Tag Archives: Tommy Williams

Here come the voucher bills

Posted on March 7, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

The Observer reports from the Senate, where two voucher bills were on display. In fact, the business-tax-credit-totally-not-vouchers bill had already been filed Monday, by McKinney Republican Ken Paxton. So ends the great mystery, begun in a little Catholic schoolroom last December, … Continue reading →

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Senate committee restores some money to public education

Posted on March 2, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Emphasis on the “some”. Texas public schools would get back a chunk of the $5.4 billion in state funding they lost two years ago under a budget proposal adopted by the Senate Finance Committee on Thursday. But they probably should … Continue reading →

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No, we shouldn’t be closing any state parks

Posted on February 14, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

We shouldn’t be closing them in bad times, and we definitely shouldn’t be closing them in good times. “We need to turn up the volume and let people know that our state parks are threatened,” said Ian Davis, director of … Continue reading →

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School finance system ruled unconstitutional

Posted on February 4, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Surely no one is surprised by this. The system Texas uses to fund public schools violates the state’s constitution by not providing enough money and failing to distribute the money in a fair way, a judge ruled Monday in a … Continue reading →

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Then YOU fix it!

Posted on February 3, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Stuff like this really pisses me off. On Wednesday, the [Senate Finance] committee heard testimony from state officials on the proposed health budget, which grew 2 percent from the current biennium budget to $70 billion. The chairman of the committee, … Continue reading →

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Crocodile tears over the school finance lawsuit

Posted on February 1, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

This is little more than blaming the victim. A state judge is expected to rule next week on whether the school finance system is broken, but lawmakers aren’t anywhere near ready to launch repairs. Instead, Republican leaders plan to wait … Continue reading →

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How would you pay for extra school security?

Posted on January 30, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Would you be willing to tax yourself for it? Texas school districts could create special taxing districts to fund more security under a proposal unveiled Tuesday by three Houston-area lawmakers. The Texas School District Security Act would allow school boards … Continue reading →

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Meet the new budget

Posted on January 16, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Same as the old budget. Republican leaders in both chambers of the Legislature on Monday offered spare first drafts of the state’s next two-year budget that continue $5.4 billion in cuts to public education made last session and freeze funding … Continue reading →

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So how’s public education doing under the Republicans?

Posted on December 31, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Well, for starters, there’s larger class sizes. Northside’s predicament mirrors that of several other local districts with expanding enrollments. It’s part of the argument hundreds of Texas districts are making in an ongoing school finance lawsuit against the state, blaming … Continue reading →

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Time once again to talk about expanded gambling

Posted on December 28, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

There’s a legislative session coming up, right? That can only mean one thing: A new effort to expand gambling in Texas. Track and gaming interests say voters should be allowed to decide whether to give Texas a shot at the … Continue reading →

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Why are we paying for a privatized psych hospital?

Posted on September 22, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Makes no sense to me. The Department of State Health Services has spent more than $2 million on bond interest for a psychiatric hospital that it doesn’t own and that was championed by Senate Finance Chairman Tommy Williams. But that’s … Continue reading →

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Who’s number 14?

Posted on October 1, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

As the SEC welcomed Texas A&M as its 13th member, commissioner Mike Slive says they have no immediate plans to invite a 14th. Slive said the SEC wasn’t looking to expand, but that A&M was too attractive of an option … Continue reading →

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The consolation prize

Posted on July 1, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

The Republicans couldn’t get their act together enough to pass the “sanctuary cities” bill, but they did manage to do this. A provision in the approved Senate Bill 1, the special session’s must-pass school finance bill, will require people to … Continue reading →

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“Sanctuary cities” bill passes the Senate

Posted on June 16, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Once it was added to the call, this became inevitable. Senate Republicans finally passed a priority issue for their party early Wednesday morning when they outmuscled their Democratic colleagues on an immigration-related bill intended to make it easier for law … Continue reading →

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Senate approves Congressional map

Posted on June 6, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

On to the House. A new redistricting map, drawn to promote and protect Republican interests in the U.S. Congress, sailed out of the GOP-led state Senate Monday. The map, predictably approved 18-12 along strict party lines, would give Republicans a … Continue reading →

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Senate Dems block “sanctuary cities” bill

Posted on May 25, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

They did it as they said they would. The state’s contentious sanctuary cities bill failed to move out of the Senate late Tuesday — a move some senators said effectively killed one of the most controversial measures the Texas Legislature … Continue reading →

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Senate Dems say they will block “sanctuary cities” bill

Posted on May 23, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

This is exactly what they should be doing. The twelve Democrats in the Texas Senate signed a letter that they delivered today to their colleagues, vowing to oppose the sanctuary cities bill — a move that could, but not necessarily, … Continue reading →

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“Sanctuary cities” bill lives again

Posted on May 20, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

This is why no bill is truly dead until sine die. In another surprise move by the Senate Transportation and Homeland Security committee, Chairman Tommy Williams, R-The Woodlands, made a motion to reconsider a vote the committee took Wednesday that … Continue reading →

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“Sanctuary cities” bill gutted in committee

Posted on May 18, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Didn’t see this coming. In a surprise move that could effectively kill HB 12, the sanctuary cities bill that Gov. Rick Perry declared an emergency item, a Senate committee today replaced the immigration language with a homeland security bill by … Continue reading →

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Why can’t a woman be more like a man?

Posted on April 30, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

The Texas Legislature would like for you to stay just exactly as you are, thank you very much. Two years after Texas became one of the last states to allow transgendered people to use proof of their sex change to … Continue reading →

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I can’t drive 75

Posted on April 18, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

If the Lege has its way, in addition to being able to drive 85 on the Interstates, you will also be able to drive 75 on some other highways. Legislation that would eliminate lower nighttime speed limits in Texas, allow … Continue reading →

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Taking sides on Amazon

Posted on March 14, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

The Lege weighs in on Amazon, with opposing bills. House Bill 2719, filed [Wednesday] afternoon by state Rep. Linda Harper-Brown, R-Irving, would favor Amazon’s efforts to avoid collecting tax for online sales by amending the state tax code to say … Continue reading →

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TxDOT gets Grand Parkway approval

Posted on March 1, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Another step in the march of the inevitable. The state Transportation Commission on Thursday granted the Texas Department of Transportation authority to begin design work and negotiating contracts to build a key segment of the Grand Parkway. The unanimous vote … Continue reading →

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Here come the “sanctuary city” bills

Posted on February 18, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

The Lege gets set to tackle another “emergency”. Top state lawmakers filed the latest legislation Wednesday to prohibit so-called sanctuary city policies, saying local governmental bodies would risk losing state grant money if they prohibit enforcement of state or federal … Continue reading →

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On the road to nowhere

Posted on February 1, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Use your own favorite cliche for this. Texas soon will be shelling out more per year to pay back money it borrowed for road construction than it spends from its quickly vanishing pile of cash to build new highways. Legislative … Continue reading →

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This is your government on dogma

Posted on January 18, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

We won’t get Jim Pitts’ bare bones budget outline till late tonight, so as not to be a buzzkill on the Perry coronation inauguration. We did, however, get an opening bid from the ideological purists, and while it’s not worth … Continue reading →

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Metal detectors at the Capitol

Posted on January 24, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

After the gunfire incident at the Capitol last week, you’d think this wouldn’t be too controversial. The day after a shooting outside the state Capitol, lawmakers on Friday suggested that metal detectors to the building entrances were imminent, a move … Continue reading →

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A slow solution is bad but no solution is worse

Posted on November 4, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Same song, yet another verse: The food stamp situation in Texas is truly terrible. As Texas begins hiring hundreds of food stamp workers to help erase an application backlog that has left families waiting months for aid, no one expects … Continue reading →

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Monitoring the food stamps problem

Posted on October 13, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

State Sens. Judith Zaffirini and Tommy Williams will be keeping an eye on the food stamps situation. Zaffirini said in an interview that she and Williams will work with Health and Human Services Executive Commissioner Tom Suehs on hiring more … Continue reading →

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Special session starts tomorrow

Posted on June 30, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

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 … Continue reading →

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Extending the deadline

Posted on May 31, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

The deadline for finishing up conference committee work was supposed to be last night at midnight. There was too much work to do for that, so the deadline got pushed back for 24 hours. That means the Senate on Monday … Continue reading →

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House budget conferees announced

Posted on April 27, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Elise Hu names names. State Rep. Jim Pitts, R-Waxahachie, House Appropriations Chairman State Rep. Richard Raymond, D-Webb, House Appropriations Vice-Chair State Rep. Ruth Jones-McClendon, D-San Antonio State Rep. John Otto, R-Dayton State Rep. John Zerwas, R-Houston Give credit to Burka … Continue reading →

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It only hurts when it happens to you

Posted on April 26, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

This story is about the likely death of the Wentworth nonpartisan redistricting committee bill, which wasn’t unexpected, but the real story is about how it went down. A move to put redistricting into the hands of a bi-partisan public commission … 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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