In a party-line vote, the Texas Senate adopted its rules today without making any changes to the rule that requires the consent of two-thirds of the body to bring an issue to the floor. Of course, no change means that controversial legislation on voter ID — as it was last session — is exempt.
Dan Patrick
Posted in
Public Education
Who’s on Texas Monthly’s Power List?
An early look at the 25 people the magazine deems the most powerful in Texas.
Posted inState Government
TribBlog: Invitation to a Tea Party
Tea Partiers expect to have a seat at the table during Texas’ 82nd Legislative Session, the first since the movement’s rise, via the new Tea Party Caucus organized by Sen. Dan Patrick, R-Houston. The caucus is advised by a select group of Tea Party leaders from around the state, including Greg Holloway, a leader of the Austin Tea Party Patriots and the Common Sense Texans Network. He talked with the Trib about the upcoming session.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Pomp, Circumstance, Consequences
The 82nd Texas Legislature convenes in Austin this week, and while it’s not as much fun as the circus — usually — it’s more important and does have its share of comedy and drama.
Posted in
State Government
TribBlog: Patrick Wades Into Caucus Controversy
A speaker preference vote in the House Republican Caucus is “simply the right thing to do,” state Sen. Dan Patrick, R-Houston, said Friday night, wading into a roiling controversy that has pit Republican against Republican in the aftermath of November’s election.
Posted in
State Government
TribBlog: The Most Important Caucus of Our Time
After the election last month, state Sen. Dan Patrick, R-Houston, promised to start a Tea Party Caucus in the Texas Legislature. Today, Patrick has the names of the founding members.
Posted in
Economy
School’s Out
The budget shortfall — estimated to be as much as $28 billion — will require the Legislature to take a paring knife and possibly a machete to government agencies and programs. The largest single consumer of state dollars is public education, so it’s hard to imagine a scenario in which funding for teacher salaries, curricular materials and the like isn’t on the chopping block, especially if lawmakers want to make good on their promises of no new taxes. But where is that money going to come from?
Posted in
State Government
TribBlog: Straus Rebuffs Patrick
State Sen. Dan Patrick issued a release saying he would host a sit-down meeting of the three candidates for speaker in a “neutral” location. But House Speaker Joe Straus’ office says it never agreed to to the meet-up.
Posted in
State Government
The Most Unpopular Fraction
Whatever the size of their majority in the Texas House, Republicans in the Texas Senate have to contend with the rule requiring two-thirds of members to agree to bring a bill up for vote. That’s 21 out of 31 — and there are only 19 Republicans in the upper chamber. As Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune reports, some in the GOP want the rule changed.
Posted in
Demographics
The Crackdown Begins
Republican state lawmakers, buoyed by their party’s resounding victories on Election Day, have filed several bills ahead of the next legislative session that signal how far they’re willing to go in tackling illegal immigration. State Rep. Debbie Riddle, R-Tomball, filed a nine-bill bundle that included a proposal to require picture IDs at polling places.