The Lege has passed a budget, literally at the last minute, meaning there's one less reason for a special session to be called. A late influx of federal cash (decried on the op-ed pages by Ken Bentsen) helped soften the blow of spending cuts somewhat, but the amount the state spent this biennium was still 10% less than in 2001. With apparent agreement on that awful tort-reform bill (House Bill 4), the last looming issue that Governor Perry has mentioned as a cause for a special session is school finance reform, though of course he can call a session for any purpose as he sees fit.

A now-slightly-out-of-date list of what had been passed, what had been defeated, and what remained in limbo can be found here. The details of House Bill 1, the General Appropriations Bill, are here. The regular session officially ends tonight at midnight.