World's Shortest Effective Filibuster
The Legislature finished on Monday and came back on Tuesday to do in a few days what they could not accomplish in 140
Full StoryThe Legislature finished on Monday and came back on Tuesday to do in a few days what they could not accomplish in 140
Full StoryFor the latest installment of our unscientific survey of political and policy insiders, we asked some questions about the special session, who benefits, how long it will last and whether a certain Fort Worth senator has helped or hurt her political future.
Full StoryAttorney General Greg Abbott on a recent federal court ruling prohibiting public prayer during a graduation ceremony in South Texas' Medina Valley Independent School District, in the San Antonio Express-News: "What the ruling demands and commands is that these school officials be both thought and speech police, where they go out and make physical changes to comments that are being made or remove a student who may be saying something.”
Gov. Rick Perry on Monday as Republicans searched for votes to bring up the school finance bill that Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth, filibustered to death Sunday night: "We come here to work. We don't come here to be show horses."
Education consultant Lynn Moak on the difficulty of passing a school finance plan this session: “Nobody has ever done this before. Nobody has ever had the kind of massive cuts to deal with. The Legislature really did not spend any time prior to January trying to work out a game plan, and wrote one as they went along, and it showed.”
U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts on the high court's decision to uphold an Arizona state law that punishes employers who hire unauthorized aliens: "The Immigration Reform and Control Act expressly preempts some state powers dealing with the employment of unauthorized aliens and expressly preserves others.”
Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth, the object of his scorn, in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram: "The sad thing about it is, he's using these issues, these politically charged partisan issues, which will help him probably in his presidential desires, but unfortunately he's using them ... against what we're trying to do on behalf of the schoolchildren that we all still represent in Texas."
An exasperated Rep. Burt Solomons, R-Carrollton, at a hearing on controversial congressional redistricting maps: “It’s a proposal, people. I can assure you there will be some changes.”
Sen. Jane Nelson, R-Flower Mound, on measures designed to make Medicaid more efficient: “Every day that goes by that this is not implemented, we are losing money.”
House Higher Education Chairman Dan Branch, R-Dallas, on the possibility of adding bonds for campus construction projects to the special session call: "Stay tuned."
Sen. Royce West, D-Dallas, to Sen. Florence Shapiro, R-Plano, arguing about whether to sunset the provisions of her mandate relief bill during a Senate Public Education Committee: "This is an exercise in futility. You have the votes to do what you want."
State Sen. Steve Ogden, R-Bryan, in the Houston Chronicle: "At the beginning of the session, I said to everybody, 'check your politics at the door.' Well, nobody did. I might as well have said the moon is made of green cheese. This was the most ideological session I have ever seen."
Wildfires raged on as severe drought, record temperatures and high winds combined to spark two fires near Amarillo, destroying homes and forcing whole neighborhoods to evacuate. More than 1,000 acres were reported burned, though there were no serious injuries.
It’s Texas versus the feds on another environmental front. This one pits oil and gas exploration against an endangered species of lizard. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service wants to list the dunes sagebrush lizard as a protected endangered species and protect its natural habitat. Unfortunately, its natural habitat is in the sand dunes of oil-producing land in West Texas and New Mexico. Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson has filed objections with federal officials — he calls this episode "reptile dysfunction" — and four congressmen from the affected areas are lobbying their colleagues to prevent the listing. They claim voluntary conservation agreements between property owners and state governments are the best way to protect the lizard and the economy.
A strict anti-texting bill cleared the Senate before the regular session adjourned and now needs the governor’s signature to become law. Unlike a previous bill that only outlawed sending texts, this one prohibits sending and reading texts and emails while driving.
A bill, passed by the Legislature, that would tax Internet sales won’t become law — at least not yet. Gov. Rick Perryvetoed the measure, but the same language is attached to the fiscal matters bill that’s still on the Legislature’s plate. If the bill passes in its current form, Perry will have to veto the entire thing to prevent the so-called Amazon provision from becoming law.
Controversy about the state’s most storied landmark could be drawing to a close — legislatively, at least. The Daughters of the Republic of Texas have been named as custodians of the Alamo in new legislation, with the General Land Office gaining control of the site. The bill, which still needs the governor’s signature, allows the land office to form an advisory board that could work with a nonprofit entity to raise money for the Alamo, an ongoing issue for the complex and its constant need for maintenance and repairs.
Environmental groups, encouraged by the passage of a bill requiring comprehensive disclosure of the fluids used in hydraulic fracturing, may have to wait a while to see any action. The Texas Railroad Commission, which regulates the oil and gas industry, still has to write the rules and receive public comment on the policy, and that could take up to two years.
The Medina Valley Independent School District has filed an appeal to overturn a ruling by U.S. District Judge Fred Biery banning official prayer at a graduation ceremony. Attorney General Greg Abbott jumped into the fray and filed an amicus brief with the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, where the case will be heard. The restraining order bans the use of the word “prayer” and directs students not to ask guests at the ceremony to join in prayer, bow their heads or use the word “amen” at the end of their remarks. Abbott expressed confidence that the decision would be overturned.
Texas Tribune reporter Matt Stiles officially departed to become the data reporting coordinator for NPR's Impact of Government project.
Sen. Mike Jackson, R-Lake Jackson, was elected president pro tempore of the Senate.
The Lone Star Report, after 15 years of publication, will cease publication this summer.
Gov. Rick Perry appointed three members to the Texas State Board of Examiners of Marriage and Family Therapists.Rick Bruhn of Huntsville is a professor of counselor education at Sam Houston State University. George Francis IV of Georgetown is director of Global Configuration Services Delivery for Dell Inc. Sean Stokes of Denton is an assistant professor in the Texas Wesleyan University Graduate Counseling Program.
Perry also appointed James “Mike” DeLoach of Littlefield to the Advisory Council on Emergency Medical Services. DeLoach is the Lamb County judge.
Deaths: Former Gov. Bill Clements, a brash Dallas oilman who surprised Democrats and not a few Republicans by winning the governorship in 1978. He lost in '82, got it back in '86, and appointed or hired an astonishing number of the Republicans who run the state today, forging the way for the GOP takeover of state politics that was complete, more or less, by the mid-1990s. Clements suffered a stroke last year and had been ill. He was 94.