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November 24, 2020 4:37 PM
The health plans push back, saying the proposals would “do nothing to remove the regulatory barriers that everyone says they do”; supporters of the legislation say “doctors deserve to be paid for their services,” plain and simple
Two bills filed in the Texas
House would expand insurance coverage to mental health providers and
require full reimbursement for telehealth services. Rep. Julie Johnson,
D-Dallas, authored HB 522. Rep. Tom Oliverson,
R-Houston, authored HB 515.
The identical bills would
require insurance plans to pay the same rate for telemedicine services as they
do for in-person sessions, also known as pay parity.
The rest of the story, subscribers only
By James Russell
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Copyright November 24, 2020, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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November 23, 2020 5:13 PM
Rep. Joe Moody,
D-El Paso, opened the virtual Texas Marijuana Policy Conference with
his own conversion story. Moody was an El Paso prosecutor when he joined the Texas
Legislature in 2013.
“I was an assistant
district attorney,” Moody told conference attendees. “I’ve put people behind
bars for marijuana possession.”
But the words of one of
his constituents – someone who gave him a real-life look into his world –
convinced Moody to switch sides.
The rest of the story, subscribers only
By Kimberly Reeves
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Copyright November 23, 2020, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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November 23, 2020 4:23 PM
The latest via
Bloomberg News:
The U.S. Supreme
Court turned away a bid by Walmart Inc. to start selling
liquor at its Texas stores, leaving intact for now a state law that bars such
retail sales by publicly owned companies. The rebuff, which came without
comment, sends Walmart’s challenge back to a federal trial court, where the
world’s largest retailer will have to show that Texas is intentionally
discriminating against out-of-state commerce with the 1995 ban.
Walmart said it shouldn’t have to show intentional discrimination because the
Texas law has the effect of excluding virtually all out-of-state retailers,
violating the Constitution. The company says 98% of liquor stores in the state
are wholly owned by Texans. The ban “operates to block anyone in a position to
compete with Texans in the retail liquor market from doing so,” Walmart argued
in its unsuccessful appeal.
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Copyright November 23, 2020, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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November 23, 2020 10:38 AM
In this opinion piece, Houston GOP activist Mark McCaig argues the Republican Party can win in South Texas if real work is done there, not just the photo ops embraced by Texas GOP Chairman Allen West
The historic gains made by
President Trump and other Republicans in the Rio Grande Valley has been
one of the most widely reported stories to come out of the recent election.
While President Trump outperformed other Republicans in this region, the
coattails of his success were experienced in other races as well.
For example, Monica de
la Cruz Hernandez came within less than three points of achieving a
monumental upset against incumbent Congressman Vicente Gonzalez in a district
anchored in Hidalgo County. Additionally, Republicans picked up two seats on
the 13th Court of Appeals that had been held by Democrats.
While unexpected by many,
the success of Republicans in the Rio Grande Valley should come as no surprise.
Culturally, the Rio Grande Valley is similar in many respects to the rural
regions of Texas that are now the backbone of Republican dominance in Texas
despite having been Democratic strongholds a few decades ago.
The rest of the story, subscribers only
By Mark McCaig
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Copyright November 23, 2020, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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November 20, 2020 10:20 AM
Lobby power moves, shuffling the staffer deck ahead of session, and a fond farewell to a scribe
A week of online and in-person
gatherings is in the rear-view mirror now.
The Texas House GOP
Caucus retreat had good attendance, I’m told,
at Barton Creek on Thursday and unlike last year it’s been pretty much drama
free. It was good to see folks at the East Dallas Chamber of Commerce
virtual luncheon and the Texas Watch online gala earlier in the
week headlined by Matthew Dowd. Some guy named Braddock was the warmup
act.
Many of you seem to be in
holiday mode already, taking this week or last week off. Everyone could use a
breather even if you don’t go anywhere. Here are Buzz
Central, we will sort of be in holiday mode next week, but news updates
will keep coming your way as warranted. The News Clips will be
off Thursday and Friday of next week, returning the following Sunday.
Meantime there are career
moves to tell you about, of course. You can let the Texas Capitol
community know what’s up anytime by sending your moves – or the ones you heard
about – to ksbraddock@gmail.com and
use POTM in the subject line.
Here’s the pre-Thanksgiving edition of People on the Move.
The rest of the story, subscribers only
By Scott Braddock
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Copyright November 20, 2020, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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November 19, 2020 5:38 PM
“There’s an overestimation as to exactly what a shutdown will achieve, and there’s a misunderstanding about what a shutdown will not achieve…if you lock people down, and try to prevent any movement whatsoever, there are now known severe medical consequences of that.”
Gov. Greg Abbott
has rejected the call for stricter lockdown measures in Texas, even as he touts
new COVID-19 remedies in Texas and calls for caution in gathering as the
Thanksgiving holidays approach.
The rest of the story, subscribers only
By Kimberly Reeves
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Copyright November 19, 2020, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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November 18, 2020 8:34 PM
“There is no scenario where the Latino electorate costs Dems anything…however, there is a lot to unpack.”
Mexican American Legislative Caucus Chairman
Rafael AnchÃa wanted to make a few things
clear during an event hosted by the caucus today.
The first point was that no one on the five-person panel,
held virtually, would use the word “monolithic” to describe the Latino
community. “We're making a swear jar for anyone who uses the term ‘monolith,’” Chair
Anchia said. “In Texas, projections show that 2.2 million Latinos voted in the
presidential election with approximately 67 percent voting for Vice President Biden
and 31 percent voting for President Trump.”
The second thing was that the panel would use the word “Latino”
somewhat cautiously. Why’s that?
The rest of the story, subscribers only
By James Russell
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Copyright November 18, 2020, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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November 18, 2020 3:09 PM
Morath and Abbott hold firm while members write: “At most, any administration of the STAAR exam during the 2020-2021 school year should only serve as a diagnostic instrument to see where our students stand academically as opposed to an assessment instrument to determine district and campus sanctions under the current A-F accountability system.”
Texas Education Commissioner
Mike Morath is getting the pressure from all sides – House
lawmakers, teacher groups and even State Board of Education
members – but continues to hold firm on the idea that accountability can happen
this year, even under some unspecified modified format.
The rest of the story, subscribers only
By Kimberly Reeves
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Copyright November 18, 2020, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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November 18, 2020 8:33 AM
The
news from KVIA TV in El Paso:
The victims in a weekend
shooting at a central El Paso home have been identified,
both were lawyers who worked for the Texas Attorney General's Office.
Georgette Kaufman was shot and killed, while her husband 47-year-old Daniel
Kaufman remained hospitalized Tuesday in stable condition but was expected
to recover.
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Copyright November 18, 2020, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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November 17, 2020 8:36 PM
Two sources tell Associated Press the bureau is looking into allegations made by former top AG stuff
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Copyright November 17, 2020, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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November 17, 2020 4:43 PM
The posting for the meeting says they received a complaint under House Rule 15, which is about workplace harassment
The meeting will be held in Dallas. Here is the committee
posting. Of course, these proceedings are confidential.
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Copyright November 17, 2020, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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November 17, 2020 4:40 PM
Some funding adjustments took more money than expected; some took less. The gains and losses were fairly even until it came to formula transition grants
The cost of protecting House
Bill 3 – the massive school finance and tax relief law passed last
session – appears to have grown significantly in the first year of
implementation.
The rough
back-of-the-napkin estimate, from the materials presented by Education Commissioner
Mike Morath to the Texas Senate Education Committee, would
suggest the bill has cost the state $351 million more than projected.
Before we get to that
additional cost, let’s tie down some specifics Morath
mentioned as he attempted to outline progress on House Bill 3:
The rest of the story, subscribers only
By Kimberly Reeves
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Copyright November 17, 2020, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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November 17, 2020 4:37 PM
“Unfortunately, I know a little something about being falsely accused and being forced to counter allegations that are the result of overreach by prosecutors and law enforcement,” Paxton said in a statement to the Statesman
From the
report by Tony Plohetski and Chuck
Lindell:
Paxton’s relationship with
investor Nate Paul — including his decision to hire an outside
prosecutor to investigate Paul’s claims — is at the center of allegations that
Paxton improperly worked on Paul’s behalf.
“I make no apologies for
being a fierce investigator and defender of individual rights in the face of
potentially unreasonable and authoritarian actions,” Paxton wrote. “Doing so is
not favoritism. It is doing what the people of Texas expect from every law
enforcement agency, their attorney general, and the staff of this office.”
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Copyright November 17, 2020, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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