By CHRIS TOMLINSON
Associated Press
DALLAS (AP) - Texas Republicans will go into the 2013 legislative session tackling government spending, tightening immigration laws and discouraging abortion. But this time they won't have a supermajority in the Texas House.
The Republicans won 95 out of 150 seats in the House and 19 out of 31 in the Senate. But unlike last year, they won't be able to suspend the rules.
The next 2-year budget will present a big challenge, with Medicaid costs expected to increase more than $7 billion.
Lawmakers will also need to find cash for increased enrollment in public schools, something they did not pay for last session, resulting in a $5.4 billion reduction in school funding, the first such cut since the Great Depression.
House Speaker Joe Straus must also fend off a leadership challenge.
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