Tag Archives: Senate

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 →

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Senate passes all of its SB15 alternatives

Posted on April 17, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

When one big bill won’t do but four smaller bills will. The Texas Senate on Tuesday preliminarily approved the last two bills in a package of splintered legislation aimed at limiting the ability of cities to regulate private companies’ employment … Continue reading →

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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 →

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Using Beto 2018 to project Beto 2020

Posted on April 15, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

The NYT recently took a deep dive into the 2018 election data from Texas, and came out seeing a real swing state, partly because of Beto and partly for other reasons. Mr. O’Rourke’s close result wasn’t because of an exceptional … Continue reading →

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Here comes the DCCC

Posted on April 14, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

National Dems really are serious about competing in Texas next year. National Democrats are ratcheting up their Texas offensive yet again ahead of 2020. The chairwoman of U.S. House Democratic campaign arm announced Tuesday morning that her committee will open … Continue reading →

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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 →

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No, we should not fear a competitive primary for Senate

Posted on April 13, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

This comes up all the time, for both parties. It’s way overblown. Democrats are closer than they’ve been in decades to winning statewide in Texas. But a looming clash between two of the party’s top prospects could blow their shot. … Continue reading →

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Once again with EMILY’s List and the Senate

Posted on April 12, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Pretty much the same story as before, but still worth noting. Democratic Rep. Joaquin Castro is considering jumping into the Texas Senate race, but he might not have the primary to himself if EMILY’s List gets its way. The influential … Continue reading →

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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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Time for another Texas Central legislative update

Posted on April 11, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

I keep thinking that Texas Central has reached a point where there’s not much that can be done in the Lege to stop them, and events continue to prove otherwise. Dallas-Houston bullet train developer Texas Central Partners LLC said its … Continue reading →

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, That's our Lege | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Using floodplain rules to force environmental safety compliance

Posted on April 10, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

A county’s gotta do what a county’s gotta do. Harris County officials are using flood control regulations passed after Hurricane Harvey to delay the reopening of two chemical companies where fires erupted in recent weeks, killing one worker and sending … Continue reading →

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Failing upward

Posted on April 8, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Must be nice. The day after David Whitley took office as Texas secretary of state on Dec. 17, he received a 49 percent pay raise thanks to his friend and political patron, Gov. Greg Abbott. In a Dec. 18 letter to the Legislative … Continue reading →

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Wendy for Congress?

Posted on April 8, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

The great 2020 candidate shuffle continues. Wendy Davis says she is not running for U.S. Senate in 2020 and instead is considering a bid for the U.S. House. “I’m looking very seriously at Congressional District 21,” the former Democratic nominee … Continue reading →

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They’re coming for Cornyn

Posted on April 7, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Let’s bring it on. Texas Democrats are launching a multimillion-dollar initiative to help take down U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, regardless of who they ultimately choose as their nominee next year. Emboldened after their gains in 2018 — including the … Continue reading →

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They’re coming for Daylight Saving Time

Posted on April 6, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Mark me down as opposed. A powerful House committee chief on Monday said he’s building support for a constitutional amendment that would stop twice-yearly clock changes. Rep. Lyle Larson laid out his legislation that would commit the state to following … Continue reading →

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Van de Putte has her eye on Castro’s seat

Posted on April 3, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

With seemingly-informed speculation that Rep. Joaquin Castro will run for Senate in 2020, someone else will need to run for the Congressional seat he’d be abandoning. That speculation has now begun, with some familiar names in the conversation. Former state … Continue reading →

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Three reasons our State Senate still sucks

Posted on April 3, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

One: The Texas Senate approved in a preliminary vote Monday its first major anti-abortion bill of the session — a measure that would prohibit state and local governments from partnering with agencies that perform abortions, even if they contract for … Continue reading →

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The Lege versus the polls

Posted on March 31, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

There are reasons for this. Politicians are often said to be chasing the polls, but sometimes they run the other way. According to the latest University of Texas/Texas Tribune poll, at least two issues popular with a majority of Republican … Continue reading →

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More calls for Joaquin Castro to run for Senate

Posted on March 30, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

It’s getting louder. Latino Victory Fund, a national advocacy group that began in San Antonio, is putting more pressure on U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro to leap into the Senate race against Texas GOP Sen. John Cornyn. On Friday, Latino Victory … 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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TCRP report on Texas election administration problems

Posted on March 28, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

From the inbox: Today the Texas Civil Rights Project (“TCRP”) released a report—utilizing data from the largest non-partisan Election Protection effort in the state, provisional ballot data, as well as publicly available information—to analyze the the long-standing failures in Texas … Continue reading →

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Who should be managing the Permanent School Fund?

Posted on March 24, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

It’s a good question, and I’m not sure what the best answer to it is. Lawmakers are proposing a wide range of fixes for the state’s public school endowment, which has lost out on billions in growth during the past … Continue reading →

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The anti-vaxxers keep on coming

Posted on March 23, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Eternal vigilance, and some more problematic legislators getting booted out of office, are required. Among the new Texas proposals is an “informed consent” bill filed by state Representative Bill Zedler, an outspoken anti-vaccine member of the House Public Health Committee. Zedler drew national … Continue reading →

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Abbott wants in on bail reform

Posted on March 22, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Not sure yet what to make of this. The ongoing federal lawsuits (and the potential for new ones) and recent jail deaths have further spurred efforts in Texas to address the court rulings and help get poor people accused of … Continue reading →

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Some business opposition to SB15

Posted on March 22, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

It’s a start. A coalition of business groups and convention and tourism leaders, which includes ASAE, is expressing concern that a pending bill in the Texas Legislature could weaken protections for the state’s LGBTQ workers. ASAE is joining a coalition … Continue reading →

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Emily’s List takes aim at Cornyn

Posted on March 21, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Interesting. The influential Democratic group EMILY’s List is adding U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, to its target list for 2020 — and in doing so, signaling it’d like to see a woman challenge him. EMILY’s List, which works to elect … Continue reading →

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House moves its school finance bill

Posted on March 21, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Step two of the process. The Texas House Public Education Committee unanimously signed off on a comprehensive $9 billion school finance and property tax reform bill Tuesday — but only after removing a controversial educator merit pay provision that had … 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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Just a reminder, Will Hurd is still a Republican

Posted on March 19, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

That means he does Republican things. Texas Republican Rep. Will Hurd said he would vote for Donald Trump in 2020 over his friend, former Texas Democratic Rep. Beto O’Rourke, should he decide to run and win the Democratic Party’s nomination. … Continue reading →

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House passes its budget out of committee

Posted on March 19, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

On to the full House, then the real fight occurs. A panel of House budget writers gave initial approval Monday to a budget that would spend $115 billion in state funds, including a $9 billion infusion of new funds for … Continue reading →

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Precinct analysis: 2018 State Senate

Posted on March 18, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

The day I look forward to since November has finally arrived – all the data from the last election is now available on the Texas Legislative Council webpage. You know what that means: It’s statewide precinct analysis time! Let’s start … Continue reading →

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Still a “no” on Whitley

Posted on March 17, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

As it should be. Senate Democrats still pledge to block the confirmation of embattled Secretary of State David Whitley, even as a top Texas law enforcement official is taking blame for major errors in a list of suspected non-citizen voters. … Continue reading →

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Joaquin reportedly in for Senate

Posted on March 16, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

This would be exciting. Joaquin Castro, the Democratic congressman from San Antonio, “is all but certain” to enter next year’s race for U.S. Senate and take on incumbent Republican John Cornyn, a source familiar with Castro’s thinking said Thursday. The … Continue reading →

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No more PSF investing for you, Land Board

Posted on March 16, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Seems worth considering. Austin Lawmakers filed bills this week that would strip the School Land Board of its ability to invest billions of dollars on behalf of Texas schoolchildren. The bipartisan legislation, submitted Wednesday, comes amid mounting scrutiny over the … Continue reading →

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