Budget writers intended to use the $830M in edu jobs funding to help close the gap in funding public schools. But Rick Perry and the Texas Education Agency got there first. No sooner had the money come in than Perry and TEA distributed it to schools. Before the budget writers
We sat down with Allan Ritter, chairman of the House Natural Resources committee, to ask him about HJR 138, his proposed constitutional amendment to provide funding for the state water plan.
That decision was made at the Republican caucus that ended a short while ago. Republicans will be polite, allow Democrats to debate, but if it appears that the D’s are chubbing or using other dilatory tactics, Republicans are prepared to move the previous question. Part of the problem is that
Saturday was one of the wildest days I have seen in the House. The atmosphere was intensely partisan on both sides. Three major bills were up for debate--House Bill 400, which needs to pass in order to give school districts flexibility in dealing with school personnel; HB 12, the "emergency"
This week we spoke to Senator Rodney Ellis, D-Houston, about the Senate leadership’s decision to bypass the traditional two-thirds rule to take up the budget.
Watching the debate on sanctuary cities on television, I was surprised to see some Republicans exchange handshakes and backslaps when the bill went down on a point of order. Now why would they do that? I thought Republicans wanted the bill to pass. Here is what I think was going
Last night (Thursday), as I was leaving the Capitol, I encountered a prominent gambling lobbyist at the east door. We had a long conversation, during which I asked about the prospects for gambing. The lobbyist was quite animated. “Big news is getting read to break,” he said. “It could be
Dewhurst wanted to bring up SB 22, the school finance bill, this afternoon, but couldn't get the two Democratic votes he needed to suspend the two-thirds rule, even after a thirty minute huddle in the middle of the floor before the end of today's session. Finance chair Ogden has identified
The discussion over the budget last week included some dramatic conversations. I'm going to post my notes from the debate. Those who followed the debate are aware that the Democrats objected to the Republicans bypassing the two-third rule to pass the budget by majority vote. Ellis: The decision was made
Who has more clout: A fictional Texas Ranger and a former major corporate CEO or a cadre of right wing interest groups? Texas Senate Republicans gave an unabashed nod to the interest groups this week by passing a state budget that balances without tapping the rainy day fund. Instead, the
If the UT regents really want to get to the bottom of the reforms needed at the university, they should forget cockamamie schemes of rating professors according to the number of student taught and the tuition payments their students generate, and they should abandon their attacks on the role of
Dear Froot-Loops-Milk Crème Brulée, A year ago, Houston hardly had any food trailers. The few that did exist were only open seasonally, and at strange hours. Now the scene is growing faster than ironic mustaches in 2002. Hip trailers are Tweeting their locations and serving eclectic items to more-eclectic customers
Supporters of the Perry education reforms--or, to put it another way, critics of Texas's flagship universities--have tried to denigrate the University of Texas's academic stature by pointing out that UT ranks "only" 45th on the U.S. News & World Report's list of the nation's top fifty universities. (Texas A&M ranks
These past two days are not the first time the Senate has been to the brink of getting rid of the two-thirds rule (remember that Voter I.D. was debated and passed under a special order in 2009, and, of course, Dewhurst did not observe it during congressional redistricting in 2003),
Senator Deuell stopped by the press table yesterday in the ominous quiet before the budget debate storm began, and told us a story about Archie Bunker. Sally Struthers (or maybe it was Meathead) walks into the kitchen and asks Edith what she is cooking. “Yankee pot roast,” she says. Whereupon
Twenty-two former administrators and distinguished former students--the latter designation recognizes members of the A&M community who have made exceptional contributions to the university--have founded the Alliance for Texas A&M University to provide information about, and to oppose, the higher ed reforms being pushed by Governor Perry. The group posted
A rumor is floating around the Senate that Republicans might try an end around on the two-thirds rule to pass the budget. Under the Senate rules, Wednesdays are “House bill days” in which House bills already on the calendar may be brought up for consideration without suspending the regular order
Isn’t Dewhurst’s statement about the death of bin Laden a bit bizarre? “I salute President Bush, President Obama, the brave men and women of the United States military and our intelligence community who never gave up on bringing Osama bin Laden to justice for the deaths of 3,000 innocent Americans