Even as the legislature struggled to fund, well… everything, that money was already in the budget. Even when original Senate sponsor Kirk Watson (D, Austin) and boondoggle opponent Dan Patrick (R, TK) tried to stop it, the dough remained available. \
Liberal Austin (led by education activist Susan Moffat, the wife of Austin Chronicle publisher Nick Barbara) and tea party types (i.e. Empower Texans) were united against the project, but with everything still sailing through the likes of Red McCombs involved, what could possibly go wrong?
