The New York Times today has a story about Matthew Dowd’s disillusionment with President Bush, in which it characterizes Dowd as the first member of Bush’s inner circle to break publicly with him. Dowd is a familiar figure in Texas politics, having been a Democratic
Our weak governor asserts his strength.
Remember last year when the Texas Parent PAC made such a splash in the elections with a bipartisan slate of candidates who vowed to support public schools and the goals of the education community? Last night, on the first major education vote of the session–Noriega’s proposed teacher pay raise–campaign promise
“Here to the Bitter End” posted a comment to the blog saying that I was a wuss for going to bed. Except that I didn’t. I’ve been trying to find out whether the Rs are going to try to move to reconsider the vote by which the Noriega teacher pay
… I have to wait for the Van Arsdale amendment that moves Tx-DOT’s budget to Article XI. It may have been withdrawn, because we just skipped over it for …… a TX-DOT amendment by Gallego. Wants to stop raids on fund 6 to build parking lots for state agencies. That’s
Republicans are still trying to reverse the vote for the teachers pay raise. I have gotten two comments to the blog and one phone call to that effect. Eissler is working hard to get it done. So there may be a motion to reconsider later tonight. There is another teacher
This was the first major education vote of the session, something that school advocates have been waiting for since January. Rick Noriega offered an amendment to sweep the $580+ million for incentive pay and make it an across-the-board pay raise. It will measure whether the numerical strength that the pro-education
Alexis DeLee, spokesperson for Tom Craddick, responded to my comments saying that the speaker had acted in a heavyhanded manner in refusing to allow members to correct amendments that violated the Calendars Committee rule. Her letter to my earlier post, “Speaker Slaughters Amendments,” follows below.———————-“Regarding the point of order
Coleman withdrew his big CHIP amendment, which was to take $120 million from “Trusteed Programs, Office of the Governor”–the Texas Enterprise Fund–and $100 million from the Emerging Technology Fund–and increase the appropriation for CHIP by $110 million each year. The speaker’s ruling that the Enterprise Fund could not be transferred
4:07 p.m. Talton just raised a point of order against further consideration of the appropriations bill. You have to hand it to the guy. He isn’t groveling to get back in Craddick’s good graces. I thought it would take Craddick a nanosecond to overrule it, but there’s a pretty good
The Texas Senate voted to approve Jay Kimbrough as conservator of the Texas Youth Commission, with Sen. Eliot Shapleigh casting the one negative vote.Shapleigh said he believed that an investigation needed to be conducted into why action wasn’t taken sooner to prosecute sexual abuse charges, even though the Texas Attorney
The leadership juggernaut just lost their first vote. A blind man could have seen that they were going to lose it. Juan Escobar wanted to take $800,000 out of the office of the governor to increase funding for the Veterans Commission. Escobar directed the money to “Claims Representation and Counseling”
Quite a battle is going on concerning amendments to the Appropriations bill:The Democrats have a number of amendments to take money away from the Governor’s Texas Enterprise Fund. The money in the fund is not general revenue but is dedicated by an assessment on employers. Craddick sustained a point of
I’ve been going over the prefiled amendments packet–very thick–for HB 1, and here are some things to look for. If you are wondering what what might happen to Tx-DOT (many hours away) here are the key amendments:Van Arsdale moves the agency’s entire budget to Article XI, the wish list.Martinez-Fischer bars
How do you haze a radio talk show host? Refuse to talk. In keeping with the time-honored Senate tradition of publicly humiliating freshmen members passing their first bills, Senate members walked out on Sen. Dan Patrick this morning as he was recognized on legislation for the first time.Usually, freshmen senators
Today the House will debate HB 1, the general appropriations bill. Like almost everything about this session, the appropriations process has been strange. Three things in particular stand out that are different from previous sessions:1. Speaker Craddick arranged the process so that Democrats never had the opportunity to challenge the
Forget Jerry Springer, Oprah and Judge Judy: The Joint Legislative Committee investigating the TYC offers unscripted daytime drama featuring bereaved parents, sympathetic lawmakers, selfless state workers, and a surprise appearance by a principal in one of Houston’s most notorious murder cases.Today’s riveting hearing played out before an overflow audience that
SurveyUSA’s monthly tracking poll of the approval ratings of President Bush, Governor Perry, and senators Hutchison and Cornyn was conducted on March 9. The poll is based on automated random digit dialing calls to 600 adults.Bush: 41% approve, 57% disapproveHutchison: 59% approve, 32% disapproveCornyn: 47% approve, 39% disapprovePerry: 44% approve,
My obsession with babies is a source of amusement among those closest to me. Cruelly, it is my own babies — who have somehow morphed into hairy-legged, towering young men despite my constant pleas that they stop growing — who make the most sport of my baby love. Sitting in
Somewhere, Ogden Nash is smiling. The poet who specialized in humorous verse, including one whose title I borrowed for this post, would undoubtedly have approved of HB 410 by Eissler, prohibiting billboards on numerous stretches of scenic roads. Wrote Mr. Nash:I think that I shall neveer seeA billboard lovely as
This report on the April 9 hearing in the Frew v. Hawkins case that could bust the state’s budget is based on an interview with a lawyer for the state who agreed to discuss the case on the condition of anonymity. It represents the state’s position.The litigation originated in 1993
In a free-wheeling conversation late Friday, Jay Kimbrough, the TYC Special Master appointed by Rick Perry, dismissed as “silly” questions about his title and the governor’s authority to appoint him to facilitate reforms at the troubled agency.“He (Perry) gave me a title, which frankly…you can call me Jay, you can
The Legislature is gone for the weekend, so let’s talk a little national politics:GIULIANI, CLINTON LEAD TEXAS PRESIDENTIAL POLLAmerican Research Group released a presidential preference poll for Texas today. Here are the numbers for Rs and Ds:DemocratsBiden 4%Clark 4%Clinton 34%Dodd 1%Edwards 11%Obama 32%Richardson 4%Undecided 10%I’m surprised that Richardson has so
Eric Bearse, Rick Perry’s communications director, sent in this response to Patti Hart’s earlier post about Jay Kimbrough:——————————– Patti, I think your post conveys a fundamental misunderstanding of Mr. Kimbrough’s role. He is not acting as a criminal investigator, but a facilitator and the lead figure in reforming the
The superintendent of the Marlin Orientation and Assessment Unit, a juvenile correctional facility near Waco, was arrested this morning on charges of giving a false report to an investigator, according to Falls County District Attorney Jody Gilliam. The superintendent, Jerome Parsee, allegedly gave false information to investigators about sexual misconduct
Key Texas Senate leaders, concerned that the investigation into the TYC scandal could unearth evidence that Rick Perry’s office failed to intervene in a timely fashion, negotiated a deal two weeks ago that Perry ally Jay Kimbrough step aside and permit the Texas Rangers to take the lead in the
When the TYC story first broke, I quoted State Sen. Juan Hinojosa saying the governor’s office had the Texas Ranger report and sat on it. An irate aide to Perry called and insisted on a retraction and insisted that the governor’s office did not have a copy of the report.
Last week Patti Hart posted a link to Evan Smith’s interview with Governor Perry, which will appear in our May issue. The governor took out after House Democratic Caucus chair Jim Dunnam, whom he inexplicably called “James,” as someone who “doesn’t really have an interest in finding a solution”
Eliot Shapleigh today will ask the Senate Health and Human Services Committee to investigate 17 deaths at the Lubbock State School in the last 18 months and follow up on a December 2006 report by the U.S. Department of Justice demanding remediation of serious deficiencies in care of 300-plus mentally
It doesn’t happen very often, but House Democratic Caucus chair Jim Dunnam got a key amendment on a major piece of legislation yesterday. Jerry Madden’s bill providing for improved prosecution of crimes occurring at the Texas Youth Commission turned the cases over to a special prosecution unit that currently handles
The session-long battle between the legislative and executive branches raged on Wednesday as the House took up Gary Elkins’ proposed constitutional amendment calling for the Legislature to convene in a three-day special session immediately following the expiration of the period during which the governor can veto bills for the purpose
Who would have guessed that the House was going to refight the Civil War today? The last bill on the calendar seemed inocuous enough: “Relating to the removal, relocation, or alteration of certain monuments or memorials on state property.” You wouldn’t think that this would produce a two-hour debate over
Unbelievable! First Nathan Hecht asks the Legislature to pay his legal fees for his successful challenge to a public admonishment by the State Commission on Judicial Conduct, which had given the state Supreme Court justice a slap on the wrist for his public advocacy of the nomination of Harriet Miers
Randomly attending committee meetings at the Capitol is a bit like channel-surfing. You might get to see a passionate debate on bilingual education, or you find yourself nodding off to mind-numbing testimony about school finance. Once in a while, you stumble into a committee meeting that resembles a reality show
If a single theme permeates this legislative session, it is the Battle of the Branches between the governor and the Legislature over executive power. The governor’s latest attempt to expand his authority was a proposal that the scandal-plagued Texas Youth Commission be placed in the hands of a single commissioner
Has Birnam Wood moved to Dunsinane Hill? Does a snowball really have a chance in hell? Are the Cubs destined to win the World Series? Something strange and supernatural is afoot: Speaker Craddick has named Scott Hochberg to a select committee to coordinate public and higher education school finance, and
It’s a rare pleasure for lawmakers when they can stake out the moral high ground on an issue, with unanimity of purpose. So it was yesterday when the Texas Senate sent a strong message to the snoozing TYC board, voting 30 to zip that it was time to go. A
This was another bad day for Tx-DOT. A meeting between agency officials, including Highway Commission chairman Ric Williamson and new commissioner Ned Holmes, and the sponsors of legislation to help protect local toll authorities from Tx-DOT predation did not go well and ended–how shall I put it?–abruptly. The bill(s), HB
Sen. Chris Harris, citing a statement issued from Rick Perry’s office, announced to the joint legislative committee investigating TYC that the troubled agency’s board will resign.The news was met with a round of applause in the hearing room.“Good job, Senator Harris,” commented Sen. John Whitmire. Harris won unanimous passage in
Despite (or maybe because of?) objections from Rick Perry, the Texas Senate voted 30 to zip to fire the TYC board for incompetence in the handling of the ever-escalating sexual abuse scandal at the agency’s juvenile jails.It’s the governor’s second rebuke in as many days at the hands of the
Texas Monthly has posted in full editor Evan Smith’s interview with a surprisingly candid Rick Perry on issues ranging from Mike Toomey’s client list (the guv says he doesn’t know who’s on it) to his possible plans to seek re-election in 2010. When Smith noted that a Perry candidacy
Back on March 7, I posted an item about the Senate’s passage of a two-year moratorium on the Trans-Texas Corridor (See “Closing the Corridor.”) That item generated two responses from proponents of the Corridor, which I recommend to readers. A third response arrived today, reacting to the five questions I
So Greg Abbott gave Jane Nelson an informal opinion about whether Rick Perry had the authority to issue an order to Albert Hawkins to mandate that sixth grade girls be vaccinated for the HPV virus. Is that all there is to this, an informal opinion? Anybody can have an opinion.
I’m on my way to see the Yankees and the Red Sox in a spring training game tonight, so I won’t be posting much today. But a friend send me this blog item from the March 10 Waxahachie paper that is worth noting:When the delegations for Ellis and Hill counties
Friday was one of the big legislative milestones, the sixtieth day. This marks the end of the unrestricted period for introducing bills. Henceforth, lawmakers wishing to introduce legislation must get the permission of their colleagues to do so. Constitutional limitations on floor debate during the first sixty days expire. Starting
The joint legislative committee investigating TYC this afternoon voted “no confidence” in the agency’s board after hearing a litany of excuses about why allegations of abuse were not prosecuted.On a motion by Sen. Chris Harris, 11 members of the House-Senate panel voted “aye” to express no confidence, while Florence Shapiro
For the last two weeks, I’ve been reading the media accounts of the growing sex abuse scandal/coverup at TYC and asking myself, “How in the world could this have happened?” Then, it occurred to me: Because Harry Whittington, or someone like him, was never appointed to the TYC board.When I
In yesterday’s post, “Closing the Corridor,” I wrote that 25 senators had signed on to Robert Nichols’ bill delaring a moratorium on the Trans-Texas Corridor. I then listed the six senators who had not signed on. Both statements were wrong. The list, which appeared in the Quorum Report, consisted of
This e-mail was written to me by a person I know who has been the parent of a boy in a Texas Youth Commission facility. This person works in the Capitol and is known to many of the readers of this blog. I asked the correspondent for permission to publish
Say you are the chairman of the Texas Senate Transportation Committee and you are convinced the Trans Texas Corridor is a “huge mistake.” You’ve got overwhelming Senate support for a bill imposing a moratorium on the massive project, but a House chairman guaranteed to kill the bill without mercy. Not