Perhaps we should just skip straight to the coronation once George P. Bush figures out what office he wants. George Prescott Bush is gearing up to run for a little-known but powerful office in a state where his family already is a political dynasty and where his Hispanic roots could help extend a stranglehold on [...]
Posts Tagged ‘Jerry Patterson’
School Land Board votes to transfer $300 million to Available School Fund
From the Trib: The School Land Board voted Tuesday to release $300 million into the Available School Fund for public schools. The money will be released in two $150 million installments, one in February and the other on June. The funds had been caught in a standoff between the Legislature and the School Land Board, [...]
Responding the only way they know how
That’s our Legislature. In response to last week’s Connecticut school shooting, state Rep.-elect Jason Villalba, R-Dallas, says he will file legislation to allow public school teachers to carry concealed weapons while on campus. The bill, which Villalba is calling the Protection of Texas Children Act, would permit Texas schools to appoint a member of their [...]
On school shootings
I have four things to say about this. In the national collective grief rising from Friday’s mass shooting in Connecticut, one apparent trust seems to have completely shattered: that an elementary school was sacred and safe ground. Left in the wake of 20 children and eight adults massacred by a lone gunman is a renewed [...]
Dewhurst says he’s running for re-election in 2014
Peggy Fikac was first to report that David Dewhurst is not planning to fade away just yet. The last time we asked Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst what he plans to do in 2014, it was soon after he lost the U.S. Senate nomination to Ted Cruz. He asked if reporters minded giving him a couple [...]
Forget the Alamo
At least, forget about using it in a slogan. Even if it’s possible to get too drunk to remember the Alamo, the state agency that oversees the shrine says that’s nothing to brag about on a T-shirt or frilly undergarment. A word play on the slogan “Remember the Alamo” has set off a fight between [...]
You weren’t supposed to be mad at me!
Oh, the humanity! Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst on Friday continued to fight a battle that he had lost three days before when Ted Cruz defeated him for the Republican U.S. Senate nomination. Cruz and his allies had effectively cast Dewhurst as a tax-and-spend moderate, a criticism that Dewhurst was still eager to rebut during a [...]
What will The Dew do next?
So Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst isn’t going anywhere next January. I’m going to put aside the questions of what happened for now and ask instead what happens in 2014? As we know, there are three people running for what they originally thought would be an open seat race for Lite Guv in 2014. What happens [...]
Land Board throws the Lege a curveball on school finance
Oops. In the waning days of the 82nd Legislature, state lawmakers came up with a plan to help cushion the blow of $5.4 billion in cuts to public education. State Rep. Rob Orr, R-Burleson, proposed a constitutional amendment that he said could bring an additional $300 million to public schools. It unanimously cleared both the [...]
Waiting for Rick (and Greg, and David)
Ross Ramsey breaks out his crystal ball and looks ahead to the 2014 election. Remember this: In his long history in state politics — closing in on three decades — [Rick] Perry has run for everything he said he was going to run for. Given his history, the safest assumption is that Perry will be [...]
Making open beaches a campaign issue
This is great. The Texas Supreme Court’s decision weakening the state Open Beaches Act has become a key issue in the race for one of the two contested Supreme Court seats in the Nov. 6 election. San Antonio attorney Michele Petty stood in front of a battered beach home in Surfside last weekend to criticize [...]
Fifth Circuit sends open beaches lawsuit back to district court
Unfortunately, the headline makes it sound like better news than it is. A federal appeals court Monday ruled that the Texas Open Beaches Act is unconstitutional in the case of a Galveston Island property, a ruling that puts the fate of Texas public beaches in doubt. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sent the [...]
Patterson wants to vote out anti-open beach Supreme Court justices
Fine by me. Voters should replace the five members of the Texas Supreme Court who issued an opinion weakening the state Open Beaches Act, Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson said Monday. “We now have private beaches in Texas where the public can be excluded,” Patterson said. “I think folks should remember this when it’s time to [...]
Comptroller Combs’ slush fund
It took me longer than usual to read this story because I kept having to stop to say “Seriously? Seriously?” When lawmakers gave Comptroller Susan Combs more power to spend tax money to attract sporting events and conventions to the state, the idea was to generate economic development in Texas that might go somewhere else. [...]
Can ban lawsuit moves to Travis County
Some new plaintiffs, too. A group of river-related businesses has sued the City of New Braunfels, Texas Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson and Mark Vickery , executive director of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, over a ban on disposable containers on rivers within New Braunfels city limits that went into effect this year. The suit, [...]
DMV votes down Confederate license plates
Good for them. The state Department of Motor Vehicles’ governing board this morning voted down a controversial proposal for a specialty license plate displaying the Confederate battle flag. The vote was 8-0, with Vice Chair Cheryl Johnson absent. The decision brought cheers and applause from the packed hearing room near the State Capitol. The decision [...]
Confederate flag license plate decision coming
Ready or not, here it comes. The Texas Department of Motor Vehicles is scheduled to debate [this] week whether to create a state license plate with a rebel flag that commemorates Confederate soldiers. The new agenda posted for the Nov. 10 meeting shows the board will tackle an issue they originally voted on last April, [...]
Perry opposes Confederate license plates
Credit where it’s due. Gov. Rick Perry does not support a Confederate flag specialty license plate under consideration by the state Department of Motor Vehicles board, he said in Florida this morning. In an interview with Bay News 9 following a breakfast fundraiser on St. Pete Beach, he said the proposed plates, brought before the [...]
Say “No” to Confederate license plates
I’ve been in Texas over 25 years now, but sometimes I just can’t escape my Yankee heritage. A group of elected officials said Saturday that Texas cannot allow the Confederate flag – which they consider a symbol of oppression – to be put on Texas license plates. “We cannot allow the state to issue a [...]
Federal court refuses to throw out Open Beaches lawsuit
I hadn’t realized that there was federal court action on the Galveston open beaches case. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied a request by the General Land office that it throw out the case because the beachfront house at the heart of the lawsuit had been sold. The three-judge panel’s decision keeps alive [...]
What next for Sugar Land prison property?
Now that the Central Unit in Sugar Land has been closed, what will happen to the empty facility? The fate of the Central Unit site will be decided by the three-member School Land Board, which oversees real estate investments on behalf of the $26 billion Permanent University Fund. The board is chaired by Texas General [...]
Patterson to run for Lite Guv
With Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst running for the Senate, everyone else in state government that’s been waiting for a chance to move up is undoubtedly making plans to do so. At the front of the line is Lanc Commissioner Jerry Patterson. Jerry Patterson confirmed Tuesday night that he will run for lieutenant governor in 2014, [...]
State asks Supreme Court to vacate Open Beaches ruling
Apparently, the original litigant no longer owns the house in question. San Diego, Calif., attorney Carol Severance, who brought the lawsuit challenging the Open Beaches Act, sold the storm-battered property last week to the city of Galveston. Money for the purchase came from a Federal Emergency Management Agency buyout program for homes in areas prone [...]
Supreme Court rehears Open Beaches case
Not sure it’ll be any different this time around, but at least there’s a chance. The Texas Supreme Court appeared closely divided Tuesday during a second round of arguments in a turf battle over who controls the beach after a storm moves the vegetation line landward. The hearing came five months after the court ruled [...]
House approves a little more money, Senate readies its budget
Just a little. Texas House budget-writers voted Monday to free up an additional $3 billion for key state services through such moves as speeding up tax collections, delaying payments and suspending the back-to-school sales tax holiday. The bills next go to the full House, which Appropriations Committee Chairman Jim Pitts, R-Waxahachie, predicted could be willing [...]
House moves forward on school fund money
Last week, I noted a bill filed by Rep. Rob Orr that would direct some money from the Available School Fund into the public schools. His legislation has now been approved by committee and is likely on its way to passage; this will include a Constitutional amendment that you’ll see on your ballot this November. [...]
Supreme Court will review Open Beaches ruling
This is encouraging. Faced with a tidal wave of legal protests, the Texas Supreme Court Friday agreed to reconsider a California woman’s lawsuit that ended in a controversial ruling last November that left public access to some beaches in question. The court’s decision to reopen the Carole Severance case — oral arguments will begin April [...]
Amicus briefs filed in Galveston beach case
Good for you, Vince Ryan. Harris County today joined other public agencies and activists in urging the Texas Supreme Court to reconsider a recent opinion that critics contend blocks public access to most beaches on Galveston island. County Attorney Vince Ryan filed a friend-of-the court brief on behalf of the county and the Texas Conference [...]
Patterson on the Open Beaches ruling
I must say, I enjoyed Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson’s op-ed on the recent Open Beaches ruling by the State Supreme Court. The man can bring the snark, I’ll give him that. Two points of interest besides that: Texans, you see, can be such a hard-headed lot. Most of us ignorantly thought passing the Texas Open [...]
State Supreme Court asked to reconsider open beaches verdict
Good luck with that. Galveston has joined key state agencies in pleading with the court to reconsider a ruling that favors private property rights over public access to Texas shores. “I think the Supreme Court really needs to understand the impact of its ruling. It’s not just a theoretical question — they just changed Galveston [...]
Thibaut versus Murphy, third time around
We know that the story of HD133, which has now been won twice by Jim Murphy and once by Kristi Thibaut, is one of turnout. With sufficient turnout in the Democratic part of the district – that is, the precincts in Rep. Al Green’s CD09 – it’s a Democratic district. With dominant turnout in the [...]
Overview of the Land Commissioner race
You may never have seen a race quite like the 2010 race for Texas Land Commissioner. Meet Texas Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson, a Republican, and Democrat Hector Uribe, who offers some mild policy disagreements over the job Patterson has done over two terms. Both demonstrate good humor and so much friendly feeling that Patterson has [...]
Interview with Hector Uribe
Next up is Hector Uribe, who is the Democratic candidate for Land Commissioner. Uribe is a former State Rep and State Senator from the Rio Grande Valley and a movie actor as well as my favorite candidate from this cycle. He’s running against two-term incumbent Jerry Patterson, who to his great credit has willingly engaged [...]