT WE’RE WATCHING
It’s deja vu all over again. The House is expected to take up the “fiscal matters” bills today, which will give budget writers more than $4 billion more to work with. If they can’t get the bills passed, a special session on the budget seems all but inevitable.