Bill requires new ethics training for prosecutors

AUSTIN — A bill to require Texas prosecutors to undergo training to ensure evidence is not withheld in most felony and misdemeanor criminal cases is on its way to Gov. Rick Perry's desk.

House Bill 1847 would require that one of the three hours of ethics training that Texas lawyers must undergo each year be related to the requirements to disclose exculpatory and mitigating evidence in all but Class C misdemeanor cases. Newly-hired lawyers would be required to receive the training within the first six months of employment, the proposal states.

Bexar County District Attorney Susan Reed said that while she has been providing the training to her staff for years, she was inspired to push for a statewide requirement by the highly-publicized case of Michael Morton, who was wrongly convicted in Williamson County for the 1986 slaying of his wife, Christine Morton. Morton's case was taken up by the Innocence Project in New York, and he was cleared by DNA testing. He was formally acquitted in 2011.

Gov. Rick Perry has already signed into law the Michael Morton Act, which requires prosecutors to give lawyers representing the accused any evidence that is relevant to the defense's case.

Reed worked with Rep. Stefani Carter, R-Dallas, to draft the legislation, which was passed by the Texas House earlier this month and approved by the Senate on Wednesday.

Plan would eliminate sales tax on gold and silver coins

Buying your own pot o' gold — or even just a few coins — could get a little cheaper for Texans.

Under existing state law, the 6.25 percent sales tax applies to purchases of gold and silver coins under $1,000. Now, House Bill 78, which was passed by the Texas Senate on Tuesday and awaits Gov. Rick Perry's signature, would eliminate the sales tax, “making it more economically feasible for lower and middle income Texans,” according to an analysis of the bill.

Texas would be the first state to fully expand a tax exemption for gold and silver coins, said Rich Danker, executive director at the Washington, D.C.-based American Principals in Action, which lobbies in Texas and elsewhere for monetary reform.

With a declining dollar and expanding inflation, Danker said that investing in gold and silver is the best solution around for middle class economic revival.

Lilly Ledbetter Act headed to guv's desk

For a decade, Rep. Senfronia Thompson, D-Houston, has been trying to pass a bill in Texas that would give women an opportunity to file an equal-pay lawsuit.

On the last night that the Texas Senate could hear House bills, House Bill 950, the Lilly Ledbetter Act, passed narrowly with a 17-14 vote.

“It's like going into labor and the doctor says, 'It's time to make this delivery,'” said Thompson after her bill passed late Wednesday. “Women are always the last persons to get rights that other people have had for ages.”

If Gov. Rick Perry signs the bill, Texas will be one of 43 states to pass the act, which brings states into accordance with a United States Supreme Court decision that held that the statute of limitations for filing an equal-pay lawsuit begins at the date the pay was agreed upon.

Thompson said that there was slim hope that the bill would pass this session. On Wednesday, however, Sen. Bob Deuell, R-Greenville, added an amendment to the proposal that allowed it to pass: it ensured that the act is not retroactive, but instead applies to complaints on or after the bill's effective date.

They said it:

“The chair recognizes Gen. Branch.” - Rep. Richard Raymond, D-Laredo, teasing Rep. Dan Branch, R-Dallas, about his alleged aspirations to run for attorney general.

Reporter Eva Ruth Moravec and the Associated Press contributed to this notebook.