Hot List: Day 21 of the Legislature

The Lead:

The Senate appears to be revving into action with last week’s first meetings of the Senate Finance Committee, while the House seems to be taking its time as it awaits committee appointments. Last week education advocates essentially begged members of the Senate Finance Committee to restore the funds that were cut in the last legislative session.

Weekend Headlines:

1. At Saturday’s Texas Rally for Life, Gov. Rick Perry recounted the legislative measures taken to dissuade women from getting an abortion, as the Observer’s Beth Cortez-Neavel reports.

2. The Dallas Morning News previews Perry’s State of the State address that he’ll give on Tuesday. The speech may prove to be significantly different than the last due to the optimistic budget estimate and Perry’s gaffes as a presidential candidate.

3. The Texas Tribune reports that the election for the Harris County Senate seat, vacated by the death of Sen. Mario Gallegos, didn’t produce a winner and will go to a runoff election.

Line of the Day:

“No one is throwing creationists off campus; no one has created a creationist hit list or black list. The issue is the research they’re doing—is it sound or is it fraudulent?” –Dan Quinn, a spokesman for the Texas Freedom Network

What We’re Watching Today:

1. The Senate Finance Committee will begin at 10 a.m. as it continues to hear from institutions of higher education, including the Texas A&M University System and the University of Texas System.

2. The Senate Committee on Administration will hold its first meeting of the session. The Senate Committee on Agriculture, Rural Affairs, and Homeland Security and the Senate Committee on Education will hold a joint committee meeting. Senators are expected to discuss the issue of arming teachers. That promises to be interesting.