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October 3, 2023 3:57 PM
Patrick previously admitted to Quorum Report that he had spoken to two GOP senators during deliberations but did not say who they were
Reporter Cayla Harris
with the update:
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick
spoke to two Republican senators widely seen as swing votes during the
deliberations in Attorney General Ken Paxton’s impeachment trial, according to
public records obtained by Hearst Newspapers.
Patrick had a 15-minute
conversation with Sen. Joan Huffman about 10
p.m. on Friday, Sept. 15, the records show. Senators had begun deliberating
around noon, and they voted to acquit Paxton of all corruption charges the next
day. The lieutenant governor also spoke with Sen. Brian Birdwell,
R-Granbury, twice during deliberations. He talked to the senator for three
minutes around 5:30 p.m. Friday, and they chatted again for 15 minutes early
Saturday morning. Birdwell initiated the calls both times.
Patrick previously
acknowledged that he talked to two senators on Friday to discuss procedural
questions they raised, but he had not named them publicly. Patrick was acting
as judge during the trial and has repeatedly denied that he in any way
influenced the outcome. He also has explicitly rejected accusations that he
called senators during deliberations to ask them to vote “no” on the articles
of impeachment. Hearst Newspapers requested Patrick’s call logs, which his
office turned over late Monday.
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Copyright October 03, 2023, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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October 2, 2023 4:49 PM
As another special session looms, this time focused mostly on school vouchers, the words of our late friend Jay Leeson from 2015 are as salient as ever: “The more you vote against your place the less you have to come home to.”
Editor’s
note: My friend Jay Leeson passed away late last week surrounded by friends and
family in Lubbock, a city he loved so well. In the time I knew him, Jay became
a strong voice for West Texas on the radio, TV, and in print. He was only 44.
But a person doesn’t need to live a long time to leave a
lasting legacy. Back in 2015, he approached me about writing something
to put the challenges of the region in perspective for those who live in rural
Texas and those who represent it in the halls of power. The result was this
article, “A Politics of Place.” As we head into another special session, this
time focused on diverting resources from public schools for private school
vouchers, Jay’s words could never be more important. He said
“the more you vote against your place the less you have to come home to.”
Rest
in peace, my friend. Your thoughts and words live on – SB
A place
carries a continuity of knowledge and passes it from generation to generation.
How it works, what makes it turn.
When
there’s disruption in this continuity, learning transpires by trial-and-error –
costly lessons of what a place will and will not tolerate.
Such
learning risks decline. Perhaps ruin.
In my
late teens and early twenties, I rambled around a region built on agriculture, education and health care with a well-worn copy of Milton Friedman’s Capitalism and Freedom in my truck console, an authentic 1964 Goldwater-Miller
bumper sticker and anti-government talk shows blaring on the AM radio.
That
was the late 1990s and early 2000s. A disruptive political period in the
region, in which West Texan social conservatism finally divorced the Democratic
Party and native fiscal frugality married Republicanism – a party
that, outside of Reconstruction and Larry
Combest’s coordination with Charlie
Stenholm in the 2002 Farm Bill, had made little
contribution to the region.
The
incongruence of my developing political identity to my surrounding economic
realities never even occurred to me.
Then I
grew up.
The rest of the story, subscribers only
By Jay Leeson
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Copyright October 02, 2023, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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October 2, 2023 1:54 PM
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Copyright October 02, 2023, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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October 2, 2023 11:02 AM
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Copyright October 02, 2023, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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September 29, 2023 8:27 PM
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Copyright September 29, 2023, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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September 29, 2023 10:26 AM
The suit was on hold while the Legislature considered whether to fund a proposed $3.3 million settlement. After that fell apart, the suit will be heard in state district court in Travis County
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Copyright September 29, 2023, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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September 28, 2023 11:22 PM
He was 44
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Copyright September 28, 2023, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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September 27, 2023 4:55 PM
Abbott could prevent wrongful coverage denials by directing HHSC to take a pause until the agency corrects the errors and audits its system; if he doesn’t, “then the federal Medicaid and federal SNAP agencies are going to need to step in.”
Since April, 900,000
Texans have been kicked off Medicaid rolls since the COVID-19
pandemic declaration. Among them are more than 100,000 disenrolled for
procedural reasons. On a press call, a coalition of advocates said they have
had enough.
“The failure of the State
is historic and unacceptable, and we have brought experts to explain how bad
the problem is and what can be done. And it should be clear that the Governor
could fix these issues at this very moment. But due to the
fact that nothing has been done to this point, we are asking our federal
agencies to act and address these issues to save lives,” said Every Texan
Chief of Legislative Affairs Luis Figueroa.
According to several whistleblower
letters, the Health and Human Services Commission imposed an unrealistic
timeline on upgraded information technology and not adopted what advocates
suggest are best practice streamlining measures to ease the strain on the
overburdened eligibility system.
They’ve been warning of
this for years, too.
The rest of the story, subscribers only
By James Russell
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Copyright September 27, 2023, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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September 27, 2023 4:14 PM
Jose Sanz of Laredo said he'll bring a strong conservative voice to stop deficit spending, secure the border, and put more money in the pockets of hard-working South Texas residents. “Now is the time to stand up and fight for the values most South Texans share,” he said
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Copyright September 27, 2023, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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September 26, 2023 3:44 PM
“We are a phone call away and are more than willing to have a conversation on how to efficiently seek a ruling, which is a position we have consistently held since we sent our letter 117 days ago"
After Texas Attorney General
Ken Paxton on Monday demanded that Comptroller Glenn Hegar’s
office issue him back pay for the time he was suspended, Hegar’s office on Tuesday
told Paxton to take it up with the Texas Supreme Court.
The rest of the story, subscribers only
By Scott Braddock
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Copyright September 26, 2023, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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September 26, 2023 2:18 PM
Judge Hittner ruled the law is an "unconstitutional restriction on speech" & cannot be enforced.
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Copyright September 26, 2023, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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September 26, 2023 2:15 PM
Some of you asked where you could see the news conference. Here you go
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Copyright September 26, 2023, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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