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August 21, 2017 5:44 PM
Any possible attempt by Abbott to seek retribution against rank and file House members would be random and out of spite by a governor who has not learned to govern
After nearly a solid week
of non-stop broadside attacks on Texas House Republicans by Gov. Greg Abbott, a common refrain we’ve
heard at Buzz Central from lawmakers and the lobby goes something like
this: “Is this just posturing or is he seriously going to pick targets in the primaries?”
Make no mistake, Abbott is
already effectively targeting all Republican
members who unanimously voted to elect Speaker Joe Straus in January and similarly all gave their presiding
officer a standing ovation at the House GOP Caucus meeting last week
at the behest of Rep. Matt Schaefer,
Chairman of the Freedom Caucus, who thanked Straus for his years of service.
When Abbott was profiled
by Texas
Monthly in October of 2013, the cover story
began by highlighting his skills with a 12-gauge shotgun. The metaphor is
perhaps even more appropriate now, given his scattershot approach to
politically threatening members of his own party.
The rest of the story, subscribers only
By Scott Braddock
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Copyright August 21, 2017, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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August 21, 2017 5:41 PM
Click the Press Releases button above for the latest
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Copyright August 21, 2017, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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August 21, 2017 2:58 PM
"...Dukes, who has already found a replacement lawyer, told the judge she opposed her attorneys leaving the case."
The
latest coverage of the case from the Austin
American-Statesman is here.
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Copyright August 21, 2017, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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August 18, 2017 5:03 PM
From a former Austin Mayor Pro Tem to an openly gay former Republican, this race will have it all
A
startup founder, an immigration lawyer, a former Austin City Council
member, an openly gay former Republican, and a Manor ISD board member
are all part of the lineup challenging Rep. Dawnna Dukes, D-Austin, for the Texas House seat she’ occupied since
1996, following a legislative session in which she missed more than 921 votes.
Dukes
has been indicted on 13 counts of tampering with a governmental record and two
charges of abuse of official capacity by a public servant. After letting an
offer expire from the Travis County District Attorney’s Office
earlier this month that would have dropped the charges against her on the
condition that she resign, paid $3,500, and underwent an alcohol and drug
assessment, the future status of the House seat is unclear.
In
the most populated democratic primary for HD 46 since she has been a House
member, at least half a dozen candidates have stepped up to challenge Dukes.
The rest of the story, subscribers only
By Lyanne A. Guarecuco
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Copyright August 18, 2017, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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August 18, 2017 5:01 PM
In a legal filing today, the deadline for a decision from the AG, Paxton's office notified the court that the case is heading to the SCOTUS
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Copyright August 18, 2017, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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August 18, 2017 5:00 PM
In email to supporters, Abbott's campaign says "Rather than work on issues important to Texans, they chose to engage in political theater and showboat on items far outside the Governor's agenda." The items the House "showboated" on, of course, included school finance and life-saving therapies for disabled children.
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Copyright August 18, 2017, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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August 18, 2017 4:58 PM
Decision clears the decks for a Huffines Caucus in the Texas Senate
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Copyright August 18, 2017, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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August 18, 2017 4:48 PM
Protecting the anonymity of minors “needed to be assured” and nothing in the bill would allow anyone outside the court system to pinpoint the particular judge or child, although some worry about recording a date of birth
The final result of the special
session’s judicial bypass bill for minors is a tentative compromise between the
two sides of the abortion debate, neither of which necessarily trusts the
other.
The US Supreme Court has decided a child
who finds herself pregnant can bypass parental permission by seeking a judicial
bypass through the courts. Two years ago, lawmakers reformed the judicial
bypass process in House
Bill 3994, requiring verification of age by doctors, giving judges
more tools and time for decisions and requiring the court clerk to retain
records.
That’s how we now know 174 judicial
bypass cases were filed in 2016. Forty percent of those cases were filed in
Houston. A total of 133 cases were granted, and only 4 cases were dismissed.
And seven regions of the state, divided by courts of appeal, had fewer than 4
cases.
But pro-life advocates saw loopholes in the process.
The rest of the story, subscribers only
By Kimberly Reeves
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Copyright August 18, 2017, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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August 18, 2017 4:43 PM
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Copyright August 18, 2017, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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August 18, 2017 4:41 PM
Reynolds tells QR he is looking for other opportunities now around the Texas Capitol
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Copyright August 18, 2017, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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August 18, 2017 4:41 PM
"It is an honor to serve West Texas families and businesses that provide the fuel, food, and fiber to Texas and the nation...I'm proud of the groundwork we laid this session to advance significant school finance reform to reduce Robin Hood and ensure local property taxes are not diverted to other areas of the state budget."
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Copyright August 18, 2017, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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August 18, 2017 12:04 PM
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Copyright August 18, 2017, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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August 17, 2017 6:04 PM
Abbott suggests he will take a pass on a second special session
Plaintiffs in the current redistricting challenge are
drafting a new Congressional map to take to a three-judge panel in September, a
move it now appears will be challenged by the state.
Comments from Gov. Greg
Abbott would indicate the state will bypass a second special session and,
once more, play defense on redistricting challenges.
In an interview with KXAN, Abbott talked about appealing
the decision of the court.
The rest of the story, subscribers only
By Kimberly Reeves
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Copyright August 17, 2017, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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August 17, 2017 6:02 PM
Click the Press Releases button above for the latest
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Copyright August 17, 2017, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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August 16, 2017 10:24 AM
“If we had held the vote today, Speaker Straus would have been overwhelmingly re-elected,” said a Republican member in attendance
Roughly
80 members of the Texas House Republican Caucus met for about two hours Wednesday
morning and talked about the procedures for choosing the Speaker. Speaker Joe Straus
was in attendance and only described the talks as positive.
Despite
social media posts this morning and over the last week describing the meeting
as a referendum on the speaker’s performance, Republicans who were in attendance
told Quorum
Report that the meeting was, in many ways, a “love fest” for the
speaker and “If we had held the vote today, Speaker Straus would have been
overwhelmingly re-elected.”
By Scott Braddock
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Copyright August 16, 2017, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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August 15, 2017 9:53 PM
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Copyright August 15, 2017, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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August 15, 2017 9:46 PM
Abbott's spokesman John Wittman tells KXAN's Phil Prazan that "Our office believes this special session has produced a far better Texas than before."
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Copyright August 15, 2017, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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August 15, 2017 8:58 PM
"We're going to fight another day," Bettencourt said. "I hope the governor calls us back at soon as possible."
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Copyright August 15, 2017, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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August 15, 2017 7:32 PM
Final questions of the special center on whether Patrick wants to declare a substantive victory and whether Abbott has internalized the damage he’s done to his own ability to govern
Now
that the Texas House has adjourned sine die, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick is on the spot as to
whether he will declare a substantive victory in his decades-long crusade
against local governments and accept the fact that he’s won on his signature
issue: He has now successfully forced an automatic rollback rate for cities and
counties through both legislative chambers.
Yes,
Patrick prefers 4 percent. But the law now includes no automatic rollback rate
and only the ability to petition for an election at 8 percent. That’s the same
as it was when Patrick first loaded people on buses in Houston and brought them
to the Capitol to voice their outrage about property taxes way back
when he was only a radio talk show host.
The
chatter in the lobby just before Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dennis
Bonnen took to the mic this evening was that “Senate
Bill 1 is dead.”
Bonnen, however, told his colleagues he was not asking for
House conferees to be appointed because he wanted to save the bill. "I'm
trying to keep the bill alive," Chair Bonnen
said. "If we appointed conferees now it would kill the bill because we are
out of time."
The
question of timing might be up for debate.
There
is no doubt, though, that the Senate could simply discharge its conferees –
which include no Democrats and only anti-local government crusaders – and Sen. Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston, could move
to concur on House changes to the property tax bill.
The rest of the story, subscribers only
By Scott Braddock
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Copyright August 15, 2017, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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August 15, 2017 6:52 PM
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Copyright August 15, 2017, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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August 15, 2017 6:47 PM
"I'm trying to keep the bill alive," Chair Bonnen said. "If we appointed conferees now it would kill the bill because we are out of time."
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Copyright August 15, 2017, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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August 15, 2017 6:27 PM
Vote on HB 21 was 94 to 46; vote on HB 30 was 118 to 24
Although
they were unsatisfied with the version of HB 21 that came back from the Senate,
House
members ultimately voted in favor of the temporary fix for the state’s
school finance system with a 94-46 vote.
“To
say I’m disappointed is an understatement,” said Chairman Dan Huberty, R-Kingwood, as he asked for
concurrence on Senate changes to HB 21. Huberty asked
members to vote for the bill because it was “the right thing to do,” even
though several aspects of the bill differed from House’s original version.
The
biggest of these changes is the primary source of funding: deferral of managed
care payment, proposed by the Senate, as opposed to using the Economic
Stabilization Fund, which the House had approved prior to sending the
bill to the Senate.
The rest of the story, subscribers only
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Copyright August 15, 2017, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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August 15, 2017 6:02 PM
Paxton has three days to declare whether the state intends to offer a legislative fix
A three-judge federal panel has offered up an ultimatum on
the Texas
Congressional maps: Decide to fix CD 27 and 35 now or we’ll meet in
September and fix it for you.
Today’s decision only addresses Congressional maps, and it is
a clear message the court is serious about fixing before candidates file for
primary races in December.
The rest of the story, subscribers only
By Kimberly Reeves
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Copyright August 15, 2017, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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August 15, 2017 5:16 PM
That's Doggett and Farenthold
Check
out the ruling by
clicking here.
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Copyright August 15, 2017, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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August 15, 2017 5:05 PM
119-23 was the vote
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Copyright August 15, 2017, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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August 15, 2017 5:03 PM
Click the Press Releases button above for the latest
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Copyright August 15, 2017, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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August 15, 2017 9:05 AM
It will be at the Reagan building in JHR 120, per email from Chair Tan Parker
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Copyright August 15, 2017, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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August 15, 2017 12:48 AM
Final vote on HB 30 was 25 to 6; final vote on HB 30 was 26 to 5
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Copyright August 15, 2017, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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August 15, 2017 12:35 AM
Conferees are Bettencourt, Buckingham, Creighton, Hancock and Taylor of Collin
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Copyright August 15, 2017, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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August 15, 2017 12:31 AM
Straus had returned HB 7 to the Senate saying amendments related to regulations in ETJs and dealing with certain sized trees were not germane. Senators stripped out those provisions and sent it back to the House
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Copyright August 15, 2017, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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August 14, 2017 10:56 PM
Vote was 25 to 6 on HB21 and 26 to 5 on HB 30 on second reading
The special session’s school finance bills made it to the
floor of the Texas Senate on Monday night and the ragged edges of continuing
negotiations were evident.
Sen. Larry Taylor,
R-Friendswood, admitted some aspects of negotiations were ongoing, but that the
House had agreed to consider using a deferral of a managed care payment to
finance what may end up being a short-term finance fix and funds to shore up TRS-Care.
Privately, House members said Speaker Joe Straus, R-San Antonio, was reticent to put the funding
mechanism on the table, for fear it would put more stress on a state health
care system already strained by funding cuts. No doubt the Senate’s refusal to
restore cuts to critical therapy services during the regular session would be
on the minds of the House leadership.
The rest of the story, subscribers only
By Kimberly Reeves
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Copyright August 14, 2017, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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August 14, 2017 5:54 PM
The Senate has yet to act on HB 21 and HB 30
Earlier
in the day, Rep. Dennis Bonnen, R-Angleton, shook off Tea Party objections that
the House wasn’t being tough enough in Senate Bill 1, the property tax
bill, sticking to the 6 percent rollback rate and adding appraisal district
reform, House Bill 32, to the bill.
That
property tax bill was a must-get for both Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Gov. Greg
Abbott. It was followed by Sen. Larry
Taylor’s ask: an interim school finance commission. The commission’s chief
opponent, Rep. Dan Huberty,
R-Kingwood, made sure an exchange that linked SB 1 and HB 21 was reduced to
writing and added to the journal.
The rest of the story, subscribers only
By Kimberly Reeves
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Copyright August 14, 2017, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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August 14, 2017 4:56 PM
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Copyright August 14, 2017, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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August 14, 2017 3:30 PM
Over objections of Freedom Caucus, leadership muscles through the bill on third reading with 6% rollback rate intact
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Copyright August 14, 2017, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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August 14, 2017 3:29 PM
“We call upon the Texas A&M system and university administrators, and all of our state leadership, students, alumni, to unequivocally denounce and fight against these violent groups and their venom…”
Texas House members gathered around Representative Helen
Giddings, D-DeSoto, on Monday afternoon to condemn the white supremacist
group violently protesting in Charlottesville, Virginia this past weekend.
Heather Heyer, a 32-year-old woman protesting the white supremacist
group, died when a car plowed through a crowd of counter-protesters, killing
her and injuring at least 19 other people. Two Virginia state troopers who were
monitoring the riots, H. Jay Cullen and Berke Bates, also died
when their helicopter crashed on Saturday evening.
Rep. Giddings also called
on Texas A&M University to denounce an upcoming white
supremacist rally scheduled to take place in College Station on September 11.
Rep. Paul Workman, R-Austin, said he and other TAMU alums plan to send
TAMU a letter urging them to ban the white supremacist rally.
The rest of the story, subscribers only
By Lyanne A. Guarecuco
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Copyright August 14, 2017, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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August 14, 2017 2:28 PM
Under the rule, the Senate's proposed teacher pay raises would be out of order; only amendments allowed will be those that reduce the cost of the plan. Vote on the calendar rule was 86 to 45
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Copyright August 14, 2017, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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