Tag Archives: voter ID

The Heflin plan for voter ID

Posted on March 30, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

While I still have hope that voter ID can be stopped one more time, I can certainly understand the viewpoint that a sufficiently determined Republican majority can push through what it wants to if it really tries, especially if we … Continue reading →

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Voter ID coming to the House

Posted on March 25, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Well, that didn’t take long. Rep. Todd Smith, R-Euless, chair of the House Elections Committee, announced today his committee will devote two days of hearings to voter ID on April 6 and 7. The first day will be devoted to … Continue reading →

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Senate wraps up voter ID

Posted on March 18, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

In the end, after more debate and a bunch of Democratic amendments that were rejected by the same 19-12 vote, SB362 itself was passed on second reading in the Senate on a 19-12 party line vote. There were two amendments … Continue reading →

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Coup? What coup?

Posted on March 17, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

The rumor of a list of legislators looking to oust House Speaker Joe Straus turns out to be, well, a rumor. The Statesman’s Gardner Selby started hearing chatter late last week that Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer, D-San Antonio, was circulating … Continue reading →

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Dems seek repeal of new DPS rules

Posted on March 17, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

We didn’t have any voter ID action yesterday, but we did have this. Some Democratic lawmakers joined by Texas residents who have had trouble getting drivers’ licenses under new Department of Public Safety rules pushed Monday for legislation that would … Continue reading →

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No voter ID today

Posted on March 16, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

The Senate was supposed to finish doing its dirty work on voter ID today, but a clerical error has put things off for another day. Including all previously scheduled committee meetings, because nothing else can get done till the single … Continue reading →

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Why it really is about suppressing the vote

Posted on March 16, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Once the voter ID debate shifts over to the House, there will be several bills there for them to consider as companions to SB362. One such bill is HB1414 by Rep. Dwayne Bohac, which is as far as I can … Continue reading →

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Who will be affected by voter ID?

Posted on March 13, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Let’s take a moment as we wait for the next round in the voter ID battle to consider who might actually have their right to vote affected by this unneeded piece of partisan legislation. Meet Bessie Jenkins Foster. The 98-year-old … Continue reading →

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If he can’t testify, he shouldn’t redistrict

Posted on March 11, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

One of the questions that was raised during the Voter ID All-Nighter in the Senate was why Attorney General Greg Abbott took a pass, even though the Democrats wanted him to be there, since he was a leading crusader of … Continue reading →

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Voter ID: That’s it for now

Posted on March 11, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

In case you hadn’t already heard, the measure was passed out of committee – which was the full Senate in this case – by the predicted party-line vote, which was actually 20-12 since Lt. Gov. Dewhurst, sitting in the cheap … Continue reading →

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Voter ID: On to day two

Posted on March 11, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Looks like things wrapped up in the Senate at about 2:30 AM. It’s not clear to me if they got through all of the expert testimony, or if they plan to get to the public testimony, assuming anyone who signed … Continue reading →

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Voter ID: All through the night

Posted on March 10, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

According to Elise Hu’s liveblog of the voter ID hearing in the Senate, they’re on witness number 3 of 15, and they haven’t gotten to any public testimony yet. Suffice it to say, this is gonna go on for awhile, … Continue reading →

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Today’s the day for Voter ID in the Senate

Posted on March 10, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Ready or not, here comes the voter ID battle in the Senate. There’s a chance today will merely be Day One of this fight, as Patricia Kilday Hart notes in her preview. Sen. Robert Duncan, who will chair tomorrow’s Committee … Continue reading →

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What you can do today to fight against the Voter ID bill

Posted on March 9, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Via email from State Sen. Mario Gallegos: This Tuesday, March 10, 2009, the Senate Committee of the Whole will conduct a hearing on proposed photo Voter Identification (SB 362 by Fraser) legislation in the Texas Senate Chamber. On behalf of … Continue reading →

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Dewhurst makes the case against Voter ID

Posted on March 4, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

That wasn’t his intent, of course, but it’s clear to see in his plea for a “compromise” on the measure that the more people like Lt. Gov. Dewhurst argue for voter ID legislation, the more obvious it is that they’re … Continue reading →

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Interview with State Sen. Leticia Van de Putte

Posted on March 2, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

As I mentioned on Friday, I had the opportunity to speak with State Sen. Leticia Van de Putte. She’s the chair of the Senate Democratic Caucus (I mistakenly said “House Democratic Caucus” in my intro, but got it right after … Continue reading →

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Voter ID debate set for the Senate

Posted on February 26, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

I did an interview with State Sen. Leticia Van de Putte this evening, and in the course of our conversation, which I’ll be publishing on Monday, she said that there was a hearing set for voter ID legislation – presumably … Continue reading →

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Son of Speaker complaining

Posted on February 23, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

So yes, even in the post-Craddick era, there are still complaints about the Speaker by Democrats. Some of this is to be expected: You can’t satisfy everyone. Some of it is probably the result of over-inflated expectations. And some of … Continue reading →

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Voter ID already moving in the Senate

Posted on February 18, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

I hope you’ve all enjoyed the relative quiet in the Lege these past few weeks, because it will be coming to an end soon. The controversial Voter ID bill that triggered a nasty Senate fight last month over a rules … Continue reading →

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House committee assignments are out

Posted on February 12, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

At long last, we know who’ll be working on what in the House. The full list is here (PDF); a list of chairs only is beneath the fold. Evan notes that Dems got 16 of 18 chairs. The main concern … Continue reading →

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Senate committees

Posted on January 31, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Elise Hu has the list of committees and members for the State Senate, which came out yesterday. Not much drama here – as she noted, Sen. John Carona, the on Republican vote against changing the rules for voter ID bills, … Continue reading →

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House adopts rules

Posted on January 29, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Once again, not much drama in the lower chamber. After an all-day debate, the House approved its rules for the 2009 legislative session in a relaxed atmosphere overseen by new Speaker Joe Straus. The most intense squabble came when the … Continue reading →

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So how’s the state of our state?

Posted on January 27, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Well, you can read the text of Governor Rick Perry’s State of the State speech and see for yourself what it was all about. Frankly, I think Matt got it in one: This was a campaign speech. I mean, stem … Continue reading →

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Musical chairs

Posted on January 21, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

When the State House reconvenes next Monday, I presume one of the first orders of business for new Speaker Joe Straus will be to name committee chairs. This sort of thing may seem like the most boring of inside-baseball stuff, … Continue reading →

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