What concerns me as a Republican is that the race for governor may be focusing too much on the personalities of the candidates and the highly charged nature of the race rather than the long-term vision and consequences. I worry that either candidate could win the race but lose the future — too much focus on the politics of the next year, rather than the policies of the next decade.
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Posted inState Government
When It Rains, It Leaks
The plan about a year ago was to dedicate the newest state office building – the one named after former legislator and parliamentarian Robert E. Johnson – before the legislative session. That completion date was moved several times, each date a little closer to the session, then to March 1, then to June 1, and finally, to late August or early September
Posted inState Government
Attack of the Mutant Subcommittee
We’ll start this tale by saying that when the House is charged about two months from now in the death of legislation on third parties being sued in tort cases, the Senate will have to be charged with aiding and abetting the murder. Maybe they didn’t mean to do it. But the Senate’s lack of speed has made it easy for the House opponents to whack the bill without taking much heat for it.
Posted inState Government
Legislative Concentrate: A Five-Week Session
A lobbyist of some repute (take that either way you want to) pulled out a legislative calendar to make an interesting and graphic point: There are exactly five weeks between the end of the Easter legislative break and the day the House rules begin to brake legislative activity.
Posted inState Government
Everything’s on the B-List, But It’s a Long List
It’s a strange thing to walk through the Texas Capitol on a weekday afternoon. There are the familiar crowded committee rooms, the halls filled with lobbyists, the shark tank in the Capitol extension filled with Cub Scouts, smokers and people whose cellular phones won’t work anywhere else in the underground.
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Health care
Why Rally If the Votes Are Truly Locked Up?
Ordinarily, anyone who could collect more than 80 House votes for an issue before it’s even been heard in committee would be happy indeed. But the folks pushing to expand the Children’s Health Insurance Program, or CHIP, to the maximum are worried about the depth of their support.
