Bloggers are skewering Rep. Betty Brown, R-Terrell, after she shot both her feet and stuck them in her mouth during a committee hearing on voter identification legislation. Other hot topics in the blogosphere include Gov. Rick Perry's re-avowal of Texas sovereignty, possible conflicts of interest and bills advancing as the clock winds down on the 81st Regular Session. Wrapping it up is a miscellany of other posts, including video of a great golf shot.

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Hu-Dat?

Brown has said she's sorry for last week's verbal gaffe, which many people took to mean that Asian Americans should simplify their names to make it easier on English speakers.

Attorney Ramey Ko told KVUE's Political Junkie he appreciates Brown's apology but is still against the voter ID bill. Bay Area Houston posts a statement from the Asian American Democrats of Texas, and also makes up a fake statement that's not really from Brown.

Blables.com creates a fictional cartoon reenactment of the Brown-Ko exchange (and potentially offends another group of people in the process). Meanwhile, musings has video of the real conversation. And an In the Pink commenter notes that Academy Award winner Jamie Foxx (who changed his name from Eric Bishop) grew up in Terrell.

"You know, I was just thinking the other day that what this legislative session was lacking was a dose of absurdity," Off the Kuff says. "Not every name can be as straightforward and puritan as Bristol, Trig, and Trip [Palin], don'cha know," says mean rachel. According to readers of the Houston Chronicle's Texas on the Potomac, Brown's new nickname should be "Bubba" (the poll's open until the end of May).

Letters From Texas disses Brown in Chinese. Celebrity gossip blogger Perez Hilton takes note of the fiasco (as do Saturday Night Live and MSNBC, but their links weren't posted as this was written). And Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer, D-San Antonio, creates a "Betty Brown American Name Generator" and links to it on his Poli-Tex blog.

"Imagine telling a Polish American that his name needs a few extra vowels, just to make it easier to pronounce," says ABC13's Political Blog. "Stupid is as stupid does," says Swanky Conservative. And Junkie wins Headline of the Week Award with her entry titled, "I'm Changing My Name to Elise Hughes."

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Pleading The 10th

Blue Dot Blues was on scene for a presser featuring Gov. Perry and Rep. Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe, about HCR 50, reaffirming Texas' sovereignty under the 10th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Here are video highlights from KUT's Notes From The Lege.

Postcards (toting a movie camera) asked Perry if rival U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison was part of the federal government's expansion of powers. Yes! says the incumbent, promising a "long and distinguished list" of her actions promoting big government. Here's a response by Team Hutchison (from the Associated Press, quoted in the Houston Chronicle), via Rick vs. Kay.

Williamson Republic has details on the April 15 two-part "Tea Party" in Austin, in which Perry will be participating. And in other news, the Texas Legislature is taking steps toward ratifying the 23rd Amendment to the Constitution (poll tax ban), writes Chronic, the Austin Chronicle's blog.

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Interest vs. Interest

Texas Watchdog is calling out Rep. Randy Weber, R-Pearland, for taking money from "energy-related interests" then filing HB 4012, which they say "would weaken public checks and balances on polluting industries." Bay Area Houston says Democrats will be to blame if the Texas Residential Construction Commission isn't fixed this session, for real this time.

Texas Observer Blog is astounded that former Texas Commission on Environmental Quality Executive Director Glenn Shankle would turn right around and work as a lobbyist for Waste Control Specialists, a company wanting to bury radioactive waste in West Texas, the licensing of which was approved by Shankle.

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Ticking Time

Democratic senators held hands to symbolize their united opposition to an insurance sunset bill by Sen. Glenn Hegar, R-Katy, according to Burkablog. Later, Burka reports that Hegar is going to try again on Tuesday to pass the derned thing.

During a conference call live-blogged by Blue Dot Blues, Perry says he's backing sb 912 by Sen. Dan Patrick, R-Houston, which raises the margins tax threshold to a cool million dollars. Rep. Ryan Guillen, D-Rio Grande City, talks about five bills he laid out for committees last Monday on his El Wiri Wiri Blog. And Lone Star Times posts about local transportation funding bill SB 855 by Sen. John Carona, R-Dallas, wondering why it took "liberal democratic senator" Kirk Watson of Austin to propose an amendment requiring that the local funding elections be held in November during even-numbered years (when people seem to like voting).

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Melting Pot

U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton is calling it quits, says Tex Parte. The Bush appointee put two Border Patrol agents in the slammer for smuggler-shooting and sent former Texas Attorney General Dan Morales to jail for conspiracy and whatnot. Watchdog has announced the location and time for their Houston bloggers meet-up Tuesday on public information requests. And the state housing department plans to post a draft of its plan to allocate federal stimulus funds on "weatherization" by April 16, says Pollabear, who's got more details.

If you consider El Paso paradise (as we do), then there's trouble in there, specifically concerning state Reps. Marisa Marquez and Norma Chavez, according to NewspaperTree Blog. Meanwhile, Dallas.org swore they would shut down the blog in 2010 and now wants readers' ideas on what to do with the website, if they do indeed choose to close up shop. And Wednesday, winds knocked a couple of the Pink Dome's flags to half-mast, reports Postcards. The Guv's PR folks say the flags will stay removed until the south flagpoles are fixed.

The Cook Political Report says that 20 of Texas' 32 U.S. Congressional Districts are "VERY Republican" (+10 percentage points or more in the Red). Potomac says to thank former U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay for that. U.S. Rep. Kay Granger, once a speculated-upon contender for the U.S. Senate in 2010 (or whenever KBH isn't there anymore), has taken herself out of the running by endorsing former Texas Secretary of State Roger Williams. And Texas Off the Record reminisces about former Lt. Gov. Bob Bullock's efforts to renovate the Texas State Cemetery.

Nearly a dozen superintendents have signed on to a letter to the U.S. education secretary complaining about how Texas lawmakers want to spend federal stimulus funds, reports the Houston Chronicle's Texas Politics. The supers want the feds to tell Texas it has to use the $3 billion to boost school funding, not replace state funding for education.

Finally, Texas Rainmaker posts video of pro golfer Vijay Singh skipping a ball across a body of water for a hole-in-one. Cool trick.

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This edition of Out There was compiled and written by Patrick Brendel, who hails from Victoria but is semi-settled in Austin. We cherry-pick the state's political blogs each week, looking for news, info, gossip, and new jokes. The opinions here belong (mostly) to the bloggers, and we're including their links so you can hunt them down if you wish. Our blogroll — the list of Texas blogs we watch — is on our links page, and if you know of a Texas political blog that ought to be on it, just shoot us a note. Please send comments, suggestions, gripes or retorts to Texas Weekly editor Ross Ramsey.

A new poll says Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst is better known than former Comptroller John Sharp, who in turn is better known than Houston Mayor Bill White.

That survey, done by Global Strategy Group — a New York-based consulting and polling firm that has several Democratic and corporate clients — doesn't include any head-to-head results in a hypothetical race for U.S. Senate (at least none were released). But it tried to get a read on the "familiarity" of each candidate to voters. And incidentally, it was released to the press a couple of days in advance of the deadline for candidate campaign finance reports, a more reliable measure of how the competition is developing.

And the pollsters shanked White, saying he "appears to be a one-market candidate" who is better known than Dewhurst or Sharp in Houston but falls behind them everywhere else. They also tested some negative ideas about White and Sharp and conclude that White's the more vulnerable to attack.

Dewhurst, familiar to 55 percent of the voters surveyed, topped the list. Sharp got 41 percent, and White got 30 percent. The rest of the list: U.S. Rep. Kay Granger, R-Fort Worth, 25 percent; state Sen. Florence Shapiro, R-Plano, 25 percent; Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert, 23 percent; Railroad Commissioners Michael Williams and Elizabeth Ames Jones, 11 percent and 8 percent, respectively; and former Texas Secretary of State Roger Williams, 9 percent. Granger has endorsed Roger Williams for that spot, should it open up.

Give Shapiro points for best spin, putting this headline on the results: "SHAPIRO HAS HIGHEST NAME ID AMONG ANNOUNCED GOP CANDIDATES." Dewhurst, see, hasn't said what he'll do.

The current occupant is Kay Bailey Hutchison, who's looking hard at a race for governor against fellow Republican Rick Perry.

Pollster Jef Pollock didn't return calls seeking comment. The survey was done March 30-April 1, included 603 "randomly selected voters" and has a margin of error of +/-4.0 percent.

The details aren't available yet, but look at the totals: Former Comptroller John Sharp raised $2.5 million "in cash and loans" during the first three months of the year and Houston Mayor Bill White raised $1.8 million during that period.

Sharp wasn't dragging the sack until January; if you add in White's December numbers, they're about even: White's at $2.6 million to Sharp's $2.5 million.

The money might be accumulating, but there's no race yet. The two Democrats have their eye on the U.S. Senate position occupied by Republican Kay Bailey Hutchison, who has her eye on the governor's post occupied by Rick Perry.

It was the kind of event Ron Paul supporters dream of having.

More than 1,000 conservatives of differing stripes showed up at Austin City Hall for the first of two "tea party" protests scheduled in the state's capital. Similar events were taking place in about 600 cities across America.

Attendees toted an assortment of signs (more than a few recycled from Paul's run for President last year) against and for various causes, but one message summed up the sentiment of the crowd: "Big Gov't Sucks." (One man told us, "If you're not a right-wing extremist, you should be ashamed of yourself.")

A string of speakers — including incumbent Gov. Rick Perry and U.S. Senate explorer Michael Williams — skewered federal pork and dished out red meat.

Dressed as if he had just gotten back from a fishing trip, or a seminar on populism, a ball-capped, light-jacketed Perry greeted the crowd as "true patriots," championed the economic accomplishments of Texas and disparaged "the folks in D.C. rampaging through the halls of Congress."

He signed off with the signature valediction of former Democratic Lt. Gov. Bob Bullock, "God bless Texas."

Perry's message at the rally (the first of three he was scheduled to attend across the state) could presage an argument in his GOP primary contest against U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, assuming she runs.

Perry's involvement in the tea parties is an example of his efforts to consolidate the conservative base of the Texas GOP and tap into an anti-Washington sentiment now in vogue among Republicans, says former Hutchison aide Matt Mackowiak, now a political consultant who assures us he doesn't have a dog in the Perry-Hutchison fight.

"He's obviously trying to align himself as much as possible with the positive energy at the tea parties," Mackowiak says. "But I don't see him appearing at a rally one day in April having much impact on an election on one day in March next year."

Texans for Fiscal Responsibility's Michael Quinn Sullivan, one of the event organizers, says Perry is brandishing his ideological guns.

"I can't help but think in some ways that the Governor has done something politicians are not supposed to do. He has stepped out and drawn a line in the sand, and said, 'These are the things I stand by and judge my terms by them,'" Sullivan said.

Hutchison, meanwhile, donned her writer's cap with an op-ed letter in the Austin American-Statesman touting her efforts in office to rein in the Democratic-controlled U.S. Legislature. That letter is indicative of the sort of message Hutchison will try to communicate in the next year, Mackowiak said.

The Perry-Hutchison matchup will probably be one of politics versus personality, he said, predicting that Perry will corner the conservative wing of the GOP, while Hutchison's strength will be in attracting moderate voters to cast their lots in the open primary.

Texas Democrats, whose gubernatorial contenders now include 2006 independent Kinky Friedman, were paying attention to Perry. Party chair Boyd Richie sent out a statement calling him hypocritical for posturing against federal spending while accepting billions in stimulus dollars. Additionally, Perry's rejection of $556 million in unemployment insurance funds would force a tax increase on small businesses, Richie said.

"If tea party attendees want to talk about "tax and spenders," they ought to be protesting against Rick Perry," Richie said.

Rep. Dan Gattis, R-Georgetown, disagrees with that characterization, saying, "I have to applaud Gov. Perry. From the beginning, he was an early critic of stimulus funds and bailouts coming out of Washington, D.C."

Gattis attended the Austin event because he believes in the cause, he said.

"The federal system has run amok. That is one of the reasons I joint-authored HCR 50 [reaffirming Texas' sovereignty under the 10th Amendment]," Gattis said.

There is "some immorality" to the idea of passing on the cost of the federal stimulus to subsequent generations of taxpayers, he said. "There is not a special money tree in Washington."

Railroad Commissioner Williams was a big hit. Crowd members booed on cue when he dropped names like George Soros, Michael Moore and ACORN. They cheered when he referred to God and Abraham Lincoln.

He lashed out at President Barack Obama, saying, "The President said he was for hope and change. I just hope he changes."

Williams also criticized the federal government: "The fact is, Washington, there would be no tea parties if you weren't spending like it's a bachelor party."

Now that the tea parties are over, what are attendees going to do? "That is the question," Sullivan said. "Getting together for a rally is fun, but the point has got to be continued engagement," he said.

Toward that end, Sullivan, Perry and Americans for Prosperity Texas director Peggy Venable urged crowd members to sign up via text message to receive more information.

One of the remarkable things about the tea parties is that no single entity was in charge of them, Sullivan said. The morning protest in Austin was the product of collaboration among TFR, Venable's group, the Young Conservatives of Texas, the Texas Libertarian Party and others. The Texas GOP got involved late, and they gladly welcomed its participation, he said.

"The crowd was excited about being positive about who we are in Texas, instead of just being against Washington," Sullivan said.

— by a Texas Weekly Correspondent

Mental illness is a key factor in driving up correctional costs in Texas.

There are 42,556 offenders with a mental health diagnosis in prison, 55,276 on probation, and 21,345 on parole. Additionally, some 170,000 mentally ill inmates are admitted into Texas county jails every year.

Mentally ill inmates cost more to house and they stay longer. They are also more likely to recidivate.

Fortunately, there are policies that can reduce both the recidivism and cost associated with the mentally ill in the criminal justice system.

First, counties can divert mentally ill offenders from jail through programs that protect public safety while saving taxpayer dollars.

Bexar County has established a successful three-pronged jail diversion program that can serve as a model for other Texas counties.

First, it employs specially trained law enforcement personnel called Crisis Intervention Teams (CIT). These teams are often able to defuse incidents involving the mentally ill without an arrest. Participants in CIT programs spent on average two more months out of jail than non-diverted individuals, resulting in significant jail cost savings. While the largest Texas metropolitan police departments have CIT personnel, smaller police departments can create a CIT program through cooperatives with other nearby departments.

With Bexar County’s second prong, arrested offenders are screened for mental illness and, if not a threat to public safety, released on a mental health bond or to a treatment center. Screenings are conducted at the Crisis Care Center, a 24-hour facility that provides significantly quicker service at a lower cost than the emergency room. Once stabilized, offenders are released on a mental health bond. Because the wait for a trial date can be as long as six months, outpatient monitoring significantly reduces the utilization of county jail space.

Finally, Bexar County diverts such misdemeanants from jail through an initiative called MANOS, which includes intensive case management that consists of outpatient medication management and counseling.

Of the 371 offenders admitted to the MANOS Program, only 6.2 percent were re-incarcerated. This compares to a re-incarceration rate of 67 percent for mentally ill offenders without the intensive case management services offered by the jail diversion program.

Savings from Bexar County’s jail diversion program are estimated at between $3.8 million and $5.0 million per year.

The state can also take steps to address the impact of mental illness on the criminal justice system. About 2,500 probationers and 800 parolees participate in a state-funded initiative involving intensive case management and a smaller caseload with a specially trained officer.

The three-year re-incarceration rate is 15.1 percent for participating probationers is and 16.0 percent for parolees. In contrast, there is a 52 percent re-incarceration rate for mentally ill probationers and parolees who do not receive treatment. Increasing the number of probationers and parolees in this program could more than pay for itself through lower recidivism.

Another way to address mental illness in the criminal justice system is through mental health courts. Several Texas counties — including Bexar, El Paso, Tarrant, and Dallas — have established mental health courts in which a judge orders the defendant to obtain treatment and supervises his progress. A RAND Institute study found significant cost savings from mental health courts due to lower jail utilization.

Finally, defendants who are mentally incompetent to stand trial can be diverted from a state hospital. In 2008, the state launched outpatient competency restoration pilot programs. Taking Travis, Tarrant, Bexar, and Dallas Counties together, some 427 offenders are projected to be served in 2009. The total cost of these four programs is $2.16 million compared with the state hospital cost of $14.9 million based on an average cost of $35,000 per offender. Accordingly, it makes sense to expand these pilot programs to additional sites.

Mentally ill offenders will always pose a substantial challenge in the criminal justice system. But through initiatives like these, we can achieve our goals of enhanced public safety and reduced costs to taxpayers.

Marc A. Levin is Director of the Center for Effective Justice at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, a non-profit, free-market research institute based in Austin.

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Texas Weekly's Soapbox is a venue for opinions, spins, alternate takes, and other interesting stuff sent in by readers and others. We moderate submissions to keep crazy people out, and anonymous commentary is ineligible. Readers can respond (through the moderator) to things posted here. Got something to submit? We're interested in everything from full-blown opinion pieces to short bits to observations or tidbits that have escaped us and the mass media. One rule: Your name goes on your words. Call or send an email: Ross Ramsey, Editor, Texas Weekly, 512/288-6598, [email protected].

Gambling is easy to bet against this session, but there's a very interesting spreadsheet floating around — the bones of the omnibus gaming bill promised by Rep. Edmund Kuempel, R-Seguin.

It's not in bill form, as far as we know, but the highlights would include casino gaming allowed in six major markets and on three island locations, with licensing fees of up to $50 million per casino. They'd be taxed at five to 15 percent — higher rates for smaller developments and lower rates for big ones, to encourage economic development.

Video Lottery Terminals — called VLTs in the industry and slot machines by the rest of us — would be allowed in horse and dog tracks and in places now licensed for bingo. That last bit means VFW rooms and churches could get up to five VLTs for each license held. Elsewhere, VLTs would be based on the square footage given to gaming in a given location.

Gaming would be allowed in properties owned by the state's three Indian tribes: the Alabama-Coushattas, the Kickapoos, and the Tiguas (though concerns about the Tigua governor's rap sheet have raised political questions about gaming there). And gambling purses would be set at 12 percent and allowed to drop only after Texas surpassed total gambling in other states.

That said, it's difficult to find lawmakers — sponsors, even — who'll bet much on getting the two-thirds votes needed to pass a constitutional amendment expanding gambling.

The governor wants to turn down $556 million in Unemployment Insurance money from the federal government, but the Senate doesn't see it that way. That chamber voted 22-9 to "modernize" unemployment to meet federal stimulus guidelines to get that money. Opponents fear the state will get locked into a more expensive UI program. The feds have said the state can change back when the money runs out, but the Guv and others doubt the state would go backwards once a more generous program has been put in place. Sen. Kevin Eltife, R-Tyler, and other supporters say the federal money will reduce the assessments on business for the insurance program and is well worth the $70 million to $80 million the changes add to the annual costs. All of the Senate's Democrats voted for the bill (one more vote is required to move it along); Republicans were split 10-9 in favor of it.

• The Supreme Court has revisited its controversial ruling in Entergy v. Summers — a worker's compensation case. And there are signs the Lege doesn't like the way that went. The House Business & Industry Committee voted unanimously for HB 1657, which would rewrite that law to make it clear that premises owners don't share the liability protections given to contractors who have worker's comp insurance.

• The Senate voted to "local option funding" to build local roads and that's on the way to the House. The 21-9 vote on Sen. John Carona's bill would allow local option gas taxes of up to 10 cents per gallon, and/or fees on vehicle registrations (including a new "road impact fee"), parking on government property, vehicle emissions, and driver's licenses. None of those things could take effect without a public vote in the affected areas. The locals would be barred from collecting more than they needed to pay for the projects they choose, and would have to stop collecting the taxes or fees once the projects were completed. The push for the bill started in the Dallas-Fort Worth area — Carona's home court — but would apply elsewhere as well. A constitutional amendment that would allow the money to go to road and rail projects — Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth, carried that one — also passed. If the House likes that one, voters will have the final say.

• The Senate okayed starting a new state law school in Dallas four miles from the private one at Southern Methodist University. If the measure passes, and gets funded by the appropriators, there will be a University of North Texas at Dallas College of Law in that city's downtown.

• The People of Tort are warring over an asbestos/mesothelioma bill approved by the Senate. Short form: It changes the legal standards for linking asbestos in a product to the disease in a plaintiff. Labor and trial lawyers support the changes; the Texas Civil Justice League and Texans for Lawsuit Reform oppose them. That's on the way to the House. That tentatively passed in the Senate and has to pass one more hurdle before it moves on to the House.

• Mark Homer's HJR 53, which would replace the attorney general with the agriculture commissioner on the Legislative Redistricting Board, is out of committee and on the way to the full House. That's the five-member panel that draws political districts if the Legislature locks up and can't do so itself. Attorney General Greg Abbott declined invitations to testify on Voter ID legislation earlier in the session, reasoning that he might have to defend the state later and should stay off the playing field to avoid conflicts. Homer, a Paris Democrat, and Sen. Robert Duncan, R-Lubbock, say he should stay out of redistricting for the same reason. The Lege will attempt to draw new congressional, Senate and House districts during its next regular session, which will follow the 2010 national census. The LRB currently includes the AG, the lieutenant governor, the speaker of the House, the comptroller and the land commissioner. All five (and the ag commissioner, too) are Republicans.

• An ambitious and expensive pre-kindergarten bill that was languishing in spite of its adornments — more than 90 co-authors are signed on — is out of committee and on its way. Nobody seems to be against it, really, but two objections have slowed it. It's got a $300 million annual price tag. And while it would send money into the public schools, it would come with strings attached. School districts would rather have the money without the strings, so they can use it as they please instead of for a new program.

• And a bill finally reached the governor for approval, more than 90 days into the 140-day session. Worse yet, it was one of the "emergency" bills Perry designated for consideration early in the session. The bill would allow utilities to raise rates through the Public Utility Commission to rebuild what they lost in last year's hurricanes.

If Texas passes a Voter ID bill, it'll have to be approved by the U.S. Department of Justice or a federal court under the Voting Rights Act.Texas is one of several states covered because of a history of racial discrimination, and has to have federal approval when it changes its election laws. The Texas branch of the ACLU asked the feds whether they'd have a say, and got a letter back saying it would have to be cleared like any other change.

• Move Kinky Friedman from the "considering" square to the "exploring" square. He's looking at a second run for governor in 2010, this time as a Democrat. And he says he's serious this time, though he still wants to be funny (his letter is here). Friedman finished fourth in 2006, behind Rick Perry, Chris Bell, and Carole Keeton Strayhorn, running as an independent. This time, he says his heroes have always been Democrats, and says he'll support the Democratic nominee, whoever that turns out to be. Right now, he and Fort Worth businessman/lawyer/ambassador Tom Schieffer are the two names in the Democratic column. Friedman's treasurer is Abel Dominguez, a San Antonio attorney who helped in Democrat Victor Morales' campaign for U.S. Senate in 1996. And Friedman says he's getting advice from former Texas Agriculture Commissioner Jim Hightower.

• Railroad Commissioner and prospective U.S. Senate candidate Michael Williams has a list of 1,600 people he says are supporting his bid to replace Kay Bailey Hutchison when she resigns or her term is up. A few names you might recognize: Ernie Angelo Jr. of Midland, Merrie Spaeth of Dallas, and Richard Collins of Dallas. Add a few who can't vote but support him anyway: Newt Gingrich, Rudy Giuliani, Lynn Swann, and J.C. Watts.

One in six Texans think it's a good idea, according to Rasmussen Reports.In a new survey, the pollster found that 31 percent of Texans think the state has the right to take its basketball and go home, but that 75 percent think Texas should remain part of the United States. The quickie survey was inspired by Gov. Rick Perry's comments at an anti-government "Tea Party" rally in Austin. Perry, as quoted by the Associated Press: "Texas is a unique place. When we came into the union in 1845, one of the issues was that we would be able to leave if we decided to do that. My hope is that America and Washington in particular pays attention. We’ve got a great union. There’s absolutely no reason to dissolve it. But if Washington continues to thumb their nose at the American people, who knows what may come of that." The pollsters also took a peak at the coming race for governor (at least on the GOP side). Perry is viewed favorably by 55 percent of the voters. U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison is viewed favorably by 67 percent. Republicans like both of them, the survey said: Perry got 78 percent, Hutchison 83 percent.

Unemployment rose to 6.7 percent in March in Texas, up from 6.5 percent in February and up from 4.6 percent in March 2008. The Texas Workforce Commission said 47,100 people lost their jobs in March, bringing the net job losses in Texas over the last 12 months to 106,500. Construction and manufacturing led the losses. The state gained jobs in trade, transportation and utilities, and in financial services. The lowest unemployment rate in the state was 4.3 percent, in Midland. The highest was in McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, at 9.5 percent.

After 18 hours of debate and consideration of 225 amendments, the Texas House unanimously approved a $178.4 billion budget that's almost $4 billion smaller than one passed earlier by the Senate.They finished at about 4 o'clock this morning. Next play: A conference committee to reconcile the two bills. The House voted down amendments on merit pay for teachers and publicly funded vouchers for private schools. And they added some things. The governor would lose money in the Texas Enterprise Fund if he decides not to take federal stimulus money for Unemployment Insurance. They voted to slash the governor's budget and use the money for veterans and the mentally ill.