June 18, 2021 11:32 PM Gov. Abbott line item budget veto message is now available
Subscribers can download
it. The rest of the story, subscribers only |
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June 18, 2021 5:53 PM Abbott vetoed the entirety of Article X, per his office
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June 18, 2021 10:23 AM People on the Move Big appointments, new private sector gigs, a veteran coming back to Austin, and more It is shaping up to be a
long, hot, summer in Austin and this time around we may not even be able to
keep air conditioners running. Gov. Greg Abbott is busy adding more
potential items to the calls of multiple special sessions – a border wall, “critical
race theory,” and more on the way. Try to contain your excitement.
Meantime, some serious
players are making moves in and around the Texas Capitol community.
No new venture around here is too big or too small to mention in the pages of the
Quorum Report. As one reader who sent us the news about their new
job at the beginning of session said: “I only thought everyone knew until it
was in QR. Then my phone blew up.” You can brag on yourself
or a friend about a new gig by sending the scoop anytime to ksbraddock@gmail.com. Use POTM in the
subject line for faster service. Here’s the latest edition of People on the Move:
The rest of the story, subscribers only By Scott Braddock |
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June 17, 2021 5:37 PM Amid power grid concerns, PUC no longer a sleepy agency
The Public Utility Commission is in it for the long haul when it comes to unpacking problems following Winter Storm Uri, the two members acknowledged at this morning’s PUC meeting. Anger and frustration dogged the commissioners during remote public comments that opened the PUC meeting: A man from an oilfield solutions company faced a $300,000 bill from Reliant. A small business owner had a $15,000 bill from MidAtlantic that was as much as he spent on electricity in an entire year. And the owner of the non-profit low-income apartment complex for the elderly who could find no one to put her on an affordable payment plan. Commissioners were prepared to face that kind of backlash after voting to end the moratorium on non-payment of electric bills. As Commissioner Will McAdams explained last week, payments need to enter the pipeline to help providers prepare for summer heat extremes. The rest of the story, subscribers only |
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June 17, 2021 9:41 AM US Supreme Court upholds Affordable Care Act in case led against it by Texas AG Paxton 7 to 2, the justices ruled the challengers to the ACA lacked standing Here’s the news flash from The Hill. |
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June 16, 2021 5:39 PM Abbott says banning critical race theory will be added to a special session agenda In signing HB 3979, Abbott said it "is a strong move to abolish critical race theory in Texas, but more must be done. The issue will be added to a special session agenda." |
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June 15, 2021 6:23 PM With an eye toward putting Texas back under DOJ preclearance, Democratic legislators take their fight from Austin to Washington
Texas Democratic lawmakers,
fresh off killing a sweeping elections bill at the end of the session, took a
victory lap in DC today and pressed Congress to do more to secure
voting rights and put states with a history of discrimination – like this state
– back under Department of Justice preclearance when making
changes to voting laws. Texas is one state among
many that has passed or debated legislation this year intended to “promote
election integrity.” As Speaker Nancy Pelosi noted in an afternoon news
conference on the stairs of the US Capitol, multiple states have
passed legislation to curtail voting rights. The rest of the story, subscribers only By Kimberly Reeves |
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June 15, 2021 5:04 PM Trump to tour the Texas-Mexico border with Gov. Abbott Wednesday, June 30 Trump says he accepted Abbott's invitation to tour the border because the "Biden Administration inherited from me the strongest, safest, and most secure border in U.S history and in mere weeks they turned it into the single worst border crisis in U.S history. It’s an unmitigated disaster zone." |
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June 15, 2021 4:44 PM Keel and Wilson: After mass shooting, Abbott should consider putting Austin public safety on special session call Former Representatives Terry Keel and Ron Wilson say the legislature needs to understand that anything short of exercising its authority to place both the management and budget of the Austin Police under DPS, the capital city is going to continue to deteriorate A few blocks south of the
capitol this past weekend, in a devolving, crime-ridden capital city, fourteen ordinary, no doubt bi-partisan citizen-revelers were
shot. One of the victims has died,
another is paralyzed. Criminals don’t care whether
victims are a republican or a democrat. The mass shooting
overshadowed a young woman’s murder and other aggravated assaults in Austin the
same weekend, destined to be mere footnotes in an upward violent crime
trajectory where 2021 is portending to see a 100% increase in Austin homicides
compared to recent years. The chaos reflects a
broken, dysfunctional local government. In the legislative session
that just ended, legislators took a couple of modest steps to try and fix
Austin, notably de-incentivizing future defunding of police budgets and placing
statewide restrictions on the City of Austin-created insane policy that
incentivized homelessness through public camping. But the fixes aren’t
going to work. The rest of the story, subscribers only By Terry Keel and Ron Wilson |
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June 15, 2021 11:24 AM Former RPT Executive Director Chad Wilbanks announces for Texas GOP Chairman He joins former Rep. Matt Rinaldi and SREC member David Covey in the race for chair; Wilbanks served from '03 to '04, raised more than $1 million for state convention in 2004 |
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June 14, 2021 12:53 PM ERCOT issues conservation alert, asking Texans to safely reduce electric use Lawmakers this hour receiving notice that ERCOT says grid conditions are tight due to a number of forced generation outages |
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June 14, 2021 11:02 AM Rep. Toni Rose to chair the Texas House Democratic Campaign Committee for the 2022 cycle Democratic Caucus Chair Turner also appointed Representatives Alex Dominguez, Julie Johnson, and Armando Walle to serve on the organization’s board |
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June 14, 2021 8:37 AM Former Texas Supreme Court Justice Eva Guzman files for Attorney General
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June 11, 2021 6:02 PM Chairman James White will not seek reelection, per KFDM television in Beaumont
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June 11, 2021 2:52 PM Shuffling chairmanships, Patrick demotes Hancock from B&C, promotes Schwertner to Business and Commerce
Via the Office of
the Lieutenant Governor as he formalized his retribution on a Friday
afternoon: Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick
announced today that he has selected new chairs for four Senate Committees,
prior to the upcoming special session. Sen. Donna Campbell,
R-New Braunfels - Nominations Committee Sen. Bob Hall,
R-Edgewood - Administration Committee Sen. Kelly Hancock,
R-North Richland Hills - Veterans & Border Security Committee Sen. Charles Schwertner,
R-Georgetown - Business & Commerce Committee The Lt. Governor also
announced that he is expanding the scope of the Jurisprudence Committee,
chaired by Sen. Joan Huffman, R-Houston, to include pension and
insurance issues. |
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June 11, 2021 12:39 PM People on the MoveNew gigs now that session is over, looking for new opportunities, promotions, appointments, and more Now that the legislative
session has mercifully concluded, it is nice to hear that many of you are
getting some much needed down time. With the pandemic abating and restrictions therefore
lifting in much of the nation, folks in the Texas Capitol community
have spread out across the country looking for rest and relaxation. No one could blame you.
When will the special session be called? Well, the consensus among those talking
in Austin bars seems to be sometime after the July 4 holiday. It should for
sure be after the governor makes his next announcement about the Texas border
wall. That’s just one more thing that could be added
to the special session call. Some of you noted that
toward the end of session, People on the Move updates slowed down
for a bit. That is for two reasons. First, announcements of new ventures tend
to get lost in the shuffle of the final month of the session. I wouldn’t want your career news to not get the attention it deserves.
Second, at the end of session most people are mostly locked into their current
role until Sine Die, then they start to move around again. This year has been
no exception, although with guaranteed special sessions coming, many staffers
are surely being asked to stay put for now. In case anyone forgot how
it works: If you get a promotion, a completely new job, or start a company of
your own, everyone in the Capitol community wants to know about it. It’s okay to brag on yourself or a friend – or tattle on an
adversary – by sending the scoop to ksbraddock@gmail.com.
Use POTM in the subject line so I don’t lose track. Here’s the latest edition of People on the Move. The rest of the story, subscribers only By Scott Braddock |
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Copyright June 18, 2021, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved 