State Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth, in her gubernatorial run told the Dallas Morning News editorial board that she could support a 20-week ban on abortion if it deferred enough to the woman and her doctor. While some accuse her of flip-flopping, others say the remarks are consistent enough for the abortion filibuster-famed senator.

After the two-hour hearing on gay-marriage, U.S. District Court Judge Orlando Garcia said he would decide the case at a later, unspecified time, Austin American-Statesman’s Chuck Lindell reports.
State attorneys argued that “Same-sex marriage, ‘a more recent innovation than Facebook,’ is not deeply rooted in the tradition and history of Texas and cannot be considered a fundamental right that must be protected.”

The Houston Chronicle takes a look at Davis wanting to expand pre-K. Also see yesterday’s post here with a link to the full plan.

State Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth, has unveiled her third of four education planks in her run for governor. Find the in-depth presentation from her campaign here.

She proposes to ensure Pre-K access and “promote early childhood reading.”

The 2012 Texas GOP platform states:

“We believe that parents are best suited to train their children in their early development and oppose mandatory pre-school and Kindergarten. We urge Congress to repeal government- sponsored programs that deal with early childhood development.”

The release from the Davis campaign is below:

Houston, TX: Senator Wendy Davis today released “Great Start: Great Texas,” which focuses on early childhood education at the Pre-K level. It is the third part, in a series of four, of her comprehensive education reform proposals.

“We know that every dollar invested in Pre-K programs can return up to $16 in dividends,” said...

Democratic gubernatorial candidate state Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth, told the Dallas Morning News editorial board here that she backs medical marijuana and would consider decriminalizing small possessions of marijuana. As for all out legalization she said:
““I don’t know yet. I want to wait and see what happens in Colorado. I have a daughter who lives in Denver. I think there are some challenges to that law that are presented to law enforcement.”

Two same-sex couples are trying to overturn the state’s same-sex ban on gay marriage in a San Antonio court today, Chuck Lindell with the Austin American-Statesman reports.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Attorney General Greg Abbott has seemed to keep his distance from Gov. Rick Perry early on in his campaign, but now the two are set to appear at a Houston fundraiser together, the Texas Tribune’s Alexa Ura writes.

By Matthew Waller

AUSTIN — A report from the pro-abortion rights Guttmacher Institute last week said the abortion rate in the United States dropped in 2011 to its lowest point since 1973, the year of the landmark Roe v. Wade case that legalized abortion.

The peak was in 1981, with 29.3 abortions per 1,000 women ages 15-44. The rate dropped to 16.9 abortions in 2011. The rate in 1973 was 16.3, according the Guttmacher Institute’s report.

The institute surmised that because the decline spans most states, state-level restrictions aren’t the cause of the drop.

“While the study did not specifically investigate reasons for the decline, the authors note that the study period (2008-2011) predates the major surge in state-level abortion restrictions that started during the 2011 legislative session, and that many provisions did not go into effect until late 2011 or even later,” the institute’s...

By Matthew Waller
AUSTIN, Texas — Governor campaign fundraising is closer in West Central Texas than in the state as a whole.

While the main Democratic contender for the governor’s office, Fort Worth’s state Sen. Wendy Davis, is well behind Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott in fundraising statewide, Davis is off by only a few thousand dollars around San Angelo and Abilene.

Since July, Abbott raised $11,226 in the Concho Valley compared with $10,261 raised from Davis.

Davis received 81 donations from more than 40 contributors, compared with Abbott receiving 104 donations from more than 80 contributors.

For that same time period in the Big Country, Abbott raised $13,301 compared with $10,742 raised by Davis. Davis had about 80 contributions with more than 40 donors, and Abbott had about 130 contributions with more than 100 donors.

“That’s interesting,” Angelo State University...

Texas Attorney General and gubernatorial hopeful Greg Abbott offered a rebuttal in The Monitor in McAllen to the idea (voiced by The Monitor) that his criticism of “third-world country” corruption didn’t mean that he was saying that the Rio Grande Valley is like a third-world country. “Those comments were not directed at the Rio Grande Valley — they apply wherever corruption is found,” he writes.

The Texas Tribune has a story on the seven candidates running for the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, the highest criminal court in the state. Three to four seats could be up for grabs, significantly changing the nine-judge court.

Even though she isn’t running for re-election, the Austin American-Statesman notes the influence that Comptroller Susan Combs has in the comptroller race. “The most visible figure in the four-way Republican contest to replace Texas’ outgoing comptroller, Susan...

AUSTIN — Campaign donations along the Coastal Bend for the governor’s race imitate the statewide trend where top Republican candidate Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott has a substantial edge over top Democratic candidate state Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth.

Since last summer through late January, Abbott has raised about $72,000 from the region, and Davis has raised about $28,000.

“What it sounds like is that it’s a microcosm of what we’re seeing more broadly,” said Jim Henson, a political science professor at the University of Texas at Austin. “It’s a little narrower than statewide, but not very far off.”

Abbott reported raising more than $3.1 million Jan. 1-23 and Davis raised $912,000. That gives Abbott $29.4 million in campaign cash and Davis $10.2 million.

Both candidates had about the same number of donations from the same region along the coast. Abbott had about 270...

Here is Abbott’s statement on the school finance lawsuit:

“While Sen. Davis remains fixated on the past, I’m focused on making education better for the future of our children. My goal is to make the Texas education system number one in the country, and I’ve been talking with Texans and educators about a plan to achieve this objective. That means more than ensuring the Texas education system is adequately funded. It means empowering teachers, principals and parents with the tools to truly educate our children. It means returning genuine local control to school districts rather than continuing with the centralized control by bureaucrats in Austin.

“Local control by school districts is the key for empowering students, parents and teachers and positioning Texas’ education system to be number one in the nation. It also means using more online and digital learning tools that help students...

As the Texas Tribune notes, State Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth, has lashed out at Attorney General Greg Abbott on his “third-world country” remark associated with McAllen, something which The Monitor in McAllen has decried. Abbott is expected to make his rebuttal in that paper on Tuesday.

University of Texas System Chancellor Francisco Cigarroa is stepping down from his chancellorship. The Statesman reported the news Sunday evening and The Texas Tribune has posted an letter that Cigarroa sent out.
Cigarroa will be leaving the scene of a tumultuous board of regents and heading to the The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio as head of Pediatric Transplant Surgery.

David Rauf in the Houston Chronicle reports that A well-funded PAC is targeting allies of House Speaker Rep. Joe Straus, R-San Antonio, in the primaries, including Reps. Jim Keffer, R-Eastland, and Byron...

By Matthew Waller
AUSTIN — Proposed rules that could put surcharges on certain coastal automobile and property insurance policies after a massive storm are set for a round of public hearings that start this month.

The Texas Department of Insurance conducted hearings on informal rules last year, and with minor technical changes, the rules are set to go to public hearings again.

“We feel an urgency to make sure rules are in place before storm season,” said Jerry Hagins, Texas Department of Insurance spokesman.

An emailed notice from the insurance department said hearings are planned for Corpus Christi, Austin and Beaumont, although official notice of the hearing in Beaumont has not yet gone out, according to the email.

Charlie Zahn, a Port Aransas attorney involved in working against the proposed rules, said people will need to comment after the proposed rules are officially published...