Tag Archives: Yvonne Davis

Statewide Uber/Lyft bill passes out of committee

It’s gotten better, but it’s still not good enough. A bill to establish statewide rules for “transportation network companies” like Uber and Lyft has been tweaked to address some concerns that its background check requirements weren’t stringent enough. That change … Continue reading

Posted in That's our Lege | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Statewide Uber/Lyft bill passes out of committee

The farm team

Roll Call takes a look at the Texas Democrats of the future. Democrats rarely fielded competitive Senate candidates over the past two decades — the party’s three best performers in that time span received 44 percent, 43 percent and 43 … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2018 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

House passes redistricting bills

They accepted a couple of amendments but otherwise the process wasn’t much different from the Senate or the House committee. A daylong debate on redistricting maps in the Texas House drew frustration from Democrats and growing concern from Republicans on … Continue reading

Posted in That's our Lege | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Monday House action

The main action on Monday in the House was the House Redistricting Committee hearing. Where there’s a redistricting hearing, there’s Greg with a liveblogging session. Pay close attention to the stuff Greg writes about the questions that the Dems, in … Continue reading

Posted in That's our Lege | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Calling to add to the call

The special session is just a day old, and already legislators are lining up to extend its agenda to cover things that didn’t get done during regulation time. Senate Finance Chairman Tommy Williams, R-The Woodlands, and Senate Transportation Chairman Robert … Continue reading

Posted in That's our Lege | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Calling to add to the call

Veasey v Garcia, Round Two?

Looks like we’ll have at least one high profile Democratic primary next year. Domingo Garcia’s pursuit of the national presidency of the League of United Latin American Citizens has just as much to do with politics as activism. The former … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2014 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

The redistrictor’s dilemma

Some fascinating news from Texas Redistricting. Friday’s bill filing deadline in the Texas Legislature brought bills by State Rep. Drew Darby (R-San Angelo) – chair of the House redistricting committee – and State Sen. Kel Seliger (R-Amarillo) to make permanent … Continue reading

Posted in That's our Lege | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Still no school finance plan

Tonight’s the night for something to happen if it’s going to, because legislatively speaking there is no tomorrow. The 2012-13 state budget agreed to by House and Senate negotiators provides school districts $4 billion less than what they are owed … Continue reading

Posted in Budget ballyhoo | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Budget debate resumes tomorrow

Postcards: The Texas House [has called] it a night. They finished up the section of the budget bill that deals with public and higher education around 12:40 a.m. then adjourned until Sunday. Some members were planning to attend a Saturday … Continue reading

Posted in Budget ballyhoo | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Sonogram bill delayed in the House

Delayed for a day, at least. House lawmakers today launched into debate over their version of an abortion sonogram bill — one that is more stringent than the measure that passed the Senate last month. But after hours of delays … Continue reading

Posted in That's our Lege | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Sonogram bill delayed in the House

TxDOT lives, Lege adjourns

The threat of a special session has been averted…we think. The House just voted to work the Legislature out of a jam by keeping open the Texas Department of Transportation and other state agencies at risk of closing. Members needed … Continue reading

Posted in Budget ballyhoo | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on TxDOT lives, Lege adjourns

Budget yes, UI not yet

The conference committee on the budget finished its work yesterday. While final details are still emerging, the 10 conferees worked out a last minute plan for spending $700 million of federal stimulus money for state fiscal stabilization. They hope that … Continue reading

Posted in Budget ballyhoo | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Budget yes, UI not yet

Ogden stem cell rider removed from budget

Good. Sen. Steve Ogden just announced that his rider banning use of state funds for embryonic stem cell research will not appear in the new state budget. “We really couldn’t come to a consensus” so the bill will be silent … Continue reading

Posted in Budget ballyhoo | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Ogden stem cell rider removed from budget

House budget conferees announced

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

Posted in Budget ballyhoo | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on House budget conferees announced

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

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

Posted in Budget ballyhoo | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Senate passes SB1569, but may not be able to override a veto

House passes budget, slaps Perry

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

Posted in Budget ballyhoo | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on House passes budget, slaps Perry