Tag Archives: two thirds rule

Day One of the Lege

Posted on January 9, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

What do we know so far? Same old Rick Perry. Gov. Rick Perry called for tax relief and a lean approach to budgeting as he addressed the Senate, even as the state faces a lawsuit from school districts over funding … Continue reading →

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Dan Patrick wants to play doctor

Posted on November 21, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Clearly, the man missed his calling. Before Texas’ abortion sonogram law passed last legislative session, some women seeking to end pregnancies in rural communities relied on telemedicine, with physicians — working in partnership with medical technicians or nurses — administering … Continue reading →

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Succeeding Sen. Gallegos

Posted on November 8, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

With the posthumous victory by Sen. Mario Gallegos, there is still one unsettled matter for 2012 in Texas. Mario Gallegos, one of the Texas Senate’s most reliable liberals until his death last month, scored a final win Tuesday, easily defeating … Continue reading →

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More on Sen. Gallegos

Posted on October 18, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

For better or worse, we must discuss the politics of Sen. Mario Gallegos’ death this week. The first question to address is what happens next? Rich Parsons, a spokesman for Secretary of State Hope Andrade, this morning clarified the timing … Continue reading →

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On hedging one’s bets

Posted on August 17, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Writing in the Trib, Mustafa Tameez tells Republicans that there such a thing as too much of a good thing for them. If Republicans win in SD-10, there will only be 11 Democrats in the Texas Senate. That means that … Continue reading →

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A matter of priorities

Posted on August 9, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Compare and contrast. State Sen. Dan Patrick, R-Houston, the outspoken voice of the far right in the Senate, said he will be pushing vouchers that parents of school-age children could use for charter schools, online offerings or additional alternatives to … Continue reading →

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In which I try to find common ground with Sen. Patrick

Posted on July 23, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

From a news item about President Obama’s nomination to helm the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau: Congress created the bureau a year ago this week with the enactment of the Dodd-Frank law, which overhauled financial regulations after the credit crisis. The … Continue reading →

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Down to the wire for “sanctuary cities”

Posted on June 26, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

There’s an 11th hour lobbying effort to stop the “sanctuary cities” bill as it is. As two of Texas’ most politically-involved business leaders emerged as opponents, a bill banning “sanctuary cities” lost crucial momentum Friday, raising the possibility the measure … Continue reading →

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“Sanctuary cities” bill passes the Senate

Posted on June 16, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Once it was added to the call, this became inevitable. Senate Republicans finally passed a priority issue for their party early Wednesday morning when they outmuscled their Democratic colleagues on an immigration-related bill intended to make it easier for law … Continue reading →

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Smoking ban lives again

Posted on June 6, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Never say never when the Lege is in session. The House Appropriations Committee voted 19-1 to recommend their colleagues approve HB 46, designed to stop secondhand smoke from polluting the air and lungs for others. “It’s the No. 1 public … Continue reading →

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Senate Dems block “sanctuary cities” bill

Posted on May 25, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

They did it as they said they would. The state’s contentious sanctuary cities bill failed to move out of the Senate late Tuesday — a move some senators said effectively killed one of the most controversial measures the Texas Legislature … Continue reading →

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Senate Dems say they will block “sanctuary cities” bill

Posted on May 23, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

This is exactly what they should be doing. The twelve Democrats in the Texas Senate signed a letter that they delivered today to their colleagues, vowing to oppose the sanctuary cities bill — a move that could, but not necessarily, … Continue reading →

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Senate redistricting map approved by committee

Posted on May 15, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

That didn’t take long. Rejecting pleas to keep most of Travis County in a single Senate district, the Senate Select Committee on Redistricting [Friday] morning approved a plan that will divide the capital city into four senatorial districts. The Republican-dominated … Continue reading →

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The budget work is far from done

Posted on May 6, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

The Senate may have passed its budget via some creative interpretation of its rules, but there’s more to what has to happen now than just the conference committee. As Abby Rapoport notes, they still have to rewrite the formula for … Continue reading →

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Senate passes its budget

Posted on May 4, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Once the rules were suspended to allow the budget bill CSHB1 to come to the floor, this became a mere formality. The Texas Senate took minutes to tentatively approve a proposed $176.5 billion, two-year state budget Wednesday in a party-line … 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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Voter ID passes the House

Posted on March 24, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

As expected. There was a long and often contentious debate, but when you have a 2/3 majority as the Republicans currently do, you usually get what you want. Gov. Rick Perry declared the voter ID issue an emergency issue, which … Continue reading →

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Bradley’s confirmation delayed

Posted on March 1, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Good. In a bid to diffuse a partisan showdown, the name of Williamson County District Attorney John Bradley was temporarily stricken this morning from a list of nominees to be submitted to the full Senate for confirmation. […] Nominations Committee … Continue reading →

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Here come the “sanctuary city” bills

Posted on February 18, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

The Lege gets set to tackle another “emergency”. Top state lawmakers filed the latest legislation Wednesday to prohibit so-called sanctuary city policies, saying local governmental bodies would risk losing state grant money if they prohibit enforcement of state or federal … Continue reading →

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Sonogram bill coming up for a vote

Posted on February 17, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Sen. Dan Patrick’s “I know what’s best for you ladies” sonogram bill SB16 is on the schedule for today. I had previously expressed pessimism that there was anything to be done to prevent its passage based on the expected support … Continue reading →

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Sonogram bill passes out of committee

Posted on February 11, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

As expected. One of Gov. Rick Perry’s designated “emergency” pieces of legislation cleared an early hurdle on Wednesday when the Senate State Affairs Committee voted in favor of a bill that would require a physician to perform a sonogram on … Continue reading →

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It’s going to be a misogynistic year

Posted on February 8, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

It already has been, unfortunately. Here’s Gail Collins on the recent efforts by some right wing activists who are targeting Planned Parenthood: The people trying to put Planned Parenthood out of business do not seem concerned about what would happen … Continue reading →

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Senate retains 2/3 rule

Posted on January 20, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

The Senate will mostly operate as it did in 2009, retaining the traditional 2/3 rule and the exception for voter ID legislation. Though there was still some heated discussion around the matter, which will likely continue as long as Sen. … Continue reading →

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The fate of the two-thirds rule

Posted on January 19, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Today’s the day we find out what rules the Senate will use. A lot of people seem to think that despite Dan Patrick’s best efforts, the two thirds rule will stay mostly, if not entirely, intact. The Statesman editorialized in … Continue reading →

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Senate stands down again

Posted on January 12, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

No vote on the rules till next week, so the 2/3 rule lives for a few more days. In an hour-long caucus behind closed doors, Texas senators decided today to put off for a week a potentially acrimonious public debate … Continue reading →

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A few thoughts from Opening Day

Posted on January 11, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Just a few random bits from today’s festivities… – In the end and despite the teabagger footstomping, the Speaker’s Race turned out to be a big nothingburger, which was what most rational people expected all along. There were a few … Continue reading →

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All eyes on the Senate

Posted on December 23, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

I have three things to say about this: Republicans hold a 19-12 majority in the Senate, but 21 senators need to agree to bring the bill to a vote, so Democrats have two members who can make a stand on … Continue reading →

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The whole “two thirds” thing is more flexible than you might think

Posted on June 30, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

State Sen. Jeff Wentworth is mad as heck about some Senate rules shenanigans, according to the Statesman’s Jason Embry. Wentworth, R-San Antonio, thinks that Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst abused his authority in the recently completed legislative session, and he wants … Continue reading →

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Where things stand in the House

Posted on May 23, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

So after yesterday’s chubathon, which lasted till one AM, there are still a bunch of local and consent bills to be dealt with. After that, there are still more bills to go before the House could get to today’s calendar, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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Chubbing

Posted on May 22, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

That’s the word of the day, as the Democrats use up most of the ten-minute allotment for discussion of bills on the Local and Consent calendar in order to delay, hopefully to death, the voter ID bill SB362. It’s not … Continue reading →

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Campaign finance bill passes the House

Posted on May 18, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

I’ve had plenty of harsh things to say about House Elections Committee Chair Todd Smith this session, but he’s always been one of the good guys on campaign finance reform. Texas could start regulating how political parties use corporate and … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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It only hurts when it happens to you

Posted on April 26, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

This story is about the likely death of the Wentworth nonpartisan redistricting committee bill, which wasn’t unexpected, but the real story is about how it went down. A move to put redistricting into the hands of a bi-partisan public commission … Continue reading →

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Sometimes the clock is your friend

Posted on April 23, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

I’ve said many times by now that the slow pace of this legislative session will threaten the prospects of many a bill. In some cases, that’s a good thing. After months with little or no action, Texas lawmakers are stirring … Continue reading →

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Senate passes SB1569, but may not be able to override a veto

Posted on April 20, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

The Senate passed SB1569, the bill that accepts stimulus funding for unemployment insurance, by a 19-11 vote today. As Elise noted on Twitter, two Senators flipped to No for final passage; one other Senator was either absent or did not … Continue reading →

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