I want to start with something simple: an iPhone app. The Gonzales campaign made KEYE-TV in Austin for the launch of their campaign's iPhone app. While I applaude the technology and think the tool is interesting, I wish the story had pointed out the fact that Maldonado actually has more friends on Facebook and more followers on Twitter than Gonzales does. Sometimes, in the wave of new technology and expanding practices of social media, we lose track of what's important. A new iPhone app is cool; a stronger online social network, like the one Rep. Maldonado has, is much, much more important.
Three other pieces of news on the race:
The race has been and will continue to be among the hottest races to watch this cycle. But this week, Texas Weekly's Hot List -- the only news organization that ranks the competitiveness of State House races on a weekly basis -- downgraded the race from "red" to "orange." The rating change is apparently due to nothing more than what consultants say, which suggests there are some real poll numbers (not just wishful ones) that show Maldonado leading Gonzales in the race.
And then they ate their crow. Well, if they had integrity, that is. News 8 soon posted an update to their story, reporting that a room "has been reserved" for a debate at Southwestern University. As it turns out, Gonzales' campaign manufactured a lie, and when they were called out for it, when to the press with incomplete information to generate a hit story that had to be updated/corrected almost immediately after it aired.
The integrity of the Gonzales campaign remains in serious question, especailly with this...
Republican house district 52 nominee Larry Gonzales has resorted to lying about his opponent in order to get his campaign out of the ditch. In one single press release, Gonzales makes no less than six false or deceptive statements.
Gonzales implies that Maldonado employs a consultant in Virginia. To disprove this statement, simply look at the campaign finance reports. There are no payees or donors from the state of Virginia.
Gonzales claims that Maldonado “has ducked and run from any attempt at a public debate”. Maldonado will appear at the GAHCC forum on Oct. 5, and a second bi-partisan forum is being planned at Southwestern University.
Gonzales claims that Maldonado declined a debate at the Greater Austin Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (GAHCC). This lie falls flat when you check the calendar and find that Maldonado has been booked for the GAHCC’s Oct. 5 forum for several weeks.
Gonzales claims that Maldonado requested questions 7 days in advance of the GAHCC forum. Maldonado campaign spokesperson Mitra Salassel said, “The only request we made was a standard inquiry as to the format of the forum.”
Gonzales claims that Maldonado represents Austin instead of Williamson County. Maldonado’s record of securing funding for critical projects in district 52 speaks for itself. Maldonado secured funding for the Renewable Energy Training Institute of Williamson County, $16 million for the Texas A&M Health Science Center in Round Rock and $350,000 for the Texas State University’s Round Rock Higher Education Center. Maldonado also secured $10 million in funding for the expansion of FM 1460. These projects directly improve the economy and quality of life in Williamson county, and represents a total change in direction from the former Republican representative from that district, Mike Krusee, whose singular focus was on converting agricultural land into toll roads.
Gonzales uses “Texas P2″ to refer to the “Texas Prosperity Project”, a Koch Industries-funded fake-grassroots organization that is part of a nationwide effort, active in 35 states, to undermine President Obama, prevent access to health care, avoid regulation of clean air and stop financial regulation. Gonzales states that Texas Prosperity Project “is comprised of business and industry”, which is true if what you mean by “business and industry” is a sampling of oil and gas companies, banks and insurance companies.
A race we'll keep our eye very closely in the coming weeks...
Ed. note: The following is one of twenty races we are featuring in the Texas Political Report. Annie's List provided research and analysis for this race.
This race is of critical importance this year -- one of the truly contested races. To learn more about the race, I'd recommend regularly following Eye on Williamson, a superb political blog that focuses most of its attention just on Williamson County races.
Williamson County is one of the fastest growing counties in the state, with great public schools, a short commute to Austin and a supply of top-notch tech jobs anchored by Dell's international headquarters in District 52. To that end, Rep. Maldonado, the former President of the Round Rock School Board, has a history of community service that predates her election to the Legislature. And since her election, she has done a lot and she’ll be working to communicate her successes to voters. She’s secured funding for the construction of the Eastern Williamson Co. Higher Education Center, which will house in-district campuses for many of the large state universities and funding for the construction of FM1460, an additional road for congestion that will also service the new Education Center. Tangible, concrete projects like these, and her expertise in education issues, have been Maldanado's focus in office and in her campaign. Gonzales, on the other hand, will do his best to keep these local achievements out of voters minds by nationalizing the issues in a tough year for Democrats.
District 52 is located entirely within Williamson County, include the swiftly developing southern Williamson County cities of Round Rock and Hutto, as well as parts of far northwest Austin along US 183. These areas are rapdily being populated by a more diverse electorate seeking affordable housing that is becoming harder to find in central Austin, and that trend is reflected in the district's politics. HD 52 also includes a slice of Georgetown and rural towns including Hutto, Taylor and Thrall. Traditionally a conservative strong-hold, a Republican had held this seat for 16 consecutive years until Maldonado won in 2008 by a slim margin. Obama lost the district in 2008 with 48.5% of the vote, another indication that the influx of new residents into the district as these suburbs expand is drastically changing the demographics.
Why Rep. Dianal Maldonado Will Return Next Year
Rep. Maldonado is well-liked in her district by those who don’t vote straight ticket Republican and she has a strong team in place. She’s also got the resources to run a tough campaign and the rapidly evolving district demographics point to a slight but steadily uphill trend for the Democrats. Gonzales seems to be relying on the district's past voting history and a tough national climate to bring down Maldonado. If the national climate is too much to overcome, Gonzales could win. If Maldanado and the Democrats can truly break through the noise and communicate the choice in the election to voters, Maldonado will win. This one will go down to the wire.
Speaker Tom Craddick spokesman James Bernsen is looking to take out the accomplished Diana Maldonado in House District 52.
You may remember this story line.
Tom Craddick's desire to maintain a tyrannical grasp on the House forces him to aide ill prepared candidates across the state. The candidates Craddick recruited who had political lineage or a chance were mired with the Craddick legacy. Candidates like Donna Keel lost and even Mark Shelton couldn't win a holiday special election in Fort Worth.
Perhaps that is why James Bernsen refused to list his ties to Craddick on his announcement. Instead, Bernsen cited the formerly investigated Kay Bailey Hutchison and her predecessor Phil Gramm, who was the main proponent of bank deregulation and put us in our current economic plight (along with George Bush).
Bernsen didn't have to do much working for either of them, just sell their horrid ideas to the public as their spokesperson.
Now, the man with little legislative experience is the same one who has sold bad ideas to good people for over a decade. Now he wants to defeat the TexBlog PAC endorsed Diana Maldonado.
The Austin Chronicle pointed out some more things about Bernsen to chew on.
According to his press release, he served on Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison's 2006 campaign staff and as Sen. Phil Gramm's deputy press secretary. What he glosses over is that, in 2008, he was also Craddick's press room. A former writer for conservative web outfit Lone Star Report, presumably that's where he decided that the state's three leading newspaper (including the Austin-American Statesman) were run by politically-correct "gnomes".
My favorite quote in the piece cited by the Austin Chronicle was the one where he compares the editorial boards with a great piece of film.
In truth, the editorial boards sit behind their curtains like the Wizard of Oz, turning dials, creating smoke, and shouting into amplifiers. But when it all comes down to it, they're helpless against the people.
While Bernsen indicates he is wrong on every issue facing Texas, House District 52 is a tough district. Last numbers I saw show HD-52 to be a 50% - 52% Republican district. It would be horrible to go from the moderate, fair minded Diana Maldonado to a man who is against holding banks and corporations accountable, opposed to equal rights and social justice, and whose only notable experience in the Texas House was working for the most tyrannical Speaker in Texas history.
With the recent release of campaign finance reports, it is a good time to take a look at how some of the incumbent House Democrats likely to be targeted by the Republicans faired in fundraising.
There are many months ahead, but here is the current financial outlook for 10 incumbent House Democrats likely to face comeptitive races next year.
House District 2
Mark Homer raised $4,699 and ended the reporting period with $5,982 on hand. His campaign spent $20,676 during that time.
House District 11
Chuck Hopson raised only $5,750 but has an impressive $66,563 on hand, with expenditures of slightly over $22,900 for the reporting period.
House District 47
Valinda Bolton reported raising $14,800 and ended with $23,532 on hand. Two years ago at this time, Bolton had $13,704 on hand, so the two-term incumbent has almost $10k more than she did at this same point last election cycle.
House District 52
Diana Maldonado raised $18,950 and ended the reporting period with $35,817 in the bank. The Williamson County Democrat and TexBlog PAC endorsed candidate spent a little over $18,000 during that time.
House District 78
Joe Moody of El Paso reported raising $16,950 to end the reporting period with $27,955.82 on hand. Moody, a TexBlog PAC endorsed candidate, won by just over 3200 votes in 2008.
House District 96
Chris Turner reported raising $45,251.24 and had slightly over $102,000 on hand. Great to see huge numbers from a TexBlog PAC endorsed candidate.
House District 101
Robert Miklos, a freshman House member from Mesquite and another TexBlog PAC endorsed candidate, raised $18,340 and has $20,656 on hand.
House District 102
Carol Kent, who defeated incumbent Tony Goolsby in 2008, raised $32,170 and ended the filing period with just over $51,000 on hand.
House District 107
Although he raised only $1,157 during the reporting period and spent more than $60,000, incumbent Democrat Allen Vaught has more than $86,000 currently on hand.
House District 133
Kristi Thibaut, who defeated Republican incumbent Jim Murphy by 497 votes in 2008, has $45,655 on hand. At this point two years ago, as she prepared for a rematch with Murphy after losing in 2006, Thibaut only had $6,851 on hand.
Ed. Note: To see a quick overview of the bills the Texas House considered today -- along with a policy overview of each bill -- read the Texas Legislative Study Group's floor report.
Here is a look at today's calendar in the Texas House -- the first of the session. The hyperlink over the bill number will take you directly to the Texas Legislature Online page for that bill, wherein you can look at the actual text of the bill, the bill analysis, etc.
We hope to do this, as much as possible, every day there is a calendar on the floor of the Texas House. The Texas Legislative Study Group puts out an analysis for each day's Calendar. I'll be linking to them atop the page every day because, well (See Update below.) They do outstanding work and it would be foolish not to highlight their efforts. Their reports are made by a large group of staffers that track the bills through the Committee process, speak to lobbyists about the bill, and work with the individual Member to make sure they understand the bill. Their work is just incredible.
And yes, I used to be Chief of Staff for Rep. Garnet Coleman, who chairs the Legislative Study Group. There's a reason I write so much about policy on BOR -- he taught me about how to talk about policy, and he helped develop my belief that if you focus on the policy, the politics will take care of itself. Anyone should be so lucky to have the opportunity to work for him; I did, and I want to share some of the excellent work he and the LSG produce because I think it will better inform all Texans about the actual laws that our Representatives are working on at the Capitol.
Finally -- I'd link to the conservatives' version of their floor report, but it just says "yes/no" and gives no actual policy analysis. You know -- lock step and all.
Here's today's calendar -- and I promise, future posts won't have the long and winding introduction:
HB 873 by Rep. Dawnna Dukes (D) - Film incentives bill. Want to have more movies made in the state of Texas? This bill will make that easier to happen by allowing grants to be awarded to digital media producers, and it will increase incentives for those who spend more money in the state.
This bill is a lot bigger deal than some of Rep. Dukes critics give her credit for; it's an easy way to bring money to communities while simultaneously encouraging the arts as an important subject. Art/movie/film communities are non-existant in public schools, and this bill at least brings the real deal to town -- so those who want can learn from experience and have the opportunity to see and work in a field of industry they can't gain knowledge about in school.
HB 394 by Rep. Patrick Rose (D) - Allows small businesses to qualify for the Texas Economic Development Fund. First two bills -- Democrats working to improve the the economic issues of the day. I am proud to be a Democrat.
HB 1822 by Rep. Burt Solomons (R) - Gives rulemaking authority to the PUC to unify language on electric bills, thereby creating transparency in the process. freshman Rep. Diana Maldonado (D - Round Rock) is a co-author of the bill.
HB 313 was enacted in 2007 to rectify the abuse of NAFTA in which individuals buy a truck or trailer in another state and use it outside border commercial zones. The unintended consequences of this legislation required Mexican truck operators to obtain Texas registration plates every time they crossed into border commercial zones, even if they were not owners of the vehicle.
HB 782 allows truck drivers passage to and from border commercial zones without having to obtain new registration plates for Texas. The vehicle must have registered plates indicating a reciprocity agreement and must also be registered in the country that the owner of the ehicle is a citizen in or resides in. Canadian provinces that exempt currently registered vehicles owned by nonresidents are also effective in a border commercial zone.
HB 38 by Rep. Franke Corte (R) - Allows for veterans and their families to pay in-state tuition rates regardless of their residency status.
HB 693 by Rep. Vicki Truitt (R) - "Exempts falconers from having to hold a pest control license." For the record, that was two economic development bills, a utility rate bill, a transportation bill, a veterans & higher education bill...then that other big issue, Falcon licensing. Republican State Rep. Vicki Truitt, everyone -- FTL.
HB 968 by Rep. Mark Homer (D) - "Removes the restrictions on hunting with crossbows during bow hunting season." And right behind Rep. Truitt we have Democrat Rep. Mark Homer! Who says good things don't come in pairs!
(I joke around, but I worked for a rural State Rep. for nearly two years, from 2005 through summer of 2006, and these are absolutely the bills that constiuents will write in and demand action on the loudest. So while I joke about their relative importance to state business, both Rep. Truitt and Rep. Homer are still serving their constiuents. If you can survive the crossfire of the bow-hunter shooting down the falcons, you can see a certain amount of democratic beauty in that.)
HB 1695 by Rep. Sylvester Turner (D) - Allows the PUC to require for utilities that experience severe outages due to weather to consider a disaster preparation/management kind of plan. Though it doesn't outright require them, it lays the groundwork for the creation of those plans -- and when it comes to the PUC and utilities, sometimes you need the small moves to set up the big ones.
HB 1637 would improve benefits under the shared work unemployment compensation program for underserved workers and industries by adding greater work schedule flexibility in determining benefits. Currently, benefits are granted based on a consistent 40-hour workweek, which many businesses and employees do not follow, especially in the manufacturing industry.
In manufacturing, for example, facilities operate on a 24-hour, 7 day-a-week basis, so it makes sense to employ workers on a schedule alternating 3 and 4 day weeks. However, under current statute, workers on an alternating biweekly schedule that averages 40 hours per week would be eligible for less benefits than workers who work consistent 40-hour work weeks.
This bill gives affected businesses greater flexibility in retaining their workers, thus preventing layoffs. In this economic climate, this bill is needed to make the shared work unemployment compensation program more effective and equitable when it’s needed most. This bill is favored by a broad array of business and labor groups.
I'm very proud to see two of our freshman members, Rep. Diana Maldonado and Rep. Chris Turner, with legislation on the first day's calendar. Rep. Maldonado and Rep. Chris Turner were the first two candidates that TexBlog PAC endorsed. For everyone who donated to TexBlog PAC and helped us support these candidates -- this is your investment paying off for you.
Update: I forgot that the LSG Floor Reports are subscription-only, and it is the other reports -- their higher ed reports, state school reports, etc. -- that are open to everyone. I should have remembered this since I worked with them so much, but I think I just got excited at reading the first Calendar of the session and their first Floor Report of the Session. And yes, I'm a policy dork that gets excited about stuff like that -- why do you think I'm spending my Spring Break posting on BOR? Deal with it.
Since they sell subscriptions -- a la Quorum Report & Texas Weekly -- I won't be able to link directly to it every day. Though, like I do with QR, I will crib from my subscription if/when it is necessary and appropriate, and I will still use their excellent research to form and shape these calendar posts.
Bottom line: you'll still be able to come to BOR for coverage of what is happening at the Capitol. So keep reading!
Republicans control the House so there should be a Republican slant in the committees and with Republican chairs. Seems logical.
Texas Insider has a story outlining exactly where the Gang of 11 were put:
District 7: Rep. Tommy Merritt - Chair of Public Safety
District 10: Rep. Jim Pitts - Chair of Appropriations
District 15: Rep. Rob Eissler - Chair of Public Education
District 17: Rep. Byron Cook - Chair of Environmental Regulation
District 44: Rep. Edmund Kuempel - Chair of Licensing & Administrative Procecures
District 60: Rep. Jim Keffer - Chair of Energy Resources
District 65: Rep. Burt Solomons - Chair of State Affairs
District 66: Rep. Brian McCall - Chair of Calendars
District 83: Rep. Delwin Jones - Chair of Redistricting
District 99: Rep. Charlie Geren - Chair of House Administration
District 121: Rep. Joe Straus - Speaker of the House
That means the gang of 11 control the three most important committee's Calendars, Appropriations, and State Affairs.
Texas Insider aptly describes the committees as:
Calendars - controls the order and placement of bills on appropriate calendars.
State Affairs - oversees bills on hot button social issues such as abortion rights and Voter ID.
Appropriations - jurisdiction over all bills that request money to or from the state treasury.
That makes sense, the Gang of 11 chose Straus and with the Democrats, pushed Straus to victory. What doesn't make sense are the hyper partisan committee creations Straus made.
The best example is Criminal Jurisprudence which is filled with conservative Republicans who pushed for tort reform. Another committee that signaled how dismissive Straus was to Democrats is the Elections committee. As one lobbyist pointed out, the Elections committee under Todd Smith could produce some very scary legislation.
Phi has already aptly pointed out the structure of the Elections Committee virtually guarantees voter ID legislation gets to the floor.
Straus has marginalized key House Democratic leaders too.
After Rep Jim Dunnam secured nearly 70 votes for anyone to challenge Tom Craddick, he is placed on Environmental Regulation and Transportation. Dunnam did get a nice megaphone to attack Rick Perry's refusal to accept federal aide as Chair of the select committee on Federal Economic Stabilization Funding, but it comes with out a natural base of support unlike State Affairs or Regulated Industries.
Another good example is Rep. Senfronia Thompson. Thompson was a candidate for Speaker and an early endorser of Straus. She is currently serving her 17th term. What committee assignments did she receive? Insurance, Licensing & Administrative Procedures (Vice Chair), and Local & Consent Calendars (Chair). The Local and Consent Calendar Committee is were non-controversial bills go if they have received unanimous support in committee. This is a thankless job and is one of the weakest chair positions Straus could give out. Rep. Thompson is too good to be chair of this thankless committee.
Straus also showed that he was willing to be as partisan as past Republicans. He painted a nice target on freshmen Democrats giving them lower weaker committees. Democrats like Kristi Thibaut, Robert Miklos, Chris Turner and others will do incredible work in smaller committees. One Democratic freshman got some solid committee assignments-Diana Maldonado.
Maldonado was placed on the powerful State Affairs committee and Defense & Veterans' Affairs.
As the same lobbyist put it, this is because Williamson County is trending too rapidly to the Democratic Party. Maldonado won a tough election in an open race. Now she is an incumbent and Annie's List incumbent at that. With work from WilCo and Travis County Democrats, Diana should be fine.
On the other hand, Todd Hunter is being propped up.
After winning a close election against Juan Garcia, Hunter was given three committee assignments and one chairmanship. Hunter will be on the General Investigating & Ethics and Insurance Committees and will chair Judiciary & Civil Jurisprudence. This is a double slap to Democrats. Garcia campaigns on reforming the Insurance Commissioner's office and making that an elected position and was backed by the Texas Trial Lawyers Association.
Now we know how Straus feels about both of those things.
Straus is better than Craddick. That is absolutely true. However, Straus as Speaker shows how important it is for us to take back the House. If we want to really stop Voter ID, reregulate tuition, or provide insurance for all of Texas' children, a Democrat needs to hold the House gavel.
The Mexican American Legislative Caucus (MALC) elected its officers today.
MALC is one of the largest non-partisan caucus in the state legislature. It was recently chaired by Rep. Pete Gallego (D-Alpine), but today the members elected new leadership.
Trey Martinez Fischer, the former vice-chair, will take the helm as Chairman. Abel Herrero, former Legal Counsel is the new Vice Chairman. Newly elected State House member Diana Maldonado will serve as Secretary. Solomon Ortiz Jr. was elected as Treasurer and Veronica Gonzales will become the new Legal Counsel.
Ortiz stated in a press release, "It is an honor to serve my colleagues in a leadership role as MALC Treasurer. MALC has shown time and again that is a force to be reckoned with legislatively and an important advocate for the Hispanic community and all Texans."
MALC was founded in 1973, it is a non-profit, non-partisan organization composed of over 40 members of the Texas House of Representatives committed to addressing the issues that Latinos face across the state of Texas.
Rep. Gallego is currently running for Speaker of the Texas House and for disclosure purposes employed me during the 80th Session.
Bryan Daniel, the Republican nominee in House District 52, is spending a lot of money to spread a lot of misinformation about his opponent, Diana Maldonado, who recently received the endorsement of the Austin American-Statesman.
Luckily for him, Daniel has friends like Speaker Tom Craddick to help bankroll his misleading attacks.
After Craddick's Stars Over Texas PAC contributed $125,000 to Daniel's campaign, the Statesman's Laylan Copelin is reporting that the PAC has given Daniel an additional $100,000.
Bryan Daniel is a guaranteed vote for the failed policies of Tom Craddick. He's been bought and paid for and has even adopted the same kind of "say anything to win" mentality that has run rampant in the DeLay-Craddick Texas Republican Party.
Diana Maldonado will be a voice for all of Williamson County and will not owe $225,000 of gratitude to a single corrupt politician.
When deciding which candidate is best choice to be your State Representative, we ask that you consider supporting Diana Maldonado.
As a school board member and past president, Diana has worked for our community. She has asked for our vote twice, and we have overwhelmingly returned her to office. She has worked across party lines and built consensus so that our schools are recognized as cost effective and excellent.
Diana Maldonado has a track record of putting your kids and communities first.
Diana stood with the Heart of Round Rock Neighborhood Association and their bid to save a historic and popular ball field and park.
Diana kept your kids off buses and in your neighborhood schools
Diana introduced international programs to your high school students
Diana stretched an inadequate budget so effectively RR schools are recognized far and wide as excellent
Diana is not looking to just win an election, she is prepared to actually serve all the people that punch the clocks, write the checks, and try and set aside enough to get their kids through college.
While we, as Republicans, will not always see eye-to-eye with Diana Maldonado, we know that her track record of competency and consensus will lead to a stronger Williamson County. She will vote for us, and our families.
I realize that people have strong loyalties to their respective parties, but Diana Maldonado has proved to me she’s on our side.
