Not exactly the political hot spot

• Published March 05, 2008

The action in the Legislature is fairly even in tone and pace, although there was a dust-up in the House last night over public financing for campaigns. Lobbyist Nick Federici is still over there working on getting the toxic toys bill out of the Senate.

But deep in the heart of Texas, all work and no play made Jack a Hillary Clinton supporter. Despite being behind in the delegate count, Clinton seems to have recaptured the momentum on the Democratic side. Remember her dig from SNL? It worked, swinging press coverage toward Barack Obama’s problems according to one study.

Meanwhile, John McCain stitched up the GOP nod last night and went to conduct a home inspection this morning. Or, rather, to pick up the President’s endorsement at the White House.

All of which makes a floor calendar of bills that includes drainage district commissioners less than enticing. Still, there’s always something going on around here, just out of sight. The datamining bill, for instance, seems to be on the bubble as we near the Friday cutoff.

SIDENOTE: The Senate bill that would have required a review of all near-fatalities involving children known to the Children’s Administration passed the House today. It was amended, however, to eliminate the review requirement and instead require the agency to notify the Office of Children’s and Families Ombudsman of near-fatal incidents.