Rick Perry won his first attempt at statewide office in 1990, in part because Agriculture Commissioner Jim Hightower didn't answer commercials being run by the Republican upstart. 

Perry, who switched from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party shortly before entering that race, was considered an underdog. Since then, that upset has been part of the cautionary lore of Texas politics: Don't let your opponent go unanswered. Uninterrupted soloists get all the attention. Defense might win football games, but it doesn't win elections against aggressive challengers.

With that experience, it's a little surprising to see Perry go about his business without answering a radio attack launched by Carole Keeton Strayhorn. It's running all over the state. It looks a little light — you won't hear it every four minutes or anything — but it also goes on until mid-November. In the initial effort, Strayhorn paints herself as a tax-fighter and Perry as an anti-education tax-lover, trying to stake out a position to the right of his. It's running on the sorts of radio shows frequented by conservatives, and by the time you read this, it'll have been running for almost a week without a reply from the incumbent.

Perry aides don't say they'll respond, but they indicate they won't let her sing solo for too long. We're guessing from vague comments that they'll put something on the air in the vicinity of Labor Day, that it'll be a positive spot and that they'll ignore what Strayhorn is saying unless they think it's getting traction.

Meanwhile, the indication from the challenger's camp is that there is plenty of room to change the ad copy along the way. You can distill hints from the back-and-forth between the campaigns. Perry's camp is tagging Strayhorn as a Democrat in Republican clothing, noting money she's taken from trial lawyers who historically back Democrats and some of her positions that they say don't line up with the GOP's conservative base.

Strayhorn's first commercial tries to put her to the right of Perry on taxes. Ask her folks what they think of Perry attempts to paint her as a Democrat, and they shoot back with this, which sounded suspiciously like a future commercial: "Carole Strayhorn was running as a statewide Republican when Rick Perry was a Democratic member in the Texas House, and she was chairing women for George (H.W.) Bush while he was the Texas co-chair for Democrat Al Gore." 

Was That a Starter's Gun? 

Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn starts the GOP's gubernatorial primary season with a statewide radio run attacking Gov. Rick Perry. You can hear it by clicking here. And here's the script:

ANNOUNCER: This is the Texas conservative commentary. And now, one tough grandma, Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn.

STRAYHORN: Some politicians think it's easier to tax than to lead. Now, you might expect that kind of thing from a big-taxing liberal in Washington. But here in Texas? From a Republican governor? Well, tax increases are exactly what we've gotten. First, Gov. Rick Perry raised taxpayer charges and fees $2.7 billion. Since then, Perry called our Legislature back into special session six times. Twice, just begging them to pass the largest tax increase in Texas history and not one penny for education. No wonder our Republican Legislature had to tell him no twice. I'm Carole Keeton Strayhorn. One tough grandma. One tough tax-fighter for Texas.

ANNOUNCER: Join the fight. Republican for governor, Carole Keeton Strayhorn, at carolestrayhorn.com. Political ad paid for by Friends of Carole Keeton Strayhorn. 

No Experience Required 

Don Willett, a lawyer with the attorney general's office who worked on faith-based programs for George W. Bush, is the newest member of the Texas Supreme Court.

Willett has never been a judge, and he and Gov. Rick Perry (who appointed him) and AG Greg Abbott (who introduced him) painted that as both normal and desirable, pointing out that the chief justices of both the U.S. and Texas Supreme Courts didn't do any bench time before getting their current jobs. 

The AG's office represented the state in district court and before the Supreme Court on school finance. Willett says he studiously avoided any involvement in the case while he was working for Abbott, but he also says he'll recuse himself to protect the court's opinion in that case from attack. As a legal matter, he'd be able to take part in the ruling even though he wasn't on the court when it heard arguments in early July. With his decision to stay out, eight judges will make that decision. Staying out has a side benefit: He won't have to answer for anything the court does when he faces voters next year. Four of the court's justices will be on the ballot: Willett, Nathan Hecht, Phillip Johnson, and David Medina.

Willett helped Bush — both in Austin and later in Washington, D.C. — with faith-based initiatives that merge church and government social services. He also wrote a pointed attack on Texas courts for the Texas Public Policy Foundation, calling for an end to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals — the state's highest criminal court. Asked about his previous work and the job ahead, he told a roomful of reporters and supporters that his personal views won't merge with his work as a judge: "A judge's supreme duty is to interpret and apply law and not create it. I know policy-making. I know judging. And I know the difference."

Willett has been under consideration for a spot on the court for some time, but others got the nod from Perry in those earlier instances. One problem was that Willett, a conservative, lived in the Senate district of Gonzalo Barrientos, D-Austin, and Barrientos expressed some misgivings. Traditionally, if an appointee's home senator objects, they can't win confirmation from the full Senate. Though the timing of the appointment means the Senate probably won't get a look at the appointment (there's an election between now and then), tradition is tradition. A new home solved it: Willett and his wife and child have now moved to another part of Austin that's represented by Sen. Jeff Wentworth, R-San Antonio. He says they moved because they needed more room. Even so, the relocation has the advantage of removing a speed bump. 

Until We Meet Again 

Gov. Rick Perry ended the special session by asking the Legislative Budget Board to do what can be done in education and other areas without the help of the full Legislature. And he said he won't call lawmakers back until they find "the collective will to finish." 

He wants the LBB — a panel that includes the lieutenant governor, the speaker, and four members from each legislative chamber — to approve $295 million in funding for textbooks and to increase minimum pay for about 8,000 teachers. That pay raise was included in the budget written during the regular session, but Perry vetoed public education spending in the budget to spur lawmakers to fix school finance. They didn't do that, but they put the public education spending — with some changes — back into the budget. One of the changes took the raise away from teachers who'd been promised more money.

Perry wants the LBB to spend $200 million on increased reimbursement rates for nursing homes, and $13 million to raise the monthly allowance for patients in those homes to $60 from $45. That's what they used to get; the amount was cut during tight fiscal times two years ago and the current Lege didn't restore the funding. The money is used for things like toothpaste and other personal needs.

Perry wants as much as $76.2 million for trauma centers.

And he asked for $48.5 million to fund operations at the Irma Rangel School of Pharmacy at Texas A&M-Kingsville and the Texas Tech Medical School in El Paso. That's a shot at Speaker Tom Craddick and other House leaders who denied that funding so far this year, and Perry and Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst (see his letter, elsewhere in Notebook) both want the money. In Perry's words, "it is high time the state kept its commitment to these institutions." 

Some Dollars Are Bigger Than Others 

In school finance, everything is connected to everything. For instance, minimum salaries for teachers have been tied to formulas that are supposed to level out differences in property wealth between school districts. And you know by now that those teachers were in line for a small raise after the regular session, that the raise got whacked when Gov. Rick Perry vetoed education funding from the budget, and that it wasn't revived when the education budget was reassembled.

The teacher pay issue — which affects about 8,000 teachers in Texas — is resolved. Perry wants the Legislative Budget Board and the Texas Education Agency to take care of that.

Here's something that didn't get fixed. Those teachers were originally getting that pay raise because of a formula change. The state currently guarantees each school district that it will be able to raise $27.14 for every penny increase in its tax rate. If local property values don't produce that much juice per squeeze, the state makes up the difference with what the wonks call "guaranteed yield." The target laid out by the state (and by the courts) is to make sure at least 85 percent of the students in Texas are going to schools that can raise at least that much money for their tax efforts. When property values rise, the state raises the yield number to make sure that at least 85 percent of the students are in what's termed "the equalized system." It begins to sound like a Jacques Cousteau documentary, but stick with us.

State budgeteers, in the regular session, raised the guaranteed yield number to $29.12. (Why? Go backwards: Start with the poorest district in the state in terms of property values and go up the list until it includes 85 percent of the students. Calculate the property value per student in that district, and it's about $291,200. One penny of tax applied to that tax base would raise $29.12.)

Perry vetoed the public education section of the budget, effectively killing the increase in guaranteed yield (and temporarily, the increase in minimum teacher pay). When it was replaced, the guaranteed yield changes had been deleted by legislators. Those schoolteachers went on alert, but they were just the canaries in the coalmine. Without the increase in yield, the state will have fewer than 85 percent of the students in the equalized system.

This has been going on for a while. The current yield of $27.14 was set in 2001; it was the estimate of what would be needed to pull 85 percent of kids into the system in the 2002-03 school year. Because property values have been rising faster than enrollment, the average property value per student has risen. And more and more students find themselves in districts where a penny in locally raised tax money stretches further than average. The estimates vary. Officials with the Texas Education Agency say simply that the number is below 80 percent. And those in the education consulting business, like former state Rep. Paul Colbert of Houston, say it's around 75 percent. A one percent change, according to TEA, represents about 55,000 students.

Both say that the newest and biggest entry into the unequalized system is the Houston ISD. With the special sessions over for now and the budgets in place, the state's largest school district — with almost five percent of the state's public school students — is now outside of the equalized system. And the Texas Supreme Court is considering the state's appeal of a court ruling that says, in part, that the state isn't giving the same deal to all of its students. 

Orders from Austin 

In the wake of the Legislature's failure to kick out anything on school finance, Gov. Rick Perry is pushing the Texas Education Agency to try to force school districts to spend at least 65 percent of their money on direct classroom expenses like, say, teachers. 

Some educators squawked at the idea (which was also included in some versions of the school legislation that stalled this summer), but it apparently polls well and it's hard to say you want to put a smaller percentage into indirect costs. But it's all in how you define this stuff. Using TEA's current definitions, 64.8 percent of school funds go into the classrooms of Texas. If you jiggle the numbers as the governor's office does (using National Center for Education Statistics methods), it's 60.4 percent.

Perry told Education Commissioner Shirley Neeley to dispatch a task force to figure it out, and indicated he wants a new rule in place, enforced, by the beginning of the 2009-10 school year. The task force drew criticism from conservatives, like Americans for Prosperity. That group said the work of the task force is unneeded since NCES has already done the work, and they were unhappy that the group picked by Neeley is made up entirely of educators, who they see as the biggest obstacles to the program.

Anyhow, that task force will presumably work out definitions for all this, and also compile a list of exemptions for districts that for some good reasons can't comply. Transportation costs in rural areas, for instance, have confounded reformers in other states. Special Ed kids sometimes need things that aren't considered classroom costs. Food services don't count, and neither does security. It's a hairball, in other words.

Out of curiosity, we looked at TEA's most recent data on employment, to see whether people working for the schools were working in the classrooms or elsewhere. According to the agency, 63.8 percent of all public school employees in Texas are counted as "instructional staff." 

The November Ballot 

The headline item on this ticket — a proposed ban on gay marriage and anything like it — is Prop 2. The order of the nine proposed amendments to the constitution was determined in a drawing by Secretary of State Roger Williams. They're listed here with the bills that go along:

•Proposition 1 (HJR 54) "The constitutional amendment creating the Texas rail relocation and improvement fund and authorizing grants of money and issuance of obligations for financing the relocation, rehabilitation and expansion of rail facilities."

• Proposition 2 (HJR 6) "The constitutional amendment providing that marriage in this state consists only of the union of one man and one woman and prohibiting this state or a political subdivision of this state from creating or recognizing any legal status identical or similar to marriage."

• Proposition 3 (HJR 80) "The constitutional amendment clarifying that certain economic development programs do not constitute a debt."

• Proposition 4 (SJR 17) "The constitutional amendment authorizing the denial of bail to a criminal defendant who violates a condition of the defendant's release pending trial."

• Proposition 5 (SJR 21) "The constitutional amendment allowing the legislature to define rates of interest for commercial loans."

• Proposition 6 (HJR 87) "The constitutional amendment to include one additional public member and a constitutional county court judge in the membership of the State Commission on Judicial Conduct."

• Proposition 7 (SJR 7) "The constitutional amendment authorizing line-of-credit advances under a reverse mortgage."

• Proposition 8 (SJR 40) "The constitutional amendment providing for the clearing of land titles by relinquishing and releasing any state claim to sovereign ownership or title to interest in certain land in Upshur County and in Smith County."

• Proposition 9 (HJR 79) "The constitutional amendment authorizing the legislature to provide for a six-year term for a board member of a regional mobility authority." 

Never Mind 

The Texas Parks & Wildlife Commission unanimously backed out of a mess, voting not to sell a chunk of the Big Bend Ranch State Park. The prospective buyer was John Poindexter, who owns the Cibolo Creek Ranch nearby. 

The terms of the deal were never disclosed — officials from the agency said the offer came from Poindexter to them and not the other way around. No competitive bidding took place, and until the sale hit the papers, even some prominent locals had no idea it was in the works; public hearings weren't held until after the papers spoiled the secrecy.

Defenders of the proposal said the money from the land sale could have been used to buy privately held pockets of property within the state park. In effect, they said, the deal would trade accessible land for inaccessible land. The "panhandle" property Poindexter wanted to buy includes the old Sauceda ranch headquarters and visitor center, which was used for a time as the state's main office in Big Bend. 

Beyond Rescue 

Tuition revenue bonds didn't make it out of this year's Legislature and can't be added to the agenda for the Legislative Budget Board. The LBB — an agency run by a panel of ten lawmakers including House Speaker Tom Craddick and Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst — is being enlisted to apply patches to other things left unfixed by the full Legislature, and some TRB supporters were hoping that outfit could bail them out, too.

Fuggetaboutit.

State law prevents colleges and other agencies from using state money to pay debt service, unless the Legislature specifically says otherwise. Gov. Rick Perry didn't add the TRBs to the legislative agenda for the special session, and Craddick and Dewhurst couldn't agree on them during the regular session. The schools that wanted to borrow to build new facilities and then pay off the loan with student tuition won't be able to do so until and unless the full Legislature says so. 

Political Notes 

Add the Independent Bankers Association of Texas to Susan Combs' endorsement list. The agriculture commissioner is, so far, unopposed in either party in her race for comptroller.

• Combs was the headliner for an Austin fundraiser/organizer for MavPAC. That's a group of 11 relatively young Republicans who each raised at least $50,000 for George W. Bush's last presidential campaign. That classed them as "mavericks," thus the name. Houston businessman Chad Sweet says the group is trying to raise $100,000 to support Republican candidates running for non-federal offices next year, and says they're halfway toward that first-year goal. Perry was their guest star at a Houston event earlier this summer, and they'll try to win friends and influence people in Dallas, San Antonio, El Paso and elsewhere over the next few months.

• Charles Tull, a firefighter and school board president, will run against Rep. Dan Flynn, R-Van, in the GOP primary next March. He lives in Wills Point and heads the Edgewood ISD board, and is a lieutenant in the Mesquite Fire Department. Tull told local reporters that the Legislature's failures on school issues prompted him to run.

• State Rep. Joe Nixon, R-Houston, officially announced his campaign for state Senate next to the headquarters of the Harris County Appraisal District. He said property tax relief and appraisal caps will be the main issue in the race. But he wants to end bilingual education in favor of "full immersion" teaching. He blamed the Robin Hood school finance formula on Democrats and called for its end and said he's against income taxes and gambling.

• Rep. Pete Gallego, D-Alpine, will chair Democrat Chris Bell's campaign for governor.

• U.S. Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-Dallas, endorsed Gov. Rick Perry, the third member of the state's congressional delegation to do so. Perry has announced similar support from the majority of the State Republican Executive Committee and several Republican groups. Notably missing are the people who've been in Austin at Perry's behest: Members of the Texas Legislature. The governor listed eight House members as part of his steering committee back in February, but hasn't added to the list. He either didn't want to bug them while they were working on school issues, or they didn't want to be bugged. Separately, Perry picked up the support of HOMEPAC, the political action committee associated with the Texas Association of Builders.

• We had Donna Howard on the "reportedly running" list; she's in, and issuing press releases. She's a Democrat hoping to win the HD-48 seat now held by Rep. Todd Baxter, R-Austin. 

Political People and Their Moves 

Gov. Rick Perry named three new judges (in addition to Willett). Alan Waldrop, an Austin lawyer who's been around the Capitol on behalf of Texans for Lawsuit Reform, will join the 3rd Court of Appeals in Austin. He's currently with Locke Liddell & Sapp. Lubbock County District Attorney William Charles Sowder of Shallowater will move to the bench in the 99th Judicial District Court. And Richard Price, an attorney with Frank R. Rivas & Associates in San Antonio, is Perry's choice for the 408th Judicial District Court there.

Robert Black — Perry's deputy press secretary — is going on leave starting next week so he can be the mouthpiece of Perry's reelection campaign.

Lisette Mondello is George W. Bush's choice to head public and governmental relations at the Department of Veterans Affairs. She's a former press secretary to U.S. Sens. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, and Alfonse D'Amato, R-New York, and is currently working as a "senior advisor" to Education Secretary Margaret Spellings.

After 16 years with the Greater Houston Partnership, Anne Culver is resigning. She's staying on through mid-October as the head of government relations and regional planning.

Sarah Wheat is the new executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Texas, replacing Kae McLaughlin, who left that outfit to be chief operating office at the ACLU of Texas. Wheat was NARAL's spokesperson before the job upgrade.

Deaths: Calvin Guest of Bryan, a banker and businessman who served as former chairman of the Texas Democratic Party and president of the local school board. He was 81. 

Department of Corrections: We put Marty Akins in the wrong contest in some editions last week. He ran for comptroller in 2002, losing to the Carole Keeton Strayhorn, known at the time as Carole Keeton Rylander. Sorry, sorry, sorry.

Quotes of the Week 

Former Texas Supreme Court Justice Deborah Hankinson, in The Dallas Morning News: "You will see language in every one of these opinions that says the system needs more than a Band-Aid, it needs to be totally revamped. The Legislatures, from the very beginning, have done nothing but put Band-Aids on it."

Pasadena ISD Superintendent Rick Schneider, in the Houston Chronicle about rising fuel and transportation costs: "As these costs escalate, we have to find additional revenue to pay for the service. The governor's mandate that 65 percent of all expenditures go toward direct instruction appears on the surface to overlook the essential support services that contribute to the student learning and achievement."

New Texas Supreme Court Justice Don Willett, asked whether he'll be impartial: "My judicial philosophy renders my political philosophy completely beside the point. Never in any manner, way, shape, or form will I permit my political views to have an ounce of an effect on how I rule as a judge."

Rep. Scott Hochberg, D-Houston, telling the Austin American-Statesman that Democrats wouldn't handle current issues like the Republicans: "The leadership is dealing with schools the same way it deals with its members: Management by cram-down. What you've seen in the House is top-down, we-know-what's-best, you-all-follow-along mandates on members. That's the same thing we're getting on school issues."

Rep. Corbin Van Arsdale, R-Houston, in The Dallas Morning News: "Whoever's driving the car gets blamed for it. It's like, 'Hey, why are we in the desert? We're supposed to be in Disneyland.' The constituents are not happy at this continual failure to come up with something." 

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Texas Weekly: Volume 22, Issue 11, 29 August 2005. Ross Ramsey, Editor. George Phenix, Publisher. Copyright 2005 by Printing Production Systems, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission from the publisher is prohibited. One-year online subscription: $250. For information about your subscription, call (800) 611-4980 or email info@texasweekly.com. For news, email ramsey@texasweekly.com, or call (512) 288-6598.

A Travis County grand jury indicted the Texans for a Republican Majority PAC and the Texas Association of Business on charges relating to the use of corporate money in the 2002 legislative election. The five indictments include 130 counts alleging third-degree felony violations of campaign finance laws. Fines reach up to $20,000 per count, a potential total of $2.6 million.

A different grand jury working these same fields returned 32 indictments against three individuals and eight corporations last September. None of those cases has gone to trial.

For prosecutors (and for potential targets), the clock is ticking. The investigations of campaign finance practices in the 2002 elections started within weeks after Texans handed the statehouse over to the Republicans, something that hadn't happened since the days of Reconstruction. Most of the alleged irregularities in that election have three-year statutes of limitations, as we've written here before. That fuse is almost gone. And the current grand jury — the fourth to work on this inquiry — is supposed to pack up and go home at the end of the month.

At issue, generally speaking, is whether the Republican efforts to take control violated campaign finance laws by illegally using corporate money for electioneering, or by illegally coordinating campaigns with third-party groups. One man's community of interest is another man's conspiracy, and that's what the lawyers will sort out: Whether the Republicans went too far in their efforts or whether they were particularly clever in winning those contests.

Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle blamed TAB for the length of the investigation, saying the group's efforts to protect the names of its donors and other information stalled the grand juries' work. He said the investigation has "unmasked the corporate donors, many of which are not even Texas companies. This use of over $1 million of secret money in many local Texas races was improper, illegal and unprecedented."

Roy Minton, the attorney defending TAB, said the indictments "completely ignore the First Amendment that, according to the United States Supreme Court, gives individuals and their businesses the absolute right to inform the public of the conduct of our elected officials and the conduct of candidates for public office including their public statements and their voting record." He said TAB never endorsed candidates, made political contributions to them or spent money on their behalf.

TRMPAC was founded by U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Sugar Land. He has maintained he's not a target of the investigation, and this new round of indictments doesn't mention him. Last year's indictments, still pending, were focused on TRMPAC personalities and on companies that gave it money. This time, four of the indictments don't deal with TRMPAC at all, but with TAB.

Even so, former U.S. Rep. Chris Bell, D-Houston, said the new indictments should increase pressure for congressional inquiries of DeLay. Bell, who's now running for governor, initiated complaints against DeLay while he was still in Congress.

A hint that more indictments are coming: Someone missed a word in the DA's press release, saying that a total of six indictments were issued. But in fact, only five indictments were issued. That last one — whatever it contained — apparently wasn't quite ready for public consumption.

The grand jury produced five indictments, each containing multiple counts. A summary:

• Criminal Action No. D1-DC-05-900533

The State of Texas v. Texas Association of Business, Counts 1-28: Prohibited Political Contribution by Corporation.

The indictment says TAB illegally solicited corporate contributions for campaigns from Aetna, Inc., United Healthcare of Texas, Inc., Humana Insurance Co., AT&T Corp., Great-West Healthcare of Texas, Inc., Connecticut General Life Insurance Co., Liberty Mutual Insurance Co., Travelers Property Casualty Corp., Fortis Insurance Co., Dannenbaum Engineering Corp., J.F. Thompson, Inc., United Services Automobile Association (USAA), Kemper Insurance Cos., Royal Indemnity Co., State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co., Allstate Insurance Co., Metropolitan Life Insurance Co., Alliance for Quality Nursing Home Care Inc., The Boeing Co., Corrections Corp. of America, USA Managed Care Organization, Inc., Ace American Insurance Co., Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co., and the Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America.

• Criminal Action No. D1-DC-05-900534

The State of Texas v. Texas Association of Business, Counts 1-14: Prohibited Political Contribution by Corporation.

The grand jury accused TAB of making illegal corporate contributions by paying TAB President Bill Hammond and Jack Campbell, TAB's director of governmental affairs, with corporate funds while they were doing political work for TAB's political action committee — BACPAC. According to prosecutors, using corporate money to pay people doing political work is illegal.

• Criminal Action No. D1-DC-05-900535

The State of Texas v. Texas Association of Business, Counts 1-3: Prohibited Political Expenditure by a Corporation.

This one charges TAB with making illegal expenditures on printing and postage to the benefit of Republicans and/or the detriment of Democrats in 23 legislative races, and says that was done under the control of Hammond. It says the trade group did the same thing, essentially, to buy broadcast advertisements in two races, and that it paid a group called the Law Enforcement Association of America which in turn used that money against Democratic candidates in three House races. No individuals were indicted, but several are mentioned in the indictments for having worked on the campaign effort as employees, directors or contractors to TAB, including Campbell, Lara Laneri Keel, Mike Toomey, Eric Glenn, Cathy DeWitt, and Chuck McDonald. In various combinations, the indictment says those people, along with Hammond, raised money, prepared ads, strategized about campaigns and coordinated efforts with TRMPAC and with Texans for Lawsuit Reform.

• Criminal Action No. D1-DC-05-900667

The State of Texas v. Texas Association of Business, Counts 1-83: Prohibited Political Contribution by Corporation.

TAB is accused of funneling corporate money into campaigns by spending it on print and broadcast advertising that benefited certain Republicans while working against certain Democrats who were running in 2002. The counts are repetitive, each naming a different candidate who was either getting helped or attacked, and accusing TAB of coordinating its efforts with TRMPAC and other political committees and individuals.

• Criminal Action No. D1-DC-05-900669

The State of Texas v. Texans for a Republican Majority PAC, Counts 1 & 2: Unlawful Acceptance of Corporate Political Contribution.

TRM-PAC was named on two counts of "unlawful acceptance of corporate political contribution." Both are third degree felony charges. The indictment says the group accepted an illegal $100,000 political contribution from the Alliance for Quality Nursing Home Care Inc., and that TRMPAC knew that was an illegal donation at the time. It said the same of another contribution, a $20,000 donation from AT&T Corp. All of that, according to the grand jury, "was authorized, requested, commanded, performed, and recklessly tolerated by a high managerial agent," identified as John Colyandro. He was indicted a year ago in the first round of charges stemming from Travis County's campaign finance inquiry.

Nearly 100 exhibits go along with the indictments. Those include two television commercials, one knocking Democrat John Mabry and boosting Republican Holt Getterman, the other promoting Rep. Gene Seaman, R-Corpus Christi. And they include more than 80 examples of printed direct mail advertising used in those campaigns, allegedly to the benefit of Republican candidates and the detriment of Democrats. We worded it that way in the previous sentence because the two groups have defended their advertising as "educational" — not the sort of politicking that corporations and labor unions are barred from doing. See for yourself; the indictments and the exhibits are available on our website, at this link: www.texasweekly.com/documents/TAB-TRMPAC.

Lawyers will notice that the indictments don't carry the time stamps that get attached when these things are officially filed. These electronic files were obtained from the Travis County District Attorney's office, and represented to us as duplicates — sans stamps — of what got filed with the Travis County District Clerk.

Schrödinger's Cat

You can't tell from outside whether a comptroller is playing footsie with taxpayers or not, unless a taxpayer jumps up and opens the company books and the political checkbook and starts telling a tale. And that's the difference between the actual substance of an audit of comptroller tax settlements and the political substance of that same audit.

The State Auditor didn't find any wrongdoing, but without saying any such thing ever happened, recommended some changes in law that might prevent future comptrollers from using tax settlements as bait for political giving. But just the fact of the report opened a question about whether Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn — who's running for governor — has been encouraging and/or rewarding political contributions with favorable treatment in tax cases.

Strayhorn called it a win, saying the auditors looked at her agency for three years and found nothing wrong. Gov. Rick Perry went the other way: "The audit report is very troubling because it raises serious questions about the independence of the state's tax collector, and whether she has provided favorable tax treatment in exchange for campaign contributions."

Here's a problem that has plagued questions like this one for a long time: Tax records are private. Unless the taxpayer in the middle of a fight with the comptroller opens up the books voluntarily, the public can't peek inside to see who's zooming whom. An attacker in Perry's position can raise questions but can't bring proof. A defender in Strayhorn's position can say politics weren't in play, but can't prove it.

The system is built to look the same to outsiders whether it's run honestly or not.

The auditors — prompted by a Legislature that, at the time, was steaming mad at Strayhorn — started with a question about politics and state business: Is there any linkage between settlements of tax cases and political contributions to the state's elected tax collector?

But after searching for stains in the spreadsheets, they opened with a disclaimer: "We make no conclusions regarding the information in this report. We are not implying any wrongdoing on the part of any individual or group associated with the information in this report..."

But the question turns up some damning numbers. Auditors said they found 3,656 tax settlements involving 755 different taxpayers that took place within a year of a related political contribution. The audit assessments in 146 of those cases were lowered by at least $10,000. They identified 19 named firms and unnamed individuals who represent taxpayers in cases before the comptroller's office and who, during the 1998-2004 time frame, contributed a total of $1.7 million to the sitting comptroller. (Strayhorn took office in early 1999, succeeding Democrat John Sharp; the 1998 contributions to Sharp made up $137,650 of the total for those seven years.) One firm — Ryan & Co., which now employs Sharp — topped the contribution list with $812,928. Most of that money went to Strayhorn; the firm and its principals are among her top contributors.

The auditors recommended some changes in law, saying lawmakers should prohibit contributions to comptrollers from taxpayer representatives, requiring those consultants to register as tax folk with the Texas Ethics Commission, require comptrollers to keep a registry of which representatives are working on which cases, and move the tax courts that decide these cases out of the comptroller's office and into the State Office of Administrative Hearings.

The full audit report is available at the State Auditor's website if you want to read it before the campaign season begins. You'll certainly be hearing more about it then. Oh, yeah, about the cat in the headline. It's an allusion to indeterminacy — things that can't be known for certain — in physics.

Things That Make You Go Hmmmmm...

The State Auditor's Office didn't officially release its audit of the comptroller's tax settlements until 3 p.m. on Thursday, September 8. That was roughly nine hours after newspapers bearing the details of the audit started hitting driveways in Dallas and Houston. And it was almost 24 hours after the reporters who wrote those stories started working the phones to put the details together.

State Auditor John Keel stuck to his schedule even after the news broke and didn't put the final audit report on his agency's website until the scheduled hour. He says he didn't let it loose to anybody outside of his own shop and the comptroller's office — which gets a chance to respond in writing to a draft, and to have that response included in the final audit report — and to the members of the Legislative Audit Committee. That lets the obvious beneficiary — Gov. Rick Perry, who's being challenged for his job by Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn — off the hook, at least directly. On the same grounds, it also lets the Democrats off the hook.

So who leaked? Dunno. But we'll quote Benjamin Franklin: "Three may keep a secret, if two of them are dead." There's the comptroller and her aides, who showed at least some of the draft report to at least some reporters, the better to spin it their own way. And there are the members of the LAC: Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, House Speaker Tom Craddick, Sens. Steve Ogden, R-Bryan, and Tommy Williams, R-The Woodlands, and Reps. Jim Pitts, R-Waxahachie, and Jim Keffer, R-Eastland.

Hanging Up the Filibuster Shoes

Only six members of the current Legislature were here when Gonzalo Barrientos, D-Austin, first took the oath of office in 1975. But he's decided that this term — which ends in January 2007 —will be his last. Barrientos has been a liberal bellwether during his 30 years in the Legislature, but has been pushed well out of the legislative mainstream with the surge of the Texas GOP that began in the mid-1980s and crested over the last ten years. He lost his first run for the House in 1972 and then won in 1974. He served there for ten years before winning his current spot in the Senate in the 1984 elections. And he escaped a scary challenge in 2002, when Republican Ben Bentzin came within six percentage points of knocking him off.

Now it's a Democrat — former Austin Mayor Kirk Watson — who's been breathing on his neck. Watson, who lost a bid for attorney general in 2002 but without damaging his prospects, didn't say publicly that he wanted to run for the Senate, at least not until Barrientos announced. But he's been privately building his argument and some political folk who like both men have been suggesting quietly that they'd be open to a change. As it stands, Watson never had to say he would run against Barrientos, and Barrientos got to say he would have beat Watson or any other challenger without actually testing that theory.

There could be others. State Rep. Elliott Naishtat, D-Austin, says he'll have something to say in a few days. He didn't say what, but that's not generally the answer you get from someone who isn't interested. Barrientos' territory overlaps that of three other Democratic House members — Dawnna Dukes, Eddie Rodriguez, and Mark Strama — and Austin doesn't lack for politically ambitious aides and staffers and campaign workers. That's a description that at one time fit all four of the people in this paragraph, for instance.

Barrientos said he's open to new possibilities and said he'd like to look into doing a Spanish-English radio show. He didn't rule out future public service, either, saying he might be interested in running a government agency. But he said he's unlikely to be on the 2006 ballot in any capacity.

Lacing Up the Running Shoes

Earlier this year, Sen. Todd Staples, R-Palestine, said he'd be running for the top job at the Texas Department of Agriculture, but that his announcement would come later. He did it this week, and so far, his is the only name in the hat.

• There aren't any secrets left inside, but you can lick the envelope: Rep. Richard Raymond, D-Laredo, will run for Congress next year against freshman U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, also D-Laredo. Cuellar knocked off U.S. Rep. Ciro Rodriguez, D-San Antonio, after redistricting and several recounts in 2004. Rodriguez has been maneuvering for a rematch, and now Cuellar also has competition in his hometown. Raymond's first endorsement came from a former employer: Bob Krueger, the former congressman, senator and ambassador from New Braunfels.

• Charlie Baird, a Democrat who served two terms on the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, says he'll run for district court in Travis County. Judge Jon Wisser is leaving after this term, and Baird wants the gig. Baird has been working as a visiting judge and teaching at several law schools here and elsewhere (including Loyola University in New Orleans). He lost a reelection bid to the state's top criminal court in 1998, the first time in modern history that Republicans swept every statewide office on the ballot.

• You might have heard a rumor, as we did, that Rep. Beverly Woolley, R-Houston, wanted to hang it up. She was on vacation when we called about it, but aides relayed a message: Woolley, the chairman of the Calendars Committee, will be running for reelection.

• Rep. Linda Harper-Brown, R-Irving, says she doesn't have an opponent yet, but the big gun might help: U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison endorsed her — in person — when she announced.

• Rep. Bob Griggs, R-North Richland Hills, wrote a goodbye letter to other educators around the state, urging them to run for legislative offices to overcome the legislative problems with public education. Griggs is leaving the House after two terms. But the former school superintendent says in his letter that people who know education are in short supply in Austin. "...I and a handful of other elected officials with education experience have witnessed and battled a misguided and widely held belief in the Legislature that established educators are the problem with education and that the system cannot be fixed without wiping the slate clean and starting over from scratch," he wrote.

• Bill Welch is now "officially" in the race for the HD-47 spot now held by Rep. Terry Keel, R-Austin. Welch lost an election for a House spot by a handful of votes to Susan Combs several years ago. He's back, after active duty stints in Iraq and Afghanistan — he's in the Air Force Reserves. His website is www.billwelch.org. That has the makings of a crowded race if everyone who's talking about it actually runs.

Phones, Pay, Emergencies, and Flags

Signed: Two bills from that last special session now have Gov. Rick Perry'ssignature on them. He's okay with legislation that raises the pay of judges and the retirement benefits of legislators and other state officeholders. And he signed telecommunications legislation pushed by the phone companies and resisted by the cable TV companies.

The cable guys were on the case right away, filing a federal lawsuit to challenge the law. They contend the phone companies' ability to get statewide franchises gives the new players an edge over cable companies that are locked into a variety of local franchise agreements for years to come. And they say the legislation would allow the phone companies to skip poor neighborhoods when they're pitching new services, violating federal redlining laws.

• Just one example of what the legislative retirement change can do for somebody. Gonzalo Barrientos, D-Austin, announced this week he won't seek reelection to the Senate next year. He'll have 32 years on the job (22 in the Senate, 10 in the House) when he leaves. Under the old system, he'd be eligible for $74,851.20 per year. The new legislation raises that annual pay to $92,000.

• Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn put out the (fiscal) year-ender on the state of the state's piggy bank, and there's a surplus of some $1.2 billion. That's money that didn't get spent when state leaders didn't work out a deal on school finance. Strayhorn followed by suggesting a quick special session to appropriate some of the surplus to use for Katrina assistance, to use some of the money to help with added loads on schools, police, and the like. It didn't take. The governor's response was tepid at best; aides said they'll wait to see the extent that the federal government will step up and help. And with their boss riding  a wave of good will for the state's Katrina efforts, they don't want to resurrect the specter of special sessions.

• Perry ordered flags to the half-mast position on state property for two weeks — until September 20 — in memory of Hurricane Katrina victims, U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist, and the victims of the 9/11 attacks four years ago.

Political People and Their Moves

A little more than a year after she left private practice to work for the Texas Supreme Court, Lisa Hobbs has been named the court's new general counsel. She's replacing Bill Willis, who retired after 27 years with the Court. Hobbs was the rules attorney for the court. Before working for a private law firm in Dallas and Austin, she clerked for former Justice James Baker and interned with Justice Nathan Hecht. Among other duties, she'll be the court's liaison with legislators and others in the Pink Building.

David Weber, most recently House Speaker Tom Craddick's resident wonk on insurance, workers' comp, economic development and banking, has moved to the Texas Department of Insurance. He's the special counsel to the commissioner for policy development.

Jamie Story, who just finished being Miss Texas 2004, is joining the Texas Public Policy Foundation. She's an honors graduate of Rice University, where she majored in Mathematical Economic Analysis and Sport Management. She'll work on education policy issues.

Quotes of the Week 

Aaron Broussard, president of Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, on NBC-TV: "Nobody's coming to get us. The secretary has promised. Everybody's promised. They've had press conferences. I'm sick of the press conferences. For God sakes, shut up and send us somebody."

Former First Lady Barbara Bush, taped by American Public Media's "Marketplace" while touring a survivors' site in Houston: "What I'm hearing, which is sort of scary, is they all want to stay in Texas. Everyone is so overwhelmed by the hospitality. And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway so this is working very well for them."

New Orleans Deputy Police Superintendent Warren Riley in The Dallas Morning News: "This city has been destroyed, has completely been destroyed. There's absolutely no reason to stay here. There are no jobs. There are no homes."

Mary Joseph of New Orleans, talking to the New York Daily News about living in the Astrodome: "These people in Houston have done good by us. We thought the world had forgotten about us."

Fordham Foundation President Chester Finn, in the Austin American-Statesman: "I'm persuaded by what I've already seen that with rare, eccentric exceptions, charter schools in Texas — like charter schools almost everywhere in America — are sorely underfunded in comparison with traditional, district-run schools. Indeed, it does not exaggerate to say they're being asked to make bricks with far too little straw."

Republican gubernatorial candidate Carole Keeton Strayhorn in The Paris News: "I have many fine friends who are Democrats and independents and strong Republicans, but there is no presidential election in 2006, and the governor's race will be decided in the primary... March 7 is governor's election day in Texas."

State Sen. Gonzalo Barrientos, D-Austin, announcing he won't seek reelection next year, ending a 32-year legislative run: "What I did more than anything else was to follow my heart. And now, after 30 years of pursuing this high calling, my heart is telling me to continue fighting for the things I believe in, but to find another way to wage that fight." 

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Texas Weekly: Volume 22, Issue 13, 12 September 2005. Ross Ramsey, Editor. George Phenix, Publisher. Copyright 2005 by Printing Production Systems, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission from the publisher is prohibited. One-year online subscription: $250. For information about your subscription, call (800) 611-4980 or email info@texasweekly.com. For news, email ramsey@texasweekly.com, or call (512) 288-6598.

Our take on school finance, written for the San Antonio Express-News' Sunday Insight section. Arnold "Arnie" Card, who used to teach elementary school in El Paso, could hit you with a blackboard eraser from anywhere in his classroom. The discipline didn't do any physical damage, but the white puff of dust and the snickers from classmates could shame sixth graders into better citizenship, at least for a while. If Mr. Card were running the Texas Capitol, the state's top leaders would be covered with chalk. Gov. Rick Perry, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, House Speaker Tom Craddick and other Republican leaders took over the state with great fanfare after the 2002 elections, putting all three branches of state government in GOP hands for the first time in a century. But once in control, they fell into the school finance bog that often thwarted their predecessors. That swamp hasn't been completely drained since the late 1940s, when the state's modern school system was assembled. State leaders located the quicksand immediately, by failing to agree on what it was they were trying to accomplish. They attempted to pass a tax bill through an anti-tax Legislature and a set of school reforms by lawmakers who were hearing from educators back home that the changes would hurt more than help. And they tried to do all of that without a prerequisite for any sweeping change in Texas government: A court order. The consequences In the process, the relationships among the top three officeholders strained to the cussing point. Craddick's hold on the House was loosened, and senators threatened a revolt if Dewhurst pushed them to take more risky votes on measures doomed to fail in the House. Perry got nothing in his fourth run at school finance, but he won the political lottery when Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison announced she'd seek reelection instead of challenging him. He is still at risk, challenged by Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn, the top statewide vote-getter in the GOP last time around. While they wait for that final, unassailable court order -- which could come any time between now and next spring (or longer, if the Texas Supreme Court wants) -- nervous state lawmakers are steeling themselves for the 2006 elections. Did voters notice, and are they upset? Did any of those votes hurt the politicians looking for reelections or for higher offices? Votes on taxes and education reforms? On limits to property tax increases? On retirement benefits for lawmakers and salaries for judges? On legislation making it easier for the friendly neighborhood phone company to compete with the friendly neighborhood cable TV company? Almost a year ago, state District Judge John Dietz of Austin decided the current system violates the state's constitution. He said the funding system doesn't allow districts enough money to meet the standards set by the state and prevents them from providing Texas kids with adequate educations. And he ruled that the state's $1.50 cap on property tax rates has become, in effect, an illegal state property tax since most districts don't have any meaningful choice in charging taxpayers a lower rate. The state appealed, and everyone is looking now to the state Supreme Court for a final ruling on those points. Three decades of woes It's easy to reach a political solution to school finance: Just make about 1,100 school districts happy at the same time. Unless you can give each district more money in a new system than it already gets, that's impossible. But lawmakers didn't stop at that conundrum; they simultaneously tackled another dangerous puzzle by attempting to raise state taxes to buy down local school taxes. To raise taxes, you seek a plan with more winners than losers. One business lobbyist who's watched this sort of thing says, "You can't pass a tax bill unless you raise enough money to buy off the opposition." School finance has bedeviled Texas politicians for more than 30 years. The modern problems began with parents in San Antonio's Edgewood ISD, who sued over inequities created when the quality of local schools was dependent -- much more than now -- on the value of local properties. The basic idea they were challenging was restated earlier this year when a Republican senator -- Todd Staples of Palestine -- said the quality of education for Texas kids shouldn't depend on their zip codes. The state has worked on this for years. Every fix lasts for a while -- the current system is more than ten years old -- but the makeup and population of the state changes and people learn how to take advantage of the rules. It gets out of balance again, somebody gets mad and sues and wins, and a new patch is applied. That's always the way: The Texas Legislature has never made major changes to school finance without pressure from its highest civil court. That pressure didn't exist during the last two years. Lawmakers met in special session in spring of 2004, then in regular session a year later, and then in the two special sessions this summer. Without a final order from the high court, nothing came of that work: Senators and representatives would have had a more productive summer on Mustang Island, building sand castles. Competing to-do list One reason they can't find the answer is that they can't agree on what questions to ask. State leaders and the lawmakers looking to them for guidance had at least a half-dozen different and often competing goals. In no particular order: • Reform schools, to make them more accountable for the money they get and to make sure as much of it as possible is used to educate kids (as opposed to feeding them, busing them, herding them, counting them, etc., etc., etc.). Gov. Perry followed the session by ordering part of this, saying districts ought to be using at least two-thirds of their money for classroom education by 2009. • Lower local school property taxes and cap increases in property values to take pressure off home and other property owners. • Give teachers and other school employees a pay raise, to bring salaries closer to the national average and to try to attract and retain the best people in education. • Limit how much locally raised property tax money in wealthy districts has to be shared with poorer districts. • Increase the state's share of the public education bill to 60 percent or more from its current level around 40 percent, a goal that was pursued with only temporary success by state leaders like George W. Bush and Ann Richards in the 1990s. • Increase education spending to try to bring up student achievement, pulling more schools up to standards set by the state. • Lower the number of districts where -- in spite of share-the-wealth formulas -- property wealth still means higher spending per pupil than is possible elsewhere in the state. And there were several other issues loosely assembled under the umbrella of "school reform" that some hold dear: Start school after Labor Day and do away with some of the holidays that poke holes in the annual school calendar; move school board elections to November, which probably would make them more partisan and probably would increase voter turnout; put more technology into schools as part of what some gear-heads hope will spell an end to 30-pound backpacks and a beginning to students lugging computers that contain textbooks and other education software. Talk to five legislators and you can probably add to the list. A court decision -- with a narrow enough definition of just what's broken and must be fixed -- would be handy right now. And the Legislature is apparently ready to wait for the court to do what its leaders couldn't do: Say what needs repair and what can be left for later. Assigning the blame When the session ended on August 19, the state's three top leaders blamed special interests, but not the same ones. Craddick blamed the education establishment in Texas, saying teacher groups and superintendent groups and school board groups were all betting they'll get a better deal from the courts than from the Legislature. There is some truth in that. For two years, state leaders couldn't get a single education group to support their efforts. That's no surprise, given the mix of districts that joined to sue the state in the first place. Districts like Alamo Heights and Edgewood were on the same side in the lawsuit, telling the state it's current system is broken and unconstitutional. They've been winning in court and don't think the repairs offered by the Legislature measure up to what the courts might order, and their lawyers have advised against making concessions while the issue remains in court. Moreover, they're winning in the Legislature. After all, lawmakers came back to Austin after talking to educators at home and decided -- collectively -- not to pass a bill. Perry and Dewhurst aimed their guns at the opponents of the various tax bills that were proposed. Dewhurst was specific, pointing to petrochemical and oil and gas industries and at a couple of their top lobbyists in particular. Without a state tax bill to pay for lowered school property taxes, nothing went forward. Inducements like teacher pay raises, money for textbooks and technology and other bells and whistles weren't enough to make the thing go. Mincemeat at the polls? In the process of crashing several tax bills, rank and file lawmakers were potentially minced, spiced and baked into little pies to be served to future opponents. The House, at one point, approved sales taxes on bottled water and car repairs. More than half of them voted for an extra tax on snack foods, raising the total sales tax to more than a dime on things like Cheetos and Milky Way bars and Cokes. The records of some senators now include votes in favor of a state property tax to replace local property taxes. To be fair, all of those were designed to raise a penny on one hand to lower taxes by a penny on the other hand: State taxes would rise and local taxes would fall. The details killed the thing. An old joke: If you put one hand on ice and one in boiling water, on average, you'll be comfortable. The tax bills proposed this year worked like that: The Legislative Budget Board, a nonpartisan state agency that cranks numbers for lawmakers, estimated that the tax bill -- while balanced overall -- would raise taxes for roughly nine of ten Texans, on average. The benefits to that tenth taxpayer matched the costs, more or less, to the other nine (some lawmakers question the calculations, but the studies gave skittish members of the House and Senate one more reason to vote against the tax bills). Is all of that enough to beat anybody at the polls next year? Maybe. It's still possible -- if the Supremes are quick and the Legislature comes back before the primaries -- to resolve the issues before lawmakers face voters. And there would be a greater chance of an uprising if lawmakers had passed reforms that proved to be unpopular. Put it another way: Texas lawmakers didn't do much to attract voters' attention this summer and in this case, that's their good luck. 

A group includes Dallas lawyer Fred Baron -- the chief fundraiser for the John Kerry-John Edwards ticket last year -- wants to reboot the Texas Democratic Party, infusing money and people to try to get that moribund organization running again. Baron says the Party needs to build its voter files, its idea development and its marketing to try to return the state to two-party status. As it stands, the Party is suffering from pecuniary strangulation -- it's broke -- and candidates in the last couple of cycles tended to depend more on their own wits and the wits of their consultants than on the home base back in Austin. Several local Democratic groups around the state have been strong, but most candidates don't rely on the state party for much. "We have, as Democrats, a very strong message that's not being communicated very well," Baron says. No Democrat has won a statewide race in Texas in ten years, and none has held statewide office since January 1999. The party lost control of the Texas Legislature in 2002, and that new Legislature redrew congressional districts to favor the GOP, which decisively took over the state's delegation to Washington in last year's elections. If this was a football team, the coaches would all be saying it's a rebuilding year and there's a lot of young talent and all that. The boosters (stick with us, there's a payoff to this longwinded metaphor) would be calling for the coaches' heads. And the fallback position would be to keep the head coach and fire all of the assistants. So it is with the TDP. Chairman Charles Soechting isn't going anywhere for now -- he's an elected official and isn't up for a re-bid until next summer. But Baron and a group of consultants and financiers want to add six or seven full-timers to the Party staff in an effort, Baron says, to build infrastructure. The so-called "Lone Star Trust" would add full-time fundraisers, an event planner, a database expert, a new executive director and press person to the staff of the party, according to a couple of folks who've heard the pitch. Baron plans to unveil the whole plan on Wednesday (August 31) for members of the State Democratic Executive Committee. He wouldn't share specifics -- saying he wants to show the party people first -- but talked about problems the Texas Democrats have been having. For one thing, they can't raise enough money to remain effective. Baron's group wants to put in seed money in an attempt to become an "effective opposition party" and to someday contend for control of state government. If they can jumpstart the Party, he says, Texas Democrats who give generously to other causes and to Democrats out of state will return to funding the battles here. Baron says the group is not wed to any particular candidate or personalities, and he says the state's trial lawyers aren't controlling it. Matt Angle, a longtime political advisor to former U.S. Rep. Martin Frost of Dallas, has been organizing the effort and talking to other Democrats about it for the last few months. He didn't immediately return our calls, but friends say he'll return to his home and business in Virginia as soon as this is either set up or rejected by Democratic Party leaders. Some Democrats are quietly grousing about the idea, calling it an attempt by trial lawyers to take over the machine, and saying it'll return the Democrats to some of the things that made them unpopular with Texas voters in the first place. One change preceded Baron's pitch to the Democrats and has been in the works for a while. Mike Lavigne, the party's executive director, is leaving the TDP. His replacement is Ruben Hernandez, who worked with Engle and others in Frost's old organization, for former U.S. Rep. Nick Lampson, D-Beaumont, and for a group called Grassroots Democrats. He'll start in October. 

Carole Keeton Strayhorn, just a couple of days after Hurricane Katrina prompted her to suspend her political ads, broke her self-imposed radio silence to open fire on Gov. Rick Perry. She says he isn't tough enough on sexual predators. Many of the questions that followed her pre-lunch announcement concerned her promise to put politics aside while Katrina's impact was fresh (on that front, she said she'll waive penalties for out-of-state taxpayers who, because of the storm, can't file on time). Democrat Chris Bell of Houston went the other way, suspending his online fundraising -- which had an end-of-August deadline -- and substituting a fundraising link for Katrina's victims, thousands of whom are seeking shelter in Texas, some in the Astrodome, some in Reunion Arena, others wherever. And Perry -- this'll sound cynical, but isn't meant to be -- was glowing in the aftermath of the storm. It's a time when a governor's powers and ability to help climax, and Perry and his staff responded by pulling all the stops. He announced the opening of the Astrodome to victims, cited a federal law that requires states to educate the homeless and then defined the displaced from Louisiana as homeless, letting their kids into Texas schools. He ordered emergency crews and other resources into storm-wracked areas. They're suspending trucking regulations to get supplies into the area, sending emergency gasoline to Florida, on the far edge of the storm, and so on. Human tragedy makes for a lousy political environment, with an exception: It vivifies officeholders who are in a position to actually provide help. Within that framework, the advantage right now is Perry's, and most of the candidates are laying low. 

Guns, endorsements, web tricks and some other notes Texas Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson dispatched his agency's oil spill team to New Orleans, along with seven boats, ten trucks, a bird rehabilitation trailer, a mobile command post, cash advances (it's hard to cash a check out there right now), and permission to carry pistols and rifles. Patterson says he expects a little flack for that last bit, but says several of the employees have handgun permits, and says they'll report to Coast Guard officers, who -- according to Patterson -- think the rifles are a good idea. "It's dangerous out there," Patterson says. Guns aside, it's the first time the oil spillers have been sent out of state in anything beyond advisory roles, he says. • Molly Beth Malcolm, the former chairwoman of the Texas Democratic Party (and so far the only female to hold that job) endorsed Chris Bell's run for governor, lauding the former congressman from Houston for his official ethics complaints about U.S. Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Sugar Land. She fired a shot of sorts at members of her party who've moved to the middle as the state has become more Republican, suggesting that's not the way to win: "Chris is not now and never will be Republican-lite. He will not hide behind closed doors to avoid espousing democratic values." • We told you last week about MAV-PAC -- the group of almost a dozen George W. Bush supporters who've formed a political action committee to support Texas candidates. Since then, they've announced their first contributions will go to Gov. Rick Perry. The mavericks were people who collected at least $50,000 but less than $100,000 for Bush's reelection bid. Eleven of them who live in Texas (and a half dozen newbies) formed the state PAC and hope to raise $100,000 during the 2006 election cycle. They've got a website with more info about the group: www.maverickpac.com. • Punch up that Internet browser, type www.rickperryforgovernor.com, and it takes you to.... www.carolestrayhorn.com. What would seem to be a Perry site is registered to one Jeremy Richie of Austin. The Strayhorn folks say they're not affiliated (although they seemed to appreciate the plug). Perry's folks crabbed, noting that www.rickperry2006.com is also taken and also redirects traffic to the comptroller. Their headline: "Strayhorn Supporters Using Governor Perry's Good Name to Get Attention." • Robert Sanchez, a Republican who teaches high school in San Antonio's Northside ISD, says he'll run for Congress against U.S. Rep. Charlie Gonzalez, D-San Antonio. His campaign is online: www.sanchezforcongress.com. • Houston lawyer Al Flores says he'll run for the statehouse in HD-143, left open when Rep. Joe Moreno, D-Houston, died in a highway accident earlier this year. Moreno beat him in a primary in 2002, and Flores raised a local stink by flirting with the Republican Party. Local GOP officials told the Houston Chronicle they thought he was on their side, and Flores voted in the Republican primary in 2004. But he told the paper he's still a Democrat. That's a special election, set for November 8, and Flores is the fourth Democrat to join the race. The list includes Charles George, a corrections officer; Ana Hernandez, an attorney; and Laura Salinas, a leasing administrator. • Rep. Peggy Hamric, R-Houston, picked up several Houston and Harris County endorsements for her Senate race (she's vying to replace Jon Lindsay, R-Houston, who's retiring). The endorsement list includes Reps. Martha Wong and Beverly Woolley, County Commissioner Jerry Eversole, County Attorney Mike Stafford, Sheriff Tommy Thomas, and Constables Glen Cheek and Ron Hickman. Meanwhile, Rep. Joe Nixon, who's also running, picked his help for that Senate race. He hired Jason Smith to manage the campaign, and signed general consultant Allen Blakemore, fundraisers Elizabeth Blakemore and Kate Doner, pollster Mike Baselice, ad guy Steve Sandler and press guy Jim McGrath. They even named a Dallas fundraiser for the Houston race: Alison McIntosh. • Kathy Rider, a former Austin ISD trustee and board president, is joining the increasingly crowded Democratic primary in HD-48, where the winner will challenge Rep. Todd Baxter, R-Austin. Donna Howard, who was on the Eanes ISD board, and Andy Brown, a lawyer, are also in the hunt. DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS: Our item on the Texas Department of Parks and Wildlife last week failed to mention that the agency published notice of a proposed sale of land in the Texas Register before the story broke in the papers. And although it was mentioned in the agency's press release, the Sauceda ranch buildings were not to have been included in the proposed sale of some of the land in the Big Bend Park. The P&W board voted the sale down, unanimously. As for our mistakes, we are sorry, sorry, sorry. 

Steve Brown, a lobbyist and former legislative staffer, says he'll challenge Rep. Dora Olivo, D-Rosenberg, in HD-27.  She didn't have an opponent last year. Olivo won her 2002 reelection, with 63 percent of the votes over Mark Rubal. In 2000, she beat Republican Lester Phipps in the general election, getting 64 percent of the votes, after smothering Samuel Gonzalez in the Democratic primary, where Olivo collected 88 percent of the votes. It's a safely Democratic district, if you look at the results of statewide races, although the congressional district with the biggest overlap belongs to U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Sugar Land (he squeaked in Olivo territory by six votes on his way to an overall 64 percent win in 2002). The best performance by a statewide Republican candidate came in the comptroller's race, where Carole Keeton Strayhorn (last name Rylander at that time) beat Democrat Marty Akins by 110 votes on her way to a statewide win. Sen. Ken Armbrister, D-Victoria -- whose district partly overlaps the House district -- lost in his section of HD-27 to Phipps, who moved up the ballot in 2002. Though he lost in the district, Armbrister handily beat Phipps elsewhere. Blacks and Hispanics together make up about 65 percent of the district, according to the 2000 Census. Brown is African-American; Olivo is Hispanic. Brown worked for several Houston Democrats, including U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, Sen. Rodney Ellis, and Rep. Sylvester Turner, before signing on with the Texas Medical Association as a lobbyist. He's now with the American Heart Association and plans to stay with that organization as he moves from Austin to the district to run against Olivo. Brown says he is aware of rumors that former Rep. Ron Wilson, D-Houston, and House Speaker Tom Craddick, R-Midland, are trying to recruit friendly Democrats to run against unfriendly ones, but says he hasn't talked to either of them and says he was urged into the race by people in the district. He says he'll push economic development and education. 

Griggs and Hupp won't be on the ballot in 2006, meaning at least eight incumbents won't be back in 2007. State Rep. Bob Griggs, R-North Richland Hills, has decided to pack it in after all. He put off retirement plans to run in the first place and has been openly talking about hanging up his running shoes after the current term. Now he's announced it: The former school superintendent, who irked some Republicans with his independence from management on education and other issues, will serve out this term in HD-91 and leave. Pat Carlson, who chairs the Tarrant County GOP, has already said she'll run; she and her husband are building a new house in the district (they live outside the district now). Add two more to the mix: Kelly Hancock, a trustee in Birdville ISD, and Charles Scoma, the former mayor of North Richland Hills. Both are Republicans. It's remarkably red territory: No Democrat won that district at the state or county level in the 2002 elections. And state Rep. Suzanna Gratia Hupp, R-Lampasas, says she won't run for reelection in HD-54 at the end of this term. She's not ruling out future public service, but said in a written announcement she'll "continue to serve the public interest in a private capacity." She also said she hopes she'll get a shot at solving school finance before her current term ends, alluding to a possible special session after the Texas Supreme Court rules. Hupp is skipping out two years before her retirement improves. Lawmakers vest in their retirement after eight years in office and can start drawing checks when they're 60 years old. If they serve 12 years, the checks start coming when they're 50 years old. Hupp will have served 10 years in the House at the end of this term. HD-54 is GOP turf; all but one of the statewide Republicans -- Attorney General Greg Abbott -- did slightly better in the district than they did overall in 2002. Two Houston Republicans -- Reps. Peggy Hamric and Joe Nixon -- are giving up their reelection chances to seek promotion tot he Senate. The two will be in a GOP primary (along with City Councilman Mark Ellis, and maybe Ben Streusand, who lost a congressional race last year) to replace Sen. Jon Lindsay, R-Houston, who is retiring after this term. Rep. Terry Keel, R-Austin, is leaving the House to run for the 3rd Court of Appeals in Austin. Rep. Richard Raymond, D-Laredo, is plotting a challenge to U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo. Former state and U.S. Rep. Ciro Rodriguez, D-San Antonio, is also in the hunt for that spot, which he lost to Cuellar two years ago. Rep. Jim Solis, D-Harlingen, told the Brownsville Herald in early August that the current term will be his last. He's been in office for 12 years. Eddie Lucio III, son of the state senator, is thinking about running for that seat. Rep. Carlos Uresti, D-San Antonio, wants to run for Sen. Frank Madla's spot. Madla, D-San Antonio, plans to seek reelection, but Solis told the San Antonio Express-News he'll give up his current spot for the challenge. 

Frost goes to school, Bell gets a new fundraiser, the governor makes a slew of appointments, and an El Paso judge is reprimanded Former U.S. Rep. Martin Frost, D-Dallas, is off to Massachusetts to take a teaching gig at Harvard University's Institute of Politics. He'll be what's called a "resident fellow," and plans to continue with his other job as a commentator for Fox News. Gubernatorial candidate Chris Bell hired Scott Gale of Washington, D.C., to do his fundraising for the rest of the campaign. Appointments Gov. Rick Perry appointed Julie Caruthers Parsley to another term on the state's Public Utility Commission. Parsley, who used to be the state's solicitor general, started her regulatory gig in November 2002, when Perry first put her on the PUC. The Guv named 17 people to advise him on how to use the Emerging Technology Fund, a more targeted version of the $300 million economic development fund in his office. The new fund, started by the Legislature, will total up to $200 million. Perry, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and House Speaker Tom Craddick oversee the investments, but Perry's new panel will offer advice. The members include Alan Abbott, an El Paso CPA and chairman of Sunland Optical Company, Inc.; Grant Billingsley of Midland is manager of public affairs for Wagner & Brown, Ltd.; Dr. C. Thomas Caskey of Houston, president and CEO of Cogene Biotech Ventures.; Sada Cumber of Austin, chairman and CEO of SozoTek, Inc.; Dr. Lynda de la Vina, dean of the UT San Antonio College of Business; Phillip Drayer of Dallas, president and CEO of Kalydus Asset Advisors; Dr. Pamela Eibeck, dean of engineering at Texas Tech University in Lubbock; Clyde Higgs, president of Tech Fort Worth, a business and technology incubator; Cesar Maldonado of Harlingen, president and founder of MBM Engineering Group, LLC; Bill Morrow of San Marcos, founder of Grande Communications; David Nance of Austin, president and CEO of Introgen Therapeutics; Bernard "Bernie" Paulson, chairman of Corpus Christi Bancshares; Pike Powers of Austin, a partner with Fulbright & Jaworski; David Spenser of San Antonio, president of OnBoard Software, Inc.; Bill Sproull, president of the Richardson Chamber of Commerce and the Metroplex Technology Business Council; Dr. Johannes "Hans" Stork of Dallas, senior vice president and CTO of Texas Instruments, Inc.; and Walter Ulrich of Pearland, president and CEO of Mincron, Inc. Perry picked Albert Betts to run the worker's compensation division at the Texas Department of Insurance. That was an agency unto itself until the Legislature folded it into TDI this year. Betts, an attorney, is currently chief of staff and senior associate commissioner of operations at the insurance agency. The governor named three people to the board of regents at Stephen F. Austin University: Richard Boyer of The Colony, information privacy officer for Children's Medical Center Dallas; James Thompson, president and founder of Team Associates Inc., and a former city councilman in Sugar Land; and Melvin White of Pflugerville, founder of Digital Workforce Academy. All three are alumni. Judicial Spankings: State District Judge Mary Anne Bramblett of El Paso was publicly reprimanded by the State Commission on Judicial Conduct, which said she changed a Mexican citizen's date of conviction so that his deportation was no longer mandatory. The commission said the falsified date was ignored by an immigration court which deported the convict, and said Bramblett's action was "inconsistent with [her] reputation in the legal community."