Tag Archives: Ellen Cohen

Another poll in HD134

Posted on September 29, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Back in April, the Ellen Cohen campaign released a poll showing her to be in strong position to win re-election. Nearly six months later, they have released another poll showing the same thing. The initial (uninformed) trial heat in the … Continue reading →

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Interview with State Rep. Ellen Cohen

Posted on August 25, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Rep. Ellen Cohen was elected to the House in 2006 after an 18-year stint as the President and CEO of the Houston Area Women’s Center (HAWC) in a high-profile and hard-fought race that tipped the partisan balance of the Harris … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2010 | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

Fundraising: Harris County State Reps

Posted on July 21, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

I’ve collected fundraising reports for Harris County State Rep races of interest; they’re all beneath the fold. Here are the highlights: – In the rubber match between State Rep. Kristi Thibaut in HD133 and former State Rep. Jim Murphy, Thibaut … Continue reading →

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Why should anyone trust the TCEQ?

Posted on May 30, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Rick Perry wants the EPA to back off. I know, I’m as shocked as you are. Gov. Rick Perry, citing improvements in Texas air quality, asked President Barack Obama on Friday to get regional Environmental Protection Agency administrators to back … Continue reading →

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Early poll in HD134

Posted on April 9, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Despite the fact that they left her basically unchallenged in 2008, I get the impression that local Republicans are excited about the possibility of defeating two-term State Rep. Ellen Cohen this year. Certainly, she will face a stronger challenge from … Continue reading →

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Joe Agris

Posted on March 29, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

I read with great interest this feature story on Houston plastic surgeon Joe Agris, who was a longtime collaborator with the late Marvin Zindler in getting medical help to indigent children. I did so partly because Agris is a fascinating … Continue reading →

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Supreme Court to hear strip club tax appeal

Posted on February 15, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Once more to the courthouse for supporters of the $5 strip club tax that was levied by the Lege to fund sexual abuse and violence treatment and prevention programs, as the state Supreme Court has agreed to hear an appeal … Continue reading →

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Hard times for the local GOP

Posted on July 6, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Nestled into this story about a recent lecture given by Paul Burka at Rep. Ellen Cohen’s town hall meeting is this nugget about the state of the Harris County GOP: In the words of Harris County Judge Ed Emmett, who … Continue reading →

Posted in Local politics | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Strip club fee appealed to Supreme Court

Posted on June 15, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

As expected. The legal battles continue to spin around Texas’ so-called “pole tax,” a $5 entrance fee at strip clubs that has been ruled an unconstitutional regulation of free expression. Lawyers for Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott and state Comptroller … Continue reading →

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Appeals court upholds strip club tax ban

Posted on June 8, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Score two for the state’s strip clubs. The 3rd Court of Appeals panel sided against the $5 per-patron fee, passed by the Legislature in 2007 with the goal of raising sexual-assault prevention funds, in a divided 2-1 opinion released Friday. … Continue reading →

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Strip club fee dies

Posted on June 2, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Boy, I had sure thought that HB982, the alternate strip club fee bill by Rep. Senfronia Thompson had passed the Senate, but apparently the vote to pass it was reconsidered and was never taken up again, so as a result, … Continue reading →

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More Tier One schools

Posted on June 2, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s some genuine good news from Sunday night’s chaos. Legislation intended to lift some of the state’s public universities to top-tier status has passed the House and Senate and now goes to Gov. Rick Perry, who is expected to sign … Continue reading →

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Would-be Metro killer outs himself

Posted on May 27, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

I had wondered who was behind that anti-Metro amendment from the weekend. Now I know. A local light rail opponent claimed credit Tuesday for working with an El Paso legislator to try to block Metro’s ability to build the University … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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Anti-Metro amendment removed

Posted on May 25, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

I’m pleased to report that the anti-Metro amendment that was in SB1263 has been removed. I am told that Rep. Ellen Cohen discussed the matter with Rep. Pickett, who agreed to remove the Houston-specific language. This is great news, not … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, That's our Lege | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

The fees not paid

Posted on May 18, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

The battle over the dueling strip club bills in the Lege this session has mostly been over how much revenue each would collect. But the state has to actually collect that revenue for any of that to be relevant. Dozens … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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Cohen pulls strip club bill

Posted on May 14, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

The battle of the strip club bills is over, as Rep. Ellen Cohen has pulled her bill, thus killing it for the session. She said “it was clear there was an attempt to find a point of order” — a … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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Tuesday Lege roundup

Posted on May 12, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Some more notes about what has been happening in the Lege… – It looks like the program to test high school athletes for steroids will be scaled back. Texas lawmakers have reached a deal to slash steroid testing of public … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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Monday Lege roundup

Posted on May 11, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Lots of legislative action today beyond the voter ID vaudeville act. Here’s a quick roundup of some other bills of interest. – HB1736, also known as the Tim Cole Act for the man who was posthumously exonerated this February, has … Continue reading →

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More Tier I schools

Posted on April 25, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Good news. The Texas House on Friday voted unanimously on a plan making it easier for the University of Houston to gain elite status by gradually becoming a national “tier-one” research institution. Houston, the country’s fourth largest city, deserves a … Continue reading →

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Stem cells and the budget battle

Posted on April 17, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Other than voter ID, we really haven’t had a big fight in the Lege this session. Burka thinks Sen. Steve Ogden’s scurrilous stem cell rider could be the next big brawl. The Ogden rider is not in the House bill, … Continue reading →

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More on the alternate strip club tax

Posted on April 3, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

After publishing about the alternate strip club tax that passed the House yesterday, HB982, I had some correspondence with the offices of Rep. Ellen Cohen and Rep. Senfronia Thompson about the revenue estimates, which I noted seemed quite divergent. Rep. … Continue reading →

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Alternate strip club fee bill passes House

Posted on April 3, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

I didn’t realize there was another bill dealing with the strip club fee out there, but there is, and it passed in the House. Sexually oriented businesses, including adult video stores and nude dancing clubs, would pay a 10 percent … Continue reading →

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Bill filed to modify strip club fee

Posted on March 3, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Got the following from State Rep. Ellen Cohen’s office: State Representative Ellen Cohen filed House Bill 2070 today to reform the Adult Entertainment Fee she passed during the 80th Legislative Session in 2007. “We have been successful in raising the … Continue reading →

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Strip club fee back in court

Posted on February 12, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

You may recall that in the last legislative session, a bill (HB1751) was passed that imposed a $5 per customer fee on strip clubs, with the revenue going to a sex assault prevention fund, among other things. That fee was … Continue reading →

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It’s 2009 and we’re still arguing about CHIP

Posted on January 26, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

It’s hard for me to believe that after all this time, and after all of the candidates who’ve lost elections over it, that the Children’s Health Insurance Program, a/k/a CHIP, still has dedicated opponents. It’s especially hard for me to … Continue reading →

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