Big Tobacco Close to Snuffing Out Small Tobacco in Texas

by: Ben Sherman

Sat May 18, 2013 at 01:30 PM CDT

The Texas Senate will vote next week on a bill that would cripple small tobacco companies and violate our state constitution. Texans can expect to see no benefit at all if the bill passes.

In 1998, Texas won a lawsuit against big tobacco companies that manipulated nicotine content, lied about their knowledge of tobacco's effects, and marketed to children. Texas instituted penalty fees on those companies' cigarettes to compensate both the health care costs incurred by the state and the companies' lies.

Since August, three of the biggest tobacco companies - Philip Morris USA, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company and Lorillard Tobacco Company - have been pushing the Legislature to pass HB 3536, which would force small tobacco companies to pay the same penalty fees. They've hired a large and well-connected lobbying team to make their case at the Capitol, and that team has been successful since Day One. The bill had 14 cosponsors in the House, including three Democrats (Sylvester Turner, Donna Howard and Eddie Lucio III). The bill passed the House easily on May 7th.

Remember that the small tobacco companies already pay the state sales tax. The big tobacco companies are trying to get them to pay their penalty fees for lying to the state and deceiving consumers. As former Texas Supreme Court Justice Craig Enoch noted in a memorandum on the bill bill, such a move would violate the Equal and Uniform Clause of the Texas Constitution that requires reasons other than nature of the business to impose different taxes on the same kind of business. The Texas Tobacco Settlement clearly meets the "other" reason requirement. Enoch testified in August: "Because a statute that would only tax tobacco manufacturers that were not parties to the Texas Tobacco Settlement (while exempting those that were part of the settlement) has no reasonable basis in the nature of the business and does not apply equally across all members of the class of tobacco manufacturers, it must be rejected as unconstitutional."

Read more below the jump.

Texas Lunch Links: Bluebonnet Season, Medicaid Expansion, and Public Education

by: Nick Hudson

Wed Apr 24, 2013 at 00:03 PM CDT

WEST, TEXAS: The Dallas Morning news asks why the West Fertilizer Company's handling 2,400 tons a year of potentially explosive ammonium nitrate didn't raise safety concerns at any of the agencies that inspected the plant.

BLUEBONNETS: Do you have good bluebonnet etiquette?

EDUCATION: Unless Texas lawmakers decide to delay new accountability ratings, the Texas Education Agency will begin phasing in new letter grade system for public school performance beginning on August 8.

MEDICAID: Texas' House Appropriations Committee approved by 15-9 on Wednesday a proposal that rejects Medicaid expansion for 1.5 million poor, uninsured Texans in favor of a bill that allows the state to request a federal block grant from the federal government.

LCRA: State Representative Donna Howard is suggesting bringing the Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA) under sunset review. If made part of the sunset process, the LCRA would be periodically reviewed and must be reauthorized by lawmakers to continue operating.

Tweets of the Week: Rep. Donna Howard and Sen. Van de Putte Discuss #TXWomensHealth

by: Shelby Alexander

Wed Feb 06, 2013 at 11:30 AM CST

The chat was an opportunity to discuss what we can do to better advocate for sane solutions in response to the lack of adequate preventative care services for the women in our state.

Unfortunately, it clearly became an opportunity for fundamental anti-choicers to flood the hashtag stream with crazy talk about embryos that wasn't related to what was being discussed. Think "your birth control will cause your womb to be laden with baby corpses" kind of crazy. However, it benefitted the advocates involved to be able to contrast rational conversation from the oh-so-definitely-not rational.

The legislators did an excellent job with addressing the real issues at hand, and getting information out about the need for family planning in Texas.

Texas Planned Parenthood affiliates are working hard to bring women's health issues at the forefront, so make sure you sign up and get involved in their Take Action Tuesdays in the coming weeks!

Yesterday's Tweet chat reinforced that the lack of education about reproductive health in Texas is clearer than ever, which means we need to work that much harder to make the real issues apparent.

You can follow some of the top tweets after the jump!

Howard: Are we there yet? Fueling our drive to the future

by: Michael Hurta

Sun Jan 13, 2013 at 10:00 AM CST

Many of us traveled to see our families during the recent holidays, filling our tanks with enough gas to get to Grandma's or plotting options to get more fuel along the way. Only making it to Waco when Grandma lives in Dallas just wouldn't do, so we budgeted accordingly.

Unlike a family trip, the state budgets as if our destination can be reached with one tank of gas regardless of the distance. And this is keeping us farther and farther from where we need to be.

When the Texas Legislature convened in January 2011, it faced a massive budget shortfall brought on by a struggling economy. The Republican majority willfully made calamitous cuts to state spending, including a $5.4 billion reduction in education funding. They also chose to create a budget riddled with IOUs and accounting tricks rather than tap into the Economic Stabilization Fund, leaving $6 billion unused while ignoring Texas' transportation, water, education and health needs.

Things will be different when legislators return Tuesday. The state's economy has rebounded, our unemployment rate is the lowest in four years, and sales tax receipts have been growing monthly. Our general revenue fund will have several billion in surplus dollars, and the Economic Stabilization Fund, or rainy day fund, could reach $10 billion.

Though legislators will not face the hard choices of two years ago, decisions will have to be made about paying our IOUs, restoring funds that were cut last session, and meeting the needs of our expanding population. While our current economic outlook is much brighter, we must acknowledge our history of neglect and begin to lay the groundwork for future growth and prosperity.

In a recent hearing, the state's Select Committee on Economic Development - which includes business leaders and elected officials - was told that a failure to invest in infrastructure will soon begin to impede our competitiveness. Testimony also highlighted the low percentage of Texans with post-secondary degrees and our declining ability to provide a skilled workforce.

And though the recent report from the State Budget Crisis Task Force praises Texas for its conservative fiscal management, it also warns that we need a long-term financial planning process focusing beyond our normal two-year budget cycle so that we actually confront the issues that will shape our future rather than camouflaging and deferring necessary investments.

The Legislature is constitutionally required to limit increases in budget appropriations to personal income growth. Some state officials are arguing that we should instead set the limit at an even lower cap of simple population growth plus inflation - despite the fact that the current limit hasn't even been sufficient to maintain the status quo. Rather than succumb to ideological rhetoric to further constrain our budget, we should take advantage of our bullish fiscal condition and responsibly invest in our future, as any growing business would do in a similar situation.

I'm encouraged by Texas House Speaker Joe Straus' commitment to funding school enrollment growth and by Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst's recommendation to use the rainy day for a water infrastructure fund. And I'm glad that the Texas Association of Business is proposing revenue options for investments in transportation.

We know where we need to be headed - toward an educated and healthy citizenry, a skilled workforce, a flexible economy, an efficient transportation infrastructure, and a sustainable supply of our natural resources. This requires not just a single tank of gas, but a serious and responsible commitment of the fuel needed to drive our economy forward.
I believe we have the resources for the journey, and I am eager to work with my colleagues in the coming months to ensure we arrive at our destination.

State Representative Donna Howard is one of six representing Travis County residents. She's a Democrat who was first elected in a special election in 2006.

Burnt Orange to Blue: Support Donna Howard

by: Burnt Orange Report

Wed Aug 22, 2012 at 01:00 PM CDT

Donna Howard is an incumbent Democrat and champion of education and healthcare who survived a squeaker of an election in 2010. Up only 16 votes on Election Night, she ultimately prevailed by only 4 votes after three recounts that depleted her campaign resources. This year she faces a Republican and a Libertarian in a dramatically redrawn district with 60% new voters.

In the 2011 session, Howard offered an amendment that would have provided funding for our public schools' enrollment growth without dipping into the money already in the Rainy Day Fund. Unfortunately, anti-education Republicans blocked the amendment, and for the first time Texas did not fund enrollment growth in our bursting public schools.

A former school board member, Howard is recognized as an expert on education and healthcare issues across Texas. As a member of both the Higher Education and Technology Committees, she understands the importance of strong education from Pre-K to postgraduate for a healthy economy.

Donna is a champion of education and health care in the Legislature, and we need her to keep fighting for our values at the Capitol.

Support Donna Howard and all of our Burnt Orange to Blue candidates today!

Congratulations to Donna Howard and Ann Johnson!

by: Burnt Orange Report

Wed Aug 22, 2012 at 11:00 AM CDT

Click here to donate to Burnt Orange to Blue, and make sure Donna Howard and Ann Johnson have the resources they need to win this November!

"Burnt Orange to Blue" is our online fundraising program focused on encouraging support for candidates in must-win races up and down the ballot across the state. Through Labor Day, we'll be adding competitive and must-win races to the list, along with a few races where your funds can have an outsized impact on the outcome of the race.

Donna Howard (HD-48) is an incumbent Democrat representing west and south Austin who survived a squeaker of an election in 2010 -- up only 16 votes on Election Night, she ultimately prevailed by only 4 votes after three recounts. Howard won the BOR to Blue contest by much wider margins, owing to her tremendous Facebook and Twitter communities. Her landslide victory demonstrates the power of social media, and her supporters' commitment to making sure she remains in the legislature.

Ann Johnson (HD-134) is a rising star out of Harris County running to unseat Sarah Davis, a Republican who won in the 2010 wave, defeating Ellen Cohen. Davis voted for the Republican budget that slashed $5 billion from our public schools, crippled Medicaid, and slashed 75% of state family planning funding. Make no mistake: Republican Sarah Davis is bad for the families of Texas.   Johnson is a distinguished attorney who represents children, and won a landmark case at the Texas Supreme Court to prevent children from exploitation and human trafficking. Johnson will be a much-needed addition to the legislature, where women and children are treated like political footballs rather than Texans.

Both of these strong candidates deserve your enthusiastic support! The women, children, families, and seniors of Texas desperately need these two great leaders winning in November.

Click here to donate to Burnt Orange to Blue, and make sure Donna Howard and Ann Johnson have the funds they need to win in November!

Thanks to everyone who participated in this contest. We will be adding several more legislative candidates to the BOR to Blue list in the coming weeks, so stay tuned!  

HD 48: Rep. Donna Howard (D) vs. Dan Neil (R)

by: Phillip Martin

Tue Sep 07, 2010 at 04:05 PM CDT

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.

Candidate Pages: Rep. Donna Howard website, on Facebook
Candidate Pages: Dan Neil website, on Facebook, on Twitter

District Overview: The Numbers, The Issues, and the Candidates

• House District Map: District 48
  
• District History: 2008 Election Results

District 48 lies primarily in the western half of Travis County and includes parts of the city of Austin and the Westlake Hills area. A liberal-leaning county where Democrats strongly outnumber Republicans, Obama won comfortably with 53% of the vote in 2008. However, western Travis County is home to one of the larger conservative factions in the area. Like many districts, it was drawn to benefit Republicans, who represented the seat until 2005, when Rep. Howard won a tough special election, part of a string of 6 election victories that earned her two twerms in the Legislature.  

Howard is a life-long educator and nurse who grew up in Austin. Her Republican opponent, Dan Neil, is a former All-American lineman and NFL player who hasn’t said much – about anything, at all. He posted a poor showing on his June 30th Finance Report and then created a small stir by being kicked off his sports radio show on 104.9, The Horn, blaming it on Rep. Howard. In fact, the radio station came to Rep. Howard to inform of her the FCC Equal Time Rule. That's about all that's happened in this race, which means -- nothing has happened. Rep. Howard is defining the issues, concentrating on her legislative successes, including legislation she passed requiring the largely right-wing and highly partisan State Board of Education to stream their meetings over the internet, a hot-button issue this cycle.

Why Rep. Donna Howard Will Return Next Year

Rep. Howard has incumbency, popularity, the resources and a well-organized, professional team all on her side. She’s well-tested and versed in campaigning, and Republicans have all but quit running serious races in Travis County.

June 30 Campaign Finance Report:

HD-48: Dan Neil Forced to Leave Job at Local ESPN Radio Station

by: David Mauro

Mon Jul 12, 2010 at 09:41 PM CDT

Earlier today Dan Neil, the former UT and Denver Bronco football player with an otherwise thin resume challenging Rep. Donna Howard, was removed from his on-air job at ESPN's Austin affiliate 104.9 The Horn. Neil will remain away from his radio job until after Election Day.

In a press release, Neil, who was fined $15,000 by the NFL for a dirty chop block that broke another play's leg in 2001, accused Howard of "harming his ability to make a living." Neil, who was paid over $3 million per season near the end of his football career, is the owner of the Neil Management Health Company and lives in a home appraised at over $1.9 million. 

Neil alleged, with little or no supporting evidence, that Howard had "essentially asked a corporation to subsidize her advertising budget as a caveat to allowing me to continue making a living as a sports commentator." In an Austin American-Statesman blog post by Corrie MacLaggan, Howard responded to Neil's press release.

“We came with some suggestions,” Howard said. “No demand was made. They were merely discussions. (Radio officials) got back to us to say, ‘Never mind, we’re going to keep him off the air.’”

Bob Proud, senior vice president and market manager for Border Media, which owns the station, said Neil has been off the air since May.

“Discussions were held to try to find a way to keep Dan on the air, but Border Media’s legal counsel decided it would be best that he stay off until after the election,” Proud said.

If you listen to the people that made the actual decision, it appears that Neil's story is either completely fabricated or greatly exaggerated for political gain. Either way, it is a clear sign that, after a rather silent beginning to his campaign, Neil is probably not ready to mount a serious challenge to Howard.

If Neil has been off the air since May, as his boss says, there is a good chance Neil has timed this story to pre-empt what could be underwhelming fundraising numbers later this week. We'll know Thursday. The Statesman also noted that, despite the millionaire Neil's claims, he does have alternative sources of income.

A commenter on the Statesman post may have summed it up best:

By AmelieWannabe

July 12, 2010 4:43 PM | 

This reminds [me] of when Marc Katz ran for mayor of Austin and couldn’t appear in any Katz’s Deli commercials and when Fred Thompson didn’t appear on “Law and Order” during his presidential bid. Surely Mr. Neil had to be aware that it’s common for this to happen to political candidates who hold positions in television and/or radio.

This should not have been a surprise to Neil. His dismissal from radio during the campaign has precedent. It is not a "liberal Democrat" conspiracy, as Neil claimed in his press release, but actually just how things work.

Rep. Donna Howard Endorses Lee Leffingwell

by: David Mauro

Tue Feb 24, 2009 at 11:09 PM CST

Disclosure: I am a supporter of Lee Leffingwell for Mayor.

State Rep. Donna Howard (D-Austin) became the second member of the Travis County House delegation in as many days to endorse Lee Leffingwell's campaign to become the next Mayor of Austin.

From the Leffingwell campaign blog:

We are happy and honored to announce that State Representative Donna Howard has given her endorsement to Lee Leffingwell's campaign for Austin mayor!

Donna represents District 48 in the Texas House of Representatives, which includes big slices of Austin west of MOPAC and north of of 183, as well as the cities of Rollingwood, West Lake Hills and Lago Vista.

 

Born and raised in Austin, Donna graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in nursing from the University of Texas, where she also earned her Master's Degree in health education.  She subsequently worked as a critical care nurse at Brackenridge and Seton hospitals, was president of the District 5 Texas Nurses' Association, and helped launch the Seton Good Health School.

Reps. Howard and Eddie Rodriguez, both Leffingwell backers, are the only state representatives to have endorsed in this race.

Donna Howard Speaking, Sun., Feb. 8th, 4pm, FUMC Family Life Center

by: David Kobierowski

Thu Feb 05, 2009 at 06:32 AM CST

Join us to learn all about this bill and other matters related to the 81st TX State Legislative session.

We'll meet Sunday, Feb. 8th, 4:00pm-6:00pm at the First United Methodist Church Family Life Center (1300 Lavaca, at 13th/Lavaca, next door to the TX Capitol, diagonally across the street from the church).  

This is a FREE event, and lot of free parking available.

We're expecting at least 80 people.  Seating is limited, please try to arrive on time.  Last week we had folks travel as far as 100 miles to attend this forum for Sherri Greenberg's presentation.  It's worth it.  Get There.  Get involved.  Get Informed.

Best,
David Kobierowski
David-Has-Issues Forum