With one weekend left in the candidate filing period, a compendium of who's submitted their paperwork so far to get on their respective party primary ballots.

A mid-filing period compendium of who's submitted their paperwork so far to get on their respective party primary ballots.

State Rep. Susan King suspends her campaign and CJ Grisham leaves the race in order to throw his support by who he said is the only other true conservative in the race.

Also, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick warns the Houston mayor not to try to revive the defeated HERO.

Also, Hillary Clinton lends a tweet of support to Houston's HERO ordinance, spurring a rebuke from Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick.

Donald Trump's inflammatory rants on illegal immigration spur a meeting set to happen before next week's GOP presidential debate in Colorado.

The Austin Democrat say he's ready "to pass the baton" to the next caucus leader. No word yet on when a successor will be named.

Also, just so you know, state Rep. Byron Cook, R-Corsicana, is running for re-election, and former Democratic gubernatorial nominee Wendy Davis commits early to Hillary Clinton.

Female lawmakers make up about 20 percent of both Texas legislative chambers. In a state where women and men make up an almost equal portion of the population, the lack of female voices in the Capitol raises questions.

While the the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas has yet to issue a decision in a longtime case on the constitutionality of district lines in Texas, a decision in the next year could impact the 2016 primary election. 

Also, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker makes a tour of Texas to meet voters and raise funds for his presidential campaign.

The upshot here: oil prices might not rebound to previously anticipated levels but unspent revenue cushions the blow to key revenue sources.

Don Zimmerman, a conservative Austin City Council member, is suing the city for campaign finance rules that he says are stacked against those who aren't wealthy or well-known — and observers say his lawsuit may succeed.

The Big Three report bigger balances in their campaign accounts in 2015.

The freeze on fundraising during the legislative session only allowed nine days of fundraising for lawmakers, but some of them made a big push for funds as the 2016 cycle begins. So did their challengers.

Political consultants on both sides say same-sex marriage and religious liberty issues will play a significant role as electoral races develop — beyond just giving candidates a way to boost campaign coffers.

Texas archivists are excited over the launch of the Texas Digital Archive, which is funded through the new state budget and will hold any digital files from state agencies that they deem of historical value to the state.

For some, the pressure is on to show good numbers for the eight days from the lifting of the session's moratorium on campaign contributions and the cutoff for the current fundraising filing period.

A couple of GOP Senate seats are the subject of speculation as hot primary contests.

After much effort, Ruth Jones McClendon was successful this session in passing legislation to create an innocence commission.

Also, several bills were sent Thursday to the governor's desk and a union dues bill heats up the Texas House.

A House committee Wednesday night voted 5-2 to approve a proposal to legalize marijuana in Texas — but that might be as far as the measure gets.

Bill author Van Taylor said SB 19 was one for the history books. Others, including John Whitmire, disagreed.

A handy guide of budget conferee rosters for the past six legislative sessions.

The proposal from House Ways and Means Chairman Dennis Bonnen, R-Angleton, to cut the state sales tax rate by 0.3 percent is nothing short of historic.

Forget burning the midnight oil. The House this week intruded on the breakfast hour when it debated the budget until 5:39 a.m.

It's a traditional session milestone — the day (and night) that the House debates the budget.

The Legislature hits a big milestone as the focus of session begins to migrate to the two chambers.

Some think the promised tax relief is too much, too soon while others think it tackles the wrong priority.

One of the biggest news stories of the week was Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker having his moment in the still-nascent campaign for the 2016 GOP presidential nomination.

In constant dollars, total public education funding lags behind 2006 levels.

We take a look this week at how the newly formed House committees stack up by party ID and by gender.

We take a look this week at how the newly formed Senate committees stack up by party ID and by gender. Women are significantly underrepresented on the Administration, Nominations and Finance committees. And in the most extreme example, there is not a single woman on the Business and Commerce Committee.

When the Texas Legislature met in 1971, only two senators and 10 representatives were Republicans. Now it's 20-11 in the Senate and (after the elections are settled, with our assumption about party shifts) 98-52 in the House. Here's how it looked in between the 62nd and 84th regular sessions.

Meanwhile, an independent analysis shows that the state needs $6 billion in additional general revenue to maintain "current services" in the next budget.