Tag Archives: chubbing

Anti-trans sports bill dies

Posted on May 27, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Good news, with the usual caveats. A controversial Texas bill that would restrict the participation of transgender student athletes in school sports ran out of time for consideration in the House as the lower chamber hit a crucial deadline Tuesday night for … Continue reading →

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SB9 clears House committee

Posted on May 18, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Let the stalling tactics begin! The House Elections Committee voted Friday to advance a controversial election bill, setting up a race to get it onto the full chamber’s agenda ahead of bill-killing deadlines that start this weekend. The committee approved … 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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Bell’s anti-marriage bill goes down

Posted on May 16, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

From the inbox, a celebration of victory: Civil liberties and LGBT rights groups tonight are hailing the failure by the Texas House of Representatives to pass HB 4105, which would bar the state from granting, enforcing or recognizing marriage licenses … Continue reading →

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Keep yapping, Leo

Posted on June 23, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Blah blah blah. State Rep. Leo Berman said House Speaker Joe Straus’ ascent to the position was a “sham” based on promises to House Democrats and vowed he would offer the opposing party no leeway if elected Speaker next session. … Continue reading →

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More renewable energy coming?

Posted on March 31, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

If the PUC says so. The Public Utility Commission is mulling a shot in the arm to the renewables industry, as it is to energy efficiency. Sometime after a March 31 public workshop, the commission is expected to put forward … Continue reading →

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Buckle up back there

Posted on August 24, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Texas’ seat belt law is about to change. Texas law already requires buckling up in the front seat, and starting Sept. 1, it’ll be the law to do so in the back seat, too. The change affects people 17 and … Continue reading →

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HPOU touts its opposition to eyewitness ID reform

Posted on July 23, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s a clip from the Houston Police Officers’ Union publication, Badge and Gun (June/July 2009 issue), written by HPOU President Gary Blankinship, detailing how HPOU successfully helped lead the fight against a couple of bills by State Sen. Rodney Ellis … Continue reading →

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That’s a wrap for the special session

Posted on July 2, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

I don’t know if it’s a record, but a little more than 30 hours after they gaveled in yesterday, both chambers adjourned sine die today, bringing the blink-and-you’ll-miss-it special session to a close. As noted yesterday, the two bills deemed … Continue reading →

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Solar on the special agenda?

Posted on June 18, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

I have somewhat mixed feelings about this. State Sen. Troy Fraser, R-Horseshoe Bay, said Tuesday that he’s put in a request for several measures, including a bill to improve accountability at member-owned utilities, to be part of an upcoming special … Continue reading →

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TxDOT lives, Lege adjourns

Posted on June 1, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

The threat of a special session has been averted…we think. The House just voted to work the Legislature out of a jam by keeping open the Texas Department of Transportation and other state agencies at risk of closing. Members needed … Continue reading →

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The lack of leadership

Posted on May 31, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

State Sen. John Carona gets medieval on his party’s leadership. Tempers flared Saturday on the Legislature’s last weekend with a key GOP senator declaring that the session’s central theme is “lack of leadership” by top members of his own party. … 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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Senate passes windstorm bill

Posted on May 28, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

The one bill that has been expressly mentioned as a reason for a special session if it doesn’t get done is SB14, the windstorm insurance bill. It was a chubbing victim on Tuesday, but on Wednesday it was revived by … Continue reading →

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Unemployment insurance dies, CHIP lives

Posted on May 28, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Not unexpectedly, SB1569 was a casualty of the weekend chubfest. Also not surprisingly, it was basically chubbed by Republicans, who wanted to ensure its death as the local and consent calendar was finally finished up a little before the midnight … Continue reading →

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The state of solar power

Posted on May 27, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

The Chron has a feature story on efforts to ramp up solar power in Texas. [S]olar advocates say the right legislation could do the wind industry’s success one better. One approach, incentives to install solar panels on homes and businesses, … Continue reading →

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And so the chubbing comes to an end

Posted on May 26, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

So, as far as I know at this point, SB362 is dead, other bills may or may not be dead, and some semblance of normality will return to the House for the remaining days of the session. After seeing so … Continue reading →

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The last day of chubbing

Posted on May 25, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

So tomorrow night at midnight is the deadline for the House to approve Senate bills on second reading, which means that as long as the Democrats can keep the chubfest going, SB362 will die. Modulo any attempt to graft it … Continue reading →

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Perry’s salvage job

Posted on May 25, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

How can you tell that sine die is approaching? Governor Perry starts getting involved in the legislative process. Perhaps state lawmakers are fatigued by Gov. Rick Perry’s long tenure or maybe they’re just balking at his leadership, but the Republican-led … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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Where things stand in the House

Posted on May 23, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

So after yesterday’s chubathon, which lasted till one AM, there are still a bunch of local and consent bills to be dealt with. After that, there are still more bills to go before the House could get to today’s calendar, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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Chubbing

Posted on May 22, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

That’s the word of the day, as the Democrats use up most of the ten-minute allotment for discussion of bills on the Local and Consent calendar in order to delay, hopefully to death, the voter ID bill SB362. It’s not … Continue reading →

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