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Everybody likes to talk about how corrupt his state government is, but is it possible to measure corruption? And if that’s the case, how do the states measure up against each other?

A new survey from Harvard University’s Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics aims to answer those questions.

First things first, though: Texas comes in pretty close to the middle of the pack when comparing states on corruption.

Texas barely makes the list of most corrupt states when it comes to perceptions of illegal corruption, defined by the study as “private gains in the form of cash or gifts by a government official, in exchange for providing specific benefits to private individuals or groups.”

On perceptions of legal corruption, defined as “political gains in the form of campaign contributions or endorsements by a government official, in exchange for providing specific benefits to private individuals or groups,” Texas makes neither the most nor the least corrupt lists.

The methodology behind the survey is also interesting. The survey’s authors note problems in using official government crime statistics to measure corruption, mainly because convictions rest often on resources and motivation of a local prosecutor.

Instead, the study’s authors chose to measure perceptions of corruption. To do so, they decided to survey state political reporters, who were chosen because they have “better knowledge of state governments and spend a great deal of time observing the government officials and interacting with them.”

In case you were wondering, Kentucky, Alabama, Illinois and New Jersey all ranked the highest on perceptions of legal and illegal corruption.

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The Texas Ethics Commission curtailed a proposed increase in lawmakers’ per diem allowances per a request from legislative leadership.

The agency was scheduled to consider a $60 bump in the supplemental salary from $150 to $210 at its meeting on Tuesday.

But commissioners chose to yield to a request from Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and House Speaker Joe Straus late last month to limit the new per diem to $190.

The per diem is supposed to cover food and other expenses for lawmakers while they are in Austin during session. For just the 140-day regular session, the pay bump would translate to an additional $5,600 in lawmakers' pockets. Legislators earn $7,200 per year, so this would make for a significant pay raise.

The increase could end up being worth more should lawmakers be called in for special sessions. Per diems are paid for those extra legislative days as well.

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In other Ethics Commission business, commissioners on Thursday took up the request of an anonymous Capitol staffer as to whether lawmakers can ask staff to drive them to the Capitol as well as for personal errands.

At the meeting, commissioners agreed there is a line to be drawn to prevent members using state resources, i.e. Capitol staffers’ time, for personal gain.

Commissioners, though, decided that such line drawing was more appropriately a job for lawmakers and left things there.

Enlarge Terry Keel

Terry Keel, appointed by Agriculture Commissioner-elect Sid Miller to the newly-created position of Assistant Commissioner of Agriculture for Enforcement, Consumer Protection, and Border Security.

Terry Keel — a former House member, parliamentarian and Travis County sheriff — will leave his current gig as executive director at the Texas Facilities Commission for a newly created position at the Texas Department of Agriculture.

The new assistant commissioner position will have both consumer protection and border security as part of its portfolio. By taking the new job, Keel will also be reunited with his former House colleague, Agriculture Commissioner-elect Sid Miller.

Citing threats to farmers and ranchers by Mexican drug cartels and human traffickers, current Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples has made border security one of his signature issues. Among other things, he set up a website to both collect news articles on crime at the borders and to collect personal testimonials from ranchers and farmers on the border.

The hiring of Keel gives a clear signal that Miller intends to continue the agency’s focus on the border.

In other Ag Department news, Miller announced on Thursday that he’s recruited Wyoming’s Department of Agriculture director, Jason Fearneyhough, to be his second in command.

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Lt. Gov.-elect Dan Patrick announced on Thursday announced a trio of staff hires, highlighted by his decision to keep Karina Davis as Senate parliamentarian.

Davis has held the position since 2004. "I have worked with Karina for eight years,” said Patrick in a statement. “She has done an excellent job in one of the Senate's most important positions. I am excited to have her back.”

Marian Wallace, who has worked on Patrick's staff on education issues since 2007, will be Patrick's education policy adviser. Also, Vickie Miles will stay on as lieutenant governor receptionist.

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State Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer plans a splashy launch to his campaign for the state Senate seat being vacated by Leticia Van de Putte, who is running to become mayor of San Antonio.

Martinez Fischer has thus far tried to position himself as an heir apparent to the seat, rolling out a list of supporters last month that included one former occupant of the Senate seat (Joe Bernal) and the widows of two others (Greg Luna, Bob Vale).

That pre-positioning will continue at Saturday’s campaign kickoff event. Bernal and Vale’s widow, Teresa, are scheduled to join Martinez Fischer. Also set to participate is state Rep. Justin Rodriguez.

Another member of San Antonio’s House delegation, José Menéndez, has said he plans to run for the Van de Putte seat.

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Brent Goleman, a former legislative staffer and co-founder of online legislative tracker GalleryWatch, has announced that he will run for the House seat being vacated by state Rep. Tim Kleinschmidt, R-Lexington.

Goleman, a Republican, resides in Bastrop. Kleinschmidt, who was first elected to represent the Central Texas-based House District 17 in 2008, is leaving the House next month to become general counsel for the Texas Department of Agriculture.

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If it seems like an unusually busy calendar for fundraisers next week, there’s a reason for that.

The last day for officeholders to receive political contributions is Dec. 13, a month before the new legislative session begins. The moratorium on contributions begins the next day, and lawmakers won’t be allowed to raise money again until June 22.

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This week in The Texas Weekly Newsreel: Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott is filing suit against the federal government over the president's executive order on immigration, Gov. Rick Perry has asked all state agencies to use the E-Verify system to check citizenship of workers and state budgeteers approve funding to keep state police deployed on the border with Mexico.

You can view the video at: https://trib.it/121pORw

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Lawmakers’ attention is turning to the legislative session, which means it is turning to the budget, so we asked our insiders in government and politics about the budget surplus and taxes.

We started with the surplus: 72 percent of the insiders think some of the money should go to transportation; another 64 percent would spend some of it on public education. Nearly half put water on their list of things the money should be spent on, followed by paying down state debt.

Next, we changed one word in the question, asking what lawmakers will do instead of what they should do. This time, 74 percent said they will lower taxes, 46 percent said they will set it aside for later, and 45 percent said they will spend some of it on transportation.

Two thirds of the insiders think the state’s business margins tax is in for a revision, but only 3 percent think it will be abolished. And three out of five expect some sort of property tax reform either to appraisals (10 percent), to caps on increases (21 percent), or to both (30 percent).

We collected comments along the way and a full set of those is attached. Here’s a sampling:

Enlarge Emily Albracht

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What SHOULD lawmakers do in 2015 with the expected budget surplus?

• "Use it to provide health insurance!!"

• "Don't admit it, but save some for the school lawsuit."

• "State employee retirement which has been underfunded for years"

• "Some attention ought to be paid to both higher education and public education this session."

• "They will go for headlines and not priorities, but they don't get it..."

• "Want to know how I know this list was not created by a right-thinking person? There's no option to return the surplus to the people."

Enlarge Emily Albracht

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What WILL lawmakers do in 2015 with the expected budget surplus?

• "With oil prices dropping (and everybody knows the so-called 'Texas Miracle' had everything to do with oil and gas and nothing to do with the governor or legislature), the decline will provide an excuse for setting some aside and cutting taxes."

• "The question whether or not there will be tax cuts, it's how much and who benefits"

• "Plummeting price of oil will scare off strategic surplus spending."

• "Lowering taxes is great direct-mail material and let's not forget that the campaigning will start in less than 11 months."

• "They'll do tax breaks nobody will notice and pay down debt that costs almost nothing."

Enlarge Emily Albracht

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What do you think the Legislature will do with the business margins tax in 2015?

• "Maybe a few more special-interest breaks from the House version last session, plus making the 0.95% rate permanent."

• "If they can afford it and lower oil prices don't give them the yips they could abolish it, but they will probably only reduce the rates."

• "$5M exemption"

• "There will be a lot of talk about abolishing it but no agreed upon course of action. "

• "Yap yap yap talk talk talk and nothing in the end, maybe some window dressing"

Enlarge Emily Albracht

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Do you expect major property tax reform this session?

• "Hopefully something to get downtown office buildings on the rolls at closer to real market value. Plus increasing the school tax homestead exemption. And giving local governments the option of a flat-dollar-amount homestead exemption, instead of (or along with) a percentage exemption. It's been a hot issue in the Austin mayoral race. But bad things could happen too, like a lower appraisal cap or stricter rollback rules."

• "Appraisal caps may be irresistible, even if inadvisable. Common folks back home want that."

• "Too complicated, too many moving parts and too many with a stake in the outcome. While the system is archaic to be sure, our process and institutions are simply not built to deal with it at a meaningful level."

• "It's Patrick's #1 issue (well, behind Border Security...and education) so I expect the Senate to do something. I think the House is also likely to do something, but the trick question is whether the House and Senate will agree on what the property tax reform might look like."

Our thanks to this week's participants: Gene Acuna, Brandon Aghamalian, Victor Alcorta, Brandon Alderete, George Allen, Charles Bailey, Amy Beneski, Andrew Biar, Allen Blakemore, Tom Blanton, Chris Britton, Raif Calvert, Lydia Camarillo, Kerry Cammack, Thure Cannon, Snapper Carr, Janis Carter, William Chapman, Elna Christopher, Beth Cubriel, Randy Cubriel, Denise Davis, Hector De Leon, Eva De Luna-Castro, David Dunn, Jeff Eller, Jack Erskine, John Esparza, Jon Fisher, Wil Galloway, Dominic Giarratani, Bruce Gibson, Stephanie Gibson, Eric Glenn, Daniel Gonzalez, Jim Grace, John Greytok, Clint Hackney, Bill Hammond, John Heasley, Ken Hodges, Steve Holzheauser, Deborah Ingersoll, Cal Jillson, Mark Jones, Robert Jones, Walt Jordan, Lisa Kaufman, 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, Mike McKinney, Steve Minick, Bee Moorhead, Mike Moses, Steve Murdock, Keir Murray, Nelson Nease, Keats Norfleet, Pat Nugent, Todd Olsen, Nef Partida, Gardner Pate, Jerod Patterson, Jerry Philips, Tom Phillips, Richard Pineda, Allen Place, Gary Polland, Jay Pritchard, Jay Propes, Ted Melina Raab, Karen Reagan, David Reynolds, Carl Richie, Kim Ross, Grant Ruckel, Tyler Ruud, Andy Sansom, Barbara Schlief, Stan Schlueter, Bruce Scott, Robert Scott, Steve Scurlock, Nancy Sims, Jason Skaggs, Ed Small, Martha Smiley, Mark Smith, Dennis Speight, Bob Strauser, Colin Strother, Sherry Sylvester, Sara Tays, Gerard Torres, Trey Trainor, Vicki Truitt, Corbin Van Arsdale, Ware Wendell, Ken Whalen, David White, Darren Whitehurst, Woody Widrow, Seth Winick, Peck Young, Angelo Zottarelli.

Enlarge Todd Wiseman

Monday, Dec. 8

• State Sen. Carlos Uresti, D-San Antonio, fundraiser; 218 Produce Row, San Antonio (5:30-7 p.m.)

Tuesday, Dec. 9

• TBLC Healthcare Policy Session; 701 Congress Ave., Austin (11:30 a.m.-4:15 p.m.)
• State Sen. Charles Perry, R-Lubbock, fundraiser; 919 Congress Ave., Suite 455, Austin (4-5 p.m.)
• State Sen. Eddie Lucio Jr., D-Brownsville, fundraiser; 1005 Congress Ave., Suite 450, Austin (4:30-6:30 p.m.)
• State Rep. John Zerwas, R-Richmond, fundraiser; 1122 Colorado St., Suite 2001, Austin (4:30-6:30 p.m.)
• State Sen. Carlos Uresti, D-San Antonio, fundraiser; 110 E. Ninth St., Austin (4:30-6 p.m.)
• Texas House Farm to Table Caucus fundraiser; 301 E. Sixth St., Austin (5-7 p.m.)

Wednesday, Dec. 10

• State Rep. Susan King, R-Abilene, fundraiser; 98 San Jacinto Blvd., Austin (4:30-7 p.m.)

Thursday, Dec. 11

• State Sen. Charles Schwertner, R-Georgetown, fundraiser; 1122 Colorado St., Suite 2001, Austin (4:30-6:30 p.m.)
• State Rep. Marisa Márquez, D-El Paso, fundraiser; 1205 N. Lamar Blvd., Austin (5-6:30 p.m.)

The Legislative Budget Board on Monday set the state's spending cap for next year's budget, allowing for an 11.68 percent growth in non-dedicated state spending over the next two years. The panel also approved the transfer of money within the current budget to free up $86 million to continue the deployment of Department of Public Safety personnel to the border until the end of August.

Greg Abbott, in one of his last major actions as attorney general, announced that Texas and 16 other states were suing to halt an executive order issued by President Barack Obama that temporarily shields up to 5 million undocumented immigrants from immediate deportation.

Gov. Rick Perry announced an executive order directing state agencies and those contracting with state agencies to use the federal E-Verify system to ascertain the legal status of their workers. Skeptical of it before, Perry now says the system is improved and is "the most accurate and efficient way to check a person’s legal work in the United States."

The U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals stayed the execution of Scott Panetti, a mentally ill death row inmate, just hours before his scheduled execution Wednesday night. His pending execution had spurred an unusually broad-based opposition from people across the political spectrum.

The House Administration Committee adopted new rules for granting members of the press access to the chamber floor during session with one significant change: reporters seeking credentials must affirm that they are not lobbyists.

Three Republicans — Lois Kolkhorst, Gary Gates and Charles Gregory — competing in the SD-18 special election to succeed state Comptroller-elect Glenn Hegar debated on Tuesday night. Two Democrats in the race did not attend the debate. The election is set for Saturday.

Keith Pardue of Austin was named by Gov. Rick Perry to the State Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners for a term to expire Aug. 26, 2015.

Jeff Archer was named executive director of the Texas Legislative Council, shedding the "acting" portion of his title that he had carried since August.

Jennifer Teigen Doran has been appointed House Journal Clerk. An employee of the House Journal Office since 1999, she has in recent legislative sessions served as Voting Clerk and Assistant Journal Clerk.

Rene D. Truan has been named director of the newly created Permanent School Fund (PSF) Income Division of the General Land Office. Most recently, he was deputy commissioner of professional services and asset management at GLO.

Anne Idsal has been named general counsel at GLO, coming over from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality where she also served as general counsel.

Outgoing state Reps. Allan Ritter, R-Nederland, and Bill Callegari, R-Katy, have been named to Agriculture Commissioner-elect Sid Miller's transition team.

Emmanuel "Manny" Garcia is leaving his position as communications director for the Texas Democratic Party in order to take the job of senior strategist for Leticia Van de Putte's campaign for San Antonio mayor. The TDP is promoting Rachel Boyer to the position of press secretary.

Deaths: Betty King, 89, "gracious lady of the Capitol" and secretary of the Texas Senate for 24 years until her retirement in 2001. A memorial service is scheduled for 2 p.m. Saturday in the Senate Chamber.