Texas Round-Up

by: Karl-Thomas Musselman

Tue Nov 17, 2009 at 08:00 AM CST

• Farouk Shami is going to announce his Democratic primary bid for Texas Governor on Thursday...at the CHI USA headquarters.


• Sue Schechter, former state representative, Harris County Democratic Party Chair, and former Rick Noriega for US Senate campaign manager, has announced she is running for Harris County Clerk.


• Is retiring El Paso state senator Eliot Shapleigh thinking about a run for Governor? Here's to hoping that he adds a "Lieutenant" in front of that before running.


• Raise the gas tax? Sounds like lawmakers agree with Hank Gilbert. Speaking of that, Hank Gilbert is getting noticed for his bold policy proposals, and getting good reviews of them.


• No Trail of Lights for Austin this year.


• There are petitioners in El Paso trying to overturn the city's recently adopted unmarried partner benefits program. I'm guessing these people aren't concerned because of the fiscal impact.

  The city spends about $35 million each year on health benefits for its 6,000 employees and their families. Extending coverage to the unmarried partners of city employees could cost another $287,000 annually.