Tag Archives: Dan Patrick

Senior stoners

Posted on April 27, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Makes a lot of sense, really. Most states now have legal medical marijuana, and 10 of them, including California, allow anyone 21 or older to use pot recreationally. The federal government still outlaws the drug even as acceptance increases. The … Continue reading →

Posted in Technology, science, and math | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments

This was a busy week for dumb lawsuits

Posted on April 18, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Exhibit A: Houston mayoral challenger Tony Buzbee followed through his pledge to sue Mayor Sylvester Turner Wednesday, claiming that donated billboards for the city’s AlertHouston! campaign violate campaign finance laws because they feature a photo of Turner. The lawsuit, filed … Continue reading →

Posted in Legal matters | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

No-nuke version of SB2 passes the Senate

Posted on April 16, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Dan Patrick gets his bill, without having to do any nasty partisan maneuvering. The Texas Senate broke a logjam Monday that had paralyzed a piece of priority legislation for weeks — blunting a controversial provision in its property tax reform … Continue reading →

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

Desperate Dan

Posted on April 14, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Dan’s gonna do what Dan’s gonna do. Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, increasingly desperate to pass legislation aimed at reforming the state’s property tax system, told a group of senators late Thursday night that if he can’t get the votes to … Continue reading →

Posted in That's our Lege | Tagged , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Yes, they really are now pushing a sales tax for property tax swap

Posted on April 11, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Some bad ideas never die. Texas’ top three political leaders — Gov. Greg Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and House Speaker Dennis Bonnen — threw their support Wednesday behind a proposal to increase the sales tax by one percentage point … Continue reading →

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Getting the band back together

Posted on March 29, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

I feel like they were a little slow getting off the bench, but the business lobby is back warning about anti-equality bills lurking in the Lege, mostly but not entirely in the Senate. In the spring of 2015, 80 companies … Continue reading →

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Raising the smoking age

Posted on March 21, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

I’m fine with this. A long-stalled push to raise the minimum age for buying tobacco and e-cigarettes in Texas has a puff of momentum, thanks to early hearings in both chambers, strong support from Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and a … Continue reading →

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Is the anti-sick leave bill also anti-equality?

Posted on March 13, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Could be. Whose word do you take for it? What started as seemingly simple state legislation hailed as good for Texas businesses is drawing skepticism from legal experts and outrage from advocates worried it would strike employment protections and benefits … Continue reading →

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Senate presents disaster relief bills

Posted on March 8, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Better late than never, though why they’re late remains a subject of interest. More than a year and a half after Hurricane Harvey ravaged the state, Texas Senate leaders announced a $1.8 billion trio of disaster relief bills on Wednesday that they … Continue reading →

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Here comes the House school finance plan

Posted on March 6, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Not surprisingly, they go bigger than the Senate. With Texas House lawmakers unveiling their long-awaited school finance proposal Tuesday and the Senate’s version likely close behind, teacher pay appears to be emerging as one of the biggest sticking points between … Continue reading →

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The state of the state 2019

Posted on February 6, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Sometimes it’s what you don’t say that gets noticed. Gov. Greg Abbott, in his biennial State of the State address Tuesday, stayed on message about schools and taxes, continuing state leaders’ so far unified focus on bread-and-butter policy reforms in … Continue reading →

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Always beware revenue caps

Posted on February 2, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

They’re always a bad idea. Flanked by the state’s top legislative leaders, Gov. Greg Abbott announced Thursday that both chambers of the Texas Legislature will push to curb property tax growth by limiting how much money local governments collect without … Continue reading →

Posted in Budget ballyhoo | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 12 Comments

As the Senate turns

Posted on January 23, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Now boys, you play nice. State Sen. Kel Seliger has been stripped of his post as chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, in an escalation of a feud with Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who presides over the upper chamber. Announced … Continue reading →

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

State House mulls big increase in school funding

Posted on January 16, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

That’s a good start. As Texas’ Republican leadership calls for property tax cuts and a school finance overhaul, the Texas House on Monday pitched a bold proposal: Pump roughly $7 billion more state funds into public schools — but only … Continue reading →

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It’s always possible to make a border wall proposal stupider

Posted on January 14, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s Exhibit A. An emergency Trump administration plan to tap storm protection funds to pay for a border wall was slammed Friday by Houston lawmakers who said it could endanger the city’s recovery from Hurricane Harvey and jeopardize the region’s … Continue reading →

Posted in La Migra, National news | Tagged , , , , , | 15 Comments

Dan Patrick declares victory on the bathroom bill

Posted on January 10, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Um, okay. The “bathroom bill” won’t be back this session, its loudest champion suggested Wednesday morning. At a Governor’s Mansion press conference on the second day of this year’s legislative session, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick — who last session was … Continue reading →

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Speaker Bonnen

Posted on January 9, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

It’s official. Talking about dreams, honesty and courage, the members of the Texas House unanimously elected Rep. Dennis Bonnen House speaker, making him one of the most powerful Republicans in the state. Members of the House voted 147-0 in favor … Continue reading →

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Schwertner gives up committee chair

Posted on January 7, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Another unusual development in a continuing odd story. After facing an allegation of sexual harassment, state Sen. Charles Schwertner has told the Senate’s leader he no longer wants his post as chair of the powerful health and human services committee. … Continue reading →

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Precinct analysis: Collier versus Beto

Posted on December 20, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

The Trib looks at some numbers. Mike Collier, the Democrat who ran for and lost the race for lieutenant governor last month, wasn’t the star of his party’s ticket. But by some measures, Collier did better in this year’s general … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2018 | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Precinct analysis: The two types of statewide candidates

Posted on December 11, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

When we look at the precinct data in Harris County, we can separate the statewide candidates into two groups. Here’s the first group: Dist Abbott Valdez Tipp Abbott% Valdez% Trump% Clinton% =============================================================== CD02 146,399 112,272 4,345 55.66% 43.40% 52.38% 43.05% … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2018 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

And now for some statewide whining about straight ticket voting

Posted on November 18, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

I have four things to say about this. Straight-ticket voting will end before the 2020 elections, bringing Texas into line with the vast majority of states. But the change didn’t come early enough to save Emmett — or a host … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2018 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Will teachers turn out for Mike Collier?

Posted on October 29, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

He sure hopes so. On his long-shot campaign to unseat incumbent Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, Collier is hoping he’s popular in a lot of rooms that look like this one — where after hearing from him, education-focused voters in a … Continue reading →

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Omnibus polling update

Posted on October 27, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

One last Trib poll: Republican Ted Cruz leads Democrat Beto O’Rourke 51 percent to 45 percent in the Texas race for the U.S. Senate, according to the latest University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll. Libertarian Neal Dikeman was the choice of … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2018 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Endorsement watch: Patrick and Patrick-lite

Posted on October 23, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

Now that the Chron has done an endorsement in every race of interest, I’m going to try to catch up on them, by group if not by individual race. We’ll start with the race for Lt. Governor, where there was … Continue reading →

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

Endorsement watch: Incumbency is no advantage, part 1

Posted on October 19, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

A trio of Congressional endorsements, beginning with Steven David in CD08: A Democratic candidate hasn’t run for the 8th Congressional District since 2012, so no doubt this will be an uphill battle. Nevertheless, voters should back challenger Steven David for … Continue reading →

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Endorsement watch: Star system

Posted on October 6, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

The Chron has made a change in how it presents its endorsements. The quality of candidates on the ballot varies widely from race to race. At times, both candidates are good choices. At times, there are no good choices to … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2018 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

What should the Senate do about Schwertner?

Posted on October 4, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

There are two basic choices. The circumstances surrounding the latest allegation are thorny: They involve a Republican state senator, Charles Schwertner, who is accused of texting a sexually explicit image and message to a graduate student. Reportedly, Schwertner and the … Continue reading →

Posted in That's our Lege | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

The other Senate races that Republicans are worried about

Posted on September 15, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

They’re concerned about the State Senate, too. Republican lawmakers in the Texas Senate were sitting pretty last year. For years, the GOP had faced roadblocks to passing some conservative measures by the chamber’s two-thirds rule, which normally required the support … Continue reading →

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

Yes, Republicans really are worried about Ted Cruz

Posted on September 13, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

Their actions speak volumes. With a string of polls showing GOP Sen. Ted Cruz’s lead slipping, Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick showed up in Washington on July 25 to deliver an urgent plea to White House officials: Send President Donald … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2018 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Patrick finally finds a debate opponent he thinks he can handle

Posted on August 27, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

It’s Danno versus Geraldo, coming soon to the eleventh layer of hell. After refusing to go toe-to-toe with his general election opponent, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick agreed Thursday to debate television personality Geraldo Rivera over immigration and the murder of … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2018 | Tagged , , , , , , | 6 Comments

What if we held a debate and only one candidate showed up?

Posted on August 16, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

Not a rhetorical question. The Fox News affiliate in Houston has offered to host a debate between Dan Patrick and his Democratic opponent, but it’s unlikely the lieutenant governor will accept. “We understand that currently there are no plans for … Continue reading →

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

The meta-campaign for Senate

Posted on August 12, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

Let’s talk about what we talk about when we talk about the Senate campaign. It’s the most backhanded of compliments. U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke’s campaign for U.S. Senate has caught so much fire throughout the state that the new favorite … Continue reading →

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Lyceum: Cruz 41, O’Rourke 39

Posted on August 2, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

Good result, though the others with it could be better. A new poll released Wednesday suggests that U.S. Sen Ted Cruz and U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke, D-El Paso, are in a dead heat. The poll from Texas Lyceum shows Cruz … Continue reading →

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Paxton joins the wimp brigade

Posted on July 28, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

Seems fitting. Attorney General Ken Paxton said in a TV interview that he would be “happy to debate anybody on the issues” as he seeks re-election this fall, but he is now backing off that offer by refusing to debate … Continue reading →

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