The state's biggest phone companies and their competitors are fighting over a fund that subsidizes companies that provide phone service where it would otherwise be unaffordable. AT&T, the biggest, says the Universal Service Fund doesn't cover its costs. Competitors say the company gets at least twice what it should.
Full StoryThis week, Texas bloggers took time to bid adieu to Lady Bird Johnson and John Hill. They're also buzzing about the marksmanship of State Rep. Borris Miles, D-Houston, the evolution of the U.S. Senate race, the online indiscretions of Whole Foods CEO John Mackey and the sordidness that is the Texas Youth Commission. Lastly, a mélange of signs pointing toward an impending apocalypse.
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Happy Trails
Eye on Williamson says Lady Bird Johnson didn't choose to be involved in politics, but she made politics better because of her involvement. "Lady Bird was Ours," writes Muse. According to Texas-Democrats, the former first lady stood for "the ideals of justice, progress and beauty." And she was funny, too, writes Common Sense.
Half Empty has a three-minute video tribute to the former first lady. Photos of Lady Bird, with wildflowers and without, here, here, here and here.
Texas Politics, the Houston Chronicle's blog, has quotes from Rick Perry, David Dewhurst, Tom Craddick and former President George Bush.
Rick Noriega deferred announcing his exploratory committee out of respect for Lady Bird, but Texas Observer Blog wonders, "If you announce that you're delaying the announcement of your exploratory committee, have you really delayed the announcement at all?"
Capitol Annex has its own Lady Bird blog roundup, here.
Texas Politics wonders why Perry wasn't at Lady Bird's private church service. Perry says he was paying respects to John Hill, former Texas Attorney General and Chief Justice of the Texas Supreme Court.
Postcards from the Lege, the Austin American-Statesman's blog, has a post on Hill's life authored by Hill's family. Attorney Tom Kirkendall calls Hill "one of the giants of the Houston legal community" and provides a thorough biography in his blog Houston's Clear Thinkers.
Capitol Annex lauds Hill's support of the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act, which, as Austinist notes, is being invoked right now by Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott to sue a Texas company hawking admittedly bogus pills with a faith-based marketing strategy.
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Copper deficiency, iron overload
Texas Kaos points out that state Rep. Borris Miles, who shot and wounded a thief, is a former law enforcement officer.
Miles takes matters into his own hands. PinkDome takes Photoshop into his own hands.
Chronic, the Austin Chronicle's blog, pins the rising cost of copper on increased construction. Half Empty attributes it to recent strikes by copper miners. In a rare show of foresight, the state legislature passed two bills to cut down on illegal "scrapping" this session, SB 1154 and HB 1766.
The Miles fiasco isn't the first or worst instance of scrapping-related violence.
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Who's it gonna be?
Capitol Annex, picking up on the rumor that John Montford might join the Democratic field of candidates, speculates the former Texas Tech chancellor, telecom executive and state senator would vie with Mikal Watts for conservative-leaning Democrats.
Williamson says that Republican incumbent John Cornyn is attacking Watts because Noriega is "unsmearable". Off the Kuff agrees this is a possibility, but also speculates Cornyn might fear Watts more than Noriega or might believe Watts will win the Democratic primary.
David Van Os, a former Democratic candidate for Texas Attorney General, is endorsing Noriega over Watts and is accusing the latter of opportunism, hypocrisy and insider elitism, among other things, says South Texas Chisme. State Rep. Lon Burman, D-Fort Worth, officially endorsed Noriega at his birthday party, writes Burnt Orange Report. Meanwhile, Half Empty canvasses blogs and determines there are more pro-Noriega posters than pro-Watts posters.
Kuff says the $1.1 million raised thus far by Watts is a good thing for all the Democratic contenders, since, "the more challenging the primary, the better shape the winner will be in for the general." However, Cornyn still has the most money, notes Texas Politics.
A recent visit by Cornyn to the Houston suburb of Pasadena wasn't successful, writes McBlogger.
U.S. Senator John Kerry, D-Massachusetts, is the latest to jump on the "Stop Cornyn" bandwagon, says Burnt Orange. Kerry sent out an e-mail asking for donations that will go to whoever wins the Democratic primary.
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Being John Mackey
In case you haven't heard about Whole Foods (world's largest chain of organic superstores) or its free-bloggin' CEO Mackey, Jeff Beckham sums it up nicely here. Basically, Mackey has spent a lot of time over the years on Yahoo! message boards posting under a pseudonym about how great the Austin-based company is. Bad move, but not illegal.
Or maybe it is, say the Securities Exchange Commission and Federal Trade Commission -- according to Kuff -- and it could jeopardize Whole Foods' proposed takeover of smaller rival Wild Oats. In case you're wondering, Kuff says what Mackey did is called being a sock puppet, in techie-nese.
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Mixed Grades
Rep. Aaron Peña, D-Edinburg, describes a recent visit to the local Texas Youth Commission unit in his A Capitol Blog. "No organization is perfect but I certainly feel more comfortable now that this organization is moving in the right direction," he says.
Grits for Breakfast, though, is not happy about purported TYC plans to move inmates aged 10-13 years into privatized facilities. He has three posts on the topic, here, here and here. Grits also doesn't want private contractors/corporate mercenaries patrolling the Texas-Mexico border. Chisme had first plucked the news tidbit from The McAllen Monitor.
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The end remains nigh, etc.
Poverty endures (even in Houston), says Clear Thinkers. Bibles traded for porno in San Antonio, according to The People's Republic of Seabrook.
Politicians want to work. A Capitol Blog reports that Air Quality Caucus have asked Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and House Speaker Tom Craddick toestablish an Interim Special Committee on Electric Energy Generation Capacity due to Perry's veto of HB 2713. Some things in life are free, like this July 27 comedy show in San Antonio, thanks to Walker Report and Ticketmaster. *Service and shipping fees still apply*.
Headline of the Week goes to In the Pink Texas with her take on the sex scandal featuring U.S. Senator David Vitter, R-Louisiana, titled: "Vitter? I hardly knew her."
The Noriega Express hasn't officially left the station yet, but his blogosphere campaign is already running at full steam. Bloggers are also covering the Young Democrats of America Convention in Dallas, Gov. Rick Perry's newest addition to the State Board of Education, the Texas Department of Transportation's latest audit and what's happening at the Texas Youth Commission. And there's the usual miscellany to cap it all...
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The Noriega Express
Half Empty summarizes Rick Noriega's press conference on forming an exploratory committee, focusing on his positions on Iraq (follow the recommendations of the Baker/Hamilton Iraqi Study Group) and immigration (no border fence). Here's Texas Observer Blog's version of events. Muse has pictures.
The Observer breaks down U.S. Sen. John Cornyn's concurrent Texas Victory PAC speech, contrasting his announced strategy and Noriega's, while noting the appearance of unfamiliar faces in the press corps for both events. Yes, Noriega can speak Spanish, confirms Texas Politics, the Houston Chronicle's blog.
Off the Kuff has a news coverage roundup of Noriega's announcement. South Texas Chisme says coverage was "pitiful."
The vast majority of donations to Corpus Christi trial lawyer Mikal Watts come from trial lawyers (not that there's anything wrong with that), says Capitol Annex. The size of the bank account doesn't matter, says Brains and Eggs. Tell that to Watts, says Texas Politics, posting that Watts has picked up on the Washington Post's labeling of Cornyn as a "loser."
Capitol Annex calls Cornyn's no-show at Lady Bird Johnson's funeral a disgrace to his supporters. Burnt Orange Report says that's the final straw. "Shame on you" says Eye on Williamson.
Texas Kaos has the official Happy Blogosphere Day! post.
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Young Dems in Big D
Texan David Hardt was elected the first openly gay president of the Young Democrats of America, says Burnt Orange.
Burnt Orange summarizes a speech by retired Gen. Wesley Clark. The Texas Blue has a shorter summary here.
Democrats plan to mobilize young voters this election cycle, says Burnt Orange. Presidential hopeful John Edwards had "one of his best" nights at the convention, says Texas Blue. Galveston County Judge Susan Criss writes about the convention for Burnt Orange.
Photos of the convention here, here, here and here, courtesy of Texas-Democrats, a group on Yahoo Lists.
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You Say You Want Some Evolution
Capitol Annex says Perry's appointment of Bryan dentist and intelligent design advocate Don McLeroy to head the State Board of Education is "worse than your wildest fears."
"An unbelievably idiotic move," s ays Half Empty. "Looks like Texas is on the move to be as stupid as Kansas," says Houstoned.
Texas Blue calls the choice of McLeroy "controversial." South Texas Chisme calls him "a monkey." Musings places the blame on supporters of Kinky Friedman and Carole Keeton Strayhorn in the past gubernatorial election.
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Not at Toll
Eye on Williamson questions the objectiveness of a recent TxDOT audit by a paid third-party that recommends the state raise tolls and build more toll roads, saying that the state should raise the gas tax instead. "Take a look at your future, Texas. Do you like what you see?" asks Off the Kuff.
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Troubled Youth
Kuff says TYC will begin outsourcing 10-13 year old inmates beginning on Halloween.
Grits for Breakfast looks into TYC transplantees from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. TYC needs to stop fighting federal oversight, says Grits. He also posts how to get a job at TYC.
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Hodgepodge
In A Capitol Blog, state Rep. Aaron Peña, D-Edinburg, says he's trying to make sure the federal government takes local views into consideration when contemplating building a border fence. Off the Kuff says the fence won't get started on until 2008.
"Local Cheapass Hijacks Capitol Metro Bus to Airport," reports Austinist... Houston attorney Tom Kirkendall, in Houston's Clear Thinkers, ponders on the influence of junk evidence on juries... Mike Falick commemorates the 38th anniversary of the Moon Landing... Charles Kuffner of Off the Kuff goes on the record with Texas Blue... Blogging dogs, courtesy of Walker Report.
Finally, the winner of the Headline of the Week goes to In the Pink with her comments on Sen. Barack Obama and sex education for the very young, titled, "Kindergarten Cop A Feel."
Bloggers posted scathing statements about the state of education in the state. They also examined new developments in the protracted battle over House leadership, continued their coverage of the U.S. Senate race in Texas and took time out to remember HPV vaccine advocate Heather Burcham. And there's a tribute to Weekly World News, which is going out of print this week.
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Failing grades for Texas education
Who's going to college? Those with less are more likely, says a UT professor, relayed by Austinist. He's not talking cash, either.
Pink Dome implies that Gov. Rick Perry was being untruthful when justifying his line-item vetoes of community college funding. The Texas Blue says the unpopular decision creates a golden opportunity for Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst to gain support for a 2010 run at governor. State Senate hopeful Joe Jaworski of Galveston calls on the Legislative Budget Board to convene immediately to restore the funding, via Burnt Orange Report. (More about Jaworski at Capitol Annex here and here.) Meanwhile, the Houston Chronicle's blog Texas Politics reports that Perry will headline a Sept. 6 fundraiser for the United Negro College Fund.
Burnt Orange says the funding shortfall of the "B on Time" loan program will discourage non-wealthy students from going to college. Stop adding new kinds of student financial aid programs, says Dos Centavos, instead, "we should be increasing the value of student aid that currently exists."
Widespread abuse at state schools for the mentally retarded? "You've got to be kidding me," says Capitol Annex. If you don't have money in Texas, "YOU DON'T COUNT!" says Texas Kaos.
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Tricky (Crad)dick
Scoop: Capitol Annex says House Speaker Tom Craddick, R-Midland, sent former Parliamentarian Denise Davis "a harshly-worded, insulting letter instructing her to essentially keep quiet..." (Not that Attorney General Greg Abbott asked for Davis' opinion, anyway.) However, former Democratic House Speaker Rayford Price (1972-73) has advised the AG's office that Craddick's interpretation of House rules could lead to the "absurd" situation that either the Senate or the Governor would decide who leads the House.
Chronic, the Austin Chronicle's blog, speculates that, if there is a special session, party lines might not matter in determining Craddick's future. Additionally, Rep. Will Hartnett, R-Dallas, has asked Abbott what it would take to remove Dewhurst.
Texas Blue says a Texas Republican Labor Day Barbecue could become uncomfortable.
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Watts-choo talking 'bout, Noriega?
Bloggers have overestimated the amount of money people will give to Democratic senatorial candidate Rick Noriega right now, says GregsOpinion.com. "Greg is Right," says Eye on Williamson. Really?! says Greg. Eye on Williamson says experience AND money will secure the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate. Their "Race Round Up" here.
State Sen. Juan "Chuy" Hinojosa, D-Mission, endorsed Democratic candidate Mikal Watts. "Quick! Get me a barf bag," says South Texas Chisme. Half Empty speculates that Hinojosa's endorsement could have arisen from $14,000 in donations from Watts to Hinojosa's campaign, and parrots Noriega's view that Watts "needs to stand aside, and needs to endorse" Noriega. Half Empty also labels Watts "an insincere opportunist" because Watts has called on U.S. Sen. John Cornyn to do something about fellow Sen. David Vitter of Louisiana, recently in the news for a high-profile hooker hookup.
Noriega will become commander of the "First Texas Infantry" on Saturday, at a ceremony at the Alamo, reports Musings, who has the invitation and history of the regiment here. Noriega sightings here and here, courtesy of Walker Report.
And the Texas Observer Blog found out the identity of one of two "unfamiliar faces" at Cornyn's and Noriega's press conferences on July 16.
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R.I.P.
Texas Observer remembers Heather Burcham, the cervical cancer patient who advocated on behalf of Gov. Perry's HPV vaccine mandate. Off the Kuff pauses, too.
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And Finally: Drinking Kool-Aid out of tin-foil hats
Oklahoma invades Texas! (Burnt Orange)
City of Austin spies on American Civil Liberties Union! (Chronic)
Texas Youth Commission Conservator withholds reports from public! (Grits for Breakfast)
In the Pink falls for Ron Paul!
Rick Perry and Ric Williamson in cahoots! (The Muckraker)
Dick Cheney opens hunting school! (Texas-Democrats)
Finally, Off the Kuff wins Headline of the Week with his post about Health and Human Services and efforts to once again outsource call centers: "Those Who Do Not Learn From History Are Doomed To Hire Accenture Again."
The number of Texas public schools in the top and bottom rankings increased in 2007; state education regulators say students improved while the tests got more difficult, increasing the numbers of "exemplary" schools as well as the number of "academically unacceptable" schools.
The Texas Education Agency's top rating went to 637 schools this year as against 564 last year. On the district level, 27 got the top rating, up from 19. "Recognized" ratings went to 2,345 schools and 214 districts; last year, the respective numbers were 2,826 schools and 337 districts, so fewer made it this year.
Nearly half of the state's schools — 3,718 — were in the "academically acceptable" category. That's up from 3,190 a year earlier. The number of districts in the category also rose, to 920 this year from 809 a year earlier.
The lowest ranking — which can put a campus or district in jeopardy of reorganization if it persists — went to 288 schools, up from 267 in 2006. Fifty-seven districts got bad marks, compared to 47 in 2006.
The number of schools in the top two tiers fell by 12 percent under the tougher standards, and TEA is, for now, ignoring dropout and school completion data until they're confident their numbers are good. Also, there are 676 schools that weren't rated this year, usually because they didn't have students who have to take standardized tests (pre-school, for instance). Roughly 1.6 million students are in exemplary or recognized schools in Texas, while about 2.8 million are in acceptable or unacceptable schools, according to TEA.
Here's the link where you can look up individual campuses and districts in the state (and for previous school years, too).
The school rating system now in use is four years old. A House-Senate committee is reviewing it between now and the next legislative session to see whether it's doing what they want it to do.
State election officials are putting a new computerized voter registration system through a "stress test" to see if they can get it to work fast enough for a presidential election year.
Secretary of State Phil Wilson says the $14 million system doesn't have the zip it's supposed to have; it fell short in the May elections — not a major test of its capabilities — and he's worried that it isn't up to a presidential election year in 2008.
For five days next week, elections officials, IBM and Hart InterCivic — the contractors who built the new system — will put the system through its paces, trying to push it to the point of breakdown to see what needs fixing before the real elections next year.
The new system is the result of federal voting laws that require states to have statewide voter registration systems. Texas has historically left most of those chores to its 254 counties. The new system puts all Texas voters into one database with their driver license and social security numbers, preventing people from registering in more than one county and speeding up (or attempting to speed up) checks on whether people are eligible to vote.
Most but not all of the new features work, according to Wilson aides, and much of what does work works slowly. They and county officials will road-test it through next week and then pull together a list of what needs fixing and when the fixes are due.
Most Texans will ignore the 16 proposed amendments to the state constitution on the November ballot. And after a drawing by Texas Secretary of State Phil Wilson, they'll ignore them in this order:
• Prop. 1: "The constitutional amendment providing for the continuation of the constitutional appropriation for facilities and other capital items at Angelo State University on a change in the governance of the university." (HJR 103)
• Prop. 2: "The constitutional amendment providing for the issuance of $500 million in general obligation bonds to finance educational loans to students and authorizing bond enhancement agreements with respect to general obligation bonds issued for that purpose." (SJR 57)
• Prop. 3: "The constitutional amendment authorizing the legislature to provide that the maximum appraised value of a residence homestead for ad valorem taxation is limited to the lesser of the most recent market value of the residence homestead as determined by the appraisal entity or 110 percent, or a greater percentage, of the appraised value of the residence homestead for the preceding tax year." (HJR 40)
• Prop. 4: "The constitutional amendment authorizing the issuance of up to $1 billion in bonds payable from the general revenues of the state for maintenance, improvement, repair, and construction projects and for the purchase of needed equipment." (SJR 65)
• Prop. 5: "The constitutional amendment authorizing the legislature to permit the voters of a municipality having a population of less than 10,000 to authorize the governing body of the municipality to enter into an agreement with an owner of real property in or adjacent to an area in the municipality that has been approved for funding under certain programs administered by the Texas Department of Agriculture under which the parties agree that all ad valorem taxes imposed on the owner's property may not be increased for the first five tax years after the tax year in which the agreement is entered into." (SJR 44)
• Prop. 6: "The constitutional amendment authorizing the legislature to exempt from ad valorem taxation one motor vehicle owned by an individual and used in the course of the owner's occupation or profession and also for personal activities of the owner." (HJR 54)
• Prop. 7: "The constitutional amendment to allow governmental entities to sell property acquired through eminent domain back to the previous owners at the price the entities paid to acquire the property." (HJR 30)
• Prop. 8: "The constitutional amendment to clarify certain provisions relating to the making of a home equity loan and use of home equity loan proceeds." (HJR 72)
• Prop. 9: "The constitutional amendment authorizing the legislature to exempt all or part of the residence homesteads of certain totally disabled veterans from ad valorem taxation and authorizing a change in the manner of determining the amount of the existing exemption from ad valorem taxation to which a disabled veteran is entitled." (SJR 29)
• Prop. 10: "The constitutional amendment to abolish the constitutional authority for the office of inspector of hides and animals." (HJR 69)
• Prop. 11: "The constitutional amendment to require that a record vote be taken by a house of the legislature on final passage of any bill, other than certain local bills, of a resolution proposing or ratifying a constitutional amendment, or of any other non-ceremonial resolution, and to provide for public access on the Internet to those record votes." (HJR 19)
• Prop. 12: "The constitutional amendment providing for the issuance of general obligation bonds by the Texas Transportation Commission in an amount not to exceed $5 billion to provide funding for highway improvement projects." (SJR 64)
• Prop. 13: "The constitutional amendment authorizing the denial of bail to a person who violates certain court orders or conditions of release in a felony or family violence case." (HJR 6)
• Prop. 14: "The constitutional amendment permitting a justice or judge who reaches the mandatory retirement age while in office to serve the remainder of the justice's or judge's current term." (HJR 36)
• Prop. 15: "The constitutional amendment requiring the creation of the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas and authorizing the issuance of up to $3 billion in bonds payable from the general revenues of the state for research in Texas to find the causes of and cures for cancer." (HJR 90)
• Prop. 16: "The constitutional amendment providing for the issuance of additional general obligation bonds by the Texas Water Development Board in an amount not to exceed $250 million to provide assistance to economically distressed areas." (SJR 20)
Made it to the end? Congratulations. There are a couple of points of interest on that list. The $3 billion in cancer research bonds will have a campaign behind it; that's a favored program of the governor, mucky mucks from both parties, and cyclist/cancer survivor Lance Armstrong, whose celebrity has attracted political attention. But it got a late number — 15 — and it's behind three bond proposals and next to another one. The Legislature is asking voters to approve a total of five bond packages — for cancer, roads, water, education and construction — totaling $9.75 billion.
Most of what's left is important to somebody, but minor to most people. One would require record votes on final passage of most bills, so people would know how their legislators vote. The real gut votes — lawmakers will tell you if they're drinking — come in committees and on preliminary or procedural questions. Another would let judges serve out their current terms even if they hit mandatory retirement age. A third would allow lawmakers to exempt some disabled veterans from any property taxes. And there's a weed-whacker in there that would remove from the constitution the office of inspector of hides and animals.
Constitutional amendment elections don't attract most voters. The special constitutional election in May of this year drew only 5.3 percent of the voting age population — fewer than a million voters. The 2005 package, with its headline-grabbing same sex marriage amendment — pulled in 13.8 percent of voting age Texans, or just over 2.2 million. And 9.3 percent of those voting age folks came out for a September 2003 election on 22 amendments that included one limiting damages against doctors and others on the losing end of medical malpractice lawsuits. By contrast, 4.4 million voting age Texans voted in last year's general election for governor and other offices — that's 26.4 percent of VAP; and 7.4 million, or 46.1 percent of the voting age population, voted in the 2004 elections topped by the presidential race.
Election Day is Tuesday, November 6.
Add House Speaker Tom Craddick to the crowd that thinks the state's community colleges should be getting the $154 million lopped from their budgets by Gov. Rick Perry.
Perry vetoed that amount, saying the community colleges were illegally using the money to pay for health insurance for employees whose salaries aren't paid by the state. (The schools contend it's legal to use it to pay for health bennies for employees who are eligible for state-funded salaries whether they're actually paid by the state or not).
It's apparently not a crisis issue for a year — the schools can get through the next 12 months before they come up short, according to state budgeteers who say the veto applied to the 2009 fiscal year. But legislators who approved the state budget have been hearing from the local schools and are clamoring for a patch that'll get the money back into higher education.
That's the catchup. Now comes Craddick, who sent a letter (copied to the press) to Rep. Jim Dunnam, D-Waco, saying he thinks the schools should get the money, agreeing in part with Perry that there are some issues about state and local funding, and promising a solution to the mess is on the way: "it is my intention to act quickly so community colleges will be able to plan accordingly and avoid any negative consequences, such as tuition increases for students or property tax rate increases for homeowners and businesses."
Dunnam had earlier written to Craddick, and to Perry, urging them to undo the effects of the veto. And Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst has already said, via his own letter to senators, that the Legislative Budget Board should do something to replace the money lost to the veto. This puts the two legislative leaders more or less on the same page.
You can trace this back to a 2005 performance review done by the LBB (which took over that process from the comptroller) that said the state could "realize significant savings" if it applied "proportionality" to public community colleges. The idea is that the state should pay the same share of salaries and benefits; in the community colleges, it's paying a larger share of bennies than of salaries, and the amount of the mismatch is $154 million.
The numbers are old, but the LBB's report indicated the biggest public community colleges were (and presumably still are) the biggest beneficiaries of the disproportionate funding. In dollar terms, they'd take the biggest hits. Using numbers from the budget proposed at the beginning of the 2005 legislative session, the LBB listed 50 community college districts that were getting up to $11 million more than they would under a proportional system. The leaders, in dollar terms, included Dallas Community College, Alamo Community College (San Antonio), Tarrant Community College (Fort Worth), and three in the Houston area: Houston Community College, North Harris Montgomery Community College, and San Jacinto College.
Perry's apparently not against the colleges getting the money, but opposes them getting it for disproportionate benefits instead of instruction or something else. In his veto message on the state budget, he wrote bluntly: "To get money for these employees, community colleges falsified their appropriations requests."
Aides indicate privately that sending the money through the regular "formula funding" for the schools would probably suit their boss.
One more note: The Senate's Subcommittee on Higher Education will meet next week (Tuesday, 7 August) to talk about possible solutions.
Legal arguments about how the Texas House should run have picked up, but it's still too early to tell whether Attorney General Greg Abbott will weigh in and whether, if he does, it'll make any difference.
Abbott asked lawmakers and others to send briefs on a series of questions asked by Republican Reps. Byron Cook and Jim Keffer. They want to know whether a speaker has to recognize motions by members, whether he's a state official in the Constitutional sense or just an officer of the House, whether he's got to be replaced if he's removed during a session, and whether impeaching a speaker (or a president pro tempore in the Senate) costs him his seat in the House as well as the speakership.
Abbott's got an out on at least part of that, if he wants it, taking advantage of what you might call the Las Vegas Rule: What happens in the House stays in the House. The constitution says the Legislature gets to make its own rules about how it operates; most of that isn't subject to outside review. That could mean that it's up to the House whether Speaker Tom Craddick has to recognize motions, or can be replaced in mid-session, or whatever. If it's in the rules, he does, and if not, he doesn't.
The constitutional question about whether he's a state official is more interesting, at least to the lawyers. If Craddick's job (or any speaker's) is purely an inside deal with no constitutional protection, his fate is subject to that same Las Vegas Rule: Whatever the House says, goes. If he's a constitutional officer, like the governor or the attorney general, the House might not have the ability to depose him once he's been elected at the beginning of a session. That's the sort of thing that could be in an Abbott opinion, if he wants to get involved.
It's not clear it would matter if he does, though something with no legal impact could still have a political bounce. Keffer said when he asked for the opinion that he wants to know what the speakers' powers are so members can decide whether to change them. But the members can make changes with or without Abbott, and the ire raised at the end of the session will put the rules at the center of a race for speaker at the beginning of the next session no matter what he does.
Keffer's request is still pending, and Abbott, who's collecting briefs for a few more days, has a couple of months to chew on it.
Texans don't like the Universal Service Fund and most want to abolish it, according to a survey done at the end of May for the Texas Cable & Telecommunications Association.
That's close to the trade group's position — else they probably wouldn't have shared it, right? — but differs on one point. The TCTA folks don't want to kill the fund. They want to shrink it.
The fund is a pool of money that's supposed to subsidize phone service in areas where it would otherwise be too expensive or where people can't afford it. Most of the money in the program goes to the biggest phone companies that provide most of the land-line telephone service in Texas. The cable companies think the phone companies get too much dough and fear the fund gives the phone companies an unfair advantage. The phone folks say it falls short of their costs and imply they could justify even higher subsidies.
While state regulators sort that out, the public is skeptical, according to TCTA. About two-thirds (65%) said they oppose the fund; 54 percent say it ought to be abolished; 35 percent say it should be shrunk. More than half — 54 percent — told the pollsters they weren't aware the fund exists.
Texas Republicans named former Rep. Talmadge Heflin of Houston the new executive director of the state party.
He'll replace Jeff Fisher, the former political consultant who held the post for the last two election cycles (and who'll remain in the background as an "advisor" to the Texas GOP. Heflin was in the House for 22 years and was chairman of the budget-writing Appropriations Committee when he was upset by Houston Democrat Hubert Vo in 2004 in an election that came down to a couple dozen votes and an election contest in the House. He lost a rematch last November (54.3 percent to 45.7 percent), and has since been working as a policy fellow at the Texas Public Policy Foundation in Austin. Heflin will continue in that post while serving as the GOP's executive director.
Executive directors usually come from consulting or political operative ranks. Fisher did a stint as Van Zandt County Judge, but he's also got experience running campaigns. Heflin doesn't have that. But he's a fiscal and social conservative; in fact, his top credential — $10 billion in cuts to the 2004-05 state budget while he headed the budget committee — is also the main reason Democrats blasted his appointment to this gig. State GOP Chair Tina Benkiser touted that in a press release announcing she's hiring Heflin, saying he "helped close a $10 billion budget shortfall without raising taxes." Her Democratic counterpart, Boyd Richie, touted it, too. His version: "When Heflin had to choose between making the special interests pay their fair share or cutting the heart of the state budget, Heflin cut 200,000 children off of CHIP, forced students to use out of date textbooks in classrooms, and proposed a tax on groceries."
They say they're running...
State district Judge Susan Criss, a Galveston Democrat, will run for the Texas Supreme Court. She's challenging Justice Phil Johnson of Amarillo, a Gov. Rick Perry appointee who has never run statewide. On her website, Criss calls herself "the blogging judge;" she's got one on the campaign site and another one called "As the Island Floats"...
Sen. Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo, will apparently face former Webb County Judge Louis Bruni in next year's Democratic primary. She's held that seat since 1987...
Tim Turner, a former State Republican Executive Committee member, a member of the Texas Medical Board, and a former candidate, is considering a run against Sen. Mike Jackson, R-La Porte. Turner's a Republican; Jackson's already got Democrat Joe Jaworski gunning for him...
Sen. Leticia Van de Putte, D-San Antonio, got her fill of rumors about her intentions; she announced that she'll soon announce that she's running for reelection to the Senate. Local gossips had her looking at county posts, but she's not interested. One line in her announcement stood out: "Others who continue to discuss running for Senate District 26 should be clear; if they run in that race, they'll be running against me."...
Jeff Humber will be in the Republican primary to replace Rep. Anna Mowery, R-Fort Worth. She's retiring and about 500 people have been thinking about getting into that race. Humber, a health care exec, said in his announcement that he wants to work on affordable and accessible health care if elected.
Eric Bearse, who's been working for Gov. Rick Perry longer than all but one or two people on the governor's staff, is leaving to open a public affairs, political and speechwriting shop. Bearse has done all of those things for Perry, working in his campaigns, his government communications shop and writing Perry's fancy words for the last few years. He'll office with other Perry alums like Mike Toomey, Ray Sullivan, and Rossanna Salazar.
Richard Alvarado of San Antonio is the new interim executive director of the Texas ACLU. He's the replacement, for now, for Will Harrell, who left that organization to work for the Texas Youth Commission. A search for a permanent replacement is underway.
Ron Hutcheson, a veteran Texas political reporter who did time in Austin and in Washington, D.C., is switching sides: He'll join Austin-based Public Strategies Inc., working in their Washington office. He was with McClatchy Newspapers, owners of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, his professional home for a couple of decades.
The Texas Railroad Commission is keeping up the tradition of putting the commissioner who's on the ballot in the middle seat. Michael Williams return to the chairmanship of that agency.
The Texas State Teachers Association hired Joe Patrick Bean, a former teacher and journalist, to handle public affairs. He was most recently the editorial page editor at the Victoria Advocate, and he also did time at the San Antonio Express-News.
State Sen. Jeff Wentworth, R-San Antonio, was elected chairman-elect of the Southern Legislative Conference, a group made up of lawmakers from 16 states.
Appointments: Benjamin Sasse, an assistant prof at the LBJ School at the University of Texas at Austin, was tapped by President George W. Bush as assistant secretary of health and human services for planning and evaluation. That requires Senate consent.
Don McLeroy of Bryan is Gov. Rick Perry's choice to chair the State Board of Education. That's an elected post, but the governor gets to pick which of the board members serves in the middle seat. McLeroy, a favorite of the right and a foil of the left, has been on the board for eight years.
Randy Clapp, an attorney from El Campo, will put on the robes for the 329th Family District Court until the next general election. Perry appointed him to replace Judge Dan Sklar for that Wharton-based court. Samuel "Roger" Bridgwater III of Houston will take over the 178th District Court. He's a former prosecutor and until now was a private practice attorney, and he'll replace Judge William Harmon.
Perry named four new board members for the Department of Information Resources: Austin venture capitalist Cliff Mountain, who'll be the chairman; Harris County District Clerk Charles Bacarisse (a reappointment); Rosemary Martinez, vice president for business affairs at the University of Texas at Brownsville; and Robert Pickering Jr., CEO of LBI International in Houston.
Les Butler of Fort Worth and Kevin Jackson of Austin will join the state's Council on Purchasing from People with Disabilities. Butler is CPP of the Texas Health and Human Services Commission; Jackson is retired from the General Motors Corp.
Perry named Jesse Adams as presiding officer of the Texas Racing Commission. Adams is president of a tax-consulting firm and of Adams Land and Livestock. The governor appointed Ronald Ederer, a San Antonio attorney, to that board. He's a former U.S. Magistrate and a former federal prosecutor.
Bob Barnes of Granbury (formerly of Odessa) will join the Texas Mutual Insurance Co.'s board as a Perry appointee. That's the insurer of last resort for workers' comp insurance. Barnes runs a real estate and development company and is a former head of the Texas Restaurant Association. While he was at it, the Guv named Richard Cooper of Lubbock to preside over that board.
Cydney Donnell of Fredericksburg, a business prof at Texas A&M University, will take a seat on the Employee Retirement System board. Perry named her to a term running through 2012.
Finally, Perry named three directors for the One Star Foundation, which promotes volunteerism and community service: Beau Egert of Friendswood, who used to be on the One Star staff and now works for Luscinia Health; Pastor Charles Lewis Jackson of Pleasant Grove Missionary Baptist Church in Houston; and actress Janine Turner of Colleyville.
Deaths: Dr. Robert Bernstein, Texas Commissioner of Health from 1980-91, who'd been battling leukemia and heart trouble. He was 87.