The gambling empire Las Vegas Sands is pressing forward with its ambitious drive to bring casinos to Texas after a series of recent developments, including the death of its CEO, Republican megadonor Sheldon Adelson, have called into question how much momentum remains behind the cause.

School funding has been at the center of the COVID-19 education conversation, and state representative and previous AISD Board of Trustees President Gina Hinojosa is now trying to make sure it’s easier for schools to get the money they need.

The program makes it cheaper to do business in Texas and creates jobs and tax revenue in counties across the state. Without the tax break, supporters of Chapter 313 say, companies could go to states that are more generous with public subsidies.

As Dale Craymer, president of the Texas Taxpayers and Research Association, told the Texas Tribune this week, “the pandemic and the associated

Texas lawmakers will enter the legislative session this week with an estimated $112.5 billion available to allocate for general purpose spending in the next two-year state budget, a number that’s down slightly from the current budget but is significantly higher than what was estimated this summer when the coronavirus began to devastate the economy.