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July 8, 2020 9:53 PM
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Copyright July 08, 2020, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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July 8, 2020 5:00 PM
An emotional Mayor Turner points to the life story of his own mother who worked as a maid during events like the one slated for next week; Chairman Dickey says “We are prepared to take all necessary steps to proceed in the peaceable exercise of our constitutionally protected rights.”
After previously saying he
would not interfere with the Republican Party of Texas’ in-person
convention slated for next week, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner did a
quick about-face Wednesday and dropped the hammer on what health experts had
warned would be a “super spreader event” during a global pandemic.
In the morning, Turner ordered
a legal review of the contract for the convention center and by the middle of
the afternoon he had ordered the deal terminated.
RPT leadership said during
the day they were exploring legal options amid Turner’s quick action. In the
afternoon, many who had registered for the event told QR they
were still receiving text messages about a delegate training scheduled for this evening.
The rest of the story, subscribers only
By Scott Braddock
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Copyright July 08, 2020, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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July 8, 2020 3:51 PM
The HDCC said the average small dollar donation was $34. "Democrats have the added advantage of Republican lawmakers retiring in droves this year, including the Speaker of the House," they said.
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Copyright July 08, 2020, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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July 8, 2020 3:49 PM
A deep dive of finances in legislative runoffs all across Texas
With the run-off elections now just under a week away, and a hot special election for a Texas Senate
seat, that means one thing: 8-day campaign finance reports are in.
Here’s a deep dive.
The rest of the story, subscribers only
By James Russell
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Copyright July 08, 2020, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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July 8, 2020 1:15 PM
Turner told City Council "The plan is to exercise those provisions to cancel this contract today. Texas GOP Chair Dickey says his legal team is reviewing whether the city can cancel now: "We are prepared to take all necessary steps to proceed in the peaceable exercise of our constitutionally protected rights."
Developing...
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Copyright July 08, 2020, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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July 8, 2020 8:11 AM
Announcement was made during a townhall that was streamed by the party last night. Despite that announcement, Lt. Gov. Patrick still intends to be there in person, his spokesman says
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Copyright July 08, 2020, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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July 7, 2020 8:53 PM
The executive committee said they took into account that other local GOPs have asked for the same thing and more are considering it
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Copyright July 07, 2020, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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July 7, 2020 5:22 PM
Education Chairmen Huberty and Taylor: "Most importantly, this guidance allows each independent school district the freedom and flexibility to operate in the best way for their local communities”; the Texas State Teachers Association says “Students and educators should not be forced to be props for Donald Trump’s reelection efforts”
The Texas Education
Agency has issued
additional guidance on the opening of the upcoming 2020-2021 school year,
and as you might have expected: Some of the teachers are not happy with it at
all.
Commissioner Mike
Morath, in a well-timed news release late today, called it flexibility for
parents and school districts to make appropriate decisions during COVID-19:
Masks are required, as long as the governor requires
them. All parents will have the option to choose remote learning. TEA will
reimburse school districts for COVID-19 expenses. And school districts have the
option to phase-in attendance over the first three weeks of school.
The rest of the story, subscribers only
By Kimberly Reeves
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Copyright July 07, 2020, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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July 7, 2020 2:30 PM
TMF said “I know that we have what it takes to win the Texas House in November.”
With a $100,000 shot in
the arm from Business and Industry Committee Chairman Trey
Martinez Fischer, D-San Antonio, the Texas House Democratic Campaign
Committee on Tuesday launched what they're calling the 2020 Red
to Blue Campaign with the aim of taking the majority in the lower
chamber.
It's a goal that seems closer to reality than ever given
the current political climate. And that investment from TMF is a big step for
the HDCC, which to date has put together a little more than $300,000 from its
members. That number doesn’t include other fundraising
from outside donors.
The group said they can
capture the majority by harnessing the "political experience and
fundraising capacity of sitting Democratic members of the Texas House to propel
competitive Democratic candidates to victory" across the state.
The rest of the story, subscribers only
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Copyright July 07, 2020, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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July 7, 2020 2:26 PM
The GHP says slowing the spread of coronavirus will put Houston "on the path to reopening our economy and moving forward towards full recovery. It is with this in mind that we ask those with the authority to cancel next week’s in-person [convention] to do so expeditiously."
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Copyright July 07, 2020, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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July 7, 2020 11:53 AM
All candidates have confirmed for the forum hosted by the Texas Real Estate Advocacy & Defense Coalition an moderated by Quorum Report Editor Scott Braddock
Click
here to register for the forum, which will be held online via Zoom at 6pm
on Thursday night.
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Copyright July 07, 2020, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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July 7, 2020 11:31 AM
Pandemic causes the State Fair in Dallas to be canceled for the first time since World War II
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Copyright July 07, 2020, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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July 7, 2020 10:31 AM
Momentum seems to be growing among grassroots activists for censure of Abbott at the RPT convention in Houston next week
Here’s the resolution
language.
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Copyright July 07, 2020, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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July 6, 2020 9:30 PM
Planned Parenthood and TFN use the term “Sucio Lucio” to blast the incumbent, Rep. Lucio and Texans for Life rush to the Senator’s defense, MALC says: “we must steer clear of political name calling that plays on racial, sexist, homophobic, ableist and every form of discrimination”
In a contest for which of
the campaigns may be the nastiest of the runoffs, the one between Texas Senate
Intergovernmental Relations Committee Chairman Eddie Lucio, Jr.
and attorney Sara Stapleton Barrera down in The Valley has catapulted to
the top.
At issue is the word “sucio,” historically used to describe Mexican-Americans
as “dirty” or “filthy.” It has sexual connotations as well. Sen. Lucio’s critics
like the fact that it rhymes with his surname.
The rest of the story, subscribers only
By James Russell
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Copyright July 06, 2020, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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July 6, 2020 9:26 PM
Veteran of the Capitol led TAB as CEO for 3 and a half years
Today, Texas
Association of Business President and CEO Jeff Moseley sent the
following letter to the TAB board:
The rest of the story, subscribers only
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Copyright July 06, 2020, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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July 6, 2020 4:33 PM
Meantime some GOP activists plan to push for a censure of the governor at the RPT convention in Houston
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Copyright July 06, 2020, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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July 6, 2020 10:34 AM
Meantime GOP anger at Abbott grows with a Republican senator calling for a special to provide legislative oversight of the pandemic response; one county party voted to censure the governor over the weekend
After debating the details
and airing fears of government intervention for several hours Sunday night, the
State Republican Executive Committee overwhelmingly adopted a backup
plan to host an online Republican Party of Texas convention in a
way that would allow them to argue with each other just as passionately as they
tend to do in person.
Texas GOP chairman James
Dickey said that in the event of a virtual convention, the party would use
a platform called Meeting Pulse to facilitate online discussions and
other interactions during the event
Among other things, the SREC
also voted to require the chairman to send an email, if possible, to all delegates
and alternates notifying them of the change to an online gathering instead of
an in-person one. It was the second of two emergency SREC meetings in recent
days, held via Zoom, to discuss how to move forward.
The rest of the story, subscribers only
By Scott Braddock
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Copyright July 06, 2020, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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July 3, 2020 7:54 PM
Power players making moves, new shops in Austin, and mourning a legend of Texas politics
Sad news today as our
publisher Harvey Kronberg reported just within
the last hour that Buck Wood, a longtime ethics attorney and a key
figure in school finance fights over the years, passed away
last night.
To say Wood was a giant in
this community is an understatement. He was a top aide to then-Comptroller Bob
Bullock and someone who always nearly instantly had the answer to every question
on Texas law because he wrote so much of it. As Jeff Rotkoff
suggested on social media, anyone in Texas politics who hasn’t read Dave
McNeely’s book on Bullock including so many stories of Wood’s adventures
with him should
check it out. You’ll be better for it.
Rest in peace, Mr. Wood.
Meantime, there are a few
power players of today making moves as we head into the July 4 weekend. As always,
you can let us know what you or a friend – or an adversary – is up to by
reaching out to ksbraddock@gmail.com.
Use POTM in the subject line when you do for faster and more reliable service.
Here’s the latest edition of People on the Move.
The rest of the story, subscribers only
By Scott Braddock
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Copyright July 03, 2020, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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July 3, 2020 7:46 PM
The senator accuses his opponent of representing drug dealers, says she should behave like a lady; Stapleton-Barrera says Lucio has profited from private prisons. Debate hosted by Futuro RGV and The RGV Matters; Sydney Ramon of The RGV Matters and Davis Rankin of KURV radio handle moderating duties
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Copyright July 03, 2020, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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July 3, 2020 7:02 PM
His statement in full: “I watched all three hours of the SREC debate on Thursday night. I agree with the twenty people who believe it is not a good idea to hold an in-person state convention in Houston because so many of our party activists will be unable to attend. It also risks the exposure of those who do attend. But I respect the will of the forty people who voted and I will be there.”
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Copyright July 03, 2020, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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July 3, 2020 1:13 PM
There were few corners of state government and ethics that Wood did not touch....arrangements to follow
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Copyright July 03, 2020, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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July 3, 2020 12:18 PM
"Apparently, Gov. Abbott believes the threat posed by COVID-19 is too great for brewery taprooms to operate, even under strict social distancing, sanitation & mask protocols...That’s why we’re confident he will do the right thing and cancel the in-person Convention. If it's too dangerous to be 6ft apart in an outdoor beer garden, it’s certainly too dangerous to cram 6,000 people in an indoor convention center. Let's be consistent."
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Copyright July 03, 2020, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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July 2, 2020 11:09 PM
Full statement from TMA
President Diana Fite, MD:
“TMA is pleased that the
Republican Party of Texas will comply with Governor Abbott’s directive and
require face masks at its state convention later this month in Houston. While
face masks certainly will help prevent the spread of COVID-19 in and around the
convention, masks alone are not enough. With or without masks, an indoor
gathering of thousands of people from all around the state in a city with tens
of thousands of active COVID-19 cases poses a significant health risk to
conventiongoers, convention workers, health care workers, and the residents of
Houston. We are concerned not only for the City of Houston but also for the
communities to which the delegates will return, giving the virus easy
transportation to parts of Texas that have far fewer cases.
TMA has chosen to withdraw
as an advertiser from the convention.
Five actions have proven
effective at slowing the spread of COVID-19. The TMA strongly believes that
Texans should follow these proven guidelines: stay home when possible, wash
hands frequently, avoid large crowds, ‘keep 6 feet apart, and wear face masks
or face coverings when around non-family members. We support all efforts
throughout Texas to reach the highest levels of compliance with these safe
practices.
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Copyright July 02, 2020, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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July 2, 2020 10:40 PM
Despite two hot contested elections, only 27,154 have voted so far in Travis County. Democrats outpaced Republicans with 17,546 to 3,180. Of mail-in ballots, Democrats returned 1,516 to Republicans’ 335
So far, just about 2
percent of voters in Texas’ major counties have cast votes between June 29, the
first day of early voting for the July 14 runoff, and yesterday, July 1.
Here’s a breakdown of the numbers available.
The rest of the story, subscribers only
By James Russell
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Copyright July 02, 2020, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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July 2, 2020 10:37 PM
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Copyright July 02, 2020, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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July 2, 2020 5:31 PM
Abbott released the video below, in which he said a warning can be issued for not wearing a mask, followed by the possibility of a fine not to exceed $250
No questions asked, Gov. Greg
Abbott on Thursday issued an executive order requiring the
vast majority of Texans to wear a mask in public spaces.
He did not hold a news conference,
but Abbott hosted a conference call apparently only for GOP lawmakers. But we
are told it was a one-way conversation so even Republican members of the Legislature
were not allowed to ask any questions about the order.
Here
is the language of the new Executive Order.
This comes as the State
Republican Executive Committee this evening, at 7:30pm, will meet via Zoom
to discuss and possibly vote on whether to move forward with the Republican
Party of Texas Convention in Houston in a couple weeks.
Developing….
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Copyright July 02, 2020, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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July 2, 2020 5:05 PM
We're just as surprised to see Vanilla Ice mentioned in Quorum Report as you are
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Copyright July 02, 2020, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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July 2, 2020 10:01 AM
The campaign called "Stand Tall for Small, Texas" was developed in part by Roy Spence, who also came up with the "Don't Mess with Texas" anti-litter slogan
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Copyright July 02, 2020, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved
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