News from around the state

Bryan-College Station Eagle: A&M faculty discuss strategy for responding to criticisms
Faculty gatherings on the Texas A&M campus these days resemble a tribe banding together to figure out how to fend off an external threat. There are the young warriors who want to go to battle, the elders urging a measured response, and the leaders presenting the long view.

Austin American-Statesman: Poll: Education overtakes economy, immigration as Texans’ top concern
Education has overtaken other hot-button topics including immigration and the economy as the top issue facing Texas, according to an independent poll released Tuesday.

Denton Record-Chronicle: The Rev. Perry’s camp meeting
Gov. Rick Perry’s protracted camp meeting and dinner on the ground planned for Aug. 6 is coming under fire from the usual suspects on the left, who condemn it as reactionary, exclusionary and homophobic.

Austin American-Statesman: Perry sounds like a White House candidate as he fires up New York GOP
NEW YORK — Gov. Rick Perry sounded as if he was tuning up for a presidential campaign Tuesday, touting his economic record in Texas and hurling criticisms at the Obama administration before a few hundred Manhattan Republicans.

San Antonio Express-News: Perry stresses record during N.Y. speech
NEW YORK — Texas Gov. Rick Perry sounded very much like a presidential hopeful at a New York City Republican fundraising dinner Tuesday, blasting President Barack Obama’s economic policies and boasting of Texas’ economic growth during his decade-long tenure.

Texas Tribune: Perry Slaps Obama, Acts Like GOP Hopeful, in NYC
Gov. Rick Perry, moving closer to a run for the White House, took his anti-Washington message to New York City Tuesday night, telling a gathering of Republican donors that the Obama administration had “promised jobs and … delivered economic misery.”

Associated Press (Fort Worth Star-Telegram): Perry says he has time to decide on presidential run
AUSTIN — Gov. Rick Perry said Tuesday that he continues to consider the idea of running for president and has received renewed pressure in recent weeks to enter the race for the Republican nomination.

Fort Worth Star-Telegram: Texas Senate gives preliminary approval to ‘sanctuary cities’ bill
AUSTIN — Acting on one of Gov. Rick Perry’s top priorities, the Republican-led Texas Senate voted 19-12 Tuesday night to give preliminary approval to a so-called sanctuary cities bill despite unified resistance from Democrats and strong opposition among Hispanics and the state’s top law enforcement leaders.

San Antonio Express-News: State Senate passes ‘sanctuary cities’ bill
AUSTIN – Senate Republicans finally passed a priority issue for their party early Wednesday morning when they outmuscled their Democratic colleagues on an immigration-related bill intended to make it easier for law enforcement to corral illegal immigrants.

Texas Tribune: Sanctuary Cities Bill Clears Texas Senate
Texas peace officers will be allowed to inquire about the immigration status of any person arrested or legally detained under legislation passed by the Texas Senate early Wednesday morning.

Associated Press (Austin American-Statesman): Texas Senate passes immigration bill
AUSTIN, Texas — Texas police would have broader powers to ask people they detain about their citizenship status under a bill given preliminary approval by Senate Republicans on Tuesday night over the fierce objections of Democrats and immigrant rights advocates who call it an open invitation to harass Latinos.

KXAN: Senator deported at age 6 speaks out
AUSTIN (KXAN) – Some state lawmakers can say they have had a sonogram. Others can say they have had a pat-down by a TSA agent. But, when it comes to the controversial topics at the Capitol this session, it is rare you will find a legislator who can say he has been deported.

Texas Observer: Senate Dems:SB 9 Passage is about Fear & Politics
After 9 hours of testimony Tuesday by Senate Democrats against SB 9, the controversial immigration bill passed anyway along a party-line vote.

San Antonio Express-News: S.A. lawmaker unveils immigration enforcement bill
WASHINGTON — House Republicans outlined an immigration enforcement measure Tuesday that would make mandatory a now-voluntary system for employers to check the immigration status of new workers.

Fort Worth Star-Telegram: House approves new congressional districts
AUSTIN – The Legislature’s late-starting venture into congressional redistricting gained further momentum in the special session Tuesday as House members gave preliminary approval to a plan that would divide Tarrant County among five Republican-dominated districts.

Austin American-Statesman: House OKs plan to carve Travis County into 5 congressional districts
Rejecting charges that a GOP plan to redraw congressional district boundaries discriminates against minorities and punishes Austin, the Texas House tentatively approved the measure Tuesday by a 93-48 vote.

Houston Chronicle: Student privacy vs. teacher safety
A bill awaiting Gov. Rick Perry’s signature would give Texas schools more information about students’ criminal histories, prompting debate over the proper balance between safety and privacy.

San Antonio Express-News: Bills target HOA power
A Marine Corps veteran sued by his Cypress-area homeowners association over a 20-foot flagpole in his backyard is claiming victory as a bill protecting his display of patriotism awaits Gov. Rick Perry’s signature.

Texas Tribune: Interactive: The Budget Battle
Lawmakers had two big budget problems to solve this session: a $4 billion deficit in the current biennium’s budget and an estimated $15 billion revenue shortfall for the 2012-2013 biennium. After a regular session full of heated debates and contentious “fiscal matters” bills, lawmakers are still at the Capitol hammering out the final details.