Comal County Commissioner Gregory Parker is considering a run for the Texas Railroad Commission, and also submitted his name for consideration as Gov. Rick Perry decides who to appoint to an open seat on the three-member board.

Lawmakers were hoping to get out of Austin with their business done, without the prospect of a special session this summer.

Fat chance.

When Texas lawmakers said they wanted to run government like a business, they left out the part about using Enron and Countrywide as their models.

The Texas Senate approved a $3.97 billion draw on the state's Rainy Day Fund to cover a deficit of the same size in the current budget, but not before turning back efforts to add on a larger amount to help balance the 2012-13 budget.

As often happens with measures working their way through the political cauldron of the Texas Legislature, the hyperbolic editorial rhetoric targeted at the Governor’s proposals (HB 274) for improving our civil justice system has managed to completely divorce itself from the reality of what the proposals actually do.

Retired Lt. Gen. Ric Sanchez filed the paperwork for a U.S. Senate run, saying he'll seek the Democratic nomination in next year's race to succeed Kay Bailey Hutchison.

Travis County would get two new out-of-town senators, and Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth, would be squeezed into a district designed for a Republican, in political maps proposed by Senate Redistricting Chairman Kel Seliger, R-Amarillo.

Texans hate the idea of an unfair fight. Remember the Alamo?

It's May of an odd-numbered year, so we asked the insiders whether the big stuff will get finished during regulation time or whether there will be special sessions this summer, and about what issues won't get resolved.