Tag Archives: Lois Kolkhorst

Abbott says he’s for sports betting

Posted on February 5, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Doesn’t really change anything, though. Gov. Greg Abbott is ready to allow online sports betting in Texas. In an exclusive interview for the Texas Take Podcast, Abbott said he has no objection to the Texas Legislature passing a law to … Continue reading →

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New accusations of sexual harassment in the Texas Senate

Posted on July 14, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

A followup to a story from seven years ago. Sadly but not surprisingly, very little has changed since then. Texas senators were silent on Friday in the face of fresh allegations of sexual harassment revealed in in a Texas Monthly … Continue reading →

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House to vote on doomed casino gambling bill

Posted on May 10, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

You do you, but remember that we’re living in Dan Patrick’s world, and he’s not going to let this happen. After weeks of uncertainty, legislation authorizing casino gambling in Texas was cleared to come to a vote of the full … Continue reading →

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Now we have a gambling bill filed by a Republican Senator

Posted on February 7, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Maybe this is the gambling expansion bill that those who want gambling expansion have been waiting for. Advocates for legalizing online sports betting in Texas debuted new bills Monday that take a narrower approach than they did in 2021 — … Continue reading →

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Not quite the same old gambling story

Posted on January 29, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

This Trib story about the state of gambling expansion in the Lege is not the usual formula. It has a lot of the usual elements, but for the first time there’s some hint of maybe something could happen. Maybe. Gambling … Continue reading →

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The Lege does its housekeeping

Posted on January 12, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

In the Senate, they drew their lots to see who would have to run again in 2024. It was the luck of the draw for Texas senators on Wednesday as they drew lots to decide which half of them would … Continue reading →

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Do we actually know how to fix the grid?

Posted on November 23, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

The evidence is unclear. Texas lawmakers and experts who study the state’s power grid aren’t thrilled with a proposal by state energy officials aimed at preventing future widespread outages such as the one during the 2021 winter storm. The Public … Continue reading →

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UT and OU make it officially official

Posted on July 28, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Smell ya later, Big XII. After a week of speculation, the University of Texas at Austin announced Tuesday that alongside the University of Oklahoma it has asked to join the Southeastern Conference starting July 1, 2025. The news came a … Continue reading →

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Some legislators want to keep UT out of the SEC

Posted on July 24, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

This is kind of hilarious. As the college athletics world roils over the possibility of the University of Texas and the University of Oklahoma leaving the Big 12 conference, a group of Texas legislators with ties to other universities in … Continue reading →

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Think of the kids today

Posted on May 25, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Today, the anti-trans sports bill SB29 is on the House calendar. Hopefully, it will fail to make it to the floor before midnight, which is the deadline for Senate bills to be passed by the House. Whatever the case, spend … Continue reading →

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The plight of the city-owned gas utilities

Posted on April 25, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

It’s rough. In the wake of last month’s winter disaster, which nearly crashed the state’s power grid and killed more than 100 people, state lawmakers convened hearings to probe how a weeklong winter storm had crippled the state. They have … Continue reading →

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Pickle ’em if you got ’em

Posted on May 27, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

A victory for home foodies. In a victory for home cooks across Texas, the Legislature has expanded the state’s definition of the word “pickle,” allowing for pickled beets, carrots and other produce to be easily sold at farmers’ markets alongside … 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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The state of equality 2019

Posted on February 28, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

From Equality Texas: IN 2019, THE STATE OF EQUALITY IS: OUT OF STEP WITH TEXAS VALUES As the 2019 Texas Legislature approaches the mid-point, Equality Texas has surveyed the current state of equality and concluded that urgent legislative action is … Continue reading →

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The Whitley hearing

Posted on February 8, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Not a great day at the office for our Secretary of State and his advisory-ing ways. Almost two weeks after calling into question the citizenship status of almost 100,000 registered voters, Texas’ new chief elections officer, David Whitley, defended his … Continue reading →

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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 →

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State Senate finally updates its sexual harassment policy

Posted on June 2, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

We’d been waiting. The Texas Senate has adopted a new sexual harassment policy that mandates in-person anti-sexual harassment training for senators and offers more details on specific steps for reporting inappropriate behavior. The Senate’s policy, which was sent out to … Continue reading →

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Special election coming in HD13

Posted on February 3, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

We have an opening act for November. State Rep. Leighton Schubert, who previously said he wouldn’t seek re-election this year, has decided to resign early to take a job at a local junior college. The Caldwell Republican will step down … Continue reading →

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Senate has a hearing on its sexual harassment policy

Posted on December 16, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

The babiest of baby steps. There has only been one official sexual harassment complaint in the Texas Senate since 2001, the secretary of the Senate said Thursday. The Senate Administration Committee debated possible ways to revise current sexual harassment policy … Continue reading →

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So now that names have been named, now what?

Posted on December 11, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Maybe some hearings? I don’t know. Texas leaders called for a review of sexual harassment policies at the state Legislature following a Texas Tribune story detailing how current procedures offered little protection for victims and describing a wide range of harassment at the … Continue reading →

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The bathroom bill would affect disabled people, too

Posted on July 30, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Yet another problem caused by this harmful “solution”. As lawmakers this summer debate yet another controversial measure regulating bathroom use based on biological sex, disabled Texans say they — like many transgender men and women — believe the Legislature is … Continue reading →

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House takes a different direction on trees

Posted on July 29, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Better than the Senate version, for sure. The Texas House added a potential wrinkle to Gov. Greg Abbott’s special session agenda on Thursday, giving early approval to a bill that would allow property owners to plant new trees to offset … Continue reading →

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Anticipating the future bathroom-related litigation

Posted on July 22, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

It will be a matter of when, not if, should a bathroom bill passes. [B]oth sides agree if any version of the bathroom bill becomes law, it will likely trigger a protracted legal battle that could have implications for the … Continue reading →

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Five anti-Texas Central bills approved by Senate committee

Posted on April 6, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

It just got real. Five bills filed by state lawmakers fearful a high-speed rail project planned between Houston and Dallas will be a dud and need help from the state passed a key committee Wednesday, breezing their way past opposition … Continue reading →

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North Carolina “repeals” HB2

Posted on March 31, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

It’s “repeal” in a mostly meaningless sense. Late Wednesday night, for the second day in a row, North Carolina House Speaker Tim Moore (R) and Senate leader Phil Berger (R) held a press conference announcing that they’d established yet another … Continue reading →

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First shenanigan spotted

Posted on March 28, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

There will be more to come, I’m sure, but this will be happening today. A Tuesday debate over the future of the state agency that regulates the oil and gas industry could instead become a showdown over immigration and where … Continue reading →

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When your gender doesn’t match your birth certificate

Posted on March 26, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

The Daily Beast looks at what it means in practice to be a transgender person in Texas facing the prospect of having to use your birth certificate to use the bathroom. According to the Williams Institute, an LGBT think tank … Continue reading →

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“It’s harder to paint us as monsters when there’s a human face on it”

Posted on March 24, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Words of wisdom from one very dedicated and engaged citizen. Monday marked Stephanie Martinez’s 12th time participating in a lobby day hosted by Equality Texas at the Capitol. But this session, in response to Senate Bill 6, the 48-year-old transgender … Continue reading →

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Senate proposes to make our tax system more broken

Posted on March 22, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

That’s what this will surely do. The Texas Senate on Tuesday approved a controversial bill that seeks to curb the growth in property taxes that local government agencies like cities and counties levy on landowners. Senate Bill 2, which passed … Continue reading →

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A really dumb “Trump and the train” article

Posted on March 16, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Ugh. Texas is closer than ever to building the first high-speed train in the United States, thanks to President Donald Trump’s fascination with these transportation projects and a well-timed pitch to his administration. Now developers nationwide are looking to the … Continue reading →

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Senate passes bathroom bill

Posted on March 15, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Take your victory lap, Dan Patrick. The Texas Senate on Tuesday tentatively signed off on the so-called “bathroom bill” on a 21-10 vote with one Democrat — state Sen. Eddie Lucio Jr. of Brownsville — voting in favor of the … Continue reading →

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The bathroom bill is still terrible (and still about bathrooms)

Posted on March 8, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

I don’t care what they do to it. It’s discriminatory, it solves no problems, and it will hurt many people as well as the state’s reputation and economy. With the measure scheduled for a committee hearing Tuesday, Texas Republicans are … Continue reading →

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Here come the anti-Texas Central bills

Posted on February 24, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

From the inbox: [Tuesday], a group of key state lawmakers filed a slate of legislation to push back against Texas Central Railway’s controversial proposal to construct a high-speed rail line between Dallas and Houston. Senators Birdwell (R-Granbury), Creighton (R-Conroe), Kolkhorst … Continue reading →

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Counting to 19 on SB6

Posted on February 10, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

That’s the number of votes needed to move the Patrick potty bill to the floor of the Senate for a full vote. At times, it seemed like Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick was a bit like a man on an island … Continue reading →

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