Tag Archives: Steve Ogden

Republican former Senators defend anti-majoritarian practices

Posted on February 24, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

I appreciate the spirit in which this was offered, but it’s completely out of touch with reality. The purpose of the 31-member Texas Senate is similar to that of the U.S. Senate: to cool down some of the fevered legislation … Continue reading →

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It’s usually a bad idea to bet on any kind of overhaul in the Lege

Posted on September 25, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

I agree that it’s a sucker’s bet to think that the Lege will try to fix Texas’ tax code in any meaningful way. Nobody likes having to take votes that may later be used as clubs against them in a … Continue reading →

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Calling for a special session

Posted on February 17, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

It started with the Texas State Teachers Association. The Texas State Teachers Association today urged Gov. Rick Perry to call the Legislature into special session now to appropriate $2.5 billion from the Rainy Day Fund and head off another round … Continue reading →

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Senate changes

Posted on October 17, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

I’m not worried about the State Senate becoming more conservative, I’m worried about it becoming more stupid. “A seat in the Texas Senate does not come open very often, and all of a sudden now there are four,” said Sen. … Continue reading →

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Changes will be coming

Posted on September 23, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Robert Miller has a look at who we know won’t be back in the Lege for 2013. It’s a list that’s sure to get longer – I’m aware of a few more rumored retirements, and there’s already numerous primary challenges … Continue reading →

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This is an excellent time to cut funding for fighting wildfires

Posted on September 7, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

That’s exactly what the Republicans did in the budget that came into effect last week. Cash-strapped state lawmakers – led by Gov. Rick Perry’s stand against raising taxes or dipping too deeply into the state rainy day fund – cut … Continue reading →

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Opening bids on the next deficit

Posted on July 12, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Do I hear $7 billion? Ten billion? How about $15 billion? Early projections indicate that when the Legislature convenes in 2013 it could face another revenue shortfall. Not as severe as this year’s $27-billion gap, but still problematic. “I think … Continue reading →

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Fiscal and health care bills pass

Posted on June 28, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s one less reason for a special session. One key budget-related bill, Senate Bill 2, won final approval from both chambers this afternoon and is headed to the governor’s desk. SB 2 is an appropriations bill that goes hand-in-hand with … Continue reading →

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The budget is still broken

Posted on June 27, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

What was true at the beginning of the regular legislative session is still true as the special session winds down: The budget is still broken. Instead of revamping the business tax structure or taking aim at tax exemptions, lawmakers cut … Continue reading →

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Cut education now, pay later?

Posted on June 21, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

That’s the question for Republican legislators, isn’t it? GOP legislators didn’t budge this session from their commitment to reduce Texas’ education spending even in the face of protests, negative ad campaigns and reams of criticism. The outcry didn’t faze them … Continue reading →

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About that Rainy Day fund

Posted on June 7, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Peggy Fikac puts it in perspective. Why are state GOP leaders so firmly against spending more money from the rainy day fund for public education? As some explain with increasing clarity, it’s because budget writers have all but spent it … Continue reading →

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Senate Finance committee does its thing again

Posted on June 4, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

I wouldn’t call the pace of this special session “fast”, but they do have the ball rolling, starting with the Senate Finance committee as they re-approve a budget, or at least a budget figure. The Senate Finance Committee voted 10-1 … Continue reading →

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Vote on school finance today

Posted on May 29, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

On Friday night, the Lege finally reached an agreement on school finance, which is to say on how to distribute the $4 billion in cuts to public education to the school districts. Today the Lege gets to vote on that … Continue reading →

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Budget passes

Posted on May 29, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

It’s official. The Texas House and Senate passed a state budget Saturday that cuts billions from public schools, state universities and health care for the elderly. The $172 billion legislation now goes to Gov. Rick Perry for his signature. Facing … Continue reading →

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We have a budget

Posted on May 26, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Such as it is. Budget negotiators met briefly this morning and voted 9-1 to adopt a conference committee report that cuts the state budget over the next biennium by $15 billion, or 8 percent. The total amount of funding from … Continue reading →

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It’s always been about controlling women

Posted on May 24, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Sadly, there’s nothing new about this. Senate Finance Committee Chair Steve Ogden, R-Bryan, said Monday afternoon that budget negotiators will likely adopt a 2012-13 family planning budget that is “pretty close” to the House’s proposal — $37 million for low-income … Continue reading →

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More on the budget deal

Posted on May 21, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

From the Statesman: The agreement is hinged on the House passing a so-called fiscal matters bill, Senate Bill 1811, that would free up money to help pay for the $3 billion in additional spending to which the House negotiators agreed. … Continue reading →

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Budget deal reached

Posted on May 21, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

One less reason for a special session. Assuming nothing else goes wrong, and Rick Perry doesn’t veto it out of whatever sense of grandeur and vanity drives him. House Speaker Joe Straus indicated legislative negotiators have reached an agreement on … Continue reading →

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House punts on budget bills till tomorrow

Posted on May 18, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

After getting off to a slow start, budget negotiators realized they were going nowhere fast and put a merciful end to things for the day. The House has punted to Thursday any floor consideration of the “non-tax revenue” bill and … Continue reading →

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Combs raises revenue estimate

Posted on May 17, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Looks like Sen. Ogden and his fellow dreamers got their wish. Comptroller Susan Combs added $1.2 billion to her estimate of state revenues, making that much more money available to budget writers who are scrambling for cash. She said the … Continue reading →

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Senate passes supplemental appropriation with extra rainy day funds

Posted on May 17, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

I guess I hadn’t realized that the Senate hadn’t gotten around to passing a bill to close the deficit from the last biennium, since the House had done that a long time ago amid a huge debate about using Rainy … Continue reading →

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Nothing is dead, and nothing is certain

Posted on May 16, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

The deadline for passing House bills on second reading was midnight Friday last week, which means that tons of bills are technically dead, as they can no longer be brought to the House floor for a vote. However, bills can … Continue reading →

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School finance issues holding up budget deal

Posted on May 12, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

News flash: School finance reform is hard. Especially when all it’s doing is taking money away from everyone. The clock is a-tickin’ for Texas lawmakers to cobble together a budget compromise that enacts deep cuts to public education. But with … Continue reading →

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Senate passes its budget

Posted on May 4, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Once the rules were suspended to allow the budget bill CSHB1 to come to the floor, this became a mere formality. The Texas Senate took minutes to tentatively approve a proposed $176.5 billion, two-year state budget Wednesday in a party-line … Continue reading →

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Senate fails to bring the budget to the floor

Posted on May 4, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

It started Monday when Senate Finance Chair Sen. Steve Ogden said he might pull same Rainy Day funds out of the budget in order to get more Republican (read: Dan Patrick) support for it. After some discussion about alternate ways … Continue reading →

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Senate makes progress on the budget

Posted on May 1, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

They still haven’t gotten to the actual budget yet, but they’ve passed a bill that allows for some extra “non-tax revenue” plus a bunch of accounting gimmicks, which makes their less-penurious-than-the-House budget possible. The Texas Senate, digging publicly for money … Continue reading →

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Dewhurst flips, then flops, on using rainy day funds

Posted on April 28, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

First he says he’s against it. [Lt. Gov. David] Dewhurst sounded supportive of the overall level of spending in the Senate plan, but voiced a preference for using what he calls nontax revenue items instead of the rainy day fund. … Continue reading →

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Senate Finance Committee passes its budget

Posted on April 22, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

The fight over the Rainy Day Fund is now officially on. A $176.5 billion budget for the 2012-13 biennium — 5.9 percent smaller than the current budget but almost $12 billion larger than the version passed earlier by the House … Continue reading →

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Is it time to fix school finance?

Posted on April 21, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

It’s pretty much always time to fix school finance, since school finance is always broken, so here goes the Senate. Maybe. State Senate leaders want to end the much-despised public education funding system by 2017, although they disagree on how … Continue reading →

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House approves a little more money, Senate readies its budget

Posted on April 20, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Just a little. Texas House budget-writers voted Monday to free up an additional $3 billion for key state services through such moves as speeding up tax collections, delaying payments and suspending the back-to-school sales tax holiday. The bills next go … Continue reading →

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Here comes the Senate budget

Posted on April 18, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

We know that the Senate budget will spend more money than the House budget, not that this is a high bar to clear. We know that the Senate has searched high and low for the funds to support the higher … Continue reading →

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When you find yourself in a hole, go ahead and keep digging

Posted on April 15, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

So Texas has this big budget shortfall. You’ve probably heard about it. A big part of that shortfall is structural, thanks to the 2006 property tax cut that was supposed to be funded primarily by the business margins tax. Unfortunately, … Continue reading →

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The House finds a few extra bucks

Posted on April 10, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Where has this been all along? State Rep. Rob Orr, R-Burleson, introduced two bills to the House Appropriations Committee that could add several million dollars to the public schools budget over the next two years. HB 2646 proposes allowing the … Continue reading →

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Tax breaks are spending, too

Posted on April 7, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Let’s see who among the “we have to live within our means” crowd opposes this. Faced with a looming budget shortfall, the Senate’s most powerful member is carrying legislation that would cap state spending on school property tax breaks that … Continue reading →

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