Category Archives: Budget ballyhoo

John Sharp, America’s loneliest committee chair, won’t be lonely for much longer. PerryVsWorld has the list of folks who are supposedly filling out the panel. Ladies and gentlemen, start your search engines. Oh, and I believe the answer to the … Continue reading → Continue reading →

You know, for a guy who was completely disconnected from the school finance reform debate while it was happening, Governor Perry sure does like issuing executive orders after the fact to push through things that failed to pass the legislative … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Father John has a number of links to stories about the current state of Health and Human Services privatization in Texas and how the influx of Katrina victims has affected their delivery of services. Two items to highlight, the first … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Hey, remember that blue ribbon panel that Governor Perry announced last month to figure out what to do with school finance? It’s been five weeks since John Sharp was named its chair, and he’s hard at work talking to editorial … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I know there’s a lot of screwed up stuff going on at the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, what with their cost-ineffective privatization and all, but you’d think they could still get the basics right. As detailed in a … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Following up on the earlier news about the very critical state audit of claimed savings by privatizing HR and payroll functions of the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (THHSC), we have this Chron story which adds some more details. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

We’ve just barely started down the road of privatizing the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (THHSC), and already the savings we were promised for doing so are turning into an illusion. The $45 million in savings Texas’ Health and … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Are you feeling adrift and without purpose now that Special SessionPalooza has come to an end? Well, if so, then here’s some good news for you. Texas Supreme Court Chief Justice Wallace Jefferson said Friday night the court will rule … Continue reading → Continue reading →

School superintendents from around Texas continue to fight back against some of the things said about and done to them in the wake of Special SessionPalooza. From Lufkin: Lufkin ISD’s deputy superintendent says he suspects that Gov. Rick Perry’s recent … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I love this opening paragraph to today’s entry in the Why Special SessionPalooza Was A Miserable Failure sweepstakes. The Legislature’s failure to pass property tax cuts this summer was largely the result of a breakdown in behind-the-scenes negotiations among powerful … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I should have guessed that the sixty-five percent solution didn’t come out of nowhere. Just like the outsourced school finance plan, the genesis of Governor Perry’s recent executive order is just more ideological nonsense which has nothing to do with … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Govenor Perry may have talk radio hosts eating out of his hand, but the newspaper editorial boards continue to be unimpressed. I think we can add this Express News piece to the collection of Items To Save For Next Endorsement … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Governor Perry can’t fix how schools are financed, but he can tell them how to spend the money they have. Gov. Rick Perry issued an executive order Monday requiring schools to spend at least 65 percent of their tax money … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Some more linkage from the weekend that I missed the first time around… First up, from Eye on Williamson, is a memo to RNC Chair Ken Mehlman from the Dallas Morning News. Your party’s leaders are brawling like gunslingers. If … Continue reading → Continue reading →

A little Sunday reading for those who aren’t quite ready to let Special SessionPalooza fade into history just yet. ‘Robin Hood’ Ratliff says money’s the answer Q: The governor and many Republican legislators say more money for the schools isn’t … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I’m so glad that Governor Perry has given us these two Very Special Sessions on school finance reform. Aren’t you? Of course you are. And just think, in a few months when the Texas Supremes have ruled, we get to … Continue reading → Continue reading →

When you stop and think about it, this really was the only way the latest (and hopefully last for at least a little while) special session would end. The Legislature could have adjourned before its mandatory end at midnight Friday. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Sometimes it’s easy to forget that there’s a special session going on out there, and it’s coming to a close. The end game shaped up Monday when the House didn’t schedule floor debate for today on either its education funding … Continue reading → Continue reading →

State Rep. Pete Gallego has sent the following letter to House Speaker Tom Craddick in response to the radio wars. August 15, 2005 The Honorable Tom Craddick Speaker, Texas House of Representatives Texas State Capitol, Room 2W.13 P.O. Box 2910 … Continue reading → Continue reading →

On they go again with the school finance bills. A House committee Friday kicked out two bills that could revive flagging efforts to rewrite school finance laws, but major hurdles remain to passing the plan before the special session ends … Continue reading → Continue reading →

You don’t think all this sparring between Tom Craddick and David Dewhurst over whether the remainder of this special session is a waste of time or not is getting personal, do you? Nah. House Speaker Tom Craddick, who last week … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The Chron appears to be the only outlet reporting this latest development in the school finance battle. A tax bill that received only eight votes in the Texas House last month was re-filed Thursday and could come up for floor … Continue reading → Continue reading →

You kind of have to admire ol’ Tom Craddick. Once he decides on a course of inaction, by golly he sticks with it. “The House of Representatives will not be a party to passing legislation that does not contain meaningful … Continue reading → Continue reading →

All right, now that we have the other items taken care of, let’s look at the school finance bills that were voted on yesterday. The Senate finished what it started by passing Senate Bill 8. The Senate bill, which would … Continue reading → Continue reading →

He knew it was coming, and was fortunately able to make other arrangements: Father John has left the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (which is currently cutting 2900 jobs) to go work for the Office of the Attorney General. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Disregarding Tom Craddicks’ plea to pack it up and go home, the Senate intends to take a vote on its latest school finance package today. Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst said Monday that he has been talking to senators since Thursday, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Some of us may think that it’s high time for a sine die motion in the House, but State Rep. Pete Gallego does not. He’s hand-delivered a letter to Speaker Tom Craddick imploring him to let the House get back … Continue reading → Continue reading →

You’ve got to give Sen. Steve Ogden credit – he’s doing what he can to bring Meaning and Purpose to our endless legislative summer. Tax bills cannot originate in the Senate, but constitutional amendments can, and he’s got a threefer … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Poor Kimberly. It can’t be much fun being a reporter based in Austin right about now. I mean, what is there to write about? That there’s still no consensus on anything related to school finance, even on a bill that … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The lesson for today, kids, brought to us by Governor Perry: If at first you don’t succeed, lower your standards. Gov. Rick Perry on Monday indicated he would accept a scaled-back school finance bill with a pay raise for teachers … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Couple of articles of interest regarding the state of the special session… Via Aaron Pena, a very complimentary piece in the Star Telegram on his House colleague, Bob Griggs (R, North Richland Hills). One gets the feeling from the piece … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The Senate is trying to salvage some form of school finance reform from this week’s special session wreckage, with Sen. Florence Shapiro doing the heavy lifting. Action planned Monday Late Thursday, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and Senate Education Chairwoman Florence … Continue reading → Continue reading →

So now that the shock of seeing HB2 and HB3 go down in flames has subsided, it’s time for the where do they go now stories. It’s the usual lot of speculation from the usual sources, but today’s installation is … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Philip Martin sends a letter to the whiny Rep. Kent Grusendorf. I second that emotion. Continue reading →