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July 3, 2009 3:15 PM
PALIN TO STEP DOWN AS ALASKA GOVERNORPresidential politics? From the Politico story
July 3, 2009 1:41 PM
VETO PROCLAMATION REJECTING VOTER REGISTRATIONS WITH TYPOS FROM CLERKS HAS .... TYPOSYou can't make this stuff up. State Rep. Scott Hochberg found himself on the wrong side of the veto pen last week when the Governor rejected HB 1457 giving the Secretary of State authority to overlook obvious typos by voter registration clerks. As if to make Hochberg’s point, the Governor’s veto proclamation included a glaring typo. Hochberg wrote us, “Remember last week when Governor
Perry vetoed my HB 1457, which would have given authority to the Secretary
of State to allow for obvious typos by voter registration clerks when matching
voter registrations to the DPS drivers license file? Each year, some 70,000
registration applications by Texas citizens are delayed or denied because of
failure to match, a large majority because of obvious clerical errors. “In his veto message, the Governor warned of
fraud, arguing that "A misspelled name or incorrect date of birth on a
voter registration application is a strong indication that the application was
filled out by someone other than the rightful voter." “But here's what else the veto message says: "House Bill No. 1457 would require the
secretary of state to develop a system for accepting voter registration
applications when the information provided by the voter does not match the
indentifying information for that individual in the records of the Texas
Department of Public Safety (DPS) or other state agencies." “What's that word?? indentifying ?? “Perhaps the veto message itself is fraudulent? “Source: http://governor.state.tx.us/news/veto/12613/ The typo also appears on the actual
proclamation.”
July 3, 2009 1:23 PM
SLATER SPEAKS.... WELL ACTUALLY RESPONDED TO MY EMAIL INQUIRYBack home and healing "Am at home, recuperating. Will be here a while, I think, following doctor's orders. Everything's going as it should, only it's never as quickly as you'd like. Every day is a better day. I notice you got the special session dispatched quickly; nice job. "Everyone has been quite wonderful with emails, notes, etc. I'm only now returning to check my email, but only intermittently. We've got a governor's race ahead, and a Senate race. So I'm really looking forward to getting back. "I really appreciate everybody's thoughts. There are a lot of really good people around. "Cheers,"
July 3, 2009 1:17 PM
IN PARTING PRESSER, DEMOCRATIC LAWMAKERS URGE FEDS TO PASS COMPREHENSIVE HEALTHCARE REFORMUsing statehouses to encourage congressional delegations to action Five Democratic state lawmakers this morning called on the federal government to pass comprehensive health care reform that would offer more affordable and accessible health care for Texans. With 1.4 million uninsured children, state Rep. Garnet Coleman (D-Houston) said that for Texas it is “very important that progress is made at the federal level.” That’s especially true, he said, given the state Legislature’s unwillingness to invest in a CHIP buy-in program that would have enrolled another 84,000 children in the low-cost health insurance plan. State Sen. Leticia Van de Putte (D-San Antonio) said that it was important for federal lawmakers to listen to their counterparts in the statehouses. Local officials have a better sense as to the impact of the current health system’s failings on hospitals, local governments and the taxpayers. And given that state lawmakers speak with the authority given to them by the voters, “we need to use our voice,” she said. The rest of the story, subscribers only By John Reynolds
July 2, 2009 4:56 PM
THE PARTY IS OVER. THE KIDS ARE GOING HOME. SPECIAL SESSION CONCLUDED
July 2, 2009 4:26 PM
WOOLEY ANNOUNCES SHE WILL SEEK RE-ELECTIONWe reprint her release below: “I am honored to represent the issues important to House District 136 in Austin,” Woolley said. “The residents of House District 136 tell me that property taxes are overburdening them, that their private property should be protected from eminent domain abuses, and that all taxation should be fair and balanced. I have been a long time supporter of these issues.” Representative Woolley is currently in Austin working to
find quick solutions during the current special session of the
Legislature. The Legislature is meeting
in a special session to address the continued functions of the Department
of Insurance and the Department of Transportation. “I am committed to working for real solutions to the real problems facing us,” said Woolley. “Every day Texans are faced with problems. Too many people talk about problems. Whether I am in Austin or in Houston, I don’t just talk about problems, but I work hard to solve problems.”
July 2, 2009 4:22 PM
SURPRISE!! SENATE FINANCE KICKS OUT HB1 13-0Carona blesses amendments ... sort of. Calls them "appropriate". Revolving fund to get another look next session
July 2, 2009 4:08 PM
HK: AN EARLE CANDIDACY ADDS A NEW DIMENSION TO THE CONVERSATIONArguing it round and square By filing his Treasurer papers with the Texas Ethics Commission today, former Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle adds a whole new wrinkle to what already promises to be an exciting set of primaries. Earle has been thinking about a statewide run since before he retired. As it now stands, Earle would be facing Tom Schieffer, Kinky Friedman and possibly Kirk Watson (the draft Watson movement continues unabated). Earle has to be taken seriously. He is the man most responsible for Tom DeLay’s fall from power. As such, he starts out with more statewide name ID and cachet among Democratic primary voters than any of the other Democratic candidates. He may even have some national fund-raising appeal. The rest of the story, subscribers only
July 2, 2009 3:55 PM
THE SENATE MUSIC WINDS DOWN ON CDAsThe end is near Senate leaders
have thrown in the towel on a comprehensive development agreement
bill, saying it could find no sense of urgency among stakeholders that road
projects would be in jeopardy before the 2011 session. Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, along with Sens. John Carona and Steve
Ogden, addressed the media while the Senate stood at ease, waiting for an
engrossed copy of House Bill 1. The special session’s last piece of legislation,
House Bill 1, is expected to arrive around 3:30 p.m. Already, the committee meeting to kick the bill out has been
scheduled for the same time so it can return to the full Senate. Just minutes
ago, Dewhurst opened his comments about the special session by congratulating
the House and Senate for the passage of two significant bills. Or, in the more
informal words of Sen. Craig Estes
as he passed the press table moments before Dewhurst’s speech, “Two out of
three ain’t bad.” The rest of the story, subscribers only By Kimberly Reeves
July 2, 2009 3:08 PM
SENATE OFFERS TRIBUTE TO RETIRING ALBERT HAWKINSFrom House Post Office to uber agency head over the course of 35 years Albert Hawkins’ career in state government started in
the House post office 35 years ago and ended as an agency leader who, in the
words of Sen. Eliot Shapleigh (D-El
Paso), “has the hardest job in state government.” Sen. Jane Nelson (R-Lewisville) offered up the resolution
this afternoon to honor Hawkins’ service to the state. Hawkins retires on
August 31. Senators were glowing in their praise of Hawkins, tossing about
terms such as “consummate professional,” “truly outstanding” and “an
extraordinary life of service.” The rest of the story, subscribers only By Kimberly Reeves
July 2, 2009 2:48 PM
EMBRY: EARLE FILES TREASURER REPORT TO RUN STATEWIDEDoes not name office but likely considering shot at governor The posting can be found here.
July 2, 2009 12:29 PM
HOUSE GIVES FINAL APPROVAL TO SUNSET REVIEW SCHEDULING BILLWithout amendments, bill would appear on its way to Governor's desk.
By John Reynolds
July 2, 2009 12:27 PM
HOUSE STRIPS OUT REVOLVING FUND, MOVES DOLLARS TO STATE INFRASTRUCTURE FUNDLeibowitz adds amendment preventing dollars going to convert free roads to tolls The House gave final approval to legislation shortly after noon today authorizing TxDOT to raise billions in bonds for road projects. But they also introduced a complication by removing a new funding tool designed to create a self-replenishing funding source that local transportation authorities could tap for help in building roads. The Transportation Revolving Fund has been described as a “transportation bank” that would lend money to local entities that need additional funding to complete financing for a highway project. The idea, though, ran into opposition yesterday from several House appropriators who said they were concerned about ceding too much control to TxDOT leadership. The rest of the story, subscribers only By John Reynolds
July 2, 2009 12:23 PM
AMIDST ANGRY EXCHANGE, PUC REJECTS REP. TURNER'S PETITION TO LIMIT DISCONNECTIONSThe full story can be found in the Texas Energy Report
July 1, 2009 3:54 PM
CALENDARS SETS TWO BILLS; CDAs LEFT PENDING IN COMMITTEESLege may adjourn tomorrow, let Guv call them back if he wants to push the issue House Calendars quickly met this afternoon to set HB 1 (transportation bonding) and HB 2 (Sunset review scheduling) for major state calendar tomorrow. Chairman Brian McCall (R-Plano) told the committee that he planned to ask for a rules suspension to take up the legislation tomorrow morning instead of waiting the full 24-hour layout period. Given the big (and growing) doubts that the third bill of the session, the CDA extension legislation, will see the light of day, McCall said that “our work may be done.” He said that Calendars was set to meet either tonight or tomorrow to set HB 3 should it make it out of committee. Others in the meeting room seemed skeptical that the bill would get out of committee or that the Senate would pass their companion bill on the subject. The mood in the room was that CDA legislation was the most “optional” of the trio of bills.
By John Reynolds
July 1, 2009 4:45 PM
CONCERNED ABOUT POSTPONING HHS SUNSET, VAN DE PUTTE WANTS MORE OVERSIGHT OF CPSNelson supportive, may seek interim charge Sen. Leticia Van de Putte
(D-San Antonio) extracted a promise from the Senate Finance Committee
this afternoon that the Senate will consider stronger oversight measures when
it comes to the reorganization of Child Protective Services. Van de Putte’s
preference would have been to fold CPS’ parent agency, the Health and Human Services
Commission, into Senate Bill 2, the sunset safety net
bill, which could have given it a review date of 2011. The current date for the
review of various agencies under the HHSC umbrella is 2013. The rest of the story, subscribers only By Kimberly Reeves
July 1, 2009 3:05 PM
PERRY URGED TO EXPAND CALL TO ALLOW FOR POSTHUMOUS PARDONSWrongfully convicted man's family wants justice on what would have been his 49th birthday. Three Democratic lawmakers today joined the family of a man wrongly imprisoned for a rape he did not commit in asking Gov. Rick Perry to expand the special session’s call so that the Legislature can consider a constitutional amendment that would allow the governor to grant posthumous pardons. Perry has declined to grant a pardon for Timothy Cole, who died in prison in 1999 before DNA testing exonerated him on grounds that he lacks the constitutional authority for such an action. Sen. Rodney Ellis (D-Houston) and Reps. Marc Veasey (D-Fort Worth) and Ruth Jones McClendon (D-San Antonio) believe the governor already has the power to act. The rest of the story, subscribers only By John Moritz
July 1, 2009 3:00 PM
NO ENTHUSIASM FOR CDA BILL IN EITHER CHAMBERMultiple tags lifted only because Ogden promises nothing more than hearing the bill The prospects
for passing some type of comprehensive development agreement
legislation appeared to dim significantly today, as lawmakers on both sides of
the chamber offered significant pushback against passing any type of CDA bill. Senate Bill 3, offered up by Sen. Robert Nichols (R-Jacksonville), was wounded, almost mortally,
on its way to Senate Finance Committee. That’s one reason why the Senate
started so late this morning. Chair Sen.
Steve Ogden (R-Bryan), no fan of CDAs himself, admitted that “multiple”
senators had attempted to tag Senate Bill 3 prior to this morning’s hearing and
that the bill only made it to committee when Ogden promised the only
commitment, so far, was to hear the bill. “I’ve never
really thought that Texas needed the argument for CDAs. They say we don’t have
a way to raise capital equity, but I’ve never believed that. There are lots of
ways to raise that capital without relying on the private sector,” Ogden
confessed to reporters after today’s hearing. “But with that being said, no one
should automatically say, ‘We shouldn’t consider it,’ but I’m not prepared to
vote it out of committee today. I think that the committee was comfortable in
laying out the bill.” The rest of the story, subscribers only By Kimberly Reeves
July 1, 2009 2:14 PM
HEARTBURN OVER REVOLVING FUND IN HOUSE APPROPRIATIONSAmendments floating around--write HB1 on the floor? House appropriators had a lot of tough questions this morning on a proposed transportation revolving fund, betraying a high level of discomfort with ceding control over the fund’s administration to TxDOT. The fund is in legislation whose main purpose is to authorize billions in general obligation bonds for highway projects. But questions about the revolving fund, which has been described as a “transportation bank,” dominated this morning’s hour-long hearing. HB 1 passed on a vote of 22-1 with four members absent. Rep. Geanie Morrison (R-Victoria) cast the lone no vote. Afterward, she said that constituents had raised concerns with her about the giving too much control to the transportation commission. The rest of the story, subscribers only
July 1, 2009 12:06 PM
FIRST SIGNS OF POSSIBLE SESSION SLOWDOWNAt least some amendments brewing in the House Business in the House got off to an expedited start on the special session’s first day. After meeting for less than an hour, the chamber recessed with three concurrent meetings of the Transportation, Appropriations and State Affairs Committees slated to kick off at 11 a.m. The committees were expected to take on the three main bills of the session – bonding authority for highway funding, the extension of certain toll road comprehensive development agreements and a scheduling bill for the Sunset review of state agencies for the next two legislative cycles. The rest of the story, subscribers only By John Reynolds
June 30, 2009 3:53 PM
SCHOOL ADMINSTRATORS ANGRY OVER GAMING OF SCHOOL FUNDING IN SESSIONMandated teacher pay raises based on one-time stimulus dollars? One official tells school districts to create two budgets--one for each scenario Leading
superintendents in the state are now openly, and vocally, critical of
lawmakers’ decision to use stimulus funding to back-fill the school finance
system. At the Texas
Association of School Administrators summer conference in Austin
yesterday, Northside Superintendent John
Folks told a crowded ballroom of school leaders he was angry that lawmakers
reneged on a promise to return money to the school finance system. Instead,
stimulus money was used to equalize the school finance system and much of what was
available was tied to salary increases. “I’m very angry
about the legislature’s choice to use the stabilization money to fund what is,
basically, their responsibility to fund public education in the state of
Texas,” a calm but clearly unhappy Folks said. “What the state has been doing
is supplanting, rather than supplementing, the state budget.” The rest of the story, subscribers only By Kimberly Reeves
June 30, 2009 3:28 PM
SREC CONSIDERS REPORT CARD MATCHING LAWMAKER VOTES TO GOP PLATFORMBenkiser killed motion on point of order Legislative scorecards are certainly nothing new but a proposal for the Republican Party of Texas to put together a scorecard based on fidelity to the Party platform raised something of a ruckus in a meeting last week of the State Republican Executive Committee. SREC member Jason Moore of Odessa said that he suggested the scorecard as a way for voters to know how their lawmakers are voting in relation to a document put together by the grassroots of the Party. “People are frustrated,” Moore said. “They’re tired of hearing people run for office saying one thing and going down (to Austin) and doing something else.” He said that candidates vow to follow the Party platform at the state convention, so he saw no problem in using key planks of that platform as a benchmark. “Basically, (the Party) reports and we decide,” he said. The rest of the story, subscribers only By John Reynolds
June 30, 2009 2:12 PM
SYLVESTER TURNER DECIDES NOT TO RUN FOR MAYOR OF HOUSTONFrom Miya Shay, reporter at KTRK TV in Houston In a release, Turner said: "After careful consideration and consultation with a number of individuals, I have decided I will not run for mayor of the City of Houston in 2009. "Although I believe the race is eminently winnable, a late entry into the campaign would have required that I drop every other project in which I am involved—community endeavors such as the Houston Astros MLB Urban Youth Baseball Academy in Acres Homes and continuing my work in the Texas Legislature, to which I am deeply committed and thoroughly enjoy. "I thank everyone who took the time to discuss this race with me and the many, many supporters who urged me to run. I have much more to accomplish in my life and I will continue to work hard for the citizens of my district, my city and my state." The complete posting by Shay can be found here.
June 30, 2009 2:09 PM
MINNESOTA SUPREMES DECLARE FRANKEN THE WINNERDemocrats on cusp of filibuster-proof majority in US Senate From the story in Politico
June 30, 2009 2:01 PM
FINAL LIST OF WHAT IS GETTING SUNSETTED WHENTwenty seven agencies to be reviewed for 2011 session While the focus has remained on the five agencies – TxDOT, TDI, the Racing Commission, the State Affordable Housing Corporation and the Office of Public Insurance Counsel – that would face sunset without it, the safety net bill also contains the master plan for the state agencies that will be up for review over the next couple of legislative cycles. QR readers will remember that lawmakers were attempting to swap some reviews from the 2011 cycle to the 2013 cycle and vice versa. The reasons were various. Sometimes, a special purpose review was ordered by legislation passed this past session. Meanwhile, other agencies were moved in order to balance the workload on the relatively thinly staffed Sunset Advisory Commission. The rest of the story, subscribers only By John Reynolds
June 29, 2009 5:12 PM
FUNDRAISING, CANDIDATE ANNOUNCEMENTS AND MOREOdds and ends on another blistering day As Austin roasts (again), some odds and ends from a rapidly heating up campaign trail: --- U.S. Senate candidate Roger Williams reports that he raised more than $400,000 at a Saturday fundraiser in Weatherford. The former Secretary of State is exploring a run for the Senate seat when (or if) incumbent Kay Bailey Hutchison steps down to pursue the office of Governor. Based on his campaign’s release, Williams now appears satisfied that he can mount a successful campaign. “This event was one of the final major events in the exploratory phase of my campaign. In this phase, I am testing the water,” said Williams. “Based on what I saw on Saturday, the water is just right for diving in.” Among the luminaries at Williams’ event were: former Dallas Cowboys players Bob Lilly and Rayfield Wright, former football announcer Pat Summerall, U.S. Rep. Kay Granger (R-Fort Worth) and boxing promoter Don King. The rest of the story, subscribers only By John Reynolds
June 29, 2009 4:57 PM
PERRY ANNOUNCES FINANCE TEAMList includes long time stalwarts Last January, Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison released a list of 300 GOP luminaries who were on her team. Today, the Perry Campaign rolled out its own
list of his Statewide Finance Committee,
We didn’t count, but it is probably in excess of three hundred
names. More importantly, it includes
such uber-donors as Bob Perry, James
Leininger, Mark Bivins, Tim Dunn (chief funder of Texans for Fiscal Responsibility), Tilman
Fertita, Steve Hicks, Lee Bass, Bobby Holt, Bob Perry, Bo Pilgrim, and Harold
Simmons. The rest of the story, subscribers only
June 29, 2009 4:56 PM
THREE TEXAS DEMOCRATS IN CONGRESS BUCK PARTY ON CAP-AND-TRADEFull story in today's Texas Energy Report
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