Get ready for budget battle week.
The House on Tuesday is scheduled to debate its version of the proposed state budget. That will likely mean slogging through numerous proposed amendments, and possibly fighting off Democratic- or tea party-led procedural challenges meant to stall the process.
The Senate is also expected to take up its budget plan this week, though the amendment fight shouldn't be as raucous as in the lower chamber.
Floor action aside, still unclear is how Senate and House budget writers will reconcile their versions' deep discrepancies on proposed tax cuts and funding for public schools and border security.
Here are other upcoming issues at the Texas Capitol:
IN-STATE TUITION REPEAL: Monday morning could be a doozy. A Senate subcommittee meeting looks to be the opening salvo of what's likely a long and bitter debate over a GOP-led effort to repeal a popular Texas law offering in-state tuition at public universities to the children of some people in the U.S. illegally. Former Gov. Rick Perry signed the law after it sailed through the Legislature in 2001, and his defense of it — suggesting that conservatives who oppose it don't have hearts — marked the beginning of the end for his short-lived 2012 presidential bid. Now readying an anticipated 2016 White House run, Perry has been less vocal on the issue. Meanwhile, conservatives clamoring to repeal the law say it encourages people from Mexico and elsewhere to sneak illegally across the Texas border.
PUBLIC INTEGRITY UNIT BILL IN THE SENATE?: A proposal to shift a unit of prosecutors who investigate public corruption out of left-leaning Austin and into the GOP-controlled state attorney general's office could hit the Senate floor anytime. It would move the state's Public Integrity Unit and direct the Texas Rangers and state attorneys to investigate corruption complaints, then forward cases to a district attorney where the accused official lives. Perry in 2013 vetoed the unit's funding after its Democratic chief refused his calls to resign following her drunken-driving conviction. That resulted in Perry being indicted on abuse-of-power charges.
HOUSE 'OPEN CARRY' VOTE?: A plan to allow Texans with concealed handgun licenses to openly carry their weapons cleared a House committee last week, meaning it should hit the floor soon. A similar plan already sailed through the Senate with only minimal objections. Though House debate may be more heated, the measure seems likely to pass.
HAIR OF THE DOG: A ceremonial resolution by Muenster Republican Rep. Drew Springer would declare Texas vodka and red grapefruit juice "the official mixed drink" of the 2015 legislative session. Springer's bill salutes the cocktail known as the Greyhound, but it's specific enough that there's still room for enterprising (or hard-boozing?) lawmakers to propose the official beer, official wine and an official non-mixed drink of the session. This may be an issue where lawmakers from both parties can reach friendly consensus — especially if all involved have already had a few cocktails.
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