"Today, I am officially declaring my candidacy for the United States Senate," announced Michael Williams on his campaign Web site.

The Railroad Commissioner made his long-expected announcement early this morning, Williams had run before in 2008 when U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison hinted that she might vacate her seat to focus on running for Texas Governor. We look at some of the other candidates and would-be candidates in the race below ...

TxDOT Chief Engineer Amadeo Saenz has informed Transportation Commissioners he intends to retire as of Aug. 31. This comes on the cusps of major leadership reforms to the agency as laid out by the department's restructuring council.

Below is a statement from Commission Chair Deirdre Delisi:

"Throughout the course of his career, Amadeo has earned a reputation as a leader and coalition builder, and earned the respect and trust of his peers across the country, our partners here in Texas, and most importantly, his employees. Amadeo has served his state with honor and integrity. TxDOT is a better agency today thanks to his leadership. [...]

The Texas Senate laid out the voter ID bill six hours ahead of schedule.
 
Senators are now debating 37 amendments to SB 14 -- mostly by Democrats who oppose the bill.

Under normal rules, the Senate must wait 24 hours to take up a bill following committee adoption (the Senate Committee of the Whole affirmed SB 14 19-12 around 9:30 p.m. Tuesday). But after Senators voted to temporarily suspend the one-day layout requirement, Senators may vote on the bill today rather than tonight or Thursday.

The Senate Committee of the Whole, after about 13 hours of debate on Voter ID (often prolonged by Democratic opponents), approved the bill along party lines.

The final committee vote for SB 14, authored by Sen. Troy Fraser (R-Horseshoe Bend), was 19-12. Sen. Glen Hegar (R-Katy) was absent, and Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst supported the measure. Several amendments have been filed, and the Senate must wait 24 hours to vote on the bill -- which likely pushes a floor debate to Thursday (or Wednesday around 9:20 p.m., at the earliest).

The Senate Committee of the Whole is underway early this morning, as Senators are debating the cost of SB 14, this session's Voter ID bill. As expected, it's Democrats versus Republicans on this bill.

Sen. Kirk Watson (D-Austin) said a cost analyis of HB 218 revealed that it would cost around $1 to 3 million to cover the cost of providing state identification cards to non-drivers. "Per biennium, out of the highway fund ..." he added.

Sen. Tommy Williams said he was of the impression it would cost $1.67 per ID card applicant based on prior cost analyses. "So $1.3 million -- that's a lot of IDs at a buck sixty a piece," Williams said.

Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst re-appointed its longtime Senate Finance Committee this afternoon.

Dewhurst again named its veteran leader Sen. Steve Ogden (R-Bryan) without naming any other chairmanships. The vice-chairman is again Sen. Chuy Hinojosa (D-McAllen). The members remain the same as last session.

Though Senators were poised to take up the Voter ID bill this afternoon, they're now saying that tomorrow morning is a more likely time. However, Senate Democrats are hoping to stall, claiming this session's bill differs from the previous version.

Gov. Rick Perry designated a Voter ID bill as an emergency item last week, giving the Senate a month to take it up. In the 81st session, Sen. Troy Fraser (R-Horseshoe Bend) authored SB 362, the previous session's Voter ID bill which passed the Senate 19-12. The measure stalled in the House via a "chub-a-thon" (effectively, a filibuster) by House Democrats to keep it from entering the House floor from the Calendars committee. Since then, many Republicans in re-election mode have vowed to make the bill a priority.

On the 38th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision, Gov. Rick Perry put a centerpiece anti-abortion bill on the fast-track.

To thousands of pro-lifers at the annual March for Life, which ended at the Texas Capitol, Perry announced he was adding the Sonogram Bill to a list of emergency items for the 82nd Legislative Session. The Sonogram Bill, championed by Sen. Dan Patrick (R-Houston) in the last session as SB 182, would require an ultrasound image be made available of a woman's unborn child before she elects to have an abortion. It passed the Senate 20-10 but did not make it out of the House calendar.

State Board of Education members may have spent mid-day tweaking qualifications for what constitutes an "expert" for curriculum review purposes, but it is unclear whether or not all that effort would make any difference.

New SBOE member Thomas Ratliff (R-Mount Pleasant), who earlier pushed for requiring that members of the TEKS (Texas Essential Knowlege and Skills) Review Panel be degree-holders in their specific fields, ended up voting against requiring qualifications.

State Board of Education Chair Gail Lowe said this morning she would contact the Attorney General's ofice to seek an opinion after members of the public raised questions over newly sworn-in member Thomas Ratliff's eligibility.

Ratliff, a registered lobbyist according to the Texas Ethics Commission, held during his campaign that he's eligible for serving on the SBOE because he does not represent any group that directly does business with the Texas Education Agency.

The eligibility question was apparently prompted by Texas Eagle Forum President Pat Carlson. The Dallas Morning News has the background story on that.