After a slow first week, lawmakers in the 83rd legislative session are ready to get to work.

Both chambers say they've finalized initial budget proposals. On the House side, money for increased Medicaid enrollment is factored in, while funding for statewide school testing is not.

Republican Rep. Jim Pitts is chairman of the House Appropriations Committee. He said lawmakers need to look more closely at whether current testing standards are working.

"We have seen the over-emphasis on testing over the last 10 years, and we want to see [if that is] all necessary. Do we want to spend all year long testing and teaching for a test?"

The Senate's initial proposal is smaller, with $186.8 billion allocated, compared to the House's $187.7 billion. In both proposals, money for the state's Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas was cut out.

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House lawmakers also went through the process of adopting rules Monday, but not without some friction. Rep. David Simpson, who withdrew his bid to challenge Rep. Joe Straus for the speakership, pursued rule changes that would have limited Straus' power. Most of those changes weren't adopted, and Simpson received some terse advice from fellow Republican Rep. Debbie Riddle.

"I think, Representative, when you're here longer, when you understand the process and when you appreciate the process that we have had so that we can make the best use of the time that we are allotted," Rep. Riddle said.

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We also spoke to the head of the Professional Advocacy Association of Texas in tonight's episode. The group's president, Jack Gullahorn, says his chief responsibility is to raise the bar for lobbying in Texas, and to help people understand what lobbyists do.

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