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May 3, 2024 2:26 PM
Staffer moves, lobby changes, appointments, and more
Do we still have almost an entire month to go before the runoffs are complete
in Texas? Well, yeah pretty much.
These
things go on forever. It appears Gov. Greg Abbott just reserved more
than a million in TV ads spread across several Texas House districts
while incumbent Republicans are making what may be their final stands on what in
many cases look like shoestring budgets. I’ll get ready to head out across Texas
to check out what’s happening in key districts over the next few weeks.
Speaking
of the runoffs, the latest Texas Take podcast will drop here later this
afternoon as Jeremy Wallace and I break down some of the legislative
minutiae being used as campaign fodder. Depending on your browser, you may have to right click that link and open it in a new tab. The degree to which challengers and
their supporters are down in the weeds of House process really does tell you just
how narrow the audience is in a primary runoff slated for the end of May.
Meantime,
there are a few significant career moves to tell you
about in and out of the building. And to answer a question from a few of you: People
on the Move is not necessarily published every Friday afternoon. There
are times when we take a break from POTM but if you submit an item to be
featured in this article, it will show up in the next edition after you send it
to ksbraddock@gmail.com. If you use
POTM in the subject line, that helps me keep track. Thanks very much.
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 May 03, 2024, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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May 3, 2024 1:32 PM
Cuellar says he is innocent and will fight any charges that might be coming
The
latest via NBC
News in Washington:
The
Justice Department on Friday released an indictment against longtime Rep. Henry
Cuellar, D-Texas, and his wife, Imelda, charging the pair with bribery and
money laundering related to their ties with an oil and gas company controlled
by Azerbaijan and a bank in Mexico City. NBC News was first to report that the
charges were coming.
Cuellar’s
home and campaign office in Laredo, Texas, were raided in January 2022 as part
of a federal investigation into Azerbaijan and a group of U.S. businessmen who
have ties to the country, law enforcement said at the time. His office had
pledged to cooperate with the investigation. In April, Cuellar's lawyer, Joshua
Berman, told some news outlets that federal authorities informed him he was not
the target of the investigation.
Cuellar
is a one-time co-chair of the Congressional Azerbaijan Caucus. He says he's done nothing illegal and will fight the charges.
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Copyright May 03, 2024, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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May 2, 2024 4:05 PM
Texas saw 1 million kids lose coverage followed by Florida, Georgia, and California. Advocates on the issue say “For our children, for our families, and for our communities: this has to stop”
The end of
pandemic-era coverage of Medicaid continues to hurt families,
especially children, across the country as nearly 10 million people have been
kicked off the rolls, according to a new report based on administrative data
reported by the states to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid
Services and data released by the Texas Health and Human Services
Commission.
The report
released by the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families
finds that numerous qualified people were kicked off the rolls in 2023. That’s after
the end of the COVID-19 public health emergency, which ended federal funding to
states to states to keep people enrolled. Without the enticement of matching
federal funds, people fell victim to what is known as “Medicaid unwinding.”
Yet many
of those were because of government errors, including failure to partner with
community agencies and organizations, not updating addresses, failure to send
renewal letters in multiple languages and other processing errors.
While an estimated
4.3 million children lost coverage, most likely still qualify.
The rest of the story, subscribers only
By James Russell
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Copyright May 02, 2024, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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May 1, 2024 5:29 PM
One Republican source tells QR the survey was sent out by a Republican House lawmaker who’s “best positioned” to backchannel the survey’s results to the Office of the Lieutenant Governor
Texas
House
Republicans have been especially tight-lipped about a private survey circulated
last month gauging support for the potential release of a public statement about
eliminating some key powers of the speaker while preserving the way the speaker
is chosen from among the membership.
The
authors of the detailed survey, obtained by Quorum Report Tuesday night,
were trying to figure out how many Republicans in the House would potentially
sign onto an open letter "pledging to support existing procedures relating
to the election of the speaker" along with "certain reforms to the
House.”
Those
“reforms” would not be insignificant.
"Each
proposal is based on feedback from reform-minded members,” reads the survey’s
preamble, which also stresses that the questions and the results will be kept private.
The rest of the story, subscribers only
By Scott Braddock
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Copyright May 01, 2024, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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April 30, 2024 4:27 PM
For such a dynamic situation, it is remarkably static. Despite a runoff, Speaker Phelan has seen only two public defections from his leadership team including one who might face residency questions if he makes a run for the gavel
“I’ve
already got a speaker.”
That
was the matter-of-fact answer from a GOP Texas House lawmaker when
asked in recent days about how things might shake out over the next year.
There
has probably been exactly enough said since Super Tuesday about the “weakness”
of Speaker Dade Phelan after he was forced into a runoff in Southeast
Texas. A common refrain in drinking establishments around Austin has been “he’s
toast” and “cannot remain speaker” even if he wins reelection. But others push
back with something like “he’s the speaker until he is not.” Just about every
lunch or happy hour involving political professionals starts with this topic or
at least includes some discussion of Phelan’s future and, by extension, the
future of the Legislature.
The
speaker’s political demise may be on the horizon, sure.
But
so far, he’s seen only a couple of public defections from his leadership team. There’s
Rep. Tom Oliverson, whose announcement for speaker brought about as much
enthusiasm from other members as he brings to the campaign. And then you have Rep.
J.M. Lozano, who boldly endorsed a set of proposed restrictions for how
the House operates including elimination of Democratic chairs.
For
such a dynamic situation, it is remarkably static. So, let’s talk about it.
The rest of the story, subscribers only
By Scott Braddock
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Copyright April 30, 2024, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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April 30, 2024 10:26 AM
Paxton tweeted that he is "with President Trump in NYC to sit through this sham of a trial. This trial is a travesty of justice. I stand with Trump." Of course, that's after Paxton did not sit through his own "sham of a trial" in the Texas Senate last year
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Copyright April 30, 2024, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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April 29, 2024 3:45 PM
The road
to winning the open safely Democratic Texas Senate District 15 is
paved with cash.
Facing off
in the runoff to succeed Houston Mayor John Whitmire are Rep. Jarvis
Johnson and nurse Molly Cook, who previously ran for the seat
against Whitmire.
Both
reported large hauls according to the latest eight-day reports ahead of the May
4 election.
The rest of the story, subscribers only
By James Russell
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Copyright April 29, 2024, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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April 29, 2024 3:40 PM
At least 40 or so pro-Palestinian demonstrators were arrested on the campus so far today
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Copyright April 29, 2024, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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