Tag Archives: John Whitmire

Who are these people on our ballot?

Posted on January 5, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

The filing deadline is long past, and campaigning for the primary and general election is well underway. Democrats in Harris County have a fairly full complement of legislative candidates this fall, some of whom are better known than others. I … Continue reading →

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LaCroix files in SD15

Posted on December 4, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

As of the Monday candidate filing update from the HCDP, Damian LaCroix has made official his primary challenge to Sen. John Whitmire in SD15. He announced his challenge in August, and what I said at that time still holds true … Continue reading →

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Who watches the private police departments?

Posted on December 4, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Not good. A veteran state lawmaker said Monday he is outraged by televised images of Rice University police officers striking a suspected bicycle thief with batons and appalled the university can refuse to release details because it is a private … Continue reading →

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Probation and drug testing update

Posted on December 3, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Sounds like good news. Late last summer, the director of the Harris County Community Supervision and Corrections Department resigned, and the Harris County District Attorney’s office said it would stop using the agency’s drug tests as evidence after revelations that … Continue reading →

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We need a Conviction Integrity Unit in Harris County

Posted on November 24, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

From the DMN: Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins has gained a national reputation for spearheading prisoner exonerations. As he prepares to seek a third term, Watkins said Thursday he wants to expand on that role and add a few … Continue reading →

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Moving the focus back to un-crowding the jails

Posted on October 18, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

This is a positive development. Newly appointed Harris County District Attorney Devon Anderson on Wednesday pledged to curb the increasing number of low-level felons being sentenced to serve misdemeanor time in the county jail rather than going to prison, known … Continue reading →

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Whitmire weighs in on Harris jail population

Posted on October 5, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

State Sen. John Whitmire has pushed back on some of the explanations given for the recent uptick in the Harris County jail population, beginning with the claim that it’s due to state jails taking longer than usual to pick up … Continue reading →

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Whitmire draws a primary opponent

Posted on August 8, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Texpatriate notes that 2010 judicial candidate Damian LaCroix is mounting a challenge to Sen. John Whitmire in SD15. This directly concerns me, as I was redistricted into SD15 in 2011 after having been in SD06 since moving to the Heights. … Continue reading →

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Transportation funding advances

Posted on June 19, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Between redistricting and abortion, transportation funding has taken a bit of a back seat in the special session despite being the first additional item on the agenda. The Senate took the first step on that yesterday. Despite concerns raised by … Continue reading →

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Improved payday lending bill passes the Senate

Posted on April 26, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Good news, if it goes anywhere. The Texas Senate approved a bill to regulate short-term lenders on Monday night, a milestone some thought the chamber wouldn’t reach after a personal and divisive floor fight on Thursday. But with the measure’s … Continue reading →

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Legislative quick hits

Posted on April 25, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

This is the time of the session where there’s lots happening, and there isn’t always the time or space to stay on top of it all. So here are a few quick updates on things that are happening in an … Continue reading →

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Senate committee votes to repeal state sodomy law

Posted on April 21, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

About time. The Senate Criminal Justice Committee voted on Wednesday to repeal the state’s anti-gay sodomy law, a decade after the U.S. Supreme Court declared it unconstitutional. Texas, along with Oklahoma and Kansas, will be the only states that still … Continue reading →

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Division over the payday loan bill

Posted on April 19, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Quite a heated little fight in the Senate yesterday. An ugly scene erupted in the Texas Senate today, with Sen. John Carona (R-Dallas) suggesting that some of his Republican colleagues were “shills” for the payday loan industry and worrying that … Continue reading →

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Romeo and Romeo and Juliet and Juliet

Posted on April 14, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

This is a small step forward, but it’s an important step. In a state where attempts to expand gay rights have hit a wall of conservative Republicans, a Senate committee on Tuesday approved a bill to provide a new legal … Continue reading →

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Reciprocal discovery

Posted on March 17, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

There’s a bit of controversy brewing over one of the criminal justice reforms that have been proposed. The bill at issue was filed on deadline day. Senate Bill 1611 would enact uniform discovery requirements in criminal cases across Texas. It … Continue reading →

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Not so fast on the North Forest charter plan

Posted on March 13, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Not everyone is convinced that the plan to allow a consortium of charter schools to take over North Forest ISD is a good idea. In interviews Monday, state Rep. Senfronia Thompson and Sens. Rodney Ellis and John Whitmire, all Democrats, … Continue reading →

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Treating rather than jailing the mentally ill

Posted on March 11, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Very good news. Harris County Sheriff Adrian Garcia and his medical staff wholeheartedly support a bill filed this week to reduce recidivism by the mentally ill who wind up in the county jail, a $5 million pilot program to transition … Continue reading →

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Senate committee restores some money to public education

Posted on March 2, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Emphasis on the “some”. Texas public schools would get back a chunk of the $5.4 billion in state funding they lost two years ago under a budget proposal adopted by the Senate Finance Committee on Thursday. But they probably should … Continue reading →

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Here come the craft beer bills

Posted on February 14, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

From Brewed and Never Battered. Senator Kevin Eltife (R-District 1) introduced bi-partisan legislation along with Co-Authors, Senators Brian Birdwell (R-District 22), John Carona (R-District 16), Eddie Lucio (D-District 27), Leticia Van de Putte (D-District 26), Kirk Watson (D-District 14), and … Continue reading →

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How would you pay for extra school security?

Posted on January 30, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Would you be willing to tax yourself for it? Texas school districts could create special taxing districts to fund more security under a proposal unveiled Tuesday by three Houston-area lawmakers. The Texas School District Security Act would allow school boards … Continue reading →

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January finance reports for area legislative offices

Posted on January 29, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Just to complete the tour of semiannual finance reports, here’s a look at the cash on hand totals for area legislators. First up, the Harris County House delegation. Patricia Harless, HD126 – $308,221 Dan Huberty, HD127 – $69,058 Wayne Smith, … Continue reading →

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White Ds and non-white Rs

Posted on January 2, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

A few points to make about this. White Democrats are an increasingly vanishing species in the Texas Legislature, where there will be only 10 when the new legislative session starts in early January. The face of the Legislature has undergone … Continue reading →

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The Lege will take another crack at payday lending

Posted on November 28, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

I’m glad to see this, because the Lege definitely left business unfinished last time. About 83 percent of customers in Beaumont and 75 percent in the Houston and San Antonio metro areas are locked in a loan renewal cycle, latest … Continue reading →

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The felony mental health court

Posted on October 7, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

I’d celebrate, too. [State District Court Judge] Krocker and others celebrated the official opening of Harris County’s felony mental health court, which started putting mentally ill defendants on probation instead of sending them to jail in May. Krocker has been … Continue reading →

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On locking up prostitutes

Posted on September 2, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

It doesn’t make much sense. Busted 32 times in 17 years for prostitution in Austin and other places, Beatryce Hall’s rap sheet reads like a frequent-flier ticket for Texas prisons: 11 times in 11 years. Many of those trips were … Continue reading →

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Rethinking school discipline

Posted on July 24, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Wow. Nearly 60 percent of junior high school and high school students get suspended or expelled, according to a report that tracked about 1 million Texas children over a six-year period. About 15 percent of the Texas seventh- through 12th-grade … 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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Anti-bullying bill passed

Posted on May 28, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

There hasn’t been a whole lot of good news this session, but this certainly qualifies. Eight months after Cy-Fair middle school student Asher Brown’s suicide, the Texas Senate unanimously approved “anti-bullying” legislation aimed at giving school administrators authority to prevent … Continue reading →

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Will Perry call a special session to force the Lege to draw a Congressional map?

Posted on May 26, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Maybe. Gov. Rick Perry today said state lawmakers should be the ones to draw new congressional districts, not judges. “I do think that the responsibility is with the members of the Legislature,” Perry said this morning. “To allow the courts … Continue reading →

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Sugar Land prison to be closed

Posted on May 24, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Good news. Lawmakers trying to settle on the state’s budget for the next two years have agreed to shutter a 102-year-old state prison in Sugar Land. Under the proposal adopted this week by negotiators from both chambers of the Legislature, … Continue reading →

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Two forensic bills

Posted on May 3, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Texas has thousands of untested rape kits in it, and a bill to try to make something happen with them. The bill, by Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth, would require a police department to submit a rape kit to a … Continue reading →

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Smaller cuts from the Senate

Posted on March 26, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Trail Blazers: The Senate Finance Committee on Thursday adopted a school funding plan for the next two years that would cut basic funding for school districts by nearly 6 percent – or $2 billion a year – to handle a … Continue reading →

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Should we do away with school police forces?

Posted on March 24, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Grits makes the case. If public school budgets will be radically cut in Texas, a prospect which for the moment appears all but inevitable, which employees should be eliminated first? Judging from the ongoing debate, maybe campus cops. Jason Embry … Continue reading →

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Time for the Senate to go after John Bradley

Posted on February 28, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Grits: Governor Rick Perry’s appointees to the Texas Forensic Science Commission are up in the Senate Nominations Committee [today]. Senators should use the forum to force Commission Chairman John Bradley to answer all the questions he’s dodged in the past … Continue reading →

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