Tag Archives: The Lege

DMN/UT-Tyler: Abbott 47, Beto 38

Posted on September 20, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Insert shrug emoji here, and insert link to the unreadable DMN story here. I’ll give you the main results of interest and then a few comments after that. Abbott 47, Beto 38 Patrick 39, Collier 28 Paxton 37, Garza 30 … Continue reading →

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Ken Paxton keeps trying to kill the SAISD vaccine mandate

Posted on September 20, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

On brand, always on brand. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has filed another petition seeking to reverse a Bexar County judge’s decision that rejected the state’s bid for a temporary injunction to block the San Antonio Independent School District’s staff … Continue reading →

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Fifth Circuit upholds Texas’ ridiculous social media censorship law

Posted on September 19, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Back to you, SCOTUS. A Texas law prohibiting large social media companies from banning users’ posts based on their political viewpoints will go into effect after a federal appeals court on Friday lifted a block placed on the statute. NetChoice … Continue reading →

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Broader injunction issued to halt DFPS investigations of trans kids’ families

Posted on September 18, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Good. Texas’ child welfare agency is once again blocked from investigating parents who provide gender-affirming care to their transgender children. The injunction applies to any family that belongs to PFLAG, an LGBTQ advocacy group with more than 600 members in … Continue reading →

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State delays report on maternal mortality until next year

Posted on September 16, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Sorry, didn’t get to it, other things to do, you know. Texas health officials have missed a key window to complete the state’s first major updated count of pregnancy related deaths in nearly a decade, saying the findings will now … Continue reading →

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Republican Commissioners skip out again

Posted on September 16, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Cowards. Harris County’s two Republican commissioners skipped Tuesday’s Commissioners Court meeting, preventing county leaders from passing a property tax rate and proposed budget for the next fiscal year beginning on Oct. 1. State law requires four members of the court … Continue reading →

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UT/Texas Politics Project poll: Abbott 45, Beto 40

Posted on September 15, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Feels kind of familiar. Gov. Greg Abbott leads his Democratic challenger Beto O’Rourke by 5 percentage points, according to a new poll from the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas at Austin. The survey found that Abbott received … Continue reading →

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Interview with Stephanie Morales

Posted on September 14, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

After redistricting, there is at this time one swing State House district in Harris County, and that’s HD138. HD133 was closer in 2020 at the Presidential level, but no other Dem statewide candidate did better than 44%. HD132 is a … Continue reading →

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Interview with Chuck Crews

Posted on September 12, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

This week I have two interviews with candidates for State Representative. Chuck Crews knows that he’s running in one of the reddest districts in Harris County in HD128, but he’s also running against one of the worst people in the … Continue reading →

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The one big question DPS still hasn’t answered about Uvalde

Posted on September 10, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

The Trib gets at something that I’ve mentioned a couple of times. Ever since the Uvalde elementary school shooting left 19 students and two teachers dead, blame for the delayed response has been thrust on local law enforcement. The school … Continue reading →

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Five DPS agents being investigated for their Uvalde actions

Posted on September 9, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

It’s a start. It just can’t be the end. Five Texas Department of Public Safety officers who responded to the Uvalde school shooting in May will face an investigation into their actions at Robb Elementary, the agency said. The officers … Continue reading →

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SCOTx maintains judicial bypass rules for abortion

Posted on September 9, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Good news. The Texas Supreme Court has opted to keep in place a legal process that allows minors to seek a judge’s approval to have an abortion without parental consent, though state law now bans the procedure in most circumstances. … Continue reading →

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Comptroller caves on phony “defunding” claim

Posted on September 8, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

In the end, he folded like a lawn chair. Harris County is moving through the process of passing a fiscal 2023 budget with a 1 percent dip in the property tax rate, after the specter of the state blocking its … Continue reading →

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Plan B

Posted on September 7, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

I have three things to say about this. On Friday, Gov. Greg Abbott told The Dallas Morning News that rape victims can take emergency contraception, like Plan B, to prevent a pregnancy. With abortion now banned in Texas, even in … Continue reading →

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“Safe haven” laws are also not a replacement for abortion

Posted on September 6, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Continuing a theme. What are safe haven laws? A flurry of Houston baby abandonments in the ’90s led Texas to become the first state to enact a safe haven law in 1999. Created as an incentive for parents in crisis who are unable … Continue reading →

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All interviews and judicial Q&As with nominees so far

Posted on September 5, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Back in February, right before the primary, I posted a list of all of the candidate interviews and judicial Q&As I had done. A couple more Q&A responses came in after that, and I did some further interviews for the … Continue reading →

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Investigating abortions is Houston’s “lowest priority”

Posted on September 3, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

So says Mayor Turner, and I’m glad to hear it. Mayor Sylvester Turner said Thursday that investigating abortions under the state’s near-total ban is the city’s “lowest priority” when it comes to crime. Turner said the city would continue to … Continue reading →

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Of course the redistricting lawsuit trial will be delayed

Posted on September 3, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

All we ever get is delays. The legal fight over the shape of Texas political representation for the next decade won’t be decided until next year after a federal panel agreed Tuesday to delay a trial over new political maps. … Continue reading →

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Harris County approves the option of suing Comptroller over baloney “defunding” claim

Posted on September 2, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Good. Harris County Commissioners Court on Wednesday authorized a pair of private law firms to sue Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar, who accused the county of defunding law enforcement last week, forcing a halt to consideration of its $2.2 billion budget. … Continue reading →

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Abbott weasels on raising the minimum age to buy an assault weapon

Posted on September 2, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Typical. Gov. Greg Abbott said Wednesday that it would be unconstitutional to increase the minimum age to buy assault-style rifles from 18 to 21 years old — a key proposal Uvalde parents have called for after an 18-year-old gunned down … Continue reading →

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Pension reform law reinstated by appeals court

Posted on September 1, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

A win for the city. A state appeals court on Tuesday tossed out a ruling that jeopardized part of Houston’s pension reform plan, reversing a victory the firefighters’ pension board had scored in late 2020. The Houston Firefighters’ Relief and … Continue reading →

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Harris County looks to sue over Comptroller’s BS “defunding” claim

Posted on August 31, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Tell it to the judge. Harris County Commissioners Court this week is expected to hire an outside law firm to take legal action against the state and Comptroller Glenn Hegar, who accused the county of defunding law enforcement in violation … Continue reading →

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The gaps in Texas’ background check law

Posted on August 30, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

From Pro Publica: In the spring of 2009, Elliott Naishtat persuaded his colleagues in the Texas Legislature to pass a bill that he believed would require the state to report court-ordered mental health hospitalizations for Texans of all ages to … Continue reading →

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The Lege sure thinks a lot of companies need to be coddled

Posted on August 29, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

It’s kind of amazing, actually. Texas banned 10 financial firms from doing business with the state after Comptroller Glenn Hegar said Wednesday that they did not support the oil and gas industry. Hegar, a Republican running for reelection in November, … Continue reading →

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Libertarians will remain on the ballot

Posted on August 28, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Too bad, Republicans. The Texas Supreme Court on Friday rejected a Republican effort to remove a host of Libertarian candidates from the November ballot, saying the GOP did not bring their challenge soon enough. In a unanimous opinion, the all-GOP … Continue reading →

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Judge rules Texas cannot ban handgun sales to 18-to-20-year olds

Posted on August 27, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

WTAF? A federal court in Fort Worth on Thursday struck down a Texas prohibition that limited adults under 21 from carrying handguns. Texas law bars most 18- to 20-year-olds in the state from obtaining a license to carry a handgun … Continue reading →

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Paxton issues deranged opinion on access to ballots

Posted on August 26, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

This is utterly chaotic. And completely out of the blue. A legal opinion released by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton last week will almost certainly throw county elections offices into chaos after November, experts say, exposing election clerks to possible … Continue reading →

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Arredondo fired

Posted on August 26, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Took awhile, but there it is. The Uvalde school board agreed Wednesday to fire Pete Arredondo, the school district police chief broadly criticized for his response to the deadliest school shooting in Texas history, in a vote that came shortly … Continue reading →

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There’s still a lot of confusion about how Texas’ abortion ban will be enforced

Posted on August 25, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

There will be chaos, in addition to the fear and danger to pregnant people that already exists. Abortions are already effectively outlawed in Texas, where clinics closed after the U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning Roe vs. Wade. But a new … Continue reading →

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Abortion funds file First Amendment lawsuit for their right to assist others access abortion

Posted on August 24, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

We’ll see what SCOTUS does with this one, because for sure that’s where this will end up. Reproductive rights groups on Tuesday filed a federal class-action lawsuit to head off possible prosecution from Texas officials for helping Texans gain access … Continue reading →

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The Constables’ and Comptroller’s ridiculous complaint

Posted on August 24, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

This is transparent bullshit. Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar this week accused Harris County commissioners of defunding local constables and threatened to prevent the county from implementing its proposed 2023 budget if the county does not reverse course. In a letter … Continue reading →

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I don’t know why anyone thinks that IVF will be safe in Texas

Posted on August 23, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

That’s what people are saying now. Abortion bans across the country have thrown into question the fate of in vitro fertilization, an expensive medical process that helps people become pregnant. But experts and anti-abortion groups say Texas’ laws shouldn’t apply … Continue reading →

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Let’s name a few legislative battlegrounds

Posted on August 22, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

It’s getting to be that time of the election cycle. Two years ago, Democrats were gearing up for a rare opportunity in modern times: capturing the Texas House majority. But after they came up woefully short — and Republican-led redistricting … Continue reading →

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SCOTx advised to leave judicial bypass rules in place

Posted on August 20, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

This is a pleasant surprise. An advisory committee to the Texas Supreme Court voted unanimously Friday to keep in place a legal procedure that allows minors to get a judge’s approval to have an abortion without the legally necessary parental … Continue reading →

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