Dallas Morning News writer Wayne Slater is recovering from successful heart surgery at an Austin hospital.Slater, according to colleagues at the paper, felt some chest pains at home over the weekend. They found he had a damaged valve in his heart and set out to replace it. They didn't have to, as it turned out. After four hours in surgery on Mondayat Austin Heart Hospital, they were able to repair the mitral valve in his heart. All is well. They're not allowing him any visitors, other than family, until later this week. Latest word: No visitors on Wednesday, and they're hoping — politely — for manageable traffic after that. If you're skipping the hospital, or waiting until things settle down, send a note to Slater's email address: wslater@dallasnews.com.

The U.S. Supreme Court turned down an opportunity to undo the federal Voting Rights Act in a lawsuit started when a Texas utility district moved a polling place without permission. Here's the ruling in Northwest Austin Municipal Utility District Number One vs. Holder. The court was asked to do two things: To allow the MUD to "bail out" of the Voting Rights Act under provisions that have previously been used only by whole counties, and to strike down the part of that law that requires federal officials to pre-clear voting changes in states and locations where voting discrimination occurred in the past. The court said okay on bailouts, and left pre-clearance alone. That would have had an impact on redistricting in Texas and elsewhere next year, but with this ruling, new state political districts will have to be approved by the U.S. Department of Justice before they can be used. And that'll be the first time in the history of redistricting that a Democratic administration's Justice Department has had the say-so on those maps. Since the VRA was passed in the 1960s, Republican presidents have been in office each time the maps were drawn in 1971, 1981, 1991, and 2001.

By virtue of vetoes and a special session, Gov. Rick Perry dominates bloggers' conversations this week. They're chatting about the 2010 gubernatorial contest, the impending U.S. Senate campaign, additional political contests and criminal justice. Wrapping it up is news out of College Station.

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Like a Guv

The Austin Chronicle's Newsdesk breaks down Perry's vetoes by chamber, city and party. The Austin American-Statesman's Postcards takes closer looks at vetoed bills on volunteer tax centers, pre-kindergarten and CPS. They also look at an endorsed one on electronic textbooks.

"The bicycling community will never forgive Governor Perry," for vetoing a "safe passing" bill, the Houston Chronicle's Texas Politics reports. Meanwhile, Lone Star Times describes successful lobbying efforts against a Child Protective Services bill that Perry vetoed (to the author's approval, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram's PoliTex). And Grits for Breakfast reviews criminal justice bills executed by the governor.

Perry told reporters that the special session's objective will be to "get in, get those five agencies addressed, and go on back to your homes," PoliTex says. Newsdesk rounds up some special session wishes from some senators and representatives. And Rep. Aaron Peña, D-Edinburg, told the Greater McAllen Chamber of Commerce that he expects the special session to be brief and voter ID-less.

Texas Politics showed up for Perry's first big campaign appearance. Here's another report from PoliTex and video from the host's blog at Texans for Rick Perry. And Texans for Rick Perry recognizes the 10,000 follower of their Twitter account, @GovernorPerry, while a photo of Perry with a gun caught Texican Tattler's eye.

PoliTex reports on Perry's new chief of staff Ray Sullivan. Postcards says Sullivan's hiring "makes sense... as he shifts his focus fully to his re-election campaign."

The El Paso Times' Vaqueros and Wonkeros knows who'll be leading U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison's (expected) campaign in far West Texas. And Democrat Tom Schieffer goes on record about Iraq and Guantanamo Bay during a Texas Politics podcast.

Notes from the Lege participated in three discussions with the folks behind the Statesman's First Readings and Texas Monthly's BurkaBlog and State of Mine. Topics addressed include voter identification, the GOP gubernatorial contest and other 2010 races.

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Senate Hands

Pollabear says saying the Democratic primary contest between former Comptroller John Sharp and Houston Mayor Bill White is sure to be contentious. Neither Sharp nor White gave enough consideration to a question about the federal Defense of Marriage Act, in Texas Cloverleaf's opinion. And Castle Hills Democrat tells what happened at a Democratic fish fry attended by Schieffer, Sharp, White and congressional candidate Neil Durrance.

White made a trip down to McAllen last week and picked up an endorsement from A Capitol Blog, who videotaped the whole thing. ABC13's Political Blog writes about some recent White activity. And the claims of a former Hutchison staffer on Rick vs. Kay landed him in hot water with the Michael Williams U.S. Senate campaign.

Capitol Annex sent Texas Railroad Commissioner Elizabeth Ames Jones' media relations folks into full denial mode after he passed along a tip that she is going to end her U.S. Senate bid. (If the rumor turns out to be true, among the disappointed will be former U.S. Commerce Secretary Robert Mosbacher, who endorsed Jones at the end of the week, according to Texas Politics.)

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Race Running

A Burnt Orange Report reader contributes a report on State Board of Education candidates who want to replace District 10 incumbent Cynthia Dunbar. Poli-Tex has additional info. In the field is Lorenzo Sadun, who ran an unsuccessful write-in campaign for Congress (in CD-10) in 2004 (against now-incumbent U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul). Sadun is a UT-Austin math professor and sometimes blogger for Texas Blue and Burnt Orange. Meanwhile, the Texas Freedom Network Insider is sponsoring SBOE candidate training.

Analyzing HD-92, represented by Rep. Todd Smith, R-Euless, since 1996, Burnt Orange declares, "Smith is his own worst enemy now," and any decent, well-funded Democrat should be able to give him a run for his money in 2010. (Smith's district has a Texas Weekly Index of 25.3 in the GOP's favor.)

Trail Blazers writes about Republicans' efforts to win House seats. Head House Democrat Jim Dunnam, D-Waco, is not impressed. And Greg's Opinion says the only difference between Texas and big states that have gone over to the Blue Team recently is the lack of Democratic investment.

U.S. Rep. Brian McCall, R-Plano, tells the Morning News' Plano blog that he likes his spot on the House Calendars committee.

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About Crime

Grits has a summary of a Public Safety Commission members' discussion of the "Driver Responsibility" program, funded by hefty surcharges on traffic violations. An Austin attorney writes in to Burka about mesothelioma and tort reform. And Tex Parte Blog has the latest developments in the fraud case involving Texas billionaire R. Allen Stanford.

The Legislative Budget Board was just about spot-on in its prison population estimates, Grits says. New Houston judge Michael C. Massengale is just a baby, Tex Parte says. And Off the Kuff sees Massengale's seat as one more opportunity for Democrats in 2010.

Tex Parte marks the 90th birthday of Dallas lawyer Louise Raggio. Her son Grier Raggio is a Democrat who's taking on U.S. Rep. Pete Sessions. And the Houston Chronicle's Texas on the Potomac tracks developments in the impeachment of imprisoned retired federal Judge Samuel Kent.

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Aggie-business

Texas Aggie Rhetoric & Rhythm wants A&M Chancellor Mike McKinney's head on a platter over the resignation of A&M President Elsa Murano. Meanwhile, U.S. Sen. Hutchison tells university leaders to cease shenanigans, says PoliTex. And Murano's predecessor, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, isn't planning on returning to his old job anytime soon, according to Potomac.

Chron.com and other Texas newspaper websites didn't do too well in a recent analysis by 24/7 Wall Street, notes Brazosport News. Got public records but don't know how to make sense of them? Texas Watchdog is offering free data-crunching services for Texans. And Watchdog reports from an investigative journalists' conference in Baltimore, Md.

Poli-Tex's Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer, D-San Antonio, took pictures at the Mexican American Legislative Caucus's Sine Die party. Rep. Norma Chavez, D-El Paso, and other elected Texans are making a trip to Washington, D.C., to lobby for Pres. Barack Obama's health care plan, according to Vaqueros.

U.S. Sen. John Cornyn will be having tea July 4 in Austin, according to Walker Report. U.S. Rep. John Carter refused John Carter Watch's friend request on Facebook. Now the blog is shutting down. And war critic Panhandle Truth Squad gleefully pens a letter to Republican U.S. Rep. Mac Thornberry, who voted against a war funding measure because of its nonmilitary appendages.

Potomac took a camera to the annual congressional baseball game. Ron Paul was the only U.S. Rep. to vote against condemning the Iranian government. He explains why on Potomac. And here's a multimedia story on Juneteenth by Potomac.

Lotsa uncontested bills passed the House this session, Texas Politics says.

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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.

Texans are focused on the economy — and relatively pessimistic about the national outlook — according to a new public policy poll done by the Texas Lyceum.

Texans think the state economy is in better shape than the national economy and that their children will be better off or at least equal in prosperity. They also think the worst is ahead, and they're opposed to bailouts of carmakers and financial institutions. And just to turn that on it's head, they'd be willing to spend more money — even if it increases deficits — on roads, education, energy technology, and on affordability and accessibility of health care.

They're also solidly in favor of Voter ID, open to legalizing same-sex unions, and split almost evenly on taxpayer funding for stem cell research.

The telephone poll — The poll was conducted for the group by Daron Shaw of the University of Texas at Austin and by James Henson, director of the Texas Politics Project at UT — was done after the legislative session, during the June 5-12 period, and included 860 adults. The margin of error is +/- 3.34 percent. It was commissioned by the Texas Lyceum, a statewide leadership organization. Full poll results (and those for two previous polls) are online here. And the group followed the next day with a poll on statewide political races.

Texans are split on the overall direction of things, with 48 percent saying the U.S. is moving in the right direction and 45 percent saying the country is on the wrong track. They overwhelmingly agree that the economy and unemployment are the most important issue facing the country (62 percent), with health care, at 12 percent, far behind. The most important issues facing the state? Economy/Unemployment (35 percent), Immigration/Border Control/Illegal Immigrants (13 percent), and Health Care/Vaccination (8 percent).

They believe the country is worse off than a year ago (58 percent), and put Unemployment and Jobs at the top of the economic issues in Texas (41 percent) in general, and for themselves and their families in particular (27 percent). Even so, many Texans say they are personally in about the same shape they were in a year ago (46 percent) or in better shape (17 percent) economically. For more than a third, however, the economic situation has worsened over the year. Two in five Texans think their children will be better off than they are and another 18 percent think their kids will be about the same economically. Texans are pessimistic about the immediate prospects for the national economy, with 53 percent saying the worst is yet to come. Almost two-thirds believe the Texas economy is healthier than the national economy, and only 8 percent think things are worse here than in the rest of the country.

The respondents were relatively confident about their own situations, but worry about the financial markets and how they're personally affected. More than three-quarters are "very" or "somewhat" confident they can make their mortgage or rent payments and 85 percent are confident in the stability of their banks. Three in five believe their jobs are secure. But Texans are split when asked about the safety of their retirement funds, and almost two-thirds are "not very" or "not at all" confident about investing in the stock market.

Nearly a third have stopped putting money in their retirement accounts in the last 12 months, but almost as many have started new retirement accounts in the same period, and one in five moved retirement money into less risky investments. About a fourth of respondents put off education or training for financial reasons and more than a third put off the purchase of a car. Smaller but significant numbers prematurely pulled money out of retirement accounts, put off their retirement dates, or put off selling their homes.

By a two-to-one margin, Texans think the federal government will spend too much money (rather than too little) trying to boost the economy. But they're choosy about where they're willing and unwilling to spend. Three in five (62 percent) would support higher spending on roads and infrastructure even if that would increase government deficits, but 71 percent oppose more spending to bail out financial institutions, and 64 percent oppose more spending to keep automakers from failure. Most (74 percent) favor more spending on energy technology, to make health care more affordable and accessible (66 percent), and to improve education systems (78 percent). Slightly more than half would favor tax cuts even if those cuts lead to deficits. They're divided on whether to increase regulation of financial institutions. And almost two-thirds believe automakers should be allowed to succeed or fail without government intervention.

Texans are confident that the economic stimulus is helping to make the downturn less severe than it would otherwise be (58 percent), and most are willing to wait to decide whether the Obama Administration policies are working. Their patience varies: 24 percent will wait two or more years; 20 percent will wait two years; 29 percent will wait a year; and 23 percent said they're already out of patience.

Texas turned down $556 million in unemployment insurance stimulus funds, and 58 percent of our respondents agree with Gov. Rick Perry that the money had too many strings attached. Another 34 percent thought the state did the wrong thing in turning down money to shore up that program.

Most Texans don't oppose same-sex unions, but they're split in their support for marriage or civil unions. While more than a third (36 percent) oppose either arrangement, 32 percent said they would support civil unions and another 25 percent think same-sex marriages should be permitted. The poll found a distinct partisan difference, with civil unions as the preference of 29 percent of Democrats, 31 percent of Independents and 37 percent of Republicans; same-sex marriage the preferred alternative of 36 percent of Democrats, 25 percent of Independents, and 14 percent of Republicans. Allowing neither of those alternatives was the preference of 29 percent of Democrats, 25 percent of Independents, and 43 percent of Republicans.

The recent legislative session ended without any resolution of the Voter ID issue, which divided Republicans and Democrats in the Legislature. But voters support the idea (71 percent), and more than half of them "strongly" support it (54 percent). It's a winner across party lines, with support among Democrats (58 percent), Independents (68 percent), and Republicans (86 percent). Support for Voter ID is stronger among Anglos (88 percent) and African-Americans (85 percent) than with Hispanics (69 percent), but all of those groups support the idea. And only 2 percent of Texans are undecided on the issue.

Texans are evenly split over the use of state tax dollars to fund embryonic stem cell research, with 48 percent saying they would support that and 46 percent saying they would oppose it. The intensity of feeling on that issue was roughly even, with 27 percent "strongly" in support and 30 percent "strongly" in opposition.

Disclosure Being Good for the Soul: Our editor helped kick around the questions that were asked in the poll and wrote the poll summaries to explain all of those numbers that resulted. Now you know.

Gov. Rick Perry leads U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison among likely Republican primary voters, according to a new poll done for the Texas Lyceum.That survey has the governor leading his primary challenger by 12 percentage points — 33 to 21 percent — with a large number of voters — 41 percent — still undecided. A small group — 1 percent — expressed support for state Rep. Leo Berman. Perry leads Hutchison among self-identified Republicans 40 percent to 18 percent, but that's also the group with the largest number of undecided voters, at 48 percent. Hutchison carries 49 percent of self-identified Democrats and Independents who say they plan to vote in the GOP primary, compared to 23 percent for Perry and 29 percent undecided. Voters clearly haven't tuned into the Democratic primary contest — 81 percent haven't made a choice. Those who have like Kinky Friedman, with 10 percent; Tom Schieffer, with 6 percent, then state Sen. Leticia Van de Putte, with 3 percent (Van de Putte announced this week that after looking at the race she doesn't intend to run). They're largely undecided on their favorite candidates for U.S. Senate, should Hutchison resign late this year and prompt a special election in May 2010. Given the choice of six Republicans and two Democrats who've expressed interest in that race, 71 percent said they either haven't decided or didn't want to say. Houston Mayor Bill White led the pack with 9 percent, followed by Attorney General Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, with 4 percent; Railroad Commissioner Elizabeth Ames Jones and former Texas Secretary of State Roger Williams, 3 percent; and state Sen. Florence Shapiro, former Comptroller John Sharp, and Railroad Commissioner Michael Williams, at 2 percent. Sharp and White are Democrats; the others are Republicans. The poll was conducted for the Texas Lyceum, a statewide leadership organization, by Daron Shaw of the University of Texas at Austin and by James Henson, director of the Texas Politics Project at UT. They polled 860 people by telephone on June 5-12. The margin of error is a little different on each part of the poll. Everyone was asked about the U.S. Senate race and the approval/disapproval questions, and the margin of error there is +/-3.34 percent (which means, in that Senate result, that everyone in the pack is in a statistical tie right now). The subgroup saying they were "certain" or "likely" to vote in the GOP primary was smaller, so the margin of error on that gubernatorial primary is +/- 6.04 percent; in the Democratic primary, it's +/-6.14 percent. Full poll results (and those for two previous polls) are online here. And the group preceded this political poll with one on the economy and other policy issues the previous day. Texans think President Barack Obama is doing a "very" or "somewhat" good job with the economy (63 percent), and they like the way he's handling his job as president more generally (68 percent). The number of Texans who don't have an opinion on either of those two assessments was very small. Asked to grade Perry's performance, 57 percent said they approve and 30 percent said they don't approve. Hutchison got good marks from 65 percent and bad ones from 17 percent. U.S. Sen. John Cornyn has the approval of 55 percent and disapproval of 19 percent. The Texas Legislature, which finished the regular session several days before the polling began, has the approval of 58 percent of respondents and disapproval of 28 percent — numbers almost identical to Perry's.

Disclosure Being Good for the Soul: Our editor helped kick around the questions that were asked in the poll and wrote the poll summaries to explain all of those numbers that resulted. Now you know.

The governor wants lawmakers back in Austin next week to finish work left undone during the five- month regular session. The Guv's announcement, in full (and a link to the proclamation, here):

Gov. Rick Perry today announced that a special session of the Texas Legislature will begin on Wednesday, July 1, at 10 a.m.   "The 81st Legislative Session was one of the most successful in recent memory, providing a tax cut to 40,000 small businesses and increasing financial aid for college students by more than 40 percent, all without touching our states Rainy Day Fund," Gov. Perry said. "After speaking with legislators I am calling a special session to extend the operation of five critical agencies and help reduce gridlock by continuing to provide options for financing our state’s highways."   The special session will consider the following issues:   • Legislation extending the existence of five state agencies that were subject to sunset review by the 81st Legislature that would otherwise be abolished without legislative action, and to change the review schedule for certain state agencies to balance the Sunset Advisory Commission’s workload. These agencies include the Texas Department of Transportation, Texas Department of Insurance, Texas Racing Commission, Office of Public Insurance Counsel and Texas State Affordable Housing Corporation. • Legislation allowing the Texas Department of Transportation to issue general obligation bonds, which have already been approved by voters, for highway improvement projects, and for the creation, administration, financing and use of a Texas Transportation Revolving Fund to provide financial assistance for transportation projects. • Legislation extending the authority of the Texas Department of Transportation and a regional mobility authority to use comprehensive development agreements to design, finance, build and maintain transportation infrastructure.

A special session can last up to 30 days, but it doesn't have to — especially when things are worked out in advance.

The short sessions since 1982 weighed in at 5 days, 3, 4, 3, 2, 4, 7, and 7*. And there haven't been any shorties since 1992, when lawmakers took a week in January to pass redistricting legislation, trying to beat the clock for the March primaries. (*Source these dates to the Legislative Reference Library: May 24-28, 1982; Sept. 7-9, 1982; June 22-25, 1983; May 28-30, 1985; June 2-3, 1987; June 4-7, 1990; Aug. 19-25, 1991; and Jan. 2-8, 1992.)

You're free to place your bets on this one. Here's the layout, if all goes as planned next week (!): Lawmakers will file three bills, pass them in their originating houses, send them across the rotunda, pass them again without changes, swing the gavels and getouttatown. If they'll suspend rules that require new stuff to cool off for three days before a vote, they can speed up. If not, they'll have built-in delays that could take them into the second week of July.

Gov. Rick Perry built in a false but significant deadline by starting the thing on July 1. If they're fast and suspend rules and play nice, everybody gets to go home to play with firecrackers and not come back; damage to vacation and other schedules would be minimized. If not, they'll be back on Monday, July 6, after their families complain about the shortened holiday weekend.

Some lawmakers want other work done in the special session.

Members can file bills within 30 days of a legislative session, so Perry's call for a special session next week makes it open season. First bill out of the chute isn't on the call: Sen. Eliot Shapleigh, D-El Paso, filed legislation to expand the Children's Health Insurance Program to families with incomes up to 300 percent of the federal poverty level. They'd pay premiums that poorer families don't have to pay for that insurance but would be able to get their kids insured for less than they'd pay — if the insurance is available — in the private market. That died at the end of the regular session, but advocates for the increase have pressed for another round.

Lawmakers and outside groups have made pitches for everything from eminent domain to Voter ID to legislation pardoning wrongly convicted murderers. Perry told reporters after calling the special session that he doesn't intend to add issues to the agenda. But that doesn't prevent members from filing bills, advocates from advocating, and so on. And Perry can change his mind, adding items to the list as he chooses.

There aren't any real surprises on Gov. Rick Perry's agenda for the special session, and not much controversy, either: He clearly wants to get lawmakers through this thing in a hurry.

He wants lawmakers to change the expiration dates on several agencies to prevent them from going out of business in September 2010. We're told the Sunset schedule will be revised to push health and human services agencies, which were up for review next session to 2013. That makes room to put this year's neglected work on the 2011 list of things to do: Transportation, Insurance, Workers' Compensation, and Racing.

The governor wants lawmakers to authorize the sale of $2 billion in highway bonds (already approved by voters) and the use of a revolving credit fund that would be used to magically turn that $2 billion into $5 billion or more.

Both of those items appear to be uncontroversial.

The third bit on the agenda is potentially problematic. Perry added so-called Comprehensive Development Agreements, or CDAs, to the agenda. That's the fancy phrase for public-private deals to build and operate roads and toll roads, and they can be a major source of contention. The Texas Department of Transportation's authority to enter into CDAs ends in September unless lawmakers do something, and highway officials contend that could threaten projects on the drawing boards and some that are already underway. To get around any controversy in the special session, the governor and key lawmakers are drawing up a specific list of projects that would be authorized; that would allow projects to go forward without giving TXDOT the power to enter into any deals not okayed by the Legislature. Which projects? "It's still being drafted and we are working with lawmakers on it," says a spokeswoman for Perry. Others tell us the list won't include anything that steps on any local toes. That might be enough to settle everyone down and keep the session short.

• GOPAC, a 30-year-old national Republican political action committee that figured in the GOP surges in Washington in the 1980s and 1990s, now has a state branch, GOPAC-TX, aimed at increasing the number of Republicans in the state Legislature, particularly the House. That group, headed by Rep. Phil King, R-Weatherford, hopes to raise $4 million and will use the money to back Republicans in open seats and in challenges to incumbent Democrats. They say they won't go after any of their own incumbents in the primaries. Another — the Texas House Republican Committee — will raise money for Republican candidates, too. It's headed by Travis Griffin, who previously worked for Gov. Rick Perry's campaign and for the Stars Over Texas PAC that helped House Republicans.

• Railroad Commissioner Elizabeth Ames Jones will get some help from former U.S. Commerce Secretary Robert Mosbacher and his wife Mica. They've agreed to be honorary finance chairs for her campaign for U.S. Senate.

• Put Democrat Lainey Melnick in the race for CD-21, where U.S. Rep. Lamar Smith, R-San Antonio, is the incumbent. She's from Austin, filed papers this week, and has a website up and running. The actual filing for the ballot isn't due until the end of the year, but this lets her start raising money for the contest.

• Chuck Wilson, a Waco Republican, plans to run against U.S. Rep. Chet Edwards, D-Waco, in CD-17. He's just getting started and has a website in the construction stage.

• Kendra Yarbrough Camarena is running as a Democrat in HD-138, currently represented by Dwayne Bohac, R-Katy, and formerly represented by Democrat Ken Yarbrough, D-Houston. That's her dad.