Last month, while reporting about legislation to establish a new publicly funded law school in downtown Dallas, I got the sense that the measure would fail. In addition to a crippling economy, last year's Hurricane Ike devastated the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston. Now lawmakers have to decide how much they want to spend to fix the medical school and hospital, and that could mean no funding for a start-up college in the Big D.

Then there was also a report last session from the state's Higher Education Coordinating Board, which said flatly that a new law school in downtown Dallas wasn't necessary. The report didn't get so much as a shout-out two years ago, but South Texas lawmakers may use it to make their case that their region needs a medical school or law school first. Especially since the board said that South Texas deserves a law school before Dallas.

So Dallas lawmakers face a steep challenge in passing the top item in their agenda this session. Still, if the fight for the law school goes down, it won't be for any lack of effort. The Dallas Morning News' Emily Ramshaw reports that yesterday Mayor Tom Leppert testified before the Senate Education Committee on the merits of a new law school. Also joining him were mayors of nearby DeSoto, Lancaster and Mesquite.

Today, though, Leppert and company will testify again--this time before the House Higher Education Committee. According to Ramshaw, they will likely face a tougher crowd:

Though that committee is chaired by a law school fan - Dallas Rep. Dan Branch - it won't just be hearing about Dallas on Wednesday. It will also be hearing bills promoting institutions of higher education across the state, including the aggressive Rio Grande Valley. There's only so much money to go around, and everybody wants a piece of the pie.