While I wouldn’t call this legislative session anything to be terribly happy about, it could have been far worse. That’s because a whole lot of nasty red meat bills never got voted on, and Democrats are justifiably happy about that. I’m happy, too, but not quite ready to do a victory dance about it. All [...]
Posts Tagged ‘Rick Perry’
Lege passes a Lilly Ledbetter bill
This is some fine work, but it’s a little early to be giddy about it. A bill that seeks to prevent pay discrimination against women narrowly passed the Texas Senate on Wednesday. “Employers who are doing the right thing and treating women fairly don’t view this bill as a threat,” said state Sen. Wendy Davis, [...]
Abbott is gearing up for Governor
I have two things to say about this. Gov. Rick Perry hasn’t yet said whether he’s running for re-election — but Attorney General Greg Abbott doesn’t appear to be waiting for him to make up his mind. Abbott is collecting résumés and assembling a gubernatorial campaign team. He’s shaking hands, giving speeches and edging his [...]
Medicaid expansion is now double secret illegal
Whatever. In a surprise turn in the House on Monday evening, a bill to reform Medicaid long-term and acute care services became a vehicle for the GOP’s platform against Medicaid expansion. “Many of us are very weary of Medicaid expansion,” said state Rep. Jeff Leach, R-Plano, who offered an amendment to Senate Bill 7 that [...]
Better late than never, I guess
Way to be ahead of the curve, y’all. A resolution endorsing the expansion of Medicaid was approved by Texas Medical Association delegates Saturday at the group’s annual meeting in San Antonio. “The patients need the care and, if we pass Medicaid expansion, it will lower our taxes. How can you be against that?” said the [...]
Bike trails bill signed
The Chron has a brief blurb about Rick Perry signing the bill that will allow the CenterPoint rights of way in Harris County to be used as hike and bike trails. See here for the background, and here for a map of the two big rights of way that are in question; the map is [...]
Still no support for term limits
Fine by me. The full House, for the second time in eight years, drove a stake through the chance of imposing term limits on the governor and other statewide officeholders. The proposed constitutional amendment that would have gone to voters was defeated 80-61 on Wednesday. The Senate had passed the proposed amendment last month 27-4. [...]
Budget deal reached
And the crowd goes wild. Top House and Senate negotiators agreed to a two-year budget for the state of Texas Friday that restores about $4 billion of $5.4 billion in cuts to public education made in 2011. It also creates a path for lawmakers to put $2 billion toward water infrastructure projects. The five House [...]
Abbott predicts special session for redistricting
For the first time, someone says out loud the rumor of a special session on redistricting. Attorney General Greg Abbott let House members know in the Republican caucus meeting on Tuesday that he expects and is hoping for a special session on redistricting — sooner than later. Several lawmakers in the meeting confirmed that Abbott [...]
Dark money
It’s a small step, if it’s allowed to be taken, but the bill to require donor disclosure on so-called “dark money” is a step in the right direction. Senate Bill 346 takes direct aim at the cloak of anonymity that currently shields so-called “dark money” groups – those tax-exempt organizations whose donors drop big bucks [...]
Maybe I buried Medicaid expansion too soon
I still think it’s dead, but I could be wrong about that. The fate of Medicaid reform in Texas could rest solely on an up-or-down vote on the 2014-15 budget. State Rep. John Zerwas, R-Simonton, a member of the conference committee that is hashing out the differences between the House and Senate budget plans, said [...]
Perry works against his own stated interests
I don’t understand this at all. A bill that would have increased vehicle registration fees to raise money for transportation projects met its demise in the Texas House on Thursday. House Bill 3664 by state Rep. Drew Darby, R-San Angelo, was designed to generate money to pay down the state’s transportation-related debt and fund improvements [...]
Rick Perry feels persecuted by gay people
I got nothin‘. Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) said Sunday that he believes rejecting LGBT people is similar to fighting slavery during the pre-Civil War era. Appearing on the Family Research Council‘s program “Stand With Scouts Sunday,” the arch conservative governor urged the Boy Scouts to stand strong against any impulse to “tear apart” the [...]
So where does redistricting stand?
From Texas Redistricting: The Texas Legislature is in the final stretch of its regular session (sine die on May 27), and, at this point, in the calendar, if anything gets done, it looks like it will have to start on the Senate side. Although a couple of redistricting bills – along with some proposals for [...]
Council approves safe passing ordinance
From the press release: Mayor Annise Parker and Houston City Council Members today unanimously approved an ordinance to protect Houston’s cyclists and other vulnerable road users by requiring cars and other motor vehicles to keep a separation of more than three feet while passing, and trucks or commercial vehicles to keep a separation of more [...]
Medicaid “expansion” likely dead
The calendar is a harsh mistress. The House’s lead health care budget writer says his bill to force Gov. Rick Perry’s administration to explore the potential for a “Texas solution” on Medicaid expansion is dead. Rep. John Zerwas, R-Richmond, said Tuesday that his bill outlining an expansion of coverage for poor adults using private insurance, [...]
Hotze sues Obamacare
You would think that once the Supreme Court ruled that the Affordable Care Act was constitutional that that would settle things, but then you would not be Steve Hotze. Steve Hotze, a Houston-area physician and major Republican campaign donor who has built his career around alternative medicine, says he is filing suit against the federal [...]
If Medicaid is broken, who broke it?
Patricia Kilday Hart asks an excellent question. [Rep. Garnet] Coleman’s observation provides part of the answer: Just last session, the Legislature trimmed $486 million in state money paid to Medicaid providers, and ended a student loan-forgiveness program for new doctors exclusively serving Medicaid patients. The federal government, which has established some rules that restrict the [...]
Water, water, not so fast
So much for that. A major bill on the top of Gov. Rick Perry’s priority list that would authorize spending billions of dollars on state water projects faltered in the Texas House on Monday night after a contentious debate over where to pull the money from. “My understanding is it’s doorknob dead,” the bill’s sponsor, [...]
Weekend legislative threefer
That sound you heard on Friday was Rick Perry stamping his feet if he doesn’t get his way. Gov. Rick Perry is warning state legislators that it could be a long, hot summer in Austin if they don’t pass his top priorities: funding water and transportation projects and cutting business taxes. With a month left [...]
Senate officially taps the Rainy Day Fund
Well done. Texas senators hammered out a sweeping deal to increase state funding for water and transportation projects and schools on Tuesday, tackling some of the thorniest issues of the legislative session all at once. The senators voted 31-0 for Senate Joint Resolution 1, which would ask Texas voters to approve taking $5.7 billion out [...]
Medicaid “expansion” bill passes out of House committee
Forgive me for tempering my excitement about this, but it’s not that much to be excited about. Despite opposition from conservative Republicans, the House Appropriations Committee on Tuesday advanced a proposal that would reform Medicaid by allowing the state to request a block grant from the federal government and expand coverage to low-income Texans. “This [...]
Who resigns after a DUI arrest?
The Statesman asks the question and gets some answers. In 2006, District Attorney Tim Cole had a decision to make. The then-chief prosecutor for Montague, Clay and Archer counties had been arrested for drunken driving after a day of July Fourth celebrating at a lake across the state line in Oklahoma. It didn’t take him [...]
Lehmberg pleads guilty, gets 45 days
Off she goes. District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg has pleaded guilty to drunken driving, was sentenced to 45 days in jail and immediately taken into custody. Lehmberg’s blood alcohol level registered at 0.23 when she was arrested April 13, her attorney David Sheppard said. Sheppard said the the punishment is “without a doubt” the “harshest” sentence [...]
From the “Simple Answers To Simple Questions” department
Is Rick Perry the next Comeback Kid? Americans love a comeback story. Tiger Woods has clawed himself back on top of the pro golf tour after a nasty scandal involving nightclub waitresses, lingerie models and his wife swinging a 9-iron near his head. But the whole golf world is watching to see if he can [...]
What Obamacare will do for Texas
Even without Medicaid expansion, the Affordable Care Act will help millions of Texans get access to health care. Nearly 2.6 million Texans could qualify for tax credits to purchase health insurance in 2014, according to a report released Thursday by Families USA, a nonprofit that advocates for health care consumers. The tax credits will be [...]
Should Travis County DA Lehmberg resign?
Perspectives on that are colored by politics right now. While Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg sought to put her weekend drunken driving arrest behind her, debate over her political future reached the State Capitol on Monday, where lawmakers weighed in on whether she should resign and how a replacement might be chosen. Some officials [...]
House discusses Medicaid expansion
Sounds like a sincere effort, though whether it can get anywhere is an open question. Amid hours of testimony from advocates in support of Medicaid expansion on Tuesday, state Rep. John Zerwas, R-Simonton, described his proposal to create an alternative program that could draw down federal financing to provide health coverage for poor and uninsured [...]
It’s always time for a tax cut
I have three things to say about this: With less than two months remaining in the 83rd legislative session, Gov. Rick Perry on Monday called on state lawmakers to find $1.6 billion to give Texas businesses relief from the state’s franchise tax. Perry’s proposal consists of four parts: reducing the overall franchise tax rates by [...]
Still pondering Abbott’s redistricting motives
The Trib’s Ross Ramsey wonders what Greg Abbott is up to. Greg Abbott is selling a redistricting nostrum, telling Texas legislators they could cut their legal risks by adopting new political maps right away. It is a hard sell. Lawmakers are getting along so well they practically break out into song every day. Abbott, the [...]
Travis DA Rosemary Lehmberg arrested for DUI
Oops. Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg, arrested and charged with drunken driving overnight, plans to remain in office and will not resign, according to a spokeswoman. According to county records, Lehmberg, 63, was arrested by Travis County deputies in Northern Travis County near RM 2222 and FM 620 and booked into the county jail [...]
Houston considers a “Safe Passing” ordinance
Glad to hear it. Though it boasts a growing biking culture, Houston is the only major city in Texas without a safe-passing law requiring motorists to share the road with cyclists and others. City leaders now want to change that. City attorneys proposed an ordinance to the City Council’s public safety committee Wednesday that officials [...]
Fort Bend County Commissioners Court supports Medicaid expansion
Fort Bend County, y’all. RESOLUTION OF THE FORT BEND COUNTY COMMISSIONERS COURT IN SUPPORT OF EXPANSION OF MEDICAIL) COVERAGE WHEREAS, Texas has the highest rate of uninsured [24%) and underinsured in the United States and 23% of the residents of Fort Bend County are uninsured, and WHEREAS, Expanding Medicaid would ensure 1.5 million more Texans [...]