November 18, 2024 4:11 PM Budget priorities start taking shape in private Texas House workgroupsLt. Gov. Patrick may very well lose his bid to topple Speaker Phelan. But lobbyists working across a range of issues have said that the instability in the House is already empowering the Senate: “At least we know who the players will be.” So, the House is using the working group model to try to stay ahead of the game Amid
the ongoing campaign to destabilize the Texas House including
fresh reports from members that Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has been privately
making calls to Republican legislators urging them to endorse “anybody but Dade”
in the scheduled December House GOP Caucus meeting, lawmakers
have been talking behind closed doors about policy and spending priorities.
Patrick has angrily denied supporting any specific candidate for speaker, by
the way. Before
the election, Speaker Dade Phelan’s Chief of Staff Mike Toomey announced
that nearly a supermajority of House members “split evenly between Republicans
and Democrats have signed up to participate in policy working groups, roll up
their sleeves and work in advance of the session.” In
at least a few of the meetings of the House working groups so far, lawmakers
have discussed budget priorities for the coming session in broad strokes, Quorum
Report has learned. The rest of the story, subscribers only By Scott Braddock |
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November 18, 2024 3:48 PM Dallas County man exonerated for 2000 conviction based on shaken baby syndrome
The
exoneration immediately drew comparisons to the case against death row inmate
Robert Roberson, who's at the center of the controversy over a Texas House
committee taking extraordinary steps to delay an execution. The
Dallas
Morning News has the details on the case of Andrew Wayne Roark: A
Dallas County man convicted of injuring a child based on a theory of “shaken
baby syndrome” presented at his 2000 trial was cleared of wrongdoing, the
district attorney’s office announced Monday. Andrew
Wayne Roark, 48, was tried decades ago based on medical evidence prosecutors
said proved his girlfriend’s 1-year-old child was violently shaken, causing
permanent brain damage. Advancements in science and medicine would no longer
support the prosecution’s theory at trial, the Dallas County district
attorney’s office said in a news release: “There exists no evidence in which we
could support a conviction and believe Mr. Roark is actually innocent,” Dallas
County District Attorney John Creuzot said in a statement. “We firmly believe
would the same facts and circumstances occur today, Mr. Roark would be
acquitted of any charges brought against him, therefore he should enjoy the
presumption of innocence.” |
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November 18, 2024 8:55 AM Services for Parker McCollough A celebration of life will be held for former Rep. McCollough will be this Friday the 22nd at 1pm at Riverbend Church, Smith Chapel in Austin |
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November 18, 2024 8:50 AM It sounds like Former State Republican Executive Committee member JT Edwards is strongly considering a run for Mayor of Galveston That rumor was swirling on the Island this weekend |
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November 18, 2024 8:48 AM Rep. Carl Sherman is said to be doing well after surgery for a heart condition
His office says Sherman's surgery at the Mayo Clinic went well: "He is back in his hospital room recovering" following a procedure for hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy, which is a chronic heart condition that causes the heart muscle to thicken making it harder for the heart to pump blood |
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November 15, 2024 11:38 AM People on the MoveStaffer moves, agency news, a new lobby shop, and more First,
a programming note. After
the latest Texas Take Podcast dropped last night – you can check
it out here or just search “Texas Take” on your favorite podcast app – the
show will take a break until the first week of December. Next week is a travel
week and after that, we’ll be into Thanksgiving week. Christmas
decorations have been on offer at shops for weeks now, so the holidays are upon
us. Speaking
the holiday schedule: For now, I’ll plan to publish a People on the Move column
next week but not the week of Thanksgiving, so if you’ve got some career news that
the Capitol community needs to hear about this month, put it on my desk by next
Friday morning. Use POTM in the subject line when you shoot it over to ksbraddock@gmail.com. Please and thank
you. Here’s
the latest edition of People on the Move. The rest of the story, subscribers only By Scott Braddock |
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November 15, 2024 10:02 AM Texas Supreme Court rules legislators cannot unilaterally delay an execution but that Robert Roberson should testify before lawmakers
Chairs Moody and Leach say they look forward to working with the executive branch to facilitate Roberson's legislative testimony The
ruling is here. You may have to right click that link and open in a new tab. |
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November 14, 2024 8:09 PM Watson secures another term as Austin mayor "I want to thank voters for their confidence in me, and for electing me to serve as Austin mayor for a 4th time. We knew that winning outright, with no runoff, against four opponents in a presidential year would be extraordinary." |
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November 14, 2024 4:38 PM Business groups band together to press for expanded childcare in TexasAhead of next session, business leaders and small business owners argue “When an employee misses work, it’s not just a day lost—it’s missing rent, car payments, and fighting financially to support their family. Missing work has huge repercussions for them.” A new
business-led coalition is adding its voice to those calling for more funding
and resources to Texas’ lagging childcare system. The Employers
for Childcare Task Force was founded by the Texas Restaurant
Association, Early Matters, the Texas Association of Business and
Texas 2036 in response to the state losing $11 billion a year because
of the lack of adequate childcare for working families. That’s according to a
study by LBJ School of Public Affairs at The University of
Texas at Austin. Leaders of
the business coalition spoke out this week on the urgency of the issue. The rest of the story, subscribers only By James Russell |
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November 13, 2024 11:15 AM Sen. John Cornyn loses bid for Majority Leader to Sen. John ThuneThe vote was 29-24 in the second round. Sen. Rick Scott of Florida was cut in the first round. |
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November 12, 2024 4:51 PM Prefiling of bills gets underway in the Texas Legislature
Giddyup, y’all. Bill
filing has begun, and everyone should check in on Rep. Richard Peña
Raymond, who filed his usual slate of bills related to taxes,
veterans and water regulations long after you received your NewsClips. While no
lay of the land is ever evident in bill filing, we all know some of the big
issues on the table: school vouchers, property tax reforms, and affordable
housing to name a few. Then there are perhaps less sexy issues that could be
priorities, such as tackling artificial intelligence and deepfakes, and maybe reforming
nondisclosure agreements. In a press
release today, Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan said he has reserved 150
low-numbered bills for priorities. Here are
some highlights along with some you can’t help but notice. The rest of the story, subscribers only By James Russell |
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November 12, 2024 12:27 PM Rep. John Bryant enters race for Speaker
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November 12, 2024 12:00 PM Sen. Cornyn faces opposition from Maga World and Paxton supporters in final push to become US Senate Majority LeaderDallas and Tarrant County Republicans support Sen. Rick Scott of Florida, asking Sen. Cruz to “stand with Texans” by voting against choosing a Texan to lead the United States Senate for the first time since LBJ With
the election in the rear-view mirror and the GOP set to take the majority in
the US Senate, Texas' senior Sen. John Cornyn has seen a
flurry of MAGA pushback to his candidacy to lead the chamber. But the veteran
lawmaker has soldiered on, promising colleagues he will make some fundamental changes in his bid to be the first Texan since Lyndon Johnson
to hold the title of Majority Leader. “In
order to Make America Great Again, we must Make the Senate Work Again,” Cornyn wrote
in a letter to GOP senators Tuesday. The
leadership election, conducted by secret ballot vote of Republican senators and
incoming freshmen, is planned for Wednesday. Ever since last Tuesday’s
election, some top voices in MAGA World including former Fox News
host Tucker Carlson, Elon Musk, and others have engaged in a
full-court press to elect Sen. Rick Scott of Florida to lead Senate Republicans. Meantime,
Sen. John Thune of South Dakota, who some view as the frontrunner, and
Sen. Cornyn have gone about the business of convincing their colleagues to hand
one of them the reins through aggressive fundraising and campaigning for Republican colleagues. You
know, building the majority. The rest of the story, subscribers only By Scott Braddock |
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Copyright November 18, 2024, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved 