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May 12, 2026 6:14 PM
The suit, which comes as Rep. Frank leads legislative hearings into health care affordability, alleges Blue Cross misrepresented the actual cost of prescription drugs to the plan while receiving undisclosed rebates and driving up costs
Editor’s
note: A copy of the suit can be downloaded by subscribers at the bottom of the
story – SB
Just as a
series of legislative hearings gets underway looking into health care affordability,
the Chair of the Texas House select committee on that is now also
taking Blue Cross Blue Shield to court alleging fraud in the administration
of group health benefits.
Rep. James
Frank, who also employs 175 people in private business, filed the class action
lawsuit in Dallas County. His attorney on this is powerhouse trial lawyer Mikal
Watts.
The rest of the story, subscribers only
By Scott Braddock
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Copyright May 12, 2026, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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May 12, 2026 5:37 PM
After a spokesman for Abbott dismissed the idea of a gas tax holiday, Miller said “Why can’t the Governor follow President Trump’s lead and do right by working Texans?”
Here’s Miller’s
statement in full:
“Texans have watched Governor Abbott
repeatedly pick and choose when and how to wield executive authority over the
years, whether through emergency declarations, disaster powers, regulatory
actions, or suspending certain rules and regulations when it suited his
priorities. The question Texans are asking is simple: if executive authority
can be used aggressively in other situations, why wouldn’t every available tool
be used right now to help hard working families being crushed by high fuel
prices? Contrary to his statement today, the Governor should know that the
state doesn’t even collect property taxes, so he couldn’t suspend those taxes
if he wanted to.
Since I
first called for this tax relief, four states have followed suit, and President
Trump himself has said he intends to suspend the federal gas tax. Why can’t the
Governor follow President Trump’s lead and do right by working Texans?
Texans are
tired of the Austin crowd that suddenly becomes powerless whenever real Texans
need relief. Funny how the Governor’s executive authority always seems
available for everything except giving taxpayers a break.
I’ll keep
fighting for lower costs and real relief for Texas families whether that makes
the political insiders uncomfortable or not.”
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Copyright May 12, 2026, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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May 12, 2026 5:22 PM
The flash
from the New
York Times this afternoon:
Former
President Barack Obama appeared with James Talarico in Austin, Texas, on
Tuesday, aiming to boost the rising Democratic star in his uphill bid to flip a
U.S. Senate seat in the reliably Republican state.
The
appearance, at a restaurant across from the University of Texas, was part of
Mr. Obama’s effort to elevate a new generation of Democratic leaders as the
party heads into the 2026 midterms, a highly competitive year for control of
the U.S. House and, potentially, the U.S. Senate.
Mr. Obama
arrived at the restaurant, Taco Joint, and met with Mr. Talarico and Gina
Hinojosa, a Democratic state representative challenging Greg Abbott, who is
running for a fourth term as governor. “Do you know
our outstanding next governor and senator?” Mr. Obama said as he went from
table to table introducing himself to patrons who appeared to be fans of the
former president — some shocked to see him — and members of Ms. Hinojosa and
Mr. Talarico’s staff and immediate family.
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Copyright May 12, 2026, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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May 12, 2026 11:29 AM
On Texas Capital Tonight, QR Publisher Harvey Kronberg and host James Barragan got into that and the fact that the long knives are fully out now in the GOP US Senate runoff
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Copyright May 12, 2026, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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May 11, 2026 10:31 PM
"Historically reliable GOP voters are showing signs of disengagement, either sitting out this cycle or, in some cases, shifting their partisan affiliation entirely."
Subscribers
can download the analysis from veteran Republican pollster Chris Perkins
at Ragnar Research.
The rest of the story, subscribers only
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Copyright May 11, 2026, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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May 11, 2026 3:50 PM
Rep. Frank, among others, took issue with the very idea of an agency mandating something like this when it isn’t spelled out in the law: “A recommendation? Great. A best practice? Great. Requirement? No.”
As they looked
at the broader education picture in the state on Monday, Texas House
Public Education Committee members questioned a proposed Texas
Education Agency rule that they say financially squeezes school
districts already strapped for cash.
The rest of the story, subscribers only
By James Russell
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Copyright May 11, 2026, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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May 11, 2026 3:46 PM
Talarico slams Cornyn’s for debt argument: “Were you worried about the deficit when you gave $1 trillion in tax cuts to the top one percent?” Cornyn shifts, says he’s open to discussion of temporary suspension to get through this “bumpy time.”
Editor’s
note: Sen. Cornyn spoke to reporters about this Monday evening in DC. The story
is updated to include his new comments – SB
With gas
prices rising during what’s becoming a protracted conflict in the Middle East,
US Senate Democratic nominee James Talarico took a moment to praise
President Donald Trump’s new push to suspend federal gas taxes. He also
called on Texas’ senior senator to join with the president on that and appeared
to move the needle with Sen. John Cornyn.
The rest of the story, subscribers only
By Scott Braddock
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Copyright May 11, 2026, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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May 11, 2026 10:56 AM
As for long term consequences: “You could in essence take, you know, like here in Texas, take big cities, which are typically Democrat, and split them up among several sort of suburban and rural Republicans and thereby reduce their margin and make them more vulnerable in an election year.”
Via Mediaite
Fox News’
Karl Rove warned that the country’s malaise may doom the GOP’s House majority
during a Sunday evening chat with Trey Gowdy...
“All
right, Mr. Rove, there were more Democrats in Congress before Jim Clyburn’s
seat was drawn. I actually worked for the federal
judge that was on that three-judge panel,” mused Gowdy. “Is there a chance
these new maps win the battle but lose the war? I mean, if you get too cute by
half, is there a chance that it could backfire?”
“Oh, sure.
You could in essence take, you know, like here in Texas, take big cities, which
are typically Democrat, and split them up among several sort of suburban and
rural Republicans and thereby reduce their margin and make them more vulnerable
in an election year. Same thing could happen in the South, where you take these
large, Blacks-dominated cities like New Orleans, or rural areas like in South
Carolina that are dominated by Blacks, and who are traditionally Democrat
voters, and split them up into several different Republican districts and make
things more problematic in a swing year. You know, nothing ever plays out
exactly in politics as we think it does."
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Copyright May 11, 2026, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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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
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Copyright May 08, 2026, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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May 8, 2026 10:22 AM
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Copyright May 08, 2026, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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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
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Copyright May 07, 2026, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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May 7, 2026 1:49 PM
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Copyright May 07, 2026, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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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
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Copyright May 06, 2026, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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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."
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Copyright May 06, 2026, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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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
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Copyright May 06, 2026, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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