|
April 15, 2014 9:23 PM
Patrick: "I'm the only candidate the Democrats fear." Castro: "Actually you're our meal ticket back in."
In an hour-long exchange that shed nearly zero light on policy but did give
both sides plenty of heat to try to exploit with various constituencies, Sen. Dan Patrick and San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro talked past each other in
perhaps the oddest debate we've seen since Patrick debated another elected
official he wasn't running against. But, the two did earn plenty of applause
from a small audience in Univision’s studios in the Alamo
City.
QR readers will remember that Sen. Patrick
similarly debated State Board of Education Vice Chairman Thomas Ratliff in Tyler about an issue that, like immigration, had inflamed
some on the right: The CSCOPE lesson plans that had
been criticized as “un-American” by some but that educators have said are a
necessary tool. That, of course, is a fringe issue compared to immigration and border security, which will shape the state's economy and political reality for decades to come.
In
Tuesday night’s debate in San Antonio, Sen. Patrick started off by saying he is
compassionate and added that it should concern Democrats like Castro to see
women being raped by those engaged in human smuggling and to likewise see communities
savaged by those in the drug trade.
"You
can get emotional about this and political about this, but your job is to
protect the safety of the city," Patrick said. The frontrunner for the GOP
Lite Guv nomination faulted members of both parties in Washington for not
acting on immigration reform. He said that if legal immigration was expanded
and the border was secured, “illegal immigration would stop.”
"Texas
is not being invaded by Mexico," Castro said and pointed out that the US
Senate has already passed a bipartisan bill to address both border
security as well as create a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants
who earn it.
The rest of the story, subscribers only
By Scott Braddock
|
|
Copyright April 15, 2014, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
|
|
|
|
|
|
April 15, 2014 5:52 PM
The link to watch live right at 6pm via the Houston Chronicle is
here.
|
|
Copyright April 15, 2014, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
|
|
|
|
|
|
April 15, 2014 5:32 PM
|
|
Copyright April 15, 2014, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
|
|
|
|
|
|
April 15, 2014 1:19 PM
Patrick leads Van de Putte by 16
The summary for Public Policy Polling can be found here.
|
|
Copyright April 15, 2014, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
|
|
|
|
|
|
April 14, 2014 5:21 PM
Battleground says they knocked over 55,000 doors; RPT chair says it’s not possible and irrelevant
The head of Battleground Texas and the chairman
of the Republican Party of Texas each had harsh words for the other
about their respective voter outreach efforts on Monday.
There has, of course, been a lot of chatter about how
much difference it will make in the governor’s race between Democratic Sen. Wendy Davis and Republican AG Greg Abbott to have Battleground here working
to create Democratic political infrastructure, which has been on par with water and transportation infrastructure in Afghanistan. For now, they seem to be
making some inroads.
In an email to supporters, Battleground’s executive
director Jenn Brown said the RPT
had promised to knock on 60,000 doors in March, but ended up doing 10,000
instead. "They fell 50,000 doors short," Brown said. "While
enthusiasm is waning for Republicans, it's never been higher for us. That same
week, we set a goal of 100,000 phone calls for Wendy -- and made 145,287."
Brown said "the GOP is no longer the only game in
Texas. We're proving every day that our grassroots volunteers are a force to be
reckoned with." Battleground volunteers set out with the goal of knocking
on 48,000 doors this past weekend and ended up with a total of over 55,000,
Brown said.
The head of the majority party dismissed Brown’s claim
out of hand.
The rest of the story, subscribers only
By Scott Braddock
|
|
Copyright April 14, 2014, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
|
|
|
|
|
|
April 14, 2014 4:40 PM
|
|
Copyright April 14, 2014, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
|
|
|
|
|
|
April 14, 2014 4:25 PM
In Texas Energy Report: House Energy Resources chair says candidate holding onto energy interests ‘opens up this whole can of worms’
|
|
Copyright April 14, 2014, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
|
|
|
|
|
|
April 14, 2014 3:23 PM
Some have called Bunch the "dark horse" candidate in the race to succeed former Sen. Tommy Williams, R-The Woodlands
|
|
Copyright April 14, 2014, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
|
|
|
|
|
|
April 14, 2014 3:05 PM
On another track, Coalition notes possible impeachable offenses, calls for Hall to resign
The report
reviewing the conduct of UT Regent Wallace Hall prepared by attorney Rusty Hardin for the Select
Committee on Transparency in State Agency Operations has been formally
referred to Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg and County Attorney David
Escamilla, QR has learned.
The rest of the story, subscribers only
By Harvey Kronberg
|
|
Copyright April 14, 2014, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
|
|
|
|
|
|
April 14, 2014 1:50 PM
Finding a governing coalition after previous budget maneuvers could be tough
Whether
true or not, the endorsement of Dan
Patrick by both incumbent Senator Bob
Deuell and Texans for Lawsuit Reform have been
taken by many in the capitol community as
the last word on the viability of a Dewhurst
re-election. Given the even longer-shot
nature of the Democrats’ winning the Lt. Governor’s race, war-gaming for next
session has already begun
The
only thing the Legislature must do is pass a budget. Call it armchair speculation, but even more
than a year away, it is not unreasonable to speculate that it will take multiple
special sessions to hammer out a budget.
Senator Patrick’s performance on state budgets has been erratic and
while Tea Party interests may dominate a mid-term primary election runoff, they
are minor players in the state’s trillion dollar economy and twenty-five
million residents.
The
state’s budget is perhaps the most daunting task facing any Legislature. It requires good faith negotiation and buy-in
from myriad constituencies. The appropriators have to negotiate competing interests
– those both on camera and off.
In
his freshman session, Patrick angered his colleagues by handing out several
pages of proposed cuts he claimed the Finance Committee could have made…as the
bill was coming to the floor. The anger
was generated not because it threatened passage of a session’s worth of work
but because it was seen as an effort to capture the narrative. Civilians outside the Capitol would see the
proposed cuts and remain clueless that they were introduced too late to be
considered or had already been rejected.
The rest of the story, subscribers only
By Harvey Kronberg
|
|
Copyright April 14, 2014, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
|
|
|
|
|
|
April 14, 2014 12:49 PM
Despite deep cuts in standardized testing, senators still worry about standards and the amount of testing
A
greater percentage of Texas high school students are on track to graduate under
the STAAR testing system than had
been under the TAKS, members of the Senate
Education Committee were told on Monday. But lawmakers on the panel –
about a third of whom are seeking statewide office this year – are still concerned
that teachers are teaching to a test and that standards for passing it are low
enough that they leave kids ill-equipped for college or a career.
For
about an hour, senators grilled the Texas Education Agency’s Associate
Commissioner of Assessment & Accountability Criss Cloudt. She told the panel that 76 percent of students in the
class of 2015 have successfully completed 4 of the 5 tests they’ll need to
graduate. It is the first class that has to pass the 5 assessments required
under reforms to standardized testing.
Under
questioning by senators, Cloudt said that when the state used the Texas
Assessment of Knowledge and Skills, 28 percent were not on track to
graduate because of their test scores. That number has fallen to 24 percent
under the end-of-course exams called the State of Texas Assessments of Academic
Readiness, or STAAR. However, it is not
really an apples-to-apples comparison, Cloudt said, mainly because these are
very different tests.
The rest of the story, subscribers only
By Scott Braddock
|
|
Copyright April 14, 2014, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
|
|
|
|
|
|
April 11, 2014 5:19 PM
"We have to able to negotiate in some areas and compromise on some things.”
TYLER
– The longtime educator who defeated two-term incumbent Rep. George Lavender, R-Texarkana, said this
week he’s going to bring the ability to compromise with those he might not necessarily
agree with in order to get things done in the Texas House. Gary VanDeaver is the Superintendent of the New Boston Independent School
District and said that he’s going to take a reasoned approach to
governing in Austin. He won 54 to 46.
When
Quorum
Report caught up with VanDeaver at an education conference at the University
of Texas at Tyler this week, he was visiting with other superintendents
and school board members about the challenges ahead for public schools in the
2015 session. "We have to able to negotiate in some areas and compromise
on some things," he said. "Maybe we don't get everything we want but
maybe we get some of what we need."
His
experience working on a school district’s budget will help guide him in how he
thinks about school finance after the courts weigh in, VanDeaver said. He and
other observers expect The Legislature to be under court
order to address how schools are financed. "The suit is going to dictate
where we go as far as finance," he said.
VanDeaver
also expects there to be much scrutiny of House Bill 5 when it comes to both
the amount of standardized testing required by law and the multiple pathways
that were created for a high school diploma. “That was a huge piece of
legislation and as we implement it we're going to see some things that are
going to need some attention," he said.
The rest of the story, subscribers only
By Scott Braddock
|
|
Copyright April 11, 2014, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
|
|
|
|
|
|
April 11, 2014 5:18 PM
|
|
Copyright April 11, 2014, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
|
|
|
|
|
|
April 11, 2014 4:31 PM
Times calls decision inexplicable; says they had an understanding with Emmis Communications
Texas Monthly editor Jake Silverstein was hired to become editor of the New York Times Sunday Magazine.. The New York Times post about the lawsuit can be found here.
|
|
Copyright April 11, 2014, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
|
|
|
|
|
|
April 11, 2014 11:06 AM
Longtime lobbyist and lawyer argues the new rule is constitutional, will not affect pending litigation, and the TEC has the authority to adopt it.
The
man behind the sworn complaints against Michael
Quinn Sullivan and Empower Texans says the Ethics
Commission should make a move on a proposed rule for "dark
money" in Texas and further argues he can see no reason why they should
not. It's an issue that, as you know, was acted on by The Legislature last year
but the bill to address it was ultimately vetoed by Gov. Perry.
In
written comments to the TEC this week, lobbyist Steve Bresnen argues that the rule he's
proposed is constitutional, the agency has the authority to adopt it, and it
would not affect any pending litigation. That last one has been a concern of a couple commissioners.
The rest of the story, subscribers only
|
|
Copyright April 11, 2014, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
|
|
|
|
|
|
April 10, 2014 4:47 PM
|
|
Copyright April 10, 2014, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
|
|
|
|
|
|
April 10, 2014 3:51 PM
The story via
the Statesman.
|
|
Copyright April 10, 2014, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
|
|
|
|
|
|
April 10, 2014 3:28 PM
Special counsel’s contract has expired; says he doesn’t know what the committee will do
In no uncertain terms, the former special counsel to the committee
looking into articles of impeachment against UT System Regent Wallace Hall said that he had nothing
to do with the publication
of his report on the matter in the press.
"I passionately deny that we leaked that or wanted
it leaked," famed attorney Rusty
Hardin said on Thursday afternoon. “I just wanted the committee to have it
so they can do their work.”
The rest of the story, subscribers only
|
|
Copyright April 10, 2014, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
|
|
|
|
|
|
April 9, 2014 7:58 PM
Dewhurst had their support in the first round; they've now switched allegiance to the challenger
In an email to supporters
on Wednesday, TLR Chairman Dick Weekley and TLRPAC
Chairman Richard Trabulsi
thanked Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst for
his service to Texas and the nation and then said they are endorsing his
challenger in the May 27 runoff. They
explained that they felt compelled in the first round of voting to support the
incumbent because "as Lt. Governor he played pivotal roles at crucial
times over the past decade in the passage of comprehensive tort reforms."
“In the runoff for Lt. Governor in the Republican
primary, TLRPAC believes that Sen. (Dan) Patrick has earned the support of
Republicans who want to retain the Lt. Governorship in conservative hands. Sen. Patrick’s leadership on a broad
platform of conservative issues, including lawsuit reform, has united
Republican voters. This was demonstrated
forcefully on March 4th when Dan received a commanding 41.45% of the vote in a
field of four strong candidates," Weekley and Trabulsi
said.
The rest of the story, subscribers only
|
|
Copyright April 09, 2014, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
|
|
|
|
|
|
April 9, 2014 4:59 PM
Chairman Cook says it’s a very important issue
Here is the notice
of the hearing coming up on May 1, in which the House State Affairs Committee
will “Study Title 15 of the Election Code, which regulates political funds and
campaigns, including requirements for financial reports by campaigns,
candidates, officeholders, and political committees. Specifically, study what
types of groups are exempt from reporting requirements in the Election Code and
make recommendations on how to make the political process more transparent.”
|
|
Copyright April 09, 2014, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
|
|
|
|
|
|
April 9, 2014 4:58 PM
|
|
Copyright April 09, 2014, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
|
|
|
|
|
|
April 9, 2014 4:11 PM
Veteran senator feels well-positioned to win his runoff; taking heavy fire from Empower Texans but getting support from other important conservative voices
TYLER
– A veteran senator who wasn’t expected by many political observers to be in a runoff
is barnstorming his district east of Dallas as he works to secure reelection
against a candidate who doesn’t have many resources but has garnered
significant support from third-party groups and has so far claimed the Tea
Party mantle in the race. Sen. Bob
Deuell, R-Greenville, traveled a bit outside his district on Wednesday to
speak to educators from all over Texas who were gathered in Tyler for a
conference.
Not long after his speech, QR broke the news that Deuell has now endorsed Sen. Dan Patrick, R-Houston, over Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst to preside over the Texas
Senate in the May runoff.
Deuell,
a family physician who’s been in the Senate since 2003, told members of the Texas
Association of Community Schools about a sign that hangs in his doctor’s
office that reads “Texas politics: Not for the squeamish.” He laughed and said "If
ever that were true, it's now." He said “there are really good legislators
being thrown out of office for no other reason than they are incumbents.” He
was perhaps referring to folks like Sen. John
Carona, R-Dallas, who lost his primary to real estate developer Don Huffines, who ran a disciplined and
particularly negative campaign against the longtime lawmaker.
The
candidate who made it into the runoff with Deuell, Bob Hall, has come under fire for claiming both Texas and Florida
as home, for decades of tax liens, and for accusations of past spousal abuse.
While Hall has gotten support from Empower Texas – which we’re told has
been sending as many as two mail pieces per week into the district – he has
also been attacked by the influential conservative website Texas GOP Vote, which
just last week published
the original documents that support the accusations
against Hall.
The rest of the story, subscribers only
By Scott Braddock
|
|
Copyright April 09, 2014, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
|
|
|
|
|
|
April 9, 2014 4:00 PM
On board with Statesman since 2002, Alexander has distinguished herself with budget and education expertise
|
|
Copyright April 09, 2014, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
|
|
|
|
|
|
April 9, 2014 2:48 PM
Statement from Deuell below
From Senator Bob Deuell: "Today, I am joining Republican leaders across Texas in endorsing my friend and State Senate colleague Dan Patrick for Lt. Governor. Dan and I both currently serve as Republican State Senate Committee Chairmen and have worked together in the trenches for Texas conservative values and individual liberties. As a family physician, former school board member, and past Chairman of the Texas State Senate Republican Caucus, I commend Lt. Governor Dewhurst for his past leadership, but now endorse Dan in the runoff for Lt. Governor. The trench-savvy conservative convictions Senator Patrick and I both share will expand the horizon for a successful Texas."
|
|
Copyright April 09, 2014, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
