Tag Archives: Ruth Jones McClendon

RIP, Ruth Jones McClendon

Posted on December 20, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

She will be missed. Ruth Jones McClendon, the former longtime state representative from San Antonio, has died. She was 74. State Rep. Barbara Gervin-Hawkins, McClendon’s successor, said she died this morning at her home in San Antonio. “I think she’s … Continue reading →

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Overview of two Bexar County legislative primaries

Posted on February 11, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

The turnover of Bexar County’s Democratic legislative caucus continues apace. With the departures in 2015 of Mike Villarreal and Jose Menendez (succeeded by Diego Bernal and Ina Minjarez, respectively) and the departures this year by Joe Farias, Trey Martinez-Fischer, and … Continue reading →

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Rep. McClendon resigns her seat

Posted on January 30, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Farewell to a good legislator. State Rep. Ruth Jones McClendon, who isn’t seeking re-election this year, has submitted a letter of resignation to Gov. Greg Abbott effective Sunday, with 11 months remaining in her term. McClendon, D-San Antonio, has served … Continue reading →

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Rep. McClendon to step down

Posted on September 5, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

She’ll be missed. State Rep. Ruth Jones McClendon, a San Antonio Democrat and 19-year veteran of the Texas House who tenaciously championed social justice reform, said Wednesday that she is not running for re-election. McClendon was elected in 1996 to … Continue reading →

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Fraser and Ratliff to step down

Posted on June 3, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

There’s good news: State Sen. Troy Fraser, R-Horseshoe Bay, announced Tuesday that he is not running for re-election, ending a tenure at the Capitol that has spanned four decades. “There comes a time when leaders must take a look at … Continue reading →

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Somewhat less onerous navigator rules published

Posted on January 23, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

They could have been worse, but they could still be better. The Texas Department of Insurance on Tuesday issued state regulations for health care “navigators,” the workers who assist people seeking health insurance in the federal marketplace created by the … Continue reading →

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Who will be on the Ten Best and Ten Worst lists?

Posted on June 6, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

The Trib starts the speculation. Texas Monthly‘s list of the best and worst legislators of the 83rd session doesn’t come out until June 12, but why should Paul Burka and his colleagues have all the fun? Use this interactive to … Continue reading →

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Jefferson pushes for judicial reforms

Posted on March 10, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Most of what Texas Supreme Court Chief Justice Wallace Jefferson had to say to the Lege during his biennial address was good stuff that I hope the Lege will heed. Presenting his State of the Judiciary speech to Texas lawmakers, … Continue reading →

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Just keep cutting till we tell you to stop

Posted on March 22, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

I have two things to say about this. Looking to get an early start on shaping budget discussions for the 2013 legislative session, the Texans for a Conservative Budget Coalition recommended Tuesday that lawmakers plan to reduce welfare spending, increase … Continue reading →

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House passes budget

Posted on June 11, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

The main objective of the special session has now been accomplished. But not before one of the House’s biggest homophobes nearly derailed it on Thursday. Lengthy debate on a key budget bill featured many retreads of contentious topics from the … Continue reading →

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Senate fails to bring the budget to the floor

Posted on May 4, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

It started Monday when Senate Finance Chair Sen. Steve Ogden said he might pull same Rainy Day funds out of the budget in order to get more Republican (read: Dan Patrick) support for it. After some discussion about alternate ways … Continue reading →

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SAISD’s Trustee elections

Posted on April 7, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

I don’t know much about San Antonio ISD or the makeup of its board, but I know they’re about to have some very interesting elections next month. Name the ills of a typical inner-city school district and San Antonio has … Continue reading →

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Public defender’s office approved

Posted on August 27, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Excellent! A state panel has awarded Harris County a $4.1 million grant to launch a public defender office, which is expected to start taking cases early next year. The county plans to roll out the office in phases over the … Continue reading →

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TxDOT’s shell game

Posted on May 9, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

State Sens. Jeff Wentworth and Wendy Davis, and State Rep. Ruth Jones McClendon show in this op-ed how TxDOT is trying to move money that the Lege specifically designated for rail to roads. Transportation advocates won a hard-fought victory during … Continue reading →

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Filing season opens for 2010

Posted on December 3, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Today is the first day to file for the March 2010 primaries. BOR is following the action from Travis County. No surprises yet – those usually happen later in the period – so far it’s mostly incumbents filing for re-election. … Continue reading →

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Get well soon, Rep. McClendon!

Posted on November 28, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

I was shocked to read that State Rep. Ruth Jones McClendon was diagnosed a few months ago with stage 4 lung cancer, but I am very glad to see that she has responded well to treatment of it. “It just … Continue reading →

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Adding Tim Cole amendment to the call

Posted on July 1, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

As you saw from the Senate’s pre-filed bills, there are a number of items being pushed by legislators that aren’t a part of the call for the special session. If one believes Governor Perry, it’s unlikely that anything else will … Continue reading →

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Two for Timothy Cole

Posted on May 18, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

On Friday, the House concurred with Senate amendments to HB1736, the Timothy Cole Act that increases compensation to those that have been wrongly convicted. I had said on Monday that it had passed both chambers at that time, but I … Continue reading →

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Sunsetting TxDOT

Posted on May 8, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Yesterday was Day One of the debate over HB300, the TxDOT sunset bill. The Lege is on Day Two now, and if you look at all the amendments they’ve gone through, you can see why this is taking so long. … Continue reading →

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TRCC survives sunsetting

Posted on May 7, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s Blogabear‘s view of HB2295, the bill to sunset the Texas Residential Construction Commission, aka the TRCC. And here’s John Coby‘s view of it. I sure hope the former is closer to the truth, because it passed, though with some … Continue reading →

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House budget conferees announced

Posted on April 27, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Elise Hu names names. State Rep. Jim Pitts, R-Waxahachie, House Appropriations Chairman State Rep. Richard Raymond, D-Webb, House Appropriations Vice-Chair State Rep. Ruth Jones-McClendon, D-San Antonio State Rep. John Otto, R-Dayton State Rep. John Zerwas, R-Houston Give credit to Burka … Continue reading →

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House passes budget, slaps Perry

Posted on April 18, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

State Rep. Chris Turner, on Twitter: At 3:56 am, the House unanimously passed the budget. Believe it or not, that was earlier than was originally anticipated. The pregame chatter was that the House would have to reconvene today to finish … Continue reading →

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Court issues injunction against DPS over drivers license rules

Posted on April 11, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

A district court judge has suspended the new drivers license rules implemented by the Department of Public Safety pending a civil trial on the grounds that DPS didn’t have the authority to do what it did. The rules prevent thousands … Continue reading →

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Dems seek repeal of new DPS rules

Posted on March 17, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

We didn’t have any voter ID action yesterday, but we did have this. Some Democratic lawmakers joined by Texas residents who have had trouble getting drivers’ licenses under new Department of Public Safety rules pushed Monday for legislation that would … Continue reading →

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