Tag Archives: Rene Oliveira

The “Has Not Yet Filed” list

Posted on December 9, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Today is the actual, official filing deadline. Anyone who has not filed for a spot in the primary by 6 PM today is not a candidate for a Democratic nomination in 2020. A whole lot of people have already filed, … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2020 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

2018 primary runoff results: Congress and Legislature

Posted on May 23, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

All results are here. I began drafting this around 9:30 when there were still a bunch of precincts out, but with the exception of the tossup in CD25, all of the Congressional races were pretty clear by then: CD03: Lorie … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2018 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Runoff races, part 2: Legislative

Posted on May 14, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

There’s one Democratic primary runoff for SBOE, one for Senate, and seven for the House. Here’s a brief look at them. SBOE12 Suzanne Smith Laura Malone-Miller Smith led with 48.12% in March to Malone-Miller’s 26.31%. Smith has the DMN endorsement, … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2018 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Runoff races, part 2: Legislative

2018 primary results: Legislative

Posted on March 7, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

Statewide Dem totals Statewide GOP totals Harris County Dem totals Harris County GOP totals (Please note that all results were coming in very slowly. I expect there will still be some precincts not yet reported by the time this publishes. … Continue reading →

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

The women challenging Democratic men

Posted on February 5, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

One more point of interest from The Cut: And Democratic women aren’t leaving the men of their own party undisturbed. In Minnesota, former FBI analyst Leah Phifer is challenging incumbent Democratic representative Rick Nolan; Sameena Mustafa, a tenant advocate and … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2018 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on The women challenging Democratic men

“Sanctuary cities” bill modified by House committee

Posted on March 17, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

It’s less bad than the Senate version, but it’s still not good. A Texas House committee on Wednesday began debate on the lower chamber’s version of the controversial proposal to outlaw “sanctuary” jurisdictions, making few but significant changes to the … Continue reading →

Posted in That's our Lege | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

First rideshare legislative hearing

Posted on June 9, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

There will be a lot more where this came from. Representatives from Uber and Lyft urged lawmakers to adopt statewide regulations for the ride-hailing industry during a Texas Capitol hearing on Wednesday, citing what they called burdensome local ordinances that … Continue reading →

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, That's our Lege | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

The budget is still broken

Posted on June 27, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

What was true at the beginning of the regular legislative session is still true as the special session winds down: The budget is still broken. Instead of revamping the business tax structure or taking aim at tax exemptions, lawmakers cut … Continue reading →

Posted in Budget ballyhoo | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on The budget is still broken

“Sanctuary cities” bill passes out of House committee

Posted on March 16, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

And another so-called legislative emergency gets voted on. Legislation banning “sanctuary city” policies in Texas was voted out of the House State Affairs Committee today, sending the bill to the full House for consideration. HB12 by Rep. Burt Solomons would … Continue reading →

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

Tax expenditures

Posted on January 24, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

According to a legislative report prepared by the Ways and Means Committee, Texas is losing over $4 billion per biennium to various tax exemptions and expenditures. One of the largest carve-outs was for the natural gas tax, which totaled about … Continue reading →

Posted in Budget ballyhoo | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

The entitlement argument against removing a sales tax exemption

Posted on June 2, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

The House Ways and Means Committee, chaired by State Rep. Rene Oliveira, continues to examine tax expenditures such as sales tax exemptions, and the whining coming from some of the potentially targeted businesses is really starting to annoy me. The … Continue reading →

Posted in Budget ballyhoo | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on The entitlement argument against removing a sales tax exemption

The untouchable tax breaks

Posted on May 31, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

You know how some Republicans like to say that there’s no such thing as temporary spending, because once something is in the budget it tends to stay there forever? Clearly, the same is true for tax expenditures, more commonly known … Continue reading →

Posted in Budget ballyhoo | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on The untouchable tax breaks

Where there’s a sacred cow, there’s a lobbyist protecting it

Posted on April 21, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

The Star-Telegram reminds us that while legislators may be hunting for sacred cows to help fill the budget gap, actually bagging them will be hard to do. The renewed look at tax breaks has generated a widespread case of jitters … Continue reading →

Posted in Budget ballyhoo | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Hunting sacred cows

Posted on March 30, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

If there’s one item on the budget fix to-do list for which there is fairly broad agreement, at least in principle, it’s the idea that the existing tax code ought to be examined to see what things are being exempted … Continue reading →

Posted in Budget ballyhoo | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Doing the easy part

Posted on April 15, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Sen. Dan Patrick gets his day in the sun. Wednesday is the deadline for paying federal income taxes, but it’s also when state lawmakers will consider cutting franchise taxes for 132,000 small businesses in Texas including 24,000 in Harris County. … Continue reading →

Posted in Budget ballyhoo | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Doing the easy part