Tag Archives: Valoree Swanson

The facts about Colony Ridge (that Greg Abbott and the other Republicans will ignore)

Posted on October 8, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

What the Liberty County Sheriff says: On a Sunday evening before Labor Day, Liberty County Sheriff’s Cpl. Robert Whitesel maneuvered his patrol car through the sprawling development known as Colony Ridge, humming along to a Guns N’ Roses power ballad. … Continue reading →

Posted in La Migra, That's our Lege | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

House impeaches Paxton

Posted on May 28, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

For the third time in as many days, I say Wow. In a history-making late-afternoon vote, a divided Texas House chose Saturday to impeach Attorney General Ken Paxton, temporarily removing him from office over allegations of misconduct that included bribery … Continue reading →

Posted in Scandalized!, That's our Lege | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Where we are on the agenda

Posted on February 16, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Greg Abbott targets transgender college sports ban. Gov. Greg Abbott wants to ban transgender college students from competing on sports teams that align with their gender identity, adding momentum to a Republican proposal that’s condemned by LGBTQ advocates and progressive … Continue reading →

Posted in That's our Lege | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Where we are on the agenda

Endorsement watch: Bess and Benton

Posted on February 11, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

The Chron finally addresses one of the higher-profile local primaries, and endorses Danielle Bess in HD147. Democrats have to make a choice about how they want to put up a fight in the Texas Legislature. In 2020, the party mounted … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2022 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Endorsement watch: Bess and Benton

House passes anti-trans sports bill

Posted on October 16, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Disgraceful. The Texas House approved legislation on Thursday that would restrict transgender student athlete participation in school sports, clearing a notable hurdle for supporters of the measure after similar legislation sailed through the Senate and stalled in the House three … Continue reading →

Posted in That's our Lege | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

House committee advances anti-trans sports bill

Posted on October 8, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

They finally found a path to pass it. They sure put plenty of energy into it. A Texas bill prohibiting transgender student athletes from joining school sports teams aligned with their gender identity is heading to the full Texas House, … Continue reading →

Posted in That's our Lege | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

The Texas/Georgia comparison

Posted on April 17, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

The main thrust of this story is that the Texas voter suppression bills are not as bad as the law Georgia passed. But as you can see, these laws are still Very Bad. After major corporations criticized Georgia for adopting … Continue reading →

Posted in That's our Lege | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on The Texas/Georgia comparison

It’s not a legislative session without an attack on transgender rights

Posted on February 3, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

They’re targeting kids, because of course they are. Texas Republicans are again trying to limit the ways transgender youth can participate in athletics. Lawmakers have filed legislation that would ban transgender girls and women who attend public K-12 schools, colleges … Continue reading →

Posted in That's our Lege | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

The Republican war against Harris County

Posted on January 9, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

To be fair, it’s not just Harris County that’s in the crosshairs, it’s the big urban counties, and cities in general. But it’s real and it’s dangerous and it’s anti-democratic. Republicans in the Texas Legislature are gearing up to bar … Continue reading →

Posted in That's our Lege | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Our nanny state and vote by mail applications

Posted on November 23, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Sen. Paul Bettencourt purses his lips and wags his finger and is very disappointed in your county government. Republican state lawmakers have filed bills to codify the Texas Supreme Court decision that blocked Harris County from sending mail ballot applications … Continue reading →

Posted in That's our Lege | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Day One of reopening

Posted on May 2, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Just a reminder, this is where we started. Texas reported 50 more COVID-19 deaths on Thursday, the most in any one day since the state reported its first deaths in mid-March. The state also reported it had added more than … Continue reading →

Posted in The great state of Texas | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 13 Comments

January 2020 campaign finance reports: State House, part 1

Posted on January 25, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

I’m going to take a two-part look at the finance reports in State House districts. Part One will be from Harris County, looking at both contested primaries and contested November races. Part Two will focus on races in the counties … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2020 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

So what’s happening with SB9, the vote suppression bill?

Posted on May 17, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

The big House committee hearing was on Wednesday. Filed in early March, Senate Bill 9 by Republican state Sen. Bryan Hughes emerged as a priority for Senate leadership and first appeared to seize on bipartisan support for modernizing outdated voting … Continue reading →

Posted in That's our Lege | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

An early look at bills about voting

Posted on December 14, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

From the Texas Civil Rights Project. Below are some bills to keep an eye on going forward. SB74: Slashing early voting by seven days In 2018, early voting in Texas surged, with over 4,514,000 Texans casting in-person ballots. To paraphrase more festive … Continue reading →

Posted in That's our Lege | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Endorsement watch: A veritable plethora, part 5

Posted on February 24, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

Part 1 is here, part 2 is here, part 3 is here, part 4 is here and the full endorsements page is here. We finish with the Republican races with challenged incumbents. And the first thing to note is the … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2018 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Endorsement watch: A veritable plethora, part 5

Bathroom bill 2.0

Posted on April 15, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Beware. House lawmakers will debate a so-called “bathroom bill” next week that supporters hope will be less worrisome to business interests concerned the measure could hurt the Texas economy. The decision to debate the House bill, and to set aside a more severe version passed … Continue reading →

Posted in That's our Lege | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments