Tag Archives: special session

Special session starts today

Posted on July 18, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

It was a good summer before now, but all of that comes to an end today. In the best case scenario, the sunset bills get passed and nothing else happens. I don’t know what will happen, but at least the … Continue reading →

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News flash: Businesses still hate bathroom bills

Posted on July 18, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

IBM hates them. As state lawmakers return to Austin for legislative overtime, tech giant IBM is stepping up its fight to defeat legislation it says would discriminate against children and harm its Texas recruiting efforts. In an internal email sent … Continue reading →

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This special session is going to be so much fun

Posted on July 17, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

So much repressed hostility… Five days before the Texas Legislature is scheduled to open a special session, it is clear the relationship between the leaders of the House and Senate remains as strained as it was at the end of … Continue reading →

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There is trouble with the trees

Posted on July 14, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

More to the point, there is trouble with the idea that municipal tree ordinances are somehow a bad thing, but that’s where we are, and it’s got some folks worried. More than 40,000 trees were lost to [Hurricane] Ike, according … Continue reading →

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Special session officially set

Posted on July 11, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Brace yourselves, it starts next week. Gov. Greg Abbott issued a declaration for a special session of the Texas Legislature Monday, formally inviting lawmakers back to Austin to pass “sunset legislation” that will keep several key state agencies open. The … Continue reading →

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“America’s future is Texas”

Posted on July 8, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s that long story in the New Yorker that everyone is talking about. It covers basically the entire legislative session with a bunch of preliminary background info, most of which is very familiar to all of us, so I’m just … Continue reading →

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Texas will turn over some voter info to Trump vote “fraud” commission

Posted on July 2, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

I have three things to say about this: Texas will hand over personal information of the state’s more than 15 million voters to President Donald Trump’s commission that is looking into voter fraud. Secretary of State Rolando Pablos said his … Continue reading →

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House still opposes vouchers

Posted on June 27, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Keep on keeping on, y’all. The top House education leader said Sunday that “private school choice” is still dead in the lower chamber. “We only voted six times against it in the House,” House Public Education Committee Chairman Dan Huberty … Continue reading →

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Next round of bathroom bills getting prepped

Posted on June 25, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Meet the new bills, same as the old bills. Rep. Ron Simmons, R-Carrollton, is expected to introduce two bills in the upcoming special session of the Texas Legislature that would regulate which public bathrooms transgender Texans, including schoolchildren, can use. … Continue reading →

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Even the SBOE opposes vouchers and the bathroom bill

Posted on June 23, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

A rare bout of sanity. The Texas State Board of Education is known for its conservative ideals, but a majority of its Republican members said Tuesday they oppose GOP Gov. Greg Abbott’s demand that lawmakers pass a school voucher program … Continue reading →

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The special session could get a little testy

Posted on June 16, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Sow a little discord, Joe. We approve. Speaking to educators Wednesday, House Speaker Joe Straus took some jabs at the Senate for focusing on a bill to regulate public bathroom use instead of putting more than a billion dollars into … Continue reading →

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Greg Abbott’s war on trees

Posted on June 15, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

This is just bizarre. One of the 20 items Gov. Greg Abbott has asked lawmakers to consider during the upcoming special session, which will begin July 18, is outlawing local tree regulations. More than 50 cities and towns in Texas … Continue reading →

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Bathroom bill or NFL draft?

Posted on June 13, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Back to some familiar questions as the special session looms. The Cowboys have made their pitch to host the NFL draft. Whether that occurs depends, in large part, on what happens in Austin this summer. NFL officials have no interest … Continue reading →

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Abbott signs texting while driving ban

Posted on June 9, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

That’s the good news. The bad news is that being Greg Abbott, he wants to make it worse. Gov. Greg Abbott on Tuesday signed into law a bill that creates a statewide ban on texting while driving. The measure, authored … Continue reading →

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Abbott calls for special session

Posted on June 7, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

To begin July 18, with a laundry list of wingnut wet dreams. Gov. Greg Abbott on Tuesday called a special session of the Texas Legislature starting July 18 and promised to make it a sweeping one if lawmakers cooperate. Abbott … Continue reading →

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Wisconsin case undermines even the scaled back bathroom bill

Posted on June 4, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Special session or not, this could be a big deal. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit likely just handed the Supreme Court a new case about a transgender student to consider. The Court’s opinion, issued Tuesday, eviscerates … Continue reading →

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More big employers against a bathroom bill

Posted on June 1, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

I don’t know what it will take to get this message to sink in, but it won’t be for lack of trying. The CEOs of 14 top companies, including Facebook, Apple, Microsoft and Amazon, have sent a letter to Gov. … Continue reading →

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Are we headed for a special session?

Posted on May 31, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Maybe. Who knows? We’ll find out soon enough. Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday promised to make an announcement “later this week” on whether he will call a special session. “I can tell you this, and that is when it gets … Continue reading →

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Budget passes

Posted on May 28, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

The Legislature’s one mandated duty has been completed. Both chambers of the Texas Legislature voted Saturday evening to approve a $217 billion, two-year budget that would boost funding for the state’s beleaguered child welfare agency, increase the number of state … Continue reading →

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House will not negotiate on “bathroom bill” amendment

Posted on May 27, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Well, this is it. Refusing to go any further to regulate bathroom use for transgender Texans, House Speaker Joe Straus said on Friday that the House will not appoint members to negotiate with the Senate on its proposed compromise on … Continue reading →

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No special session for redistricting

Posted on May 26, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Buried in my Wednesday post about the SCOTUS ruling that declared North Carolina’s Congressional map to be an illegal gerrymander was a note that the court in the Texas redistricting case asked the state to consider a special session to … Continue reading →

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Amendment focused on school bathrooms passes the House

Posted on May 23, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

I had some hope that we could make it through this session without something like this happening, but clearly we could not. Amid threats of a special legislative session over the “bathroom bill,” the Texas House on Sunday took a … Continue reading →

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Budget deal reached

Posted on May 22, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

The one bill that must get passed is on its way. After months of private squabbling and public threats of a legislative overtime session, the Texas House and Senate finally compromised to unveil a joint budget late Saturday. Lawmakers, scrounging … Continue reading →

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Patrick takes some hostages

Posted on May 18, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

This is what passes for leadership in our state. With deadlines looming, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick on Wednesday threatened to push for a special session of the Legislature to pass a bill to regulate bathroom use for transgender Texans and … Continue reading →

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North Carolina takes a big step backwards on equality

Posted on March 25, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Shameful. Wednesday was a whirlwind day in North Carolina’s government. The legislature convened a special session, a complicated multi-part bill was introduced, it passed through the House and Senate — both Republican controlled — and Gov. Pat McCrory (R) signed … Continue reading →

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Things are tough all over

Posted on February 7, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

HISD faces a big deficit: Houston ISD leaders are bracing for a projected $107 million budget shortfall that, in a worst-case scenario, could prompt the district to slash jobs. During the school board meeting Thursday, however, officials pledged to try … Continue reading →

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School finance ruling expected soon

Posted on October 31, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Hold onto your hats. For decades, the state’s 1,000-plus school districts vied against one another for a bigger piece of the financial pie. Now two-thirds of state districts have joined forces to say the system is unfair because it doesn’t … Continue reading →

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We don’t want to share marriage with those icky gay people

Posted on July 20, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Ed Kilgore detects a new trend. Now that the Christian Right has been reduced to the sputtering defiance of Mike Huckabee and Bobby Jindal or to the sullen silence of many others, one can hope that conservative acceptance of same-sex … Continue reading →

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No special session on same sex marriage

Posted on June 11, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Sorry, wingnuts. Gov. Greg Abbott apparently really meant it when he said last week he will not call a special session of the Legislature. In an interview with San Antonio’s WOAI-AM on Monday, Abbott said calls for a session on … Continue reading →

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Getting ready for the SCOTUS same sex marriage ruling

Posted on June 4, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Travis County is prepped and raring to go. If the U.S. Supreme Court rules that same-sex couples have the right to marry, Travis County Clerk Dana DeBeauvoir plans to be ready. The clerk’s office, which issues and records marriage licenses … Continue reading →

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The fallout from the chubfest

Posted on May 28, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Cleaning up some loose ends…The campus carry bill that was the subject of much chubbing passed on final reading. The battle over “campus carry” is headed back to the Texas Senate after House lawmakers gave final approval Wednesday to legislation … Continue reading →

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House chubfest kills several bad bills

Posted on May 28, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Some good news, though as always at the end of a session, the outcome isn’t clean and the details are very murky. As the clock struck midnight, the failure of an anti-abortion initiative — dear to the hearts of the … Continue reading →

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House passes stricter judicial bypass bill

Posted on May 15, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Unfortunate but expected. After about four hours of debate and a barrage of failed amendments by Democrats, the House passed House Bill 3994 by Republican state Rep. Geanie Morrison of Victoria on a 98-47 vote. The measure would enact several … Continue reading →

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Anti-immigration bills dying on the vine

Posted on April 28, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

I think I’m going to just got to the executive summary at the bottom of this DMN story. AT A GLANCE: WHERE 3 KEY MEASURES STAND 1. Repeal of tuition law: Seeks to change the 2001 law that allows some … Continue reading →

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