|
May 8, 2026 3:11 PM
Marking an anniversary, staffer moves, lobby hires, agency news, and more
This year
marks my 30th in media. Starting out as a small-town DJ in 1996, it
wasn’t long before I began working in radio news and made my way up through
some of the biggest broadcast newsrooms in the state – with more than a few controversies
along the way – eventually joining forces with our Publisher Mr. Harvey Kronberg
here at Quorum Report more than a decade ago.
So, while I’m
accepting an honorary degree in H-Town today at Houston City College,
the podcast episode dropping today is a little different. It’s a conversation about
those three decades – and some of the adventures that played out over that time
– with my friend Hector Valle. He hosted me on his show, Coffee
and Comms, and he was nice enough to let us use the audio for this week’s
Quorum Report Radio. Check it out on all podcast apps. The links
for Apple Podcasts and Spotify are on the QR homepage.
Meantime,
there are some significant career moves to pass along this week in the Texas
Capitol community. If you want to see your career news in the pages of
QR, just send it my way anytime at ksbraddock@gmail.com.
If you use POTM in the subject line, that helps me keep track.
With great
thanks, here’s the latest edition.
The rest of the story, subscribers only
By Scott Braddock
|
|
Top of Page
Copyright May 08, 2026, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
|
|
|
|
|
|
May 8, 2026 10:22 AM
|
|
Top of Page
Copyright May 08, 2026, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
|
|
|
|
|
|
May 7, 2026 5:53 PM
It's not what the Legislature passed so Rep. Wes Virdell for the win on this one, it seems
|
|
Top of Page
Copyright May 07, 2026, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
|
|
|
|
|
|
May 7, 2026 1:49 PM
|
|
Top of Page
Copyright May 07, 2026, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
|
|
|
|
|
|
May 6, 2026 10:15 PM
Despite Chairman Frank’s admonition, hospitals received the bulk of blowback during two days of hearings but insurance carriers weren’t totally off the hook either
When
Chairman James Frank gaveled in the Select Committee on Health
Care Affordability for its two day meeting
last week, he said members shouldn’t come in with assumptions nor leave with
solutions.
“Our goal
for the committee is to eventually arrive at policy solutions that will help
decrease the cost of quality healthcare for our constituents,” Frank said.
““Many of us know that healthcare pricing is largely broken. But I think
sometimes it's difficult to know why…By truly taking our time, it is also my
hope that we can address the root cause of pricing problems as opposed to
playing whack-a-mole with the symptoms.”
The
committee did have at least one assumption though: that at least one industry
was on the meu. On the first day, hospitals were, shall we say, the appetizer.
The rest of the story, subscribers only
By James Russell
|
|
Top of Page
Copyright May 06, 2026, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
|
|
|
|
|
|
May 6, 2026 10:00 PM
"Commissioner Wright has helped keep Texas at the forefront of American energy," Burrows said. "His leadership has strengthened the industry that powers our economy—supporting well-paying jobs, advancing our nation’s energy independence, and ensuring Texas stays the best state in America to do business."
|
|
Top of Page
Copyright May 06, 2026, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
|
|
|
|
|
|
May 6, 2026 5:22 PM
The Texas
Ethics Commission this week let Houston Mayor John Whitmire know
the agency is in receipt of a sworn complaint about his new podcast – a project
he says is meant to promote civic engagement while critics blast it as political
advertising at taxpayer expense.
The letter
from commission staff, dated March 4, was provided to Quorum Report.
The rest of the story, subscribers only
By Scott Braddock
|
|
Top of Page
Copyright May 06, 2026, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
|
|
|
|
|
|
May 5, 2026 2:20 PM
On Spectrum News Texas Capital Tonight, QR publisher Harvey Kronberg and host James Barragan got into that plus the latest on the US Senate race and primaries south of Interstate 10.
|
|
Top of Page
Copyright May 05, 2026, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
|
|
|
|
|
|
May 5, 2026 1:59 PM
|
|
Top of Page
Copyright May 05, 2026, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
|
|
|
|
|
|
May 5, 2026 1:18 PM
|
|
Top of Page
Copyright May 05, 2026, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
|
|
|
|
|
|
May 4, 2026 3:00 PM
Grumbling about Burrows from groups like the True Texas Project was met with praise for the speaker from some on the SREC, who called it a "HUGE step forward to unite the party for November…”
First, let’s
stipulate that the Republican Party of Texas – the entity itself,
not to be confused with the majority of voters across
the state – has long been a mess of an organization. That’s been truer at
certain times and under various chairmen than others.
At this
point it seems like the last time Texas Republicans were truly unified, they
were the minority party in this state. Unlike previous presiding officers of
the Texas House, Speaker Dustin Burrows has made it a
priority to make peace with and within the RPT and pass as many of the party’s priorities
as possible even after winning the gavel with the help of Democrats last year.
Some conservative
activists will never forgive him for that, but their numbers seem to be dwindling.
The rest of the story, subscribers only
By Scott Braddock
|
|
Top of Page
Copyright May 04, 2026, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
|
|
|
|
|
|
May 4, 2026 2:30 PM
It’s another data point in a midterm when Democrats show signs of ascendancy; an exception was overperformance by Republicans in a special election to succeed former Sen. Creighton in Southeast Texas
Billions
of dollars, book bans, and local leadership were on the ballot over the
weekend. And if it was fair to say that local elections were leading indicators
back when right wing candidates and causes were victorious in these contests,
it’s just as fair to say the same with Democrats surging and right-wing
candidates losing at the ballot box across Texas.
Let’s
start with school board elections.
Democrats
backed and campaigned for candidates in suburban school districts and won big.
The rest of the story, subscribers only
By James Russell
|
|
Top of Page
Copyright May 04, 2026, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
|
|
|
|
|
|
May 3, 2026 6:45 PM
“…lobbyists who trash the top lege priority next session (property taxes) with their secret dinners…should get on board or their other clients must just drop your firm,” Dave Carney said. Meantime, budget writers have privately been warned by Lt. Gov. Patrick that a budget deficit could be looming, per multiple Texas Senate sources, further complicating the governor’s plans
There have
always been threats and intimidation at the Texas Capitol, but
things seem to be moving to another level.
Around 11am
on Sunday, Gov. Greg Abbott’s political mastermind Dave Carney
issued a not so thinly veiled threat against lobbyists who might be pointing
out various weaknesses in the vague but sweeping property tax proposals put
forward by the state’s chief executive in his bid for reelection.
The rest of the story, subscribers only
By Scott Braddock
|
|
Top of Page
Copyright May 03, 2026, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
|
|
|
|
|
|
May 2, 2026 7:25 PM
Early returns showed Ligon up 75 to 25 over Democrat Ron Angeletti
|
|
Top of Page
Copyright May 02, 2026, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
