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June 23, 2017 6:15 PM
MALDEF fires back that DOJ has “no greater authority to interpret the law than anybody else… they’re just taking the opposite position than we are.”
Only a few days before the federal court in San
Antonio will take up the SB 4 lawsuit filed by multiple cities against the
state of Texas, Governor Greg Abbott
and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton,
the U.S.
Department of Justice issued a “Statement of Interest” announcing they would
be siding with Texas.
“The Department primarily argues that SB 4 is not
preempted by the Supremacy Clause, is not inconsistent with the Tenth
Amendment, and it does not violate the Fourth Amendment,” the
statement reads.
The rest of the story, subscribers only
By Lyanne A. Guarecuco
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Copyright June 23, 2017, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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June 23, 2017 6:11 PM
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June 23, 2017 5:54 PM
QR’s Liberal Columnist Glenn W. Smith argues that GOP health care plans make it plain that it’s time to break out of tribal political thinking and begin thinking for ourselves.
In
marketing, the purpose of branding is to short-circuit consumer thinking or at
least grant thinking a holiday. Forget the substantive benefits or dangers of
what you’re buying. Let “brand loyalty” do your thinking for you.
It’s like
the old advice that if you always park your car in the same place in the garage
you won’t have to bother your brain to remember where your car is. Branding is
like that.
“Tribes”
is a good word for a group of people loyal to one brand over another. There’s a
Coca-Cola Tribe and a Pepsi Tribe, for instance. While each tribe might try to
destabilize or raid the other, tribal loyalty is sticky. There’s apparent security
in a tribe. And, as noted, tribal membership comes with reduced taxes on the
brain.
The full column by Glenn W. Smith is in the R&D Department.
By Glenn W. Smith
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Copyright June 23, 2017, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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June 23, 2017 5:45 PM
Then School districts will send student report cards out to individual families next week, outlining what questions each student missed, and why, as well as correct answers and tested standards
New
student report cards will go out next week that Commissioner Mike Morath promises will go a long way toward demystifying
content on the state’s standardized tests.
Groups
such as Texans Advocating for Meaningful Student Assessment, or
TAMSA, have long advocated for minimizing, or even eliminating, state
standardized tests. The agency and lawmakers have offered feeble justification
for the tests in the face of rising opposition.
The rest of the story, subscribers only
By Kimberly Reeves
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Copyright June 23, 2017, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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June 22, 2017 6:06 PM
Medicaid advocates back home pan the plan while TPPF is also unhappy with it
The Senate
version of a health care plan, unveiled today, appears to have squeezed the
cost out of Obamacare and put more control of Medicaid and health
insurance in the hands of states.
Such a
choice may win accolades from some Texas lawmakers, who have long lobbied they
could do more, and better, with block grants, but it is not well received by
those guarding Medicaid. People like Anne Dunkelberg of the Center
for Public Policy Priorities call Medicaid a lifeline to affordable
health care coverage rather than a welfare program that needs to be constrained
by work requirements, drug testing and time limits, as noted in this recent
survey.
So, it
won’t be surprising that Dunkelberg and her allies are opposed to the Senate’s
plan to repeal and replace Obamacare: ending Medicaid expansion; minimizing
insurance benefit plans; and capping the amount of money Medicaid spends on
each Medicaid enrollee. Dunkelberg sees a plan that cuts deeper and hits harder
than the US House’s proposed plan.
The rest of the story, subscribers only
By Kimberly Reeves
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Copyright June 22, 2017, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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June 22, 2017 5:13 PM
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June 22, 2017 1:22 PM
Jared Woodfill, who works with Hotze at the Conservative Republicans of Texas, did not say who their preferred candidate for Speaker would be
Here’s the
video of Dr. Steve Hotze via Facebook.
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Copyright June 22, 2017, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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June 21, 2017 5:06 PM
Mayor Turner says they didn’t choose this fight: “We’re having to respond to action that was taken on the state level that impacts Houstonians.”
With
a 10-6 city council vote, Houston, which has the third-largest undocumented immigrant
population in the country, became the latest city to join the lawsuit against SB 4
today.
Houston
joins Austin, San Antonio, Dallas, El Paso and El Cenizo
in challenging the “show me your papers” law passed by the Texas Legislature at the
behest of Gov. Greg Abbott, who
demanded the bill on his desk but did not get involved in crafting the legislation.
The rest of the story, subscribers only
By Lyanne A. Guarecuco
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Copyright June 21, 2017, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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June 21, 2017 5:05 PM
Base closures were inextricably linked to municipal annexation late in the session, which brought out many angry voters this week
SAN ANTONIO - Rep. Roland
Gutierrez, D-San Antonio, held an interim hearing on base encroachment this
week in San Antonio and it’s only the first of multiple stops around the state,
a prelude to a push to get lawmakers on board with a statewide strategy on base
realignment and closure.
Five
rounds of base realignment and closure, or BRAC, has closed military
installations in Texas from Beeville to Lubbock and every place in between. The
Trump administration’s announcement of a sixth
round of BRAC for 2021 has San Antonio officials concerned.
The rest of the story, subscribers only
By Kimberly Reeves
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Copyright June 21, 2017, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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June 21, 2017 5:04 PM
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Copyright June 21, 2017, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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June 21, 2017 5:01 PM
Lyanne brings a passion and expertise in immigration issues to QR, which could not be better-timed for this moment in Texas politics
Whenever you’ll be seeing a new face in the halls of
the Texas
Capitol representing Quorum Report, we’ve made it our
custom at Buzz Central to give readers a heads up about who exactly will
be interacting with you about the issues facing lawmakers, staffers, the lobby
and the rest of the political class in Austin.
Lyanne A. Guarecuco starts
writing for us today and will be with us through the most special of special
sessions coming up in July – that’s if Gov. Greg Abbott gets the proclamation done in time.
Lyanne
is a graduate from St. Edward’s University where she earned a Bachelor of Arts
degree in Communication with a focus in Media and Broadcast Journalism and a
minor in Journalism. Prior to joining QR, she covered the 85th Texas Legislative Session
for the Texas Observer, reporting primarily on immigration and women’s
health. She was also an editorial intern there in the summer of 2015.
During her time at St. Edward’s, she was the online
Editor in Chief of the campus newspaper, Hilltop Views. Before becoming
engulfed in Texas politics, Lyanne worked in social
media marketing at a local startup and as a freelance English-Spanish
translator.
Lyanne
was born and raised in Laredo, where she grew up minutes from the
Mexican-American border.
By Scott Braddock
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Copyright June 21, 2017, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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June 21, 2017 10:52 AM
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Copyright June 21, 2017, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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June 20, 2017 5:58 PM
Sullivan plans to appeal to the Third Court of Appeals in Austin using an argument media organizations have called “gaming the system”
Calling
the arguments from his attorneys “frivolous” and “solely intended to delay” the
pursuit of justice, a Travis County judge has rejected Michael Quinn Sullivan’s request that the case of his alleged
illegal lobbying be dismissed.
After
the judge rejected his request, Sullivan’s attorneys notified the court that they
plan to ask the Third Court of Appeals in Austin to hear their motion to
dismiss the case based on the state’s anti-SLAPP law, which provides for
expedited review of many legal issues based on the right of free speech.
For
those who are unfamiliar, a "strategic lawsuit against public
participation," or SLAPP, is a lawsuit intended to intimidate and silence
critics by burying them under the cost of a legal defense until they abandon
their criticism or opposition.
It’s
a perhaps funny thing for Sullivan to claim is happening to him, given that he
and his backers were able to pay out $700,000 in
attorneys’ fees in a single year.
The rest of the story, subscribers only
By Scott Braddock
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Copyright June 20, 2017, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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June 20, 2017 5:55 PM
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June 20, 2017 4:10 PM
It wouldn’t be an odd numbered year in Austin if the Monthly wasn’t sparking this debate
You
can check out this year’s list by R.G.
Ratcliffe right here.
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Copyright June 20, 2017, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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June 19, 2017 9:40 PM
The
delegation’s letter to Houston City Council can be downloaded
here.
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Copyright June 19, 2017, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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June 19, 2017 9:33 PM
Abbott continues to surprise stakeholders after never engaging with them, his direction lies in administrative powers instead of new lawmaking, and if he didn’t sign it last time, don’t bother running it up the flagpole again
Gov.
Greg Abbott’s slew of vetoes last week, 51 in all, left some staffers
and lawmakers alike feeling burned at the end of what already was a contentious
session – with more fun to come in July. We’re using “fun” loosely, of course.
The
actual number of vetoes by Abbott is probably closer
to 44,
if you exclude the line-item budget vetoes and the bills pulled at the request
of the lawmaker or duplicates what other bills in the current or past sessions
have accomplished. Those veto statements look something like this, this, this, this, this, this, this and this.
What
frustrated lawmakers two years ago – and what continues to frustrate them this
session – is Abbott’s absence from legislative negotiations. That was true in
his marquee legislation like Senate Bill 4 and grants for pre-k all the way down
to more minor issues.
The rest of the story, subscribers only
By Kimberly Reeves
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Copyright June 19, 2017, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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June 19, 2017 4:57 PM
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June 19, 2017 9:16 AM
"...when the justices see how pervasive and damaging this practice has become, the Supreme Court will adopt a clear legal standard that will ensure our democracy functions as it should.”
Here’s
the story from the Washington Post.
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Copyright June 19, 2017, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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June 17, 2017 4:40 PM
Houston businessman begins the fight in Dan Patrick’s power base: The suburbs
ROUND
ROCK – With perhaps all the fiery rhetoric a certified public accountant can
possibly muster in nearly 100-degree heat, businessman Mike Collier on Saturday afternoon officially launched his
Democratic bid to be the next presiding officer of the Texas Senate.
The
campaign kickoff seemed to eschew arguments about “turning Texas blue,” focusing
on the idea that the race should be about common-sense solutions instead of
partisanship and ideology. Collier, a businessman who lives in Houston, argued he
is ready to address critical public policy questions facing a state that is for
the first time in years beginning to lag economically.
“Texans
want someone who will drop the partisan nonsense,” Collier said. That was evidently
one of the reasons the Democrat started his steep uphill climb in the
Republican stronghold of Williamson County. “I love to come into Republican
territory,” he said. Collier’s roots are in the suburbs outside Austin, having
gone to high school in nearby Georgetown.
Calling
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick “the worst
lieutenant governor in the history of the state,” Collier said his own track
record in the private sector should be the measuring stick used by voters next
year.
The rest of the story, subscribers only
By Scott Braddock
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Copyright June 17, 2017, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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June 16, 2017 5:33 PM
Medicaid is $62 billion of the $217 billion budget and 900,000 people have accessed the ACA exchanges for insurance coverage, of which 86 percent receive some amount of federal subsidy
As Obamacare continues to limp along, a
coalition of 20 organizations have signed onto a letter asking US Senators Ted
Cruz and John Cornyn to oppose the permanent cuts to Medicaid
outlined in the so-called American Health Care Act.
The healthcare exchange in Texas is beginning to fail, which
many Democrats would argue has become a self-fulfilling prophesy once Republicans
announced the intention to repeal and replace Obamacare. On a conference call
with reporters this week, Cornyn said more than a third of Texas counties are
down to one insurance carrier under the exchange.
“The insurance companies are pulling out because they’re
hemorrhaging cash, they’re losing money,” Cornyn said. “They simply can’t
afford to stay in the exchanges.”
What the US Senate will do to replace
Obamacare is still a black box, one that leaves Texas health care advocates
with a sense of unease.
The rest of the story, subscribers only
By Kimberly Reeves
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Copyright June 16, 2017, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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June 16, 2017 5:31 PM
Harris will now serve as the chief investment officer for The University of Texas Investment Management Company (UTIMCO)
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Copyright June 16, 2017, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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June 16, 2017 5:07 PM
QR’s Liberal Columnist Glenn W. Smith argues that vicious attacks on the free press and an upside-down view of the separation of church and state put the First Amendment at risk.
Gov.
Greg Abbott turned the First
Amendment on its head when he signed a bill that legalizes religious
discrimination by child welfare providers. The law’s expansive language applies
in an almost unlimited number of circumstances. Under the law, if you have a
“sincerely held religious belief” against people wearing sandals, you can toss
them from your restaurant and send them to the bootmaker.
The
law clearly panders to certain extremist sects that believe “religious freedom”
means they are free to discriminate against those who do not follow their
doctrines. It’s as though they believe Jesus said, “Hey, if you got a stone in
hand, throw it! Aim for the head.”
The full column by Glenn W. Smith is in the R&D Department.
By Glenn W. Smith
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Copyright June 16, 2017, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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