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The governor's transportation funding legislation died once in the Senate and once in the House. Lawmakers who have been in session since January — convinced by now the governor will keep calling them back — are hoping they can get it right this time.

The bill that failed in the House in the second special session was all but done a month ago, approved by the House and all teed up in the Senate on the last day of the first special session.

The Senate never got to vote, however, because Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst decided to put transportation and a teen capital murder bill behind — instead of in front of — the abortion legislation that he and everyone else knew was going to be filibustered by Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth.

Blaming the protesters is one out — they did protest, the Senate did fall to pieces, the bills did die — but that’s like blaming the stove for burning the beans. The cooks knew the burner was on; the folks in the Senate knew the filibuster was on.

You can argue about the strategery all you want, but the rearview mirror version of this is a head-slapper. Here’s what lawmakers knew at the time.

1. Davis was going to filibuster.

2. There was only half a day left and any senator in reasonably good physical condition can talk for 12 hours without keeling over.

3. The other two issues — transportation funding and penalties for teen capital murderers — were ready to go.

4. It was reasonable to think that the abortion filibuster would go to midnight and plain that, if that was going to happen, everything behind it in the batting order was doomed.

There was some conversation at the time that Gov. Rick Perry might be more willing to call lawmakers back for a second special session if abortion wasn’t the only issue. Dewhurst advisors figured transportation was the only thing sure to force another special session and that determined the sequence of bills. Transportation and teen murder legislation became the hostages.

Now, thanks in large part to that decision in the Senate and to the fruitless efforts to get a road bill through the House in the second special session, the lawmakers are the hostages.

The governor called them back into their third session while the smell of that second session was still in the air. And he, too, missed a narrow, but probably low-percentage shot to get things done without more overtime pay for lawmakers.

The House voted 84-40 on Monday in favor of the constitutional amendment required for transportation funding. Parse it: That is 16 votes short of the required 100 votes, and 25 members didn’t vote (Rep. Mark Strama’s seat is empty after his resignation earlier this summer). The splits weren’t particularly partisan, either: Democrats voted 26-13 in favor of the bill and Republicans voted 58-27 in favor. The split on the absents/excused was 15 Democrats and 10 Republicans.

Flip one “no” vote to get a motion to reconsider the earlier vote, get 15 members to join the majority and you have the 100 you need. But nobody, from the governor on down, tried to turn the thing around — at least in the remaining time during the special session. Blame House Speaker Joe Straus for that one: He didn’t encourage House members to come back on the final day of the session, leaving the governor little to work with. Without enough people there to pass a constitutional amendment, he didn't have any reason to work the vote sheet. Perry called lawmakers back before sundown and had that same list to work with.

At the end of the week, people from all three leaders’ offices had reached a tentative deal and were entertaining the idea that the House and Senate could finish everything up early next week.

The caveat? Last week ended with the same people entertaining the same idea, and it got away from them.

Enlarge Graphic by Todd Wiseman

Opponents of Texas’ voter ID law were supposed to be somewhat placated by a component of that 2011 measure that requires that the Texas Department of Public Safety to issue free IDs to non-drivers interested in casting a ballot.

That would solve the problem of the hundreds of thousands of Texans without the money to pay for IDs, conservative supporters of the bill argued.

But a month after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling gutted a key component of the Voting Rights Act and paved the way for the state’s implementation of the voter ID bill, Texans aren’t exactly camping out at DPS offices to get their voting credentials. As of July 26, the department had issued six of the documents, an average of about one a week, across the state. Texas DPS spokesman Tom Vinger said the documents were issued in Lampasas, Austin, Snyder, Skidmore, Jacksonville and Dallas.

When asked what the dismal figure means, friends and foes of voter ID rehashed their old arguments.

“It proves what we all suspected to be the case — that it’s highly unlikely that anyone wouldn’t be able to meet the ID standard laid out in the bill,” said Beth Cubriel, the executive director of the Texas Republican Party.

Cubriel conceded there would be another “surge” — a term she used loosely — as election dates near. She lightheartedly added that it would likely resemble the first rush — the half-dozen issued so far.

Vinger said there had been about 50 inquiries about the EICs, but many found they already had the necessary documents. Alternatives include a Texas driver’s license or ID, a passport, a concealed handgun license, a passport or passcard, or a military ID or naturalization certificate.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Texas said the numbers are so low because the required documents are nearly as difficult to obtain as a driver’s license or ID.

“We know, from evidence in our photo voter ID case, that this law adversely affects poor, black and Latino Texans. So we’re not at all surprised to hear that few Texans have been able to take advantage of this supposedly free ID,” said Rebecca Robertson, legal and policy director for the ACLU of Texas. “It costs money to get the underlying documents, such as a certified copy of your birth certificate, which you need to prove to DPS your eligibility for the free ID.”

The Texas Democratic Party is keeping with that same message. Tanene Allison, the party’s communications director, said the time spent getting the free card equals money thrown away.

“Anybody who has ever struggled knows that time is money,” she said. Like the GOP's Cubriel, she said the numbers may rise as elections, and interest in them, grows. But the TDP spokeswoman said the free IDs won’t make a dent in the overall problem.

“The bottom line is that voter ID disenfranchises Texans,” Allison said. “I imagine those numbers will rise but they won’t match the numbers of Texans who need them.”

As far as the U.S. Department of Justice’s latest efforts to once again subject Texas to federal review of voting laws — that’s happening through last month's legal filing from U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder — Republicans aren’t too worried about that. At least not yet.

“We’re confident in the [Texas] attorney general’s ability to defend our state’s rights in Texas,” Cubriel said.

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Pre-kindergarten students at the Dallas Independent School District's Cesar Chavez Learning Center.

Gov. Rick Perry may soon have the chance to add a line to the “fighting federal intrusion into Texas classrooms” section of his resume before he leaves office.

Under a major new Obama administration initiative promoting early education, Texas is eligible for $308 million in federal money to fund full-day pre-kindergarten programs for students from low-income families. But if the past is any guide, it's far from a sure thing that money will actually reach the state.

States are still awaiting details from the U.S. Department of Education on how the program, which would require Texas to provide a match of about $30 million in state funding, will work. Spokesmen for both the governor and Texas Education Commissioner Michael Williams said they would await further information from the feds before making a decision on whether the state would apply.

More guidance information may emerge soon. On Wednesday, President Obama selected a Texan, Libby Doggett, to head the early education division that will supervise the program.

The choice adds a layer of political intrigue to discussions over whether the state will apply for the funds.

Doggett is a former elementary school teacher and longtime education policy wonk whose credits include directing the Pew Charitable Trust's Pre-K Now Campaign. She is also the wife of U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, an Austin Democrat who hasn’t shied from publicly tangling with Perry over many topics, including federal education funds.

The congressman and the governor feuded over a larger chunk of federal education funding — $830 million in education stimulus money — in the summer of 2010, when Doggett and other congressional Democrats amended a bill allocating $10 billion in federal funding for education to say Texas couldn't use its portion to supplant state funding of schools. Perry then said he couldn’t guarantee Texas could adhere to that condition without the permission of state lawmakers, and the Department of Education denied the state's application for the money.

The back-and-forth escalated when the governor poked Doggett in his January 2011 State of the State address to the Legislature. Perry said the state needed to help school districts through tight times, which he said had been “made worse by a certain Texas congressman who singled out our state for punishment in pursuit of his own agenda."

Doggett responded by saying the governor’s "jibe says less about the state of the state and more about his own state of denial."

That money eventually made its way to Texas schools after Doggett’s language was removed in a congressional budget deal that April.

Texas currently pays for half-day preschool programs for public school students from low-income, non-English-speaking and military families. In 2013, lawmakers did not restore roughly $200 million in state grants — cut in 2011 — that had helped school districts expand to full-day programs.

If the state declines to apply for the preschool initiative, it also won’t be the first Obama administration education funding Texas has turned down. As he geared up for a tough primary challenge from U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison in 2010, Perry announced the state wouldn’t apply for the Race to the Top program, shutting the door on a potential $700 million federal money. 

The program was designed to push states toward a number of education reforms, including overhauling failing schools, promoting charters schools and signing on to the national common core curriculum standards.

“We would be foolish and irresponsible,” Perry said at the time, “to place our children’s future in the hands of unelected bureaucrats and special-interest groups thousands of miles away in Washington.”

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This week in the Texas Weekly Newsreel: The Legislature begins its third special session, the 2014 candidates are stirring and House leaders open a new political action committee to pass a constitutional amendment on water. 

You can view the video at: https://trib.it/136dZ6A

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For all of the speculation about what high office Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth, ought to seek in 2014, nearly half of our insiders say she ought to stay put. About a fifth (22 percent) said she ought to run for lieutenant governor in 2014, and 16 percent said she should run for governor.

That said, the overwhelming majority — 74 percent — said neither Davis nor any other Democrat can win a statewide race in Texas in 2014.

The federal government asked a panel of judges in San Antonio to require Texas to seek federal approval whenever it wants to change its election laws. That requirement was in place for decades until earlier this summer, when the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a section of the Voting Rights Act that listed Texas and other states with histories of discrimination for federal review.

That prompted a couple of questions for the insiders, and a majority (53 percent) said Texas should not be required to seek federal permission, while 52 percent said the federal courts will probably require such review in light of the request from the U.S. Department of Justice.

We collected comments from the insiders along the way and the full set of remarks is attached. Here is a sampling of those comments:

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If you were advising Wendy Davis, what office would you advise her to seek in 2014?

• "Either run for re-election or run for Lt Governor."

• "Her best bet at this juncture . . . run for re-election . . . win or lose, take advantage of the opportunities to be front and center on the national stage for Senator Clinton's run at the WH . . . consider a cabinet position . . . see how the tea leaves line up in 2018 and beyond."

• "She's trapped. If she runs for the Senate again it'll be a hard race and even if she wins all her bills will be DOA. So she might as well run for governor, lose, but help build the party and continue to build name recognition for whatever comes next."

• "After the circus of the GOP primary, Wendy will look like the only candidate with any common sense."

• "Reelection is the only job she has even a slight chance of winning."

• "Better to be a Senator with a platform than an 8 point gubernatorial loser."

• "While Wendy Davis is being told how she should run for Governor and it appeals to her ego, that is the same sucker thinking that got Perry into the Presidential race.  It is all flattering and emotional, but there are no hard stats that show how she can win.  In a Davis run for Governor the Castros win."

• "I can't answer this question; I'd hate for her to read my answer and take the advice.  My personal preference is she run for Governor, get beat and ride off into the sunset, allowing R's to pick up SD10."

• "Strike while the iron is hot and aim higher. Aim for U.S. Senate run. Go big or go home! (Or as in the case of most Texas Democrats seeking statewide office, go big AND then go home.)"

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Do you think Davis (or any Democrat) can win a statewide race in Texas in 2014?

• "The last d governor won only because the r candidate told bad jokes and used bad manners. That’s not a campaign plan."

• "It is unlikely, but not impossible."

• "If the job is too high profile or too specialized, an R is going to win.  Lt. Gov may be the only office in play because most voters have heard of it but few understand it."

• "The Democratic resurgence in Texas is always just over the horizon."

• "The possibility is there, but (an it is a big but) the Republican challenger would have had to go so far to the right in the primary, that his/her words can be used against them in the general."

• "Can she win?  That's like asking if I can date a supermodel.  Sure, it's possible, but the odds of it happening are very slim."

• "Not in 2014"

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Should Texas be required to seek federal preclearance before changing its election laws?

• "TX has a long history of race baiting dating back to the TX rangers in the days of the republic"

• "The legislative record speaks for itself."

• "If the discrimination weren't so blatant the state would have a chance of defending itself against being brought back under the Voting Rights Act.  But it is, so they can't."

• "Not unless every state is required to seek preclearance"

• "Yes, if recent history instructs, then absolutely."

• "I had started to believe Texas had paid for its past sins, then the Legislature drew the latest plans and I changed my mind."

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Do you think the federal courts will require preclearance for changes in the state’s election laws?

• "If any state deserves federal oversight, its Texas."

• "Despite Eric Holder's machinations to the contrary, this issue is largely dead as a statewide problem. P.S. Holder should be more worried about Chicago's election practices than those of TX."

• "When Dems ruled Texas, voter discrimination and abuse was rampant (see Duke of Duval, LBJ's '48 race, etc.).  We don't have that kind of systematic discrimination and abuse today.  It'll be hard to make a compelling case that Texas intentionally discriminates against racial and ethnic minorities when there's overwhelming evidence that's not case--indeed, the State bends over backwards to accommodate its voters (e.g., look at the various languages in which ballots are printed in this state...)"

• "The Obama administration will figure out a way to get the federal court involved in some way. Most Texans won't like that."

• "Yes, but this too shall pass. To the Supreme Court again and thrown out."

• "No way.  It's a weak argument by the feds.  Plus, let's not forget that the federal courts are probably anxious to be done with all of these lawsuits for the next few years."

• "As long as Obama is in office, they will continue to push for pre clearance.  It's part of their overall strategy to turn Texas blue."

Our thanks to this week's participants: Gene Acuna, Cathie Adams, Brandon Aghamalian, Jenny Aghamalian, Jennifer Ahrens, Victor Alcorta, Clyde Alexander, George Allen, Jay Arnold, Charles Bailey, Tom Banning, Walt Baum, Dave Beckwith, Rebecca Bernhardt, Andrew Biar, Allen Blakemore, Tom Blanton, Hugh Brady, Chris Britton, Andy Brown, David Cabrales, Lydia Camarillo, Kerry Cammack, Marc Campos, Thure Cannon, Snapper Carr, Janis Carter, William Chapman, Elna Christopher, James Clark, John Colyandro, Beth Cubriel, Randy Cubriel, Curtis Culwell, Denise Davis, Hector De Leon, June Deadrick, Tom Duffy, David Dunn, Richard Dyer, Jeff Eller, Jack Erskine, John Esparza, Jon Fisher, Wil Galloway, Norman Garza, Dominic Giarratani, Bruce Gibson, Stephanie Gibson, Eric Glenn, Kinnan Golemon, Daniel Gonzalez, Jim Grace, Kathy Grant, John Greytok, Clint Hackney, Anthony Haley, Wayne Hamilton, Bill Hammond, Adam Haynes, John Heasley, Ken Hodges, Laura Huffman, Deborah Ingersoll, Cal Jillson, Jason Johnson, Bill Jones, Mark Jones, Robert Jones, Robert Kepple, Richard Khouri, Tom Kleinworth, Sandy Kress, Dale Laine, Nick Lampson, Pete Laney, Dick Lavine, James LeBas, Luke Legate, Leslie Lemon, Myra Leo, Ruben Longoria, Vilma Luna, Matt Mackowiak, Luke Marchant, Dan McClung, Scott McCown, Mike McKinney, Robert Miller, Bee Moorhead, Mike Moses, Steve Murdock, Keir Murray, Nelson Nease, Keats Norfleet, Pat Nugent, Sylvia Nugent, Nef Partida, Gardner Pate, Robert Peeler, Jerry Philips, Tom Phillips, Wayne Pierce, Richard Pineda, Allen Place, Royce Poinsett, Gary Polland, Jay Pritchard, Bill Ratliff, Brian Rawson, Karen Reagan, Tim Reeves, Patrick Reinhart, Kim Ross, Grant Ruckel, Jason Sabo, Jim Sartwelle, Stan Schlueter, Bruce Scott, Robert Scott, Steve Scurlock, Dan Shelley, Bradford Shields, Christopher Shields, Julie Shields, Jason Skaggs, Ed Small, Martha Smiley, Todd Smith, Larry Soward, Dennis Speight, Tom Spilman, Jason Stanford, Bill Stevens, Bob Strauser, Colin Strother, Michael Quinn Sullivan, Sherry Sylvester, Jay Thompson, Russ Tidwell, Gerard Torres, Trey Trainor, Vicki Truitt, John Weaver, Ware Wendell, David White, Darren Whitehurst, Christopher Williston, Seth Winick, Lee Woods, Peck Young, Angelo Zottarelli.

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Sunday, Aug. 4

• House Calendars Committee Hearing, 2 p.m.

Monday, Aug. 5

• House and Senate convene at 2 p.m.

Friday, Aug. 9

• Campaign announcement from Rep. Brandon Creighton; Ransom's Steakhouse & Saloon; Montgomery, TX (11:30 a.m.)

The newest legal battle over voting rights in Texas could go either way in court, but for Attorney General Greg Abbott, it's a golden opportunity to square off with a Democratic administration in Washington, D.C., that is far from popular in Texas.

As the ozone rating in San Antonio continues its slow upward march, area officials are beginning to investigate whether oil and gas drilling in the Eagle Ford Shale has anything to do with it. But their efforts are fraught with complications. And they remain far from answers in what is sure to be a high-stakes debate over the environmental impact of one of the country’s newest and fastest-growing oil and gas development regions.

It has been just a year since Ted Cruz vanquished Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst in a primary runoff, but the current darling of Texas Republicans is already getting a serious look from conservative voters in early presidential primary states.

For parents and educators who want less classroom time spent on state exams, hopes rest on recently passed legislation, but it comes with a challenge: Texas likely must first obtain waiver from the federal No Child Left Behind Act.

The co-chairs of the select committee considering the impeachment of UT System Regent Wallace Hall have formally asked that all relevant documents be preserved and all potential witnesses be free from "adverse employee action."

Requests for more information about the alleged discovery by Capitol law enforcement of visitors toting feces and urine produced little new evidence that could confirm or refute the Texas Department of Public Safety's reports that protesters brought the items to the Senate gallery in preparation for the contentious abortion debate on July 12.  

Sen. Ken Paxton, R-McKinney, will give up his seat after just two years in the Senate for a shot at attorney general. He announced he is joining Republicans Dan Branch and Barry Smitherman in that primary next March. He was joined by almost a dozen conservative leaders and by 23 members of the Texas House, where he served before winning his Senate spot last year.

Branch, meanwhile, announced endorsements from several former deputies to current Attorney General Greg Abbott.

House Speaker Joe Straus, who pushed for money for water infrastructure this session, and Rep. Allan Ritter, R-Nederland, who carried the legislation, filed papers this week creating Water Texas, a new PAC that will raise money and campaign for passage of the water money on November's constitutional amendment ballot. A source familiar with their plans said Ritter will be treasurer and that Straus will take a leading role in raising money and attention for the water measure.

Another group, H2O4TEXAS, is also mounting a campaign in support of the water amendment. Its honorary co-chairs are Sens. Troy Fraser, R-Horseshoe Bay, and Tommy Williams, R-The Woodlands.

Gregory Fenves will be the new executive vice president and provost of the University of Texas at Austin. He is currently dean of the engineering school at UT.

Ray Martinez is the new chancellor of WGU Texas, an online university launched in 2011. He was most recently the government relations officer at Texas A&M International University.

Deaths: George Mitchell, hailed as the developer of The Woodlands, the father of modern hydraulic fracking, as an environmentalist and philanthropist. He was 94.

Colin Coe, chief of staff to Sen. Royce West, D-Dallas, after a bout with cancer. He was 63.