Give John Carona credit for resolving a conflict with style. Carona and Dan Patrick have sparred over the last few days, starting with words exchanged during Wednesday’s Senate caucus. Thursday, Patrick knocked four Carona bills off of the Local and Consent calendar. For some reason, Carona took this personally. According
I looked through the House rules yesterday in search of information pertaining to a motion to vacate the chair. I did not find it. This is because it does not exist. There is no such motion.End of story? Not exactly. My quest led me eventually to Hugh L. Brady, editor
On April 24, I posted an item about the bill to “reform” the Texas Residential Construction Commission, which exists to protect Bob Perry, David and Dick Weekley, and other well connected homebuilders from lawsuits that previously could have been brought by disgruntled buyers. Apparently one loophole was left open
Last night the appropriations conference committee stripped out the anti-vouchers amendment that Joe Heflin added on the House floor. Near the end of the afternoon session today, Jim Dunnam raised the issue in a parliamentary inquiry, pointing out the overwhelming vote (128-9) that the rider received. Lois Kolkhorst, who chaired
The controversy over the Voter ID bill, which prompted lengthy caususes in the Texas Senate today, continues to escalate. I’ve just been told that three senators — Leticia Van de Putte, Tommy Williams and Steve Ogden — are being sent as emissaries from the entire Senate to communicate to Lieutenant
Dan Patrick, who has been highly critical of Lieutenant Governor Dewhurst for upholding the Senate tradition known as the two-thirds rule, had a chance to say, in effect, “I told you so” today and did not pass up the opportunity. Here is the text of Patrick’s statement:AUSTIN – During this
Just received from Alexis DeLee:STATEMENT FROM SPEAKER TOM CRADDICK(AUSTIN) – Speaker Tom Craddick released the following statement this afternoon on his intention to run for speaker in the 81st Legislature.“I have talked to Nadine and I fully intend to run for Speaker. The paperwork was already filed last February.”
Carlos Uresti came down with a serious bout of the flu Monday, and left the Capitol after fellow senators noted how bad he looked shivering in the Senate lounge. In particular, Dr. Kyle Janek advised him to get to bed, amidst joking from others present: “What do you think is
Like I said, there isn’t a speaker’s race until somebody has filed papers. NOW there is a speaker’s race. Here is the announcement:Austin, Texas, May 15, 2007—- State Representative Jim Keffer (R-Eastland) announced today that he has filed his candidacy paperwork for Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives for
At the beginning of this week, I fully expected an emotional insurrection overthrowing the presiding officer of one chamber of the Legislature — on the west side of the Capitol. But this morning, David Dewhurst’s handling of the Voter ID bill created such havoc that if the Senate rules allowed
Yesterday was a bad day for the insurgency. It’s one thing to have a floor strategy of parliamentary maneuvers designed to loosen Tom Craddick’s hold on the speakership, and it’s quite another to pull together a disparite group of disgruntled members into a united front capable of bringing him down.
Reports of Craddick’s defeat may be premature. I’m hearing that the Resistance hasn’t quite got its act together yet. They thought they had it in January, and there were flakes. They’re still worried about flakes. As well they should be. If they shoot and miss, they’re done.Don’t write and say
This is not a stupid question. What I am asking is, Is there a speaker’s race within the meaning of Chapter 302 Texas Government Code, which regulates races for speakers?I called Randall “Buck” Wood, who wrote the speaker’s statute for Common Cause in 1973. He said, “You’re not the first
I continue to receive smart, knowledgeable, inside-baseball comments from readers in response to my posts about the speakers race, going back to Friday, May 11. I can’t post them all in the main portion of the blog, but you will miss a lot of the discussion, and a lot of
How smart is Craddick’s strategy of enlisting the Republican Party machinery to put pressure on ten members whose support he regards as wobbly?First, it is an obvious admission of desperation, a Hail Mary.Second, it hoists him on the petard of his own promise not to strong-arm members into voting his
Here is hard evidence of a speaker’s race.I received this e-mail this morning as a comment submitted to the blog in response to my post of yesterday, “87 Votes.”Craddick’s scared–here’s an email his team sent out this weekend to Republican leaders:County Chairs and SREC MembersThere is reportedly a movement in
Duh … My brain must have shorted out for me not to realize why people are saying Keffer has 87 votes for speaker: Because the vote on sustaining the ruling of the chair last Monday was 50 ayes, 87 nays.Well, you guys can believe that was a surrogate vote for
Tom Craddick’s spokesperson, Alexis DeLee, just called to tell me that speculation by members that there are business ties between the speaker and Jim Keffer are not true. “There are no business ties and there have never been any business ties,” she said.
1. Several members saw Craddick and Keffer leave the chamber together on Friday, headed for the speaker’s office. Do you think they were talking about the weather? Yes, it has been a rainy spring in West Texas. Isn’t that nice. Midland sure does need the rain. Yep, Eastland too. Looks
One of the things I really like about blogging is that it gives readers the chance to participate. Their comments expand the discussion. Some of these writers are obviously very well informed insiders. Sometimes I respond to their posts, and the discussion expands again. This has occurred in the comments
I just received an e-mail from a credible Capitol source saying that Keffer has 87 votes for speaker. I don’t believe it. I have made phone calls, one to a D, one to an R, both involved in speaker politics. They don’t believe it. They would know.Here’s my position: I’m
The Alabama-Coushatta Tribe is not happy with their state representative, Jim Otto, whom they say promised he would vote for HB 10, the Indian gaming bill, but voted against it. Carlos Bullock, a member of the tribal council, sent me this release by regular mail.On Thursday night at 12:20 a.m.
As the clock ran out on the opportunity to pass House bills last night, a little drama took place as the Democrats tried to stall proceedings long enough to kill a bill by Phil King. The bill was insignificant; the author was not. King was the author of the voter
If you haven’t seen the video from the Montana Republican caucus in which the majority leader rants about the Democratic governor, check it out at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-VjgrMsNOw. Dunnam will be jealous.
Lieutenant Governor Dewhurst seems quite pleased with the Senate passage of a bill he strongly supported, which makes it illegal for any municipality to enact an ordinance that could be used to regulate activities occurring beyond its borders. The bill would prevent Houston from adopting Mayor Bill White’s plan to
Imagine you are the wife of a state senator, and you’ve been solo parenting two kids for the past four months in a town far from Austin. It’s a busy, demanding lifestyle, but you manage to squeeze in a few minutes to drop by the local Starbucks to relax. Just
In sharp contrast to this week’s lively House floor debates, the Senate has been a complete snooze for the past two days. That’s a sure sign that important negotiations are occurring somewhere, especially when key players are missing from the floor: Ogden, Williams, Carona. Could it be that secret transportation
His criticism of a proposed syringe exchange program came as part of his message to the Secretary of State taking issue with the bill that struck down his executive order mandating that sixth grade girls receive the HPV vaccine but allowing the bill to become law without his signature. Bob
LIVE REPORT MONDAY NIGHT (and Tuesday a.m. post mortem)The House is about to vote on a challenge by Geren and Talton to appeal the ruling of Speaker Craddick that the placement of a local bill by Ryan Guillen on the Major State Calendar violated Rule 6 Section 7 #2. Major
Are you ready for a zany drama with gratuitous blood-letting, quirky characters and a murderous, secret cult? No, no, I’m not talking about the final 21 days of the 80th Legislature. My spouse and I made it to the movies this weekend armed with nothing more than a recommendation from
University of Texas honchos almost got more than they bargained for today when the Texas Senate debated Florence Shapiro’s SB 101, which caps “top ten percent” admissions at 50 percent of a university’s freshman class. Floor Amendment Number 8 added a painful twist: universities choosing to take advantage of the
One of the truisms about the Legislature is that the game is played in multiple arenas. You can lose in committee and win on the floor; lose in the House and win in the Senate; win in both houses and lose in the governor’s office; beat the governor and still
That was a strange vote yesterday on the Isett amendment to the margins tax cleanup bill. Isett proposed to raise the small business exemption from $600,000 (added in the Ways and Means committee to double the $300,000 figure in the original bill from the 06 special session) to more than
In 45 minutes, HB 1892 becomes eligible to be considered by the House (which has adjourned for the night). This the Wayne Smith bill that originally called for Tx-DOT to allow the Harris County Toll Road Authority (“Hectra”) to use its right-of-way and provide connections with state highways and later
My optimism that Phil King and Rafael Anchia could work out something on the Voter Registration bill proved to be unfounded. They could not come to an agreement. When King presented his bill, Anchia responded with an amendment to strike the enacting clause. This is a seldom-used tactic that, if
A confident-looking David Dewhurst predicted this afternoon that the Voter ID bill would pass the Senate: Never mind that 11 Democrats have signed a letter vowing to block debate on the issue.“I think there are votes to pass this bill,” a slightly smug Dewhurst told the press gaggle after today’s
Did anybody notice that Tuffy Hamilton passed a resolution honoring Robert E. Lee on the 200th anniversary of the Confederate hero’s birth (which was January 19)? It occurred on April 10, and the Democrats didn’t utter a peep. Why didn’t this cause an uproar like Sid Miller’s bill protecting statues
There are plenty of people to blame for the latest shock-inducing juvenile corrections scandal, beginning with the so-called reformers who didn’t heed the lessons of the last one.
A generation after he crossed the border to work for my family, Vicente Martinez is the foreman of a ranch in the Hill Country, not far from his kids and grandkids. And yes, they all have their papers. This is an immigration story with a happy ending.
Phil King has been talking to Democrats about a possible solution to the voter registration bill, which, in its original form, required voters to prove their citizenship in order to register to vote. This onerous requirement would have made it impossible in practice to conduct a voter registration drive, since
Land commissioner Jerry Patterson, who supports the draft Fred Thompson movement that is flourishing because of the perceived weaknesses of the other Republican presidential contenders, provided me with the names of the six senators and fifty-five House members who are urging Thompson to enter the race. Patterson cautions that these
When he ran for speaker, Brian McCall said that he wanted to give the House back to the members. He didn’t win the race; in fact, he didn’t even make the race, dropping out in favor of Jim Pitts. But it is clear now that he achieved his objective by
A hot rumor is making the rounds that Alberto Gonzales will resign as attorney general and set off the following game of musical chairs: Gonzales resigns, Bush names John Cornyn as his replacement, Perry names David Dewhurst as Cornyn’s replacement, Jane Nelson is elected lieutenant governor by her peers, Greg
What was more surprising about the Texas Senate’s debate on Tommy Williams’ transportation bill — Bob Duncan’s rarely seen appeal of a ruling of the chair? Or Steve Ogden’s candid confession that the rancorous debate was all his fault? Never underestimate the ability of a discussion about concrete to bring
The debate on the Photo ID bill was full of rhetoric–Republicans claiming it would prevent voter fraud, Democrats saying it would prevent people (that is, Democrats) from voting. The Ds, who had hoped to pick up some Republican votes, came to view it as an issue for base voters who
I move to reconsider the statement I made in an earlier posting that I thought Rick Perry would veto the bill negating the governor’s executive order on the HPV vaccine. If it were the only major bill constraining the executive branch that would reach his desk during the session, when
The Senate debate yesterday on a Florence Shapiro bill governing comprehensive development agreements may serve as a prequel to an issue that could dominate the budget conference committee: TxDOT funding.While there is a strong consensus on the Senate side that TxDOT needs to be brought to heel, there’s little agreement
Tom Craddick’s local bill authorizing a 1% tax on the price paid for a hotel or motel room in certain counties lives! After being knocked off the local calendar, after being removed from the regular calendar and recommitted to committee, it has now been sent to Calendars. The flawed description
The SurveyUSA site is not user-friendly, at least not to this user, but a friend helped me navigate to the new numbers in the monthly tracking poll for April. As I previously reported, President Bush is 40% favorable, 56% unfavorable. Only the presidential numbers have been posted. However, I was
The Texas Senate approved, without debate, Bob Deuell’s bill permitting needle-exchange programs on a vote of 22-7. Deuell framed the issue in terms of saving taxpayer dollars spent on health care, noting that intravenous drug use causes 50 percent of new HIV cases. In April, TEXAS MONTHLY ran a compelling