A divisive measure requiring the disclosure of certain unreported political donors passed the Texas House on a 95-52 vote on Tuesday, denying the Texas Senate’s desire to have it back in its clutches. The measure, which passed Tuesday with little of Monday’s debate, now heads to Gov. Rick Perry’s desk.

Perry spokeswoman Lucy Nashed said now that the measure has passed the governor will take a final look at the language before determining whether he’ll sign it.

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Rep. Dan Branch, R-Dallas, said his measure is about “being safe” with taxpayer dollars but also “being a better steward.”

Even if Comptroller Susan Combs continued to invest the rainy day money very conservatively, she could earn about 3 percent interest on slightly more than half of the fund balance over the next two years, Branch said. The more aggressive approach would generate about $450 million in additional earnings, he said.

The bill would require about $4.3 billion of the $8 billion currently in the rainy day fund to continue to be kept in highly liquid, low yield assets.

They are not all that different from cash, said Branch and another author of the bill, Rep. James Frank, R-Wichita Falls.

Branch invoked a parable from the Bible as he urged colleagues to put at least some of the money to better use.

“We shouldn’t be burying our treasure,” he said.

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“Through their elected officials,” he said, Texans “clearly send the message of their comfort with the amount of oversight.”

This antipathy toward regulations is shared by many residents here. Politicians and economists credit the stance with helping attract jobs and investment to Texas, which has one of the fastest-growing economies in the country, and with winning the state a year-after-year ranking as the nation’s most business friendly.

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Speaking to a midday charter school rally at the state Capitol featuring hundreds of activists, parents and teachers — some of whom brought their classes from Dallas, San Antonio and Austin — Sen. Dan Patrick cried, “I feel really good!”

“For the first time in almost 15 years, this Legislature is going to pass a bill addressing charter schools,” Patrick said. “Raising the cap, allowing for more flexibility, innovation and an opportunity for those 100,000 parents who are on a waitlist.”

The president told roughly 400 people crammed into a technical high school gym that the “rubble” from the worst recession since the Great Depression has now been cleared away — the economy has added millions of jobs and the unemployment rate has dropped to its lowest level since 2008 — and now it’s time to work even harder to realize more gains.

“All of us have to commit ourselves to doing better than we’re doing now,” Obama said.

The president ticked through his plans to grow the middle class — “the true engine of economic growth” — including making America a magnet for good jobs, helping people get the education they need to perform those jobs, and ensuring that people who are working hard are able to earn a decent living. Though he conceded some of his proposals to realize those goals, from tax reform to a minimum wage increase, haven’t gone very far.

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Now, since it is an immutable rule of politics that nothing good ever happens except thanks to humble, hardworking politicians, there has been a Texas-size dog-pile over who should get to take credit for the jobs boom. King of the Hill has been Texas Governor Rick Perry, whose truncated run for the White House in 2012 was predicated almost entirely on his job creation claims. Texas is responsible for a large percentage of the jobs created in America since the recession ended in June 2009, and while its unemployment rate has ticked up slightly in recent months to 6.4% thanks to labor market growth, it continues to generate work in everything from construction to manufacturing to financial activities to mining.

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The State Board of Education currently oversees applications for charter school contracts, which state law caps at 215. Patrick’s Senate Bill 2 would create a new state entity to authorize the contracts and lift that cap, allowing for an unlimited number of charter school operators in the state.

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The conference was opened by Speaker of the House, Joe Straus, who said, “By 2036, Texas will be home to over 36 million.” Conservatives must then “recognize that a healthy business climate requires more than low taxes. The people of this state, young and old, urban and rural, want to know Texas will have water, the roads, and the workers that we will need in order to grow.” Speaker Straus emphasized the importance of education for the current legislative session, stressing, “The goal of education is not to [a] teach a test, but to prepare our students for life.”

The conference included panels on education, transportation, health care, budget, water, and energy. The panels were led and attended by some of the leading experts in their respective fields.  Many panelists highlighted the influential power of Texas, such as Rep. Dan Branch, House Higher Education Chair. He stated, “We are the state that’s moving and therefore, as everyone pays attention to us, we better be responsible with that and show that a conservative, red state, right-of-center state, can govern itself and can solve the issues of the day, the problems and challenges of the day.”

Numerous leaders of the state legislators attended and participated such as Chairman of the House Higher Education Committee Rep. Jimmie Don Aycock, Chairman of the House Higher Education Committee Rep. Dan Branch, Chairman House Energy Resources Committee Rep. Jim Keffer, Member of the House Natural Resources Committee Rep. Lyle Larson, Vice Chair House Ways and Means Committee Rep. John Otto, Chairman House Transportation Committee Rep. Larry Phillips, Chairman House Natural Resources Rep. Allan Ritter, Chairman Senate Higher Education Committee Sen. Kel Seliger, and Member Human Services Subcommittee Rep. John Zerwas, as well as many other leading experts.

The conference came to a close with an impassioned speech from the Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, who highlighted his priorities for government, “Keep our spending low, keep our taxes low, have the lightest regulatory hand possible, and keep state government out of your lives.” The Lt. Gov. spoke on the success of the state, stating, “We’re number one in the country to do business in the last three of four years as well as number one as far as job creation, with the fastest growing population in the nation.” The Lt. Gov. closed, remarking, “You have to follow conservative principles if you want to have a successful business, and successful state.”

The Texas Conservative Roundtable strives to provide a forum for Texans to learn and debate important topics in a constructive manner, free from incivility and divisive rhetoric. The conference was the first of many discussions to come. “The whole point of this is not to have an agenda but to have a conversation,” said Dallas attorney Brigham McCown, a member of theTXCRboard.

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