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Texas Lunch Links: Special Session, Texas Barbecue, and Combs' $1.2 B Piggy Bank

Nick Hudson — Fri, 17 May 2013 17:00:00 GMT

Texas Lunch Links is a lunchtime buffet of Texas News and Views with a heavy emphasis on happenings at the Texas Legislature.

SPECIAL SESSION: Dallas Democratic Senator Royce West told a reporter from the Statesman on Thursday, "I think a special session is pretty much certain... The reason is that the attorney general wants the Legislature to approve the maps the courts have drawn for redistricting. There are a number of people (Democrats) who won't vote for that. (The Republicans) don't have the votes to get it through in the regular session, but they can push it through during a special session."

BARBECUE: Texas Monthly published its annual Top 50 Barbecue Joints list earlier this week. Austin's Franklin Barbecue took the number one spot.

WATER: The key to securing Texas' water future might be to form urban-rural partnerships with local farmers to decrease regional consumption.

BUDGET: Negotiations on Texas' budget broke down on Thursday as Democrats persisted in their demands for more education spending. Katherine Haenschen authored a post on ongoing budget deliberations earlier today.

Read more Texas Lunch Links below the fold!
TAX BREAKS: Texas Comptroller Susan Combs approved $1.2 billion in tax breaks for her campaign contributors since 2006, according to the Texans for Public Justice. Corporations received abatements of up to 90 percent of their property taxes under the 2001 Economic Development Act. Dick Lavine of the Center for Public Policy Priorities tells the Texas Observer "This is a hugely expensive program that has not been monitored closely at all."

ADVANCED DIRECTIVES: Texas Right to Life's criticism of Republican Senator Bob Deuell's painstakingly-crafted bill to improve laws governing end of life medical decisions has devolved into talk about death panels.

WEST, TEXAS: Authorities on Thursday refused to rule out foul play as a possible cause of the deadly, devastating April explosion at the West Fertilizer Co. in West, Texas.

MORTON ACT: Governor Rick Perry signed the Michael Morton Act into law on Thursday. The law requires Texas prosecutors to share information with defendants that could help their case.

Texas Lunch Links: Tornadoes, Charter Schools and the Economist on Julian Castro

Nick Hudson — Thu, 16 May 2013 17:00:00 GMT

Texas Lunch Links is a lunchtime buffet of Texas News and Views with a heavy emphasis on happenings at the Texas Legislature.

TORNADOES: An estimated 10 tornadoes ripped through north Texas on Wednesday, devastating entire neighborhoods, injuring dozens and killing at least six people.

JULIAN CASTRO: The Economist has a political profile of Julian Castro and speculates that by 2018, he might have a real shot at Governor.

TERM LIMITS: The Texas House of Representatives rejected, by a vote of 80-61, a resolution that would have limited statewide officeholders to two consecutive terms.

WEST, TEXAS: The folks at the Texas Tribune have produced a great interactive map of the known 110 facilities that work with ammonium nitrate in Texas, along with esimates of those facilities' proximity to schools and hospitals.
EDUCATION: Senator Leticia Van de Putte has an Op-Ed on minimum standards for Texas education published in multiple Texas papers today.

MORTON ACT: The Texas House tentatively approved the Morton Act on Wednesday. The Morton Act would compel prosecutors to share case files with defense attorneys that can help defendants' cases.

FUSION CENTERS: It looks like the Department of Public Safety's Fusion Center, originally created to organize localized domestic intelligence into a single system, may be shutting down. A bipartisan U.S. Senate Subcommittee report (pdf) in October of 2012 was very critical of state and local fusion centers.

CHARTER SCHOOLS: The Texas House is expected to consider Houston Republican Dan Patrick's bill to expand Charter Schools today.

Texas Lunch Links: Drunk Driving, Guns on College Campuses, and a Rising Star in Texas Music

Nick Hudson — Wed, 15 May 2013 17:00:00 GMT

Texas Lunch Links is a lunchtime buffet of Texas News and Views with a heavy emphasis on happenings at the Texas Legislature.

BUDGET: Lawmakers seem to be nearing an agreement a budget deal that includes $2 billion for a new state water fund and reverses some education spending cuts.

STEVE HOTZE, POP STAR: Steve Hotze, a big Republican donor out of Houston who last week announced that he would challenge the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act, has released two self-recorded songs about his opposition to federal health reforms. Visit the Texas Tribune to sing along to catchy lyrics of original genius like, "We will defeat Obama and the socialists".

CAMPUS CARRY: The Senate Committee on Criminal Justice approved by a 4-2 vote a bill that would allow concealed handguns on some college campuses.

Read more Texas Lunch Links below the fold!
INNOCENCE COMMISSION STALLS: A House bill that would create a state commission to investigate wrongful convictions may be stalled in the Senate Committee on Criminal Justice. Houston Republican Senator Joan Huffman opined that it would duplicate initiatives already in operation and waste taxpayer money, despite the fiscal note predicting "no significant fiscal impact" to taxpayers. Senator Huffman's statement angered Cory Sessions, the brother of the wrongfully-convicted man for whom the commission would be named. Sessions' brother, Timothy Cole, died behind bars 14 years after being wrongfully convicted of raping a fellow student at Texas Tech University. Cole was posthumously exonerated.

DRUNK DRIVING: Texas Mothers Against Drunk Driving supports the recommendation from the National Transportation Safety Board to reduce the legal blood alcohol limit to 0.05, from 0.08, but state Senator John Whitmire, who chairs Texas' Senate Criminal Justice Committee, says, "It's just not realistic, if you're going to drink at all."

UT BOARD OF REGENTS: Red McCombs is the latest big name to weigh-in on the University of Texas-Rick Perry-UT System Board of Regents imbroglio.

RAILROAD COMMISSION: A bill that would have made several ethics reforms and changed the name of the Railroad Commission of Texas, which oversees oil and gas drilling in the state, has died on in the House Committee on Energy Resources.

Texas Lunch Links: Dark Money, Needle Exchange, and Michael Morton

Nick Hudson — Tue, 14 May 2013 17:00:00 GMT

Texas Capitol Doorknob. by Michael Connell on Flickr

Texas Lunch Links is a lunchtime buffet of Texas News and Views with a heavy emphasis on happenings at the Texas Legislature.

TEXAS HAS GAME: The University of Texas at Austin is launching a video-gaming academy.

CANCER AGENCY: The Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas, which has been embroiled in a controversy dealing with favoritism in its grant-awarding proces, may be funded if it does some major reorganization.

DARK MONEY: A bill that would require issue advocacy groups to report their high-level donors to the Texas Ethics Commission won tentative approval in the House on Monday.

MICHAEL MORTON ACT: The Texas House gave tentative approval on Monday to two bills that may reduce the likelihood that innocent people are wrongly convicted.

TEXAS REGENTS: The Texas House gave preliminary approval to a measure that would diminish the power of boards of regents at public universities across the state in the wake of the University of Texas board of regents botched bout at micromanagement of Austin's flagship university.

Read more Texas Lunch Links below the fold!
TAXES: In a strong Op-Ed in Sunday's Statesman, Scott McCown of the Center for Public Policy Priorities takes aim at Texas' antiquated system of taxation. He writes, "We aren't putting enough money into the public sector. Both education and infrastructure are to an economy like oxygen to an athlete. If we want Texas to have a world-class economy, we must increase the oxygen flow, not cut it."

WEST WAS PREVENTABLE: The Houston Chronicle Editorial Board argued on Monday that the deadly and damaging West, Texas explosion was entirely preventable.

NEEDLE EXCHANGE: The San Antonio Express-News Editorial Board thinks, "Texas needs to decriminalize needle exchange programs."

Affordability: Does Austin have an affordability problem?

Texas Lunch Links: Guns on College Campuses, Bouncy House Regulations, and Santa Claus

Nick Hudson — Thu, 09 May 2013 16:59:44 GMT

Texas Capitol. by stevelyon, on Flickr

Texas Lunch Links is a lunchtime buffet of Texas News and Views with a heavy emphasis on happenings at the Texas Legislature.

BOUNCY HOUSE: Inflatable bouncy house operators, air-conditioner repairmen and tow-truck drivers are required to carry liability insurance, but companies like West Fertilizer Co. that mix and store volatile chemicals are not.

TEACHER PENSIONS: The Texas Senate unanimously approved a bill that would bring big changes to the Teacher Retirement System of Texas on Wednesday. The bill, which now heads to the Texas House for consideration, will phase-in larger contributions from all teachers and prevent newer teachers from retiring with full benefits until they turn 62. The plan also allows a 3 percent cost-of-living adjustment this year for for longtime retirees.

BICYCLES: The Houston City Council unanimously passed a "safe passing" ordinance that requires drivers to give vulnerable road users, including bicyclists, pedestrians, disabled travelers, highway utility workers and tow truck drivers, three feet of space while passing.

GUNS: Shortly after Houston Senator John Whitmire effectivelydeclared a campus-carry bill dead on arrival to his Senate Criminal Justice Committee, it looks like the long-serving Houston Democrat may now allow a modified campus-carry bill to have a hearing. The modified bill would allow public universities to opt out of allowing campus-carry.

HISPANIC VOTE: Census figures released Wednesday show that Hispanics in Texas continue to lag the state's overall population in both registration and voting rates by double digits.

Read more Texas Lunch Links below the fold!
EMPLOYMENT DISCRIMINATION: Five equal rights protesters were arrested in front of the Texas Capitol on Wednesday for blocking traffic while they demanded passage of Senate Bill 237, dubbed the "Fair Employment Act." Senate Bill 237 would prohibit employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity or expression. You can view pictures of the arrests and read more coverage at this True FM Online.

MERRY CHRISTMAS: Santa Claus made a special trip from the North Pole to the Texas Capitol on Wednedsay just to show support for State Representative Dwayne Bohac's House Bill 308, dubbed the "Merry Christmas Bill." Bohac's bill authorizes public school students and staff to offer traditional holiday greetings and erect religious displays like nativity scenes as long the displays include symbols from more than one religion.

SALES TAX REVENUE UP: Texas' sales tax collections for the month of April came in at 3.9 percent above last year's collections, according to the state comptroller.

TAX PROGRESSIVITY: If Democrat State Representative Eddie Rodriguez's proposal to amend the Texas Constition and allow local governments to ease property tax burdens on some middle and lower-income residents passes today, it will probably be by a slim margin.

Texas Lunch Links: Water Scarcity, Wiretapping, and Fracking Pollution

Nick Hudson — Wed, 08 May 2013 17:00:00 GMT

Texas Lunch Links is a lunchtime buffet of Texas News and Views with a heavy emphasis on happenings at the Texas Legislature.

WATER: Groundwater in Texas' major aquifers dropped significantly between 2010 and 2011 as a result of drought conditions, and groundwater levels are expected to continue declining.

WIRETAPPING: Scott Henson, the author of the criminal justice blog Grits for Breakfast, calls on lawmakers to reject wiretapping authority for local police in a Houston Chronicle Op-Ed today.

FRACKING: Texas counties are seeking more authority to regulate the location of fracking water disposal wells and searching for ways to mitigate environmental damage that might be caused by the disposal of frack water.

Read more Texas Lunch Links below the fold!
EMINENT DOMAIN: Pipeline companies, the energy industry, and even the Koch brothers are lobbying hard against legislation that would require companies to show additional proof that their pipelines are "common carriers" before using the power of eminent domain to build on private land without a property owners' approval. Common carrier pipelines are pipelines which are available "for hire" by other entities.

TRACKING BILLS: The Texas Tribune launched a neat new application for tracking the status of bills at the Texas Legislature.

AUSTIN SCHOOL BONDS: Proponents of the $892 million bond package for Austin schools are using cuts to education under Governor Rick Perry's reign to motivate Democrats to go vote for propositions 1-4. Early voting ended on Tuesday. Election day is on May 11.

VAN DE PUTTE: Senator Leticia Van de Putte's infant grandson suddenly died of an unknown cause on Tuesday.

MEDICAID EXPANSION: Though Texas Republican Rep. John Zerwas says his "Texas solution" to Medicaid expansion is probably stuck in the House Calendars Committee, proponents of Medicaid expansion are holding a rally at the Capitol today.

PAYDAY LENDING: Senator John Carona, the Republican chairman of the Senate Business and Commerce Committee, and Rep. Mike Villarreal, the Democratic chairman of the House Investment and Financial Services Committee, will be promoting a compromise Payday Lending Reform bill at a news conference today.

BUSINESS TAX CUTS: On a 112-27 vote, the Texas House gave tentative approval to a bill that would cut Texas' franchise tax for businesses with less than $1 million in gross annual receipts. The bill would reduce state revenue by $667 million.

Texas Lunch Links: AISD Bonds, Internet Privacy, and High Stakes Testing

Nick Hudson — Tue, 07 May 2013 17:46:28 GMT

Texas Lunch Links is a lunchtime buffet of interesting Texas News and Views with a heavy emphasis on happenings at the Texas Legislature.

HIGHER EDUCATION: African Americans and Hispanics are more likely to go into debt while earning a doctorate in the sciences than their white and Asian counterparts, according to a new study.

EDUCATION: The Texas Senate approved a big education bill on Monday. Differences between the bill and its House companion still have to be ironed out.

AUSTIN SCHOOL BONDS: Today is the last day to early vote in May elections across Texas, and Austin Independent School District has four bonds for consideration on the ballot. Burnt Orange Report has endorsed all four propositions. The Committee for Austin's Children produced the following ad supporting AISD bonds 1-4.

Read more Texas Lunch Links below the fold!
WEST, TEXAS: Investigators have identified ammonium nitrate as the likely source of the deadly and destructive West Fertilizer Co. explosion.

INTERNET PRIVACY: Police in Texas would need a warrant to make Internet service providers turn over emails older than 180 days under legislation tentatively approved by the Texas House yesterday.

SWITCHBLADES: Switchblade knives may soon be legal in Texas.

ONLINE SHOPPING: A bill that would more broadly implement sales tax collection requirements on online retailers, many of whom have for years avoided paying state sales taxes, cleared the United States Senate on Monday.

RICK PERRY'S DANGEROUS DANCE: Should a longtime Perry fundraiser be setting up times for Perry to call big donors when it's illegal for the governor and lawmakers to raise money 30 days before a legislative session and 20 days after?

Texas Lunch Links: Obamacare, Abortion Restrictions, and Our Broken Political System

Nick Hudson — Mon, 06 May 2013 17:00:00 GMT

Texas Lunch Links is a lunchtime buffet of interesting Texas News and Views with a heavy emphasis on happenings at the Texas Legislature.

OBAMACARE:Texas will probably get a mere $8 million from the federal government to spend on enrolling about 5 million uninsured people. That's less than $2 per uninsured resident, compared with about $31 per person in Maryland.

OUR BROKEN POLITICAL SYSTEM: The Last week, the Houston Chronicle Editorial Board wrote, "if we, as a people, are serious about finding common ground on guns and other divisive issues, it will behoove us to make changes in our political system far away from those battles that turn us into sworn enemies and tie us in knots."

GUNS: A number of bad Gun bills are headed to the Texas Senate after the House approved them this weekend.
DROUGHT: Though parts of Texas may emerge from our drought this year, it may be too late for farmers with cotton, corn, and sorghum crops to recover.

PAYDAY LENDING: Don Baylor of the Center for Public Policy Priorities thoughtfully opines in favor of legislation to regulate the payday lending in today's Austin American Statesman.

DOMESTIC PARTNERSHIP BENEFITS: Greg Abbott's legal opinion that local governments' decision to provide domestic partnership benefits violate the Texas Constitution won't impact for those receiving domestic partnership benefits.

ABORTION: The fate of attempts this legislative session to dismantle the trimester framework established in Roe v. Wade by banning abortions after twenty weeks and to make it harder and more expensive for healthcare professionals to do their jobs by imposing strict new standards on abortion facilities may be determined by pro-life Democrats.

Texas Lunch Links: Budgeting Gimmicks, Bevo the Dragon, and Toll Roads

Nick Hudson — Thu, 02 May 2013 17:15:00 GMT

Texas Lunch Links is a lunchtime buffet of interesting Texas News and Views with a heavy emphasis on happenings at the Texas Legislature.

BUDGET: An accounting gimmick that helps Texas lawmakers balance the budget each biennium may soon change.

PRISON BAILOUT: New York bondholders may stand to benefit the most from an expensive and controversial proposal to buy prisons the state doesn't need and doesn't want.

DAWSON STATE JAIL SUED: In related prison news, for-profit prison operator Corrections Corporation of America is being sued by the Texas Civil Rights Project and Prison Legal News for "patterns of uncoscionable and unconstitutional conditions" at Dawson State Jail. Dawson State jail is one of the private prison facilities Texas lawmakers are considering bailing out by buying up.

BEVO THE DRAGON: Members of the Women in Aerospace for Leadership and Development (WIALD) student organization of the University of Texas at Austin launched a weather balloon dubbed "Bevo the Dragon" earlier this week. Watch a fun video of their launch below the fold.

Read more Texas Lunch Links below the fold!
WEST EXPLOSION: Testimony before the House Homeland Security and Public Safety Committee revealed that neither cities nor the State of Texas have standards for how dangerous chemicals are to be stored.

FIXED TUITION: Texas colleges and universities may be able to offer fixed four-year tuition rates to students in the future if a bill by Dallas Republican Representative Dan Branch can make it through the senate.

TOLL ROADS: A bill that would prevent drivers with more than 100 unpaid tolls from renewing their vehicle registrations is likely to land on Rick Perry's desk soon.

BEVO THE DRAGON:

Texas Lunch Links: How to Talk to a Conservative, and Taxpayer-Funded Prison Bailouts

Nick Hudson — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 16:48:45 GMT

Texas Lunch Links is a lunchtime buffet of Texas News and Views with a heavy emphasis on happenings at the Texas Legislature.

TALK TO A CONSERVATIVE: A new study that examines attitudes about energy efficient products among liberals and conservatives may provide environmentalists a clue about how to get conservatives to buy into energy efficient products.

WAKE UP LONGHORNS: Three prominent University of Texas alumni have underwritten a campaign and a video critizing Rick Perry and his appointees to the UT System Board of Regents. The video accuses Governor Goodhair and the UT regents of trying to tear down the UT System, and it calls on longhorns to "Wake Up". Watch the video below the fold.

ONE WATER BILL DEAD: House Bill 11, which would have provided low-interest loans for water supply and conservation projects through $2 billion appropriated from Texas' economic stabilization fund, was killed on Monday when State Representative Sylvester Turner raised a point of order. At least two other bills that could fund water supply projects, one in the Texas Senate and the other in the Texas House, are still alive.

SPACE COWBOYS: Texas' bid to bring the private space company SpaceX to Brownesville got a small boost on Monday when the state House passed a bill that would protect companies launching rockets in some areas of Texas from noise complaints.
WEST EXPLOSION: West Fertilizer Co. is stonewalling reporters investigating the company's compliance with state and federal regulations preceding the deadly explosion at their plant on April 17th.

TAXPAYER-FUNDED TEXAS PRISON BAILOUTS: The legislative proposal to bailout a corporation and a Texas town by buying up their unneeded empty prisons is catching heat. Senator John Whitmire told the Houston Chronicle, "I am fighting night and day to keep from buying a prison that everyone will tell you they are going to board up... Can you imagine? People all over Texas ought to start a revolution over that." The Fort Worth Star Editorial Board also editorialized against the proposal today.

STAAR TESTING Twenty-five percent of fifth graders failed the math section of the STAAR exam, and twenty-three percent failed the reading section, according to test results released on Monday by the Texas Education Agency.

MORE ON EDUCATION: A bill that would eliminate writing exams for fourth and seventh graders in Texas is on the move at the Legislature.

WAKE UP TEXAS VIDEO: