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 [...]
Posts Tagged ‘veto’
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
How about a local safe passing law?
Man, I’d forgotten about this. After Gov. Rick Perry’s veto in 2009 blocked a statewide law requiring drivers to keep a minimum distance from cyclists on the road, 13 cities approved a model safe-passing law developed by cycling advocates. Dallas passed a similar measure. The local ordinances require drivers to give bicyclists at least 3 [...]
Bill in US Senate to make Amazon pay sales taxes
As someone who believes that online retailers like Amazon should collect sales taxes and who believes that federal action will be needed to make that happen, I’m glad to see this. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) says he plans to introduce a bill, called the Main Street Fairness Act, mandating that all businesses collect [...]
House defies Perry over Amazon and sales taxes
This is a pleasant surprise. Breaking with Gov. Rick Perry, the Texas House today refused to kill a provision that aims to tighten the state’s rules on when online retailers like Amazon.com must collect sales taxes. The vote could force Perry — who has already vetoed similar legislation — into another difficult decision on the [...]
Perry vetos Amazon sales tax bill
Of course he did. Gov. Rick Perry has vetoed legislation that was aimed at tightening the state’s rules on when online retailers must collect sales taxes on Texas transactions, the bill’s author said this morning. Perry had earlier criticized Comptroller Susan Combs for moving to collect $269 million from Amazon.com for uncollected sales taxes. State [...]
TV recycling redux
Back in 2009, the Lege passed a bill that would have required television manufacturers that sell TVs in Texas to set up a recycling program for old sets. This was modeled after similar legislation passed in 2007 for computers and computer manufacturers. Unfortunately, the bill was vetoed by Rick Perry despite assurances from his staff [...]
Senate passes Amazon sales tax bill
Good. The Texas Senate has overwhelmingly passed a measure aimed at tightening the state’s rules on when online businesses must collect sales tax. Senators voted 30-1 [Friday] to pass House Bill 2403, a measure that originated with Rep. John Otto, R-Dayton. The bill was sponsored in the Senate by Sen. Royce West, D-Dallas. The bill [...]
Here comes the Senate budget
We know that the Senate budget will spend more money than the House budget, not that this is a high bar to clear. We know that the Senate has searched high and low for the funds to support the higher appropriations they want. This week, we find out how they plan to do it. Senate [...]
RIP, health exchange bill
Can’t say this is a surprise. State Rep. John Zerwas, the Simonton Republican who has filed legislation to implement one of the key elements of federal health care reform, said his bill may be permanently stuck. Zerwas, who proposed establishing a Texas health insurance exchange not because he approves of federal health reform, but because [...]
What the decision to use Rainy Day funds means for school districts
From School Zone: As you might know by now — unless you’re tuning out the news over spring break — the House Appropriations Committee, with Gov. Rick Perry’s blessing, agreed to spend up to $3.2 billion from the rainy-day fund to balance the state budget this fiscal year. What does this mean for public education? [...]
Ogden on board with Pitts about Rainy Day Fund
State Sen. Steve Ogden, the chair of the Senate Finance Committee, joins with his House counterpart Rep. Jim Pitts in endorsing the use of the Rainy Day Fund to at least close the deficit from the 2010-11 biennium. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Steve Ogden, R-Bryan, said he favors tapping rainy-day money at least to fill [...]
Killing the DREAM in Texas
Something else to look forward to. State Rep. Tim Kleinschmidt (R-Lexington) has filed legislation that would abolish Texas law granting in-state tuition to certain undocumented college students. The 2001 law, written by then-state Rep. Rick Noriega (D-Houston), was a precursor to the federal DREAM Act recently defeated by GOP members of the U.S. Senate. State Rep. [...]
The cost of jailing parole violators
We sure do spend a lot of money putting people in jail that don’t really need to be there. Each month, an average of 2,286 state parole violators are housed in Texas jails, a policy costing taxpayers at least $42 million a year. Harris County has the largest tab — estimated at $7.6 million. This [...]
Our healthcare system is great, if you ignore all those people who can’t afford it
State Rep. John Zerwas demonstrates that being a physician doesn’t make you qualified to talk about health care reform. His article is as embarrassingly idea-free as his national colleagues’ plan was. After the usual paean to tort “reform” and invective about government employees getting between you and your doctor – that’s what insurance companies are [...]
Perry meddles again
All of his shenanigans with the Texas Forensic Science Commission have kept Governor Perry busy lately, but not so busy that he can’t mess with other things, too. Gov. Rick Perry plans to reshuffle the board leadership of the state’s $88 billion teacher retirement system, an unexpected move that has reignited concerns among the members [...]
The veto that keeps on giving
Bicyclists are still pissed off at Rick Perry for his veto of the Safe Passing bill. The man does have a talent for making people dislike him.
Harper-Brown vows to try again on Safe Passing bill
The bicyclists will not go away despite the setback on the Safe Passing bill. A state legislator’s unsuccessful efforts to pass a “safe passing” bill for cyclists said Wednesday that an accident involving her granddaughter has renewed her interest in the issue. Rep. Linda Harper-Brown, R-Irving, sponsor of a bill to protect bicyclists, expressed relief [...]
Environment Texas scorecard
Here’s the Environment Texas scorecard (PDF) for the 2009 legislative session. A few points of interest: – There were seven scored voted for Senators, and eight for the House. For all but two, the “right” vote was Yes, which is pretty strong evidence that this was a much friendlier session for environmental issues than we’d [...]
Safe Passing bill still in the news
Nice. The father of a driver accused of killing two bicyclists last summer recently urged Gov. Rick Perry to veto a bill that generally would have required motorists to give vulnerable road users more space when passing them. Cyclists believe it was in poor taste for Kenneth Bain to take a position. So do family [...]
A&M and the Emerging Technology fund
Loren Steffy tells us about politics infecting research at Texas A&M. And Rick Perry is involved. Shocking, I know. In January, the state awarded A&M $50 million from the Emerging Technology Fund, which purports to benefit private-sector technology startups, for the National Center for Therapeutics Manufacturing, which plans to develop new vaccines. Unfortunately, the infusion [...]
Texas Voices update
Grits gives a report. I was pleased to get to spend a little time with Mary Sue Molnar and the folks at Texas Voices (a group made up of families of registered sex offenders) at their statewide conference here in Austin. By the time I showed up in the late morning there were perhaps 60-70 [...]
The bicyclists strike back
I know that circulating a petition isn’t the sort of thing that means much in politics, but sometimes a show of names can have an effect. BikeTexas, which is still chafing about the veto of the Safe Passing bill, has a petition going to let Governor Perry know that they’re mad about this and won’t [...]
Hochberg responds to Perry’s veto
I missed this last week, but State Rep. Scott Hochberg sent out a press release, which is posted on the House website about Governor Perry’s veto of his bill HB1457. If Governor Perry was denied a voter registration certificate because a clerk spelled his name “Peiry” instead of “Perry”, we’d never hear the end of [...]
Smith bashes Perry for vetoing HB3148
Rep. Todd Smith takes Governor Perry to task for vetoing HB3148, which would have exempted some teenagers who had engaged in consensual sex with a minor less than four years younger than themselves from having to register as sex offenders. Gov. Rick Perry vetoed one of the most morally compelling bills I have ever filed [...]
Special session starts tomorrow
The special session everyone knew was coming to address the disposition of several state agencies begins tomorrow. So far, at least, the agenda hasn’t changed from the original call. Gov. Rick Perry is being pressed to add issues ranging from children’s health care to voter identification to the agenda of the special session that begins [...]
The whole “two thirds” thing is more flexible than you might think
State Sen. Jeff Wentworth is mad as heck about some Senate rules shenanigans, according to the Statesman’s Jason Embry. Wentworth, R-San Antonio, thinks that Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst abused his authority in the recently completed legislative session, and he wants senators to change their rules in 2011 to prevent it from happening again. To back [...]
Vetoing smart growth
Houston Tomorrow takes a look at one of the vetoed bills that I hadn’t examined before, SB2169, “relating to the establishment of a smart growth policy work group and the development of a smart growth policy for this state.” The bill would have instructed the heads of many state agencies to appoint representatives to serve [...]
The Chamber of Commerce tax cut
I mentioned before that a secondary reason for Governor Perry to veto HB770 and its Wayne Christian Beach House provision was an amendment slipped in by State Sen. Mike Jackson to give a property tax exemption to local chambers of commerce. Ed Sills of the Texas AFL-CIO went off on a righteous rant about this [...]