A New Day

Remember last session, when it was the House that looked like a bar fight and the Senate was the big kids' table? Not any more. While the Senate was still caught up this morning in behind-closed-doors discussion (read: screaming match) about the efforts to overturn the two-thirds rule on voter-ID laws, the House had a quicker and smoother opening session under new Speaker Joe Straus. Catching up with Straus Tuesday just after he was sworn in, he seemed happy but still a little surprised that he's actually really speaker. How did he feel the process had gone? "It went great," he said. "I've had outstanding help, so I had nothing to worry about."

(See austinchronicle.com/legeland for the complete story and daily Lege coverage.)