The clock is ticking on getting bills out of the House and to the Texas Senate, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick warned last week in a story in the Austin American- Statesman. Patrick presides over the Senate and is worried many bills that have made it out of House committees but have not gone before the full chamber will not be considered before the session ends.

From the Editors Desk No. Billy Graham was not a politician.

Capital Highlights The Texas House last Thursday passed two education- related bills, one that allocates $4.5 billion for teacher pay raises and another to increase the annual per-student base funding from $6,160 to $6,300 – a 2.3% increase. The Austin American- Statesman reported the bill would create minimum salaries for teachers ranging from $35,000 to $63,000 depending on experience and level of education.

The Texas Senate unanimously approved a $308 billion two-year budget last week, the Austin American-Statesman reported. The next step is to reconcile that budget with one passed earlier by the Texas House.

From the Editors Desk Soon after I became a reporter for the Herald Democrat in Sherman in 2004, I realized I was in Sam Rayburn’s old district. I vaguely remembered how he had gotten baptized at an old age.

Capital Highlights The Texas House approved a $302 billion budget last week that included an amendment prohibiting the use of state money on private school tuition — a major setback to Gov. Greg Abbott’s plan to establish a school voucher system.

Voters of Hardin County, I recently became aware that the voter registration folks in Hardin are reluctant to clean up the files for registered voters because it would require a lot of work. Soo… that shouldn’t matter.

The Texas House approved a $302 billion budget last week that included an amendment prohibiting the use of state money on private school tuition — a major setback to Gov. Greg Abbott’s plan to establish a school voucher system. The Austin American-Statesman reported that more than 20 Republicans joined nearly all House Democrats to pass the amendment, while 11 lawmakers voted present.

From the Editors Desk In 1987, while his father was vice president, George W. Bush had come to Texas from Washington with his father and President Reagan to attend a rodeo in Mesquite.

Capital Highlights The Lone Star State continues to lead the nation in jobs added with 58,200 new positions in February, bringing the state to nearly 14 million total nonfarm jobs, according to the Texas Workforce Commission. February also marked two full years of uninterrupted job growth in the state.