Today, Van De Putte has announced she has opted out of running for any statewide office and further announces her support for Texas Senator Kirk Watson. Watson is not a candidate for Governor or any statewide office at this time, but with this release and strong statement of support, Watson will be someone to watch in the upcoming special session.
Here is the complete release:
"Five months of speculation regarding the possibility of me running for Governor has, quite frankly, been surprising. It started with nothing more than me not immediately saying 'no,' unlike in past election cycles, when asked if I would consider such a run. The reactions of thousands of Texans who encouraged me to give it serious consideration has been flattering.
"I have, indeed, given it very serious thought, and while I would love to believe, tongue firmly planted in cheek, that this pent-up desire on the part of so many Texans for me to run for governor is solely because of some perceived superior leadership ability and vast intellect of mine, I have to reluctantly admit that it's not as much about me as it is about Republican failures.
"This is about Texas' stunning lack of current leadership. Large and growing numbers feel betrayed by the Republicans they voted into statewide office, and who can blame them? While Texas families remain concerned about genuine priority issues, Republicans led by Rick Perry continue to instead obsess about hyper-partisan issues, in order to grab more power for themselves.
"Texans still pay the highest homeowners insurance premiums in the country. Texas still has the highest percentage in the country of those without access to health care. Texas still has the second highest rate of teen pregnancy in the nation, and the highest rate of teens with a second pregnancy. And after years of Republican 'leadership,' not only has Rick Perry failed to address these challenges, but he and his minions have done everything they can to avoid addressing them in any meaningful way. Rick Perry, Kay Bailey Hutchison, and others in the Republican leadership have turned their backs on 25 million Texans, instead opting to curry favor with a handful of fringe Republican primary voters.
"If I believed for a second that it would result in a healthy debate of the issues of most importance to Texas families, I would today be announcing my candidacy for Governor of Texas. But we have all watched over the years as Perry, Hutchison, and other Republican politicians have launched their scorched earth 'say anything to win' vicious attacks against political opponents. To mask their utter lack of leadership, they'll do so again, and I decline to put my family through it. That I am a Latina would only serve to amplify their attacks.
"I will gladly work hard to ensure that a Democrat prevails in the election for Governor, so that Texas families can have a better shot at having a state government focused on the needs of Texans, instead of state Republican leadership obsessed with their own political futures, at Texans' expense.
"Prominent Democrats must put personal ambitions aside and very pragmatically nominate the person best equipped to win in November. Just because one can win the Democratic nomination for Governor doesn't mean one should, unless he or she is best positioned to defeat the Republican nominee in the fall.
"That's why I think Senator Kirk Watson should raise his sights and run for Governor. I've watched as Senator Watson has emerged as a leader in the state Senate on the issues of most importance to Texans. While staying true to Democratic values, he is a bipartisan pragmatic leader solidly focused on addressing the priorities of all Texans. I intend to lobby Senator Watson to run for governor, and I'll wholeheartedly support him if he does. But if he declines, Democrats should recruit and support someone who, like Watson, is energetic, pragmatic, focused, and smart; and who can fully energize Democratic supporters while also attracting a broad range of independent voters in every region of the state.
"The Republicans have had their day, and Texans have realized that the Republicans can't lead. I will be working hard to elect a Democrat to the Governor's office."
There are more than a few rumors circulating about when the Special Session will occur. The most common rumor is it will start in the first or second week of July. Once the special session is over, expect Watson and others to announce their attentions to either run or not run statewide.
Update: A statement from Tom Schieffer on Van de Putte's decision.
Senator Van de Putte has been a respected member of the Senate for many years. She would have been a formidable opponent in the Democratic primary. I am grateful she will not be running for governor this year. I look forward to sitting down with her to discuss my candidacy because I believe I can be the kind of candidate she can support, both in the Democratic primary and the general election.
Last night at 11:58 pm (wink, wink), just as was suspected, the Texas Senate unanimously passed through a net metering bill, HB 1243, with solar SB 545 amended on as a bonus. This is great news for Texas consumers, the environment, and solar power.
Well, we did our homework, and here's what we've found.
HB 1243 will ensure that owners of solar installations, small wind turbines, or biogas generators get paid a fair price for the excess power they produce. SB 545 - which after the Voter ID slowdown, we thought was dead - increases incentives for distributed solar power generation by creating a pool of $500 million in solar rebates over the next 5 years. It also calls for a pilot program with a minimum funding of $4 million to put solar on schools (nudge: the State Energy Conservation Office could potentially spend considerably more of their pending stimulus funds to further these projects) and will create thousands of green, local jobs across the state of Texas.
Another amendment to the bill added on SB 2349. This provision would allow oil wells that create natural gas, but not enough to justify paying for collection, to build a generator to run the gas through, make electricity, and sell it back into the grid. The bill would limit production to 2 MW so that they can provide distributed generation. As of right now, they're just flaring that gas off, so this is definitely a good thing.
According to our friends at Environment Texas (via the Houston Chronicle's NewsWatch: Energy blog), the amended HB 1243 also:
• Requires home builders to offer solar as a standard option in developments with 50 homes or more.
• Prevents homeowners associations from blocking solar panel installations
• Allows up to 70% of incentive funds to be used for utility-scale solar projects
• Allows the Public Utility Commission to extend the program for an additional five years and another $500 million if it determined that a "substantial" amount of manufacturing of solar generation products located in Texas after the initial five-year program
• Requires electric co-ops to allow consumers to interconnect solar to the grid
• Clarifies that consumers will not have to register as a utility and that third party ownership of solar is allowed
• For the next two years, requires retail electric providers to pay at least five cents per kilowatt hour for surplus solar and four cents for other renewable technologies and directs the PUC to determine a fair market price that will become a new "floor" following the two years
• Creates a "Made in Texas" program to certify and encourage Texans to buy locally manufactured solar panels and other energy products. As a result, locally produced products qualify for a 20% larger rebate than imports.
Now that HB 1243 has successfully passed through both chambers of the legislature, we've just got to wait and see what comes out of conference committee, where bill authors from both sides will smooth out the differences between their bills. Many thanks to all of you that wrote e-mails and made phone calls in support of these bills. This is a tremendous victory for Texas solar. Keep your fingers crossed that we can send this bill to Governor Perry's desk!
Original post written by Citizen Sarah at Texas Vox
In a list mostly following a trend of past legislatures, the biggest surprise in the Texas Senate's Committee Appointments might be the appointments doled out to Dan Patrick (R - Houston).
First is the oddly high number of appointments the Radio Talk Show Guy managed to garner. Including the subcommittee on Flooding and Evacuations, I counted six appointments for Mr. Patrick. And if my math was correct, only one other senator managed that: Senator Craig Estes. Does the Lieutenant Governor really want to give a senator that much power if he has only been in for about a third of a full term?
Beyond the Flooding and Evacuations subcommittee, Patrick will serve on the committees for Criminal Justice, Education, Health and Human Services, Higher Education, and Intergovernmental Relations. All of them important committees, for sure.
What's more? He will Vice-Chair both Public Education and Higher Education. This is for a man who seems to think that school budgets that increase faster than student enrollment might be a bad thing? And how would the man who walked out during the Senate's prayer, when it was given by a Muslim, affect quality teachings about the world's religions? Is Dan Patrick really a strong voice for the teaching of our youth?
Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst seems to be caving into this ultra-conservative hawk. It started with the 2/3 debate, and it is continuing here. Dewhurst is a man who has been one of the state's top leaders for years. He probably has an even higher office on his mind, yet he thinks that the far right will get him elected. We all knew Mr. Patrick was a bit crazy, but Dewhurst is showing similar colors, too.
Elise Hu has the goods over on her blog with the full committee memberships as appointed just now by Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst. Please go visit her to see the full list. I've posted just the chairs/vice chairs below.
Sen. Tommy Williams has taken over the charimanship of the Administration Committee which had been held by Sen. Brimer who lost re-election to Wendy Davis, who Todd will be joining next Monday in his special "Day in the Life of a Senator" opportunity.
As Barack Obama spoke of hope in a Wilmington park named for Harriet Tubman and abolitionist Thomas Garrett, just north of the Mason-Dixon line, some Republicans were still setting loose the dogs along the freedom trail.
Last week, Texas Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and some embarrassed but silently capitulating GOP state senators destroyed legislative tradition and subverted procedures intended to protect against "the tyranny of the majority" to pass a regressive voter identification bill. Twelve Angry Democrats in the Senate did their best. But they were outnumbered. In the Right's theory of democracy, minorities should sit down, shut up, and do what they're told.
The U.S. Supreme Court has cleared the way for barriers to voting, of course. The court's opinion in the Indiana voter ID case was bad enough. But Judge Richard Posner, of the U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, did a more honest job of articulating the elitist logic of voter suppression when he penned his opinion approving the Indiana law.
I'd been thinking about posting some summary thoughts on Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst's sad and reckless attack on voting rights and the legislative process. Then I noticed that elliotk had just posted a BOR journal more eloquent than, well, more eloquent than the words of mere mortals.
Isaiah 10
1 Woe to those who make unjust laws,
to those who issue oppressive decrees,
2 to deprive the poor of their rights
and withhold justice from the oppressed of my people,
making widows their prey
and robbing the fatherless.
3 What will you do on the day of reckoning,
when disaster comes from afar?
To whom will you run for help?
Where will you leave your riches?
4 Nothing will remain but to cringe among the captives
or fall among the slain.
Yet for all this, his anger is not turned away,
his hand is still upraised.
We missed the press release, but the Austin American Statesman is reporting Senator Leticia Van de Putte was re-elected to chair the Senate Democratic Caucus.
The Senate Democratic Caucus today re-elected Sen. Leticia Van de Putte, D-San Antonio, as chair and Sen. Royce West, D-Dallas, as vice-chair.
This will be Van de Putte's fifth term representing San Antonio in the Senate. Some will recognize from a her work nationally as the co-chair of the 2008 Democratic National Convention.
Senators Van de Putte, West and the other Democrats will have one new member this session-- Wendy Davis. With Davis, Democrats now have 12 seats in the Senate and greater unity to fight bad legislation like Voter ID.
Congratulations to Senator Van de Putte and West on there leadership posts.
You ARE Ed Martin's son, right? Good guy Ed. I worked with him alot back during his days as Ex. Dir of the Texas Democratic Party when Bob Slagle was Chair. Saw both of them last in Danver at the 2008 Convention - as did I see you in the blogger's lounge at Pepsi Center.
Say, what will the balance be in the Texas House between Republican and Democratic members in the upcoming 81st Session of the Texas Legislature as a result of last Tuesday's election? I heard it is now 75 & 75. And also the balance going into the 81st D&R-wise in the Texas Senate if you don't mind.
All the details and bluster are at www.tlcv.org/blog (and, soon, on our nifty and gorgeous new www.tlcv.org), but the news is Texas' environment won on Election Day.
26 of 34 Texas House candidates and incumbents in contested races endorsed by the Texas League of Conservation Voters PAC won Tuesday night.
2 endorsees for the Senate move forward, 1 doesn't.
11 of the PAC"s top 14 priority races were victories - including helping return leaders like Rep Vo and Rep Frost (a dam hero if you ask me) to Austin, ejecting bad incumbents like Rep Goolsby (who lied to KERA about his clean energy voting record) for good challengers like Carol Kent, and snatching open seats away from anti-conservation candidates, like Joe Moody's victory over Dee Margo.
And as discussed, very much, elsewhere, the opportunity to elect a pro-conservation House Speaker depends on a recount in Irving.
Nationally, the League of Conservation Voters helped President Elect Obama win, along with lots of pro-conservation folks to Congress, like those Udalls.
Texas voters had lots of good choices to vote for in districts across Texas, and in a whole lot of the ones where the League's PAC was active, good people were elected and re-elected. Texas air quality may still be the worst, but I'm breathing easier now.
This morning Clay Robison wrote about Senator Dan Patrick's potential anger over the possibility of being left out of the Senate Finance Committee.
"If I am not on finance (next year), I will be upset," Patrick said.
He said Harris' appointment unfairly gives the Dallas-Fort Worth area a 5-2 edge over the Houston area on the 15-member panel. And one of the Houston-area senators, Tommy Williams, R-The Woodlands, represents only a small part of the city. Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston, also is on the committee.
San Antonio, meanwhile, has no resident on the Finance Committee, although the panel's vice chairman, Democrat Judith Zaffirini of Laredo, represents part of the Alamo City. I am sure she believes she represents the city's interests very well.
Most legislators want seats on budget-writing committees so they are well-positioned to bring home the bacon - a new wing for a university building or additional grants for the local medical school. But not Patrick. He wants to be on the finance panel, he said, to cut back on spending.
He voted against the budget drafted by the Finance Committee last year, even though the panel has a 2-1 GOP majority. The committee needs, he said, a "strong Republican voice," a comment sure to warm the hearts of several Republican budget-writers.
Oh weep.
Perhaps Senator Patrick doesn't understand how this state's representation works. Each state Senator represents about the same amount of Texans. If we're going to base appointments on the cities of the state, that disenfranchises a good million or two voters.
So what Lieutenant Governors often use is their judgement on who would best fit in each committee. For Finance, that entails the Senators with the best knowledge on how to finance the Texas Government's spending. Perhaps if Dan Patrick suggested innovations besides cutting the budget, he'd receive more consideration.
As far as a "strong Republican voice;" if Dan Patrick is the only strong Republican voice in the Texas Senate, than the state's Republican party is in more trouble than even optimistic Democrats believe.
