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May 25, 2018 2:25 PM
Texans heading to DC, others getting promotions in Austin, a veteran of the legislative process leaves some huge shoes to fill, a documentary in the works, and more
It’s those short trips with
no down time that wear you out.
Driving to San Antonio Wednesday
to speak at the Texas Association of Business meeting then immediately flying
to Houston to attend the Republican Party of Texas Chairman’s
forum the same day, though, meant I got to see so many of your smiling faces along
the way. Big thanks to Harris County GOP Chairman Paul Simpson and his sidekick, er, comms director Vlad
Davidiuk for their hospitality. It was also good
to meet Fort Bend County Republican Party Chairman Jacey Jetton. Paul and Jacey did an incredible job corralling RPT
Chair James Dickey and challenger Cindy Asche, who leave you with the impression
they don’t like each other very much.
More on their race soon
and, of course, we’re almost into June so both party’s conventions are right
around the corner.
Back at the Capitol,
it was an emotional week in the aftermath of the tragedy in Santa Fe. Many in
the halls of the building expressed skepticism that Gov. Greg Abbott’s hastily arranged and well-choreographed roundtables will
lead to anything other than talk and photo ops. The governor seems as
well-intentioned as when he sought to fund quality pre-k programs.
Meantime some Texans are
heading to DC, others are getting promotions right here in Austin, and others
are leaving huge shoes to fill. Let me know what you’re hearing at ksbraddock@gmail.com and put People on
the Move or POTM in the subject line. You can brag on others or yourself. It’s
fine, really. 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 May 25, 2018, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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May 25, 2018 2:21 PM
QR’s Liberal Columnist Glenn W. Smith writes that on Memorial Day we honor those who perished or suffered that we may live on “to love one another.” Those who today sow hate and discord should reflect upon their actions, too.
A group of people are gathered in a room. The light goes out, as
lights sometimes do. Rather than change the bulb, a loud voice gathers half the
room into a group that blames the others for the predicament. The others, a new
bulb in one hand, fight back with the other. The room stays dark. Welcome to
America, 2018.
It’s worse than that. The room is not actually dark. The loud
voice is just frightening half the room that the other half wants to turn off
the light. The threat of darkness is an apocalyptic fantasy that uses hatred of
others to enforce loyalty to the loud voice.
The
complete column by Glenn W. Smith is
in the R&D Department.
By Glenn W. Smith
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Copyright May 25, 2018, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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May 24, 2018 4:43 PM
A testy exchange between the agency and the Public Ed Chair: “I think this year we’ve had what would be comparable to any other state with the tests online. It doesn’t excuse what happened…”; “So, the short answer is yes,” Huberty replied
The results of students who were subject to a timing-related snafu
during this year’s administration of the STAAR will not be
counted against school ratings this fall.
Commissioner Mike Morath told the House Public
Education Committee informed lawmakers before sending out the
announcement today. The Texas Education Agency estimates that up
to 29,000 students taking the STAAR online, mostly special education students,
had a lengthy mid-test delay as a subcontractor attempted to “fix a bug” with
its online technology.
That would mean, three years into a four-year contract, ETS has
had test administration glitches twice, Chair Rep. Dan Huberty,
R-Kingwood, pointed out. Or as Huberty put it, out of
three years of test administration, ETS had “screwed up twice, right?”
The rest of the story, subscribers only
By Kimberly Reeves
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Copyright May 24, 2018, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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May 23, 2018 6:22 PM
Funeral services are Sunday, May 27 at First Baptist Church in Mount Pleasant. Visitation with family from 3pm to 4pm and Memorial service at 4pm at the church. Private burial.
Long
time Texas
Capitol aide, Vatra Solomon, passed away last night in
Mount Pleasant.
Vatra was a commanding presence in the offices held by Bill Ratliff, both as Lieutenant
Governor and State Senator. She later worked at the Comptroller’s Office and
with Eric Wright’s lobby shop.
Many
a Northeast Texas officeholder and candidate trekked to Vatra’s
home for advice, which, as anyone who dealt with her knows, was always
delivered with good cheer but wasn’t always what they wanted to hear. She’ll be
missed by all of those she guided over the years.
Funeral
services are Sunday, May 27 at First Baptist Church in Mount
Pleasant. Visitation with family from 3pm to 4pm and Memorial service at 4pm at
the church. Private burial.
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Copyright May 23, 2018, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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May 23, 2018 6:20 PM
TEA says the number of terroristic threats by Texas students has almost doubled in the last decade, from 1,061 reports in the 2009-10 school year to 2,074 threats in 2016-17
Twenty percent of Texas school districts have no protocol
in place to identify and work with students who exhibit threatening behavior on
a school campus, according to a three-year audit of school district safety plans
out of the Texas School Safety Center.
Gov. Greg Abbott is hosting three days of
stakeholder feedback on the shootings at both Sutherland Springs First
Baptist Church and Santa Fe High School.
Wednesday focused on the root causes of mass shootings:
gun safety and mental health. The lion’s share of the attention next session
will likely be the contentious fight over gun control.
The ability to address mental health issues on school
campuses is sorely needed, Abbott told assembled reporters after a closed-door
meeting with stakeholders. Schools need better strategies to identify students
who need to be removed. Administrators need to back up teachers. And students
need avenues to report potential threats, Abbott said.
The rest of the story, subscribers only
By Kimberly Reeves
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Copyright May 23, 2018, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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May 22, 2018 9:42 PM
“Once again, Republican primary voters have shown overwhelming support for responsible candidates who will put their communities first”
Surveying
the landscape, the retiring presiding officer issued this statement:
"I
want to congratulate the candidates who won their runoffs tonight and will now
head to the general election in November. They have worked hard and sacrificed
much to earn these victories. Once again, Republican primary voters have shown
overwhelming support for responsible candidates who will put their communities
first and take a serious approach to the state's challenges. The results in
these runoffs and in the March primaries clearly
demonstrate that Republican voters want constructive and pragmatic leadership
for our fast-growing state."
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Copyright May 22, 2018, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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May 22, 2018 9:40 PM
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Copyright May 22, 2018, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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May 22, 2018 9:36 PM
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Copyright May 22, 2018, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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May 22, 2018 7:28 PM
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Copyright May 22, 2018, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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May 22, 2018 7:26 PM
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Copyright May 22, 2018, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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May 22, 2018 7:25 PM
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Copyright May 22, 2018, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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May 22, 2018 7:24 PM
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Copyright May 22, 2018, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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May 22, 2018 7:23 PM
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Copyright May 22, 2018, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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May 22, 2018 7:23 PM
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Copyright May 22, 2018, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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May 22, 2018 7:22 PM
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Copyright May 22, 2018, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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May 21, 2018 5:48 PM
“The time to act is now”; As Cook calls for action, Democrats ask Abbott to consider gun legislation they filed in the last session
In
the wake of the deadly Santa Fe school shooting last week, Texas House State Affairs
Committee Chairman Byron Cook
on Monday told Gov. Greg Abbott there
is no time to waste when it comes to preventing another similar tragedy.
That’s
why the Republican from Corsicana asked Gov. Abbott to call a special session
this summer to make changes in how students are protected all over Texas.
The rest of the story, subscribers only
By Scott Braddock
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Copyright May 21, 2018, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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May 21, 2018 5:29 PM
Economist Dr. Stuart Greenfield with his finger on the pulse of the state revenue situation: So what will the ending FY19 balance be? At a minimum, it will be an order of magnitude greater than the current $93.8 million
The state has postponed appropriating
substantial funding to address the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, primarily
relying on federal
funds. Maybe my analysis of the state’s fiscal condition as we enter the summer
months of FY18 will help our snoring legislators to arise from their
slumber.
As Comptroller Hegar recently noted,
sales tax increased 13.4 percent from April 2017. This substantial increase was accompanied by substantial year-to-date
(YTD) increases in other General Revenue-Related (GRR) revenue sources.
The complete column by Dr. Stuart Greenfield is in the R&D Department.
By Dr. Stuart Greenfield
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Copyright May 21, 2018, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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May 18, 2018 5:06 PM
A prominent player with a new lobby shop, a comms pro on the move, heavy hitters in public ed, and some law school grads to brag on
May is already getting
away from us. It’s the last day of early voting in the runoffs, which of course
happen Tuesday.
A lot of folks in Austin have
been checking their sample ballots to see if they still even have any races to
vote in if they’re Republicans. Democrats, naturally, have their governor’s
race yet to decide as well as congressional challengers to nominate around the
state.
We’ll have full coverage
of the results Tuesday night. Then the next day, the candidates for Republican
Party of Texas Chairman will face off in a debate
in Houston. Hope to see you there.
Meantime, at the Capitol
it was another week of new lobby shops, folks
taking new positions and starting new adventures. You know by now the Buzz
Central team loves to hear what’s going on. Send a note anytime at ksbraddock@gmail.com and if it’s about
this please put “People on the Move” or “POTM” in the subject line. That helps
my simple mind keep it all organized.
Here’s Texas’ weekly edition
of People
on the Move:
The rest of the story, subscribers only
By Scott Braddock
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Copyright May 18, 2018, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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May 18, 2018 5:05 PM
The all-GOP court found that “The lobbyist-registration statute at issue is a legally permissible restriction” and not a trampling of Sullivan’s free speech rights
An
all-Republican panel of the Third Court of Appeals in Austin
this week rejected an attempt by attorneys for Midland oilman Tim Dunn’s spokesman Michael
Quinn Sullivan to toss out the case of his alleged illegal lobbying at
the Texas
Capitol.
Sullivan’s
lawyers were hoping the court would agree with them that the case being pursued
by the Texas Ethics Commission should be dismissed because of a state
law aimed at helping journalists and others do their jobs without fear of
frivolous lawsuits.
The rest of the story, subscribers only
By Scott Braddock
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Copyright May 18, 2018, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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May 18, 2018 5:00 PM
Chairman Hancock quips: “I think you work with whoever you want to work with…I think you don’t work with whoever you don’t want to work with.” Sen. Whitmire notes that Houston has managed to improve this infrastructure despite the fact that Hurricane Harvey rolled through last year
The City of Austin has approved only a couple of
permits for the creation of a statewide 5G wireless network, a position met
with some frustration from state lawmakers this week.
This next generation of connectivity, 10 times faster than
current wireless service, is one that will help put autonomous
cars on the road and flying
taxis in the sky, we are told.
More pragmatically, lawmakers passed Senate Bill 1004
last session to outline the deployment of network nodes in the right-of-way of
roadways and capping fees at a loss of up to $750 million to local cities.
The rest of the story, subscribers only
By Kimberly Reeves
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Copyright May 18, 2018, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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May 18, 2018 4:48 PM
Empower Texans is largely sidelined perhaps thanks to one of Gooden’s key allies; race could have big repercussions down ballot in contest to succeed Chair Cook
DALLAS – After the May 22 runoffs, it’s difficult to
blame the voters in Congressional District 5 for wanting to drain the swamp, the
phrase made popular by President Donald
Trump describing the federal government.
Because this race has gotten nasty.
The rest of the story, subscribers only
By James Russell
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Copyright May 18, 2018, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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May 18, 2018 12:59 PM
QR’s Liberal Columnist Glenn W. Smith suggests Democrats learn the lessons of rival TV networks efforts to beat Dallas and J.R. Ewing in the ratings. Tell a completely different story.
You’ve noticed, of course, that Donald Trump never smiles. The film loop running in his head comes from
his beloved World Wrestling Entertainment: all Mussolini-jawed bluff, virtual
body slams and cheers for the steely-eyed victor scripted in advance.
If nothing else, Trump stays on his mark, in character. Humiliated
by Bill Gates, Kim Jong-un or Stormy
Daniels, Trump plays on. He’s happiest as the popular soap-opera villain,
the center of every televised storm.
The
full column by Glenn W. Smith is in
the R&D Department.
By Glenn W. Smith
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Copyright May 18, 2018, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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