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July 18, 2018 5:46 PM
The
Environmental
Protection Agency has overruled a recommendation of Gov. Greg Abbott and placed Bexar
County in the nonattainment category under the Clean Air Act.
That
means Bexar County will join the Houston and Dallas regions in filing
attainment plans, although Bexar County’s requirements will be to a lesser
degree.
The rest of the story, subscribers only
By Kimberly Reeves
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Copyright July 18, 2018, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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July 18, 2018 4:53 PM
Gov. Abbott tweeted: "He’s a strict constitutionalist cut from the same conservative mold as @Scotus Justice Alito for whom he clerked."
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Copyright July 18, 2018, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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July 17, 2018 5:55 PM
The audit outlines the many challenges former Sen. Williams faces, including significant deficiencies on five procurements totaling well over $3.4 billion
The choice of vendors in contracts worth $4.6 billion out
of the Health and Human Services Commission cannot be adequately
defended with reliable, accurate and complete information, according to a
letter out of State Auditor’s Office today.
The audit, requested by Gov. Greg Abbott, is the worst blow yet for an agency that has seen both
procurement management and Abbott’s hand-picked Executive Commissioner Charles Smith depart the agency in
recent months under a heavy fog of confusion over the execution of some of the
largest contracts in the state.
The rest of the story, subscribers only
By Kimberly Reeves
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Copyright July 17, 2018, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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July 17, 2018 5:51 PM
Of the three potentially vulnerable Republican senators in the fall, Burton appears to be the only one backstopped by the Senate’s presiding officer so far; Patrick has been working to secure business support for her with mixed success
Editor’s
note: This story has be updated throughout – SB
It’s Christmas in July for state political
nerds today, with another round of semiannual reports now on the Texas
Ethics Commission website. Even if there was some delay this morning as
an upgrade to the site was being done.
Here’s what we rounded up at Buzz
Central.
The rest of the story, subscribers only
By James Russell
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Copyright July 17, 2018, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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July 17, 2018 11:59 AM
The GOP caucus route sounds good but has little upside and much downside
Back
in 1964 a two term Texas House member from De Leon decided he wanted to run for
speaker but one term incumbent Speaker Byron
Tunnell had his re-election all but locked down. Undeterred,
this member went across the street from the Capitol to seek the
advice of a former one-term member turned lobbyist at the Texas Auto Dealers Association.
The lobbyist agreed that Tunnell had a lock on
re-election and said the best the wannabe could do was collect “second-vote”
pledges which would be easy because there was virtually no chance of a second
vote.
Turns
out that then-Governor John Connally
wanted Tunnell out as Speaker
but this quintessentially internal House decision was beyond his ability to impact.
Instead, after Tunnell was re-elected in his
district, Connally offered him an appointment to the Railroad Commission
basically just to get him out of the Speaker’s office.
Tunnell accepted and suddenly there was only one lawmaker
to whom virtually every House member had pledged. His name was Ben Barnes and in 1965 he became the
youngest Speaker in Texas history. The
lobbyist whose advice proved prescient was Bob
Bullock who later became Comptroller and subsequently Lt. Governor.
The
point is that there is no such thing as a typical Speaker’s race. So, what could
be about to unfold now?
The rest of the story, subscribers only
By Harvey Kronberg
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Copyright July 17, 2018, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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July 17, 2018 11:55 AM
While a poll is circulated showing Gallego leading in SD19 special election where early voting is underway, Rep. Gutierrez is on TV slamming the former congressman: "You fired him from Congress."
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Copyright July 17, 2018, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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July 17, 2018 10:38 AM
His Democratic challenger Justin Nelson has $1.1 million in the bank
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Copyright July 17, 2018, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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July 16, 2018 5:56 PM
The June semiannual
campaign finance reports are here. Well, sort of. Reports from candidates and
incumbents are trickling in. Some press releases announcing major hauls have
hit our inboxes, too. Candidates running in the three most competitive senate races
have yet to post their numbers.
So, at
the moment we are looking at the Texas House races that look to be competitive
in the fall.
The rest of the story, subscribers only
By James Russell
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Copyright July 16, 2018, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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July 16, 2018 5:51 PM
“We’re not going to decide here…at what point in time a fetus is viable or life exists or any of that…..it isn’t before us in this case.”
Senior U.S. District Judge David Ezra beat back criticism of his handling of discovery in the
so-called “fetal remains trial” this morning, while insisting the parameters of
his judgment be as narrow and possible and not tackle the settled law of Roe v
Wade.
Ezra was clear today about what he did and did not want
to consider in a week-long trial on part of Senate Bill 8, the
state’s new requirement to bury the fetal remains from abortion procedures: at
which point life begins and whether a clinic should or should not be performing
abortions.
The rest of the story, subscribers only
By Kimberly Reeves
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Copyright July 16, 2018, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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July 16, 2018 7:35 AM
Per the Texas Ethics Commission filings, Abbott raised $10 million and maintains a cash on hand balance of roughly $29 million. The amount spent includes a $16 million media buy placed in June
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Copyright July 16, 2018, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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July 13, 2018 10:58 AM
A power player brings a Washington firm to Austin, senior staffers moving on to new ventures, promotions earn congratulations, and some award winners to brag about
I
take a couple days off and you folks make all kinds of news. Wasn’t this
supposed to be the dog days of summer?
First,
a personal milestone to share: The 100th episode of the Texas
Take Podcast that I co-host with Mike
Ward at the Houston Chronicle and Ryan
Poppe of Texas Public Radio is now available here along with the
previous 99 episodes. How is it possible we’ve already done 100 of these? It’s
all thanks to those of you who listen each week and to our Quorum Report advertisers
including the Texas Association of Counties and the Texas Association of Realtors.
It is humbling that anybody cares what I have to say about any of this in print
or in audio form. If you have yet to check out the show, subscribe on iTunes
or listen here. Thanks so much.
Enough
about me. People on the Move is about you.
As
always, if you have career news to share, send a note to ksbraddock@gmail.com and put “POTM” or
“People on the Move” in the subject line. Here’s Texas’ weekly roundup of People
on the Move:
The rest of the story, subscribers only
By Scott Braddock
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Copyright July 13, 2018, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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July 12, 2018 6:10 PM
Charles Curry Jr.,
29, is being held in the Travis County Jail on charges of aggravated assault
with a deadly weapon involving a string of shootings yesterday on Wednesday,
and Austin police do expect to file murder charges against the former Capitol staffer
for the shooting death of Christian Meroney, 32.
Curry was identified as the driver of a white Tahoe yesterday
who shot at people in four locations that stretched from South Interstate 35 to
the South Post Apartments, 1500 South Lamar, where the Meroney
murder took place on Monday. Curry was taken into custody by the Austin Police
Department at the South Post Apartments around
6 p.m. last night.
The rest of the story, subscribers only
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Copyright July 12, 2018, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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July 12, 2018 6:02 PM
The Public School
Finance Commission this week revealed a sharp division over whether Texas
was on track to meet the goals set out by the state’s 60x30 Plan.
If the 60x30 Plan doesn’t sound familiar, it likely will
next session. Many of the early goals of the Public School
Finance Commission hinge on efforts to add incentives to meet the goals of the
Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board’s plan, which suggests 60 percent of
all adults in Texas will have a degree or certificate by 2030.
The rest of the story, subscribers only
By Kimberly Reeves
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Copyright July 12, 2018, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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July 12, 2018 4:19 PM
Blakemore says “The broad support the Lt. Governor has received from business and grassroots leaders across the state is reflected in this $4.5 million fundraising report — bringing the total amount he has raised since he first announced he was running for Lt. Governor to $45,000,000, more than any other Lt. Governor in Texas history in two election cycles."
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Copyright July 12, 2018, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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July 12, 2018 11:02 AM
After Rep. Villalba was defeated by Lisa Luby Ryan in March, the Realtors are going with the Democrat in November
John Turner, a Dallas attorney, has now
also already earned endorsements from the Dallas Firefighters Association, the
TSTA,
and the Dallas ISD Trustees whose districts overlap with Texas
House District 114.
In
making their endorsement TREPAC Chairman David Alan Cox said, “We are proud to support John Turner in his
campaign to represent the constituents of HD 114. We have been impressed with
his command of the complex issues facing our great state and with his
dedication to protecting homeowners across Texas.”
The
full announcement
is here.
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Copyright July 12, 2018, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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July 11, 2018 9:12 PM
The late breaking news from
the El
Paso Times.
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Copyright July 11, 2018, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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July 11, 2018 6:59 PM
Will save you the time of checking: Yes, that's a Friday night at 7pm. Valdez responds on twitter: "We’re in and always happy to discuss our vision for a Texas that works for all. We haven’t agreed to the terms yet - but seriously, during Friday Night Lights? ?? Texans deserve better. Call me, maybe?"
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Copyright July 11, 2018, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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July 11, 2018 6:22 PM
"Due to better-than-expected economic and revenue growth through June of fiscal 2018 and an improved outlook for fiscal 2019, we now estimate the state will have $110.17 billion in General Revenue-Related (GR-R) funds available for general-purpose spending for the 2018-19 biennium"
Comptroller Glenn Hegar
has bumped revenue estimates up going into the 86th legislative
session, but not enough to overcome what will likely be a tight post-Harvey
budget.
First, the good news: Last year’s revenue projection was
that lawmakers would enter the budget cycle with only $94 million in available
revenue, based on oil prices at $50 per barrel.
That was conservative. Now, with prices hovering around $70
a barrel, the returns on the oil-and-gas industry have exceeded expectations.
Combined with better-than-expected sales tax collections, lawmakers come into
the session with $2.8 billion.
The rest of the story, subscribers only
By Kimberly Reeves
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Copyright July 11, 2018, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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