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Texas State Budget (April 4, 2011)

Answers to questions concerning our budget

by Senator Dan Patrick

Dear Friends,

I have recently given a number of presentations on our current budget situation in Texas. People ask where do we spend our money, how deep is the budget gap, how did it happen, what can we do about it, what does the future look like beyond this current budget, and what exactly is the purpose of the Rainy Day Fund. Several people asked me to send them the information so they can share it with others.

The internet is a powerful tool to disseminate information.  Unfortunately there are many e-mails flying around that either are not factual, based only in part on facts, take facts out of context, or have more opinion than facts contained in them.  Therefore I thought I would respond as requested and lay out the facts, not as I see them, but as I they are.  As Reagan said, "facts are stubborn things." I have made brief editorial comments in various sections to help better explain a particular issue.  However, the purpose of this is to share information based on fact and not editorialize. I can do that in other forums and at other times appropriate. The editorial notes you see are my opinion only and do not represent the views of any caucus, or other elected official.

Please feel free to share this with your e-mail lists and invite them to join our page at Facebook.com/dan.patrick.texas to keep up with the session as it happens.  I believe knowledge is power. The more informed the public is about government the better government we will have.

A BASIC BUDGET BREAKDOWN

First key point: Education and health care, primarily Medicaid on the health care side, account for nearly 80% of our budget.

People say all of the time, including recent polls, cut spending but don't cut spending for education and health care. With our current economy and budget gaps it is impossible to cut spending without at some level cutting spending in those two areas.  (editorial note: the key is to cut spending and preserve the quality in the classroom and provide for those truly in need)

Our budget is broken down into an All Funds Budget and General Revenue Funds Budget.

All Funds represents all of the money available to us, state sales tax, federal dollars, dedicated dollars, and other dollars.

General Revenue Funds are Texas dollars only, made up primarily of sales tax revenues. Texas has other revenue sources like the lottery, motor taxes, oil & gas taxes, tobacco taxes, business taxes, fees, fines, and more, that are either in dedicated funds or G.R.

The legislature passes a two year budget each session. The legislature is not allowed under law to appropriate funds beyond 2 years. The current budget year ends August 31, 2011. The budget we will pass this session is for the years 2012 and 2013 which begins this September.

Note:The Texas General Revenue Budget saw a 1.3% decrease in spending from the 2008-2009 budget. State employees have grown 3% in the last 8 years based on committee testimony. Note: school district employees are not state employees.

Review: Our budget is comprised of dollars generated in Texas and federal dollars, the largest portion of federal dollars are sent to our state for Medicaid reimbursement.  The Comptroller sets the amount of money the legislature can spend for each 2 year budget cycle based on Texas dollars only.

Fiscal year ends August 31st of each year. Education and Health & Human Services account for the vast majority of spending each year.

ECONOMIC STABILIZATION FUND. This fund is more commonly known as the "Rainy Day Fund"The fund was established in 1987 and approved by the voters after the recession of the mid-eighties brought about large budget cuts and new taxes. 

The fund receives excess oil and gas production taxes and general revenue dollars not spent. The intended purpose of the fund was to level out spending in tough economic times to avoid massive cuts or massive tax increases. The fund could also be used in times of other crisis in the state that impact the budget.

It is estimated the fund will reach $9.2 billion or more for this budget cycle. Since the Republicans took control of the legislature in 2003 they have made it a priority to grow the fund so that the state would have money available in the event of tough economic times or other crisis that might arise.

In 2003, the first time that Republicans had control of both chambers and the Governors office, the fund stood at approximately $200 million.  Republicans have not spent all of the money each year, growing the fund to now over $9 billion.  In 2003, when the state faced nearly a $10 billion shortfall, $1.3 billion was used from the fund for the 2004-2005 budget years. That is the last time it was tapped.

Note: If the legislature uses the Economic Stabilization Fund to pay current bills it requires a three-fifths vote of the legislature.  If the legislators choose to use the fund for any other purpose it requires a two-thirds vote of the Senate and House.

HOW MUCH IS THE CURRENT BUDGET GAP ? HOW DID IF HAPPEN ?

First, why do we have a budget gap or shortfall ? Basically the problem can be broken down into a few basic points:

1. Sales tax revenues did not match estimates made in 2009 because of a slowdown in the economy. The slowdown was driven primarily by policies in Washington, but Texas has been impacted as have all states. The slowdown has also impacted home sales and property values.  Property taxes pay for about half of local school district funding, as well as funding for county and city government. For nearly a decade property taxes increased over 8% a year, and higher in some areas, as appraisals increased each year. ( editorial note: -I believe they are still too high, will price residents out of their homes, and can not be sustained. But that is an issue for another day, the purpose of this paper is to help explain the budget)

NOTE: Our sales tax revenues are growing again, but not fast enough to have a great impact on this budget cycle in any dramatic manner.  Property taxes are estimated to remain nearly flat for several more years.  This data means the budget the legislature will face in the next session could be difficult as well. (editorial note: that is why I believe we should keep all, or as much of the Rainy Day Fund as possible)

PEOPLE ARE COMING TO TEXAS IN HUGE NUMBERS

There is another factor that is greatly impacting our budget, incredible growth. In the mid 1980s, when we also experienced a major economic slump, many people who came to Texas looking for work in the late 1970s, left Texas and went back home. Today the people are not leaving, they are coming at a rate of over 1200 a day.

We will add approximately 160,000 new students for the 2012-2013 budget cycle, of which more than 50% are economically disadvantaged. This factor adds even more expense to our education budget.  Growth also brings an increase to health services, demands for more public safety, roads, and other areas of government.  Our population is expected to grow from 25 million to nearly 45 million in the next 30 to 40 years.  People are coming to Texas because the states they are leaving are in desperate shape

Summary: lower sales tax revenue, lower property values in school districts, and a rapidly increasing population, made up of many economically disadvantaged children coming into our systems, has created a situation that Texas has not seen in modern times.  Other states are having economic issues, but they are not experiencing the growth we are seeing in Texas.

JUST HOW MUCH IS THE SHORTFALL

There have been a lot of numbers flying around the internet and the legislature about how big the budget gap is. First it is important to break down the budget shortfall into two areas.

1. The current budget year ends this August 31st.  The legislature passed a budget in 2009 based on Comptroller estimates for the year 2010-2011. Those estimates were based on various economic indicators and projections. Two major indicators, sales tax revenue, and property tax values, did not perform as expected.  (sales tax revenues have been on the increase the past several months which is a positive sign and could create a small revised revenue estimate for 2012-2013 )

Our revenues are approximately $4 billion short, based on the projections in 2009, to pay current expenses. The Governor called for a 5 and 10% cut in many agencies several months ago that will help mitigate this shortfall. This is the budget shortfall we must address.  We obviously have an obligation to pay our bills.

2. The next budget issue is the budget for 2012-2013 that we must pass under our Constitution.  The budget is the only actual bill we must pass. Like most states, and unlike the Federal Government, we must pass a balance budget.  We cannot print money. We cannot borrow money for ongoing budget expenses with the exception of certain projects like roads and infrastructure.

The confusion on the budget and the estimates of the budget gap vary because the the blurring of several issues; the current budget gap, and future budget needs which are based on either what we have spent, or what we need to spend based on the past spending levels and accounting for growth.

If the legislature funds education, higher education, and health care at the same levels as the past two years, pays for the additional growth in student enrollment, makes up for lower property tax revenues for school districts, and pays for increases to our medicaid rolls, as well as other areas of the budget, the gap is the following for the two largest areas of the budget: 

$3-4 billion in current budget that ends in August. Nearly $20 billion or more for the projected 2012-13 budget based on the factors mentioned. We obviously need to pay our bills for the current budget that ends in August one way or the other. We are still looking at ways to cut dollars in the last few months of this cycle.  It is the next budget which we are spending most of our time. We are scrubbing it to find cost savings everywhere and at the same time maintain the quality of education and health care needs the public expects.

The breakdown in the two largest areas of our budget.

EDUCATION

Education K-12 shortfall could be as high as $9.2 billion plus $500 million for textbooks.

Breakdown: ( all numbers approximate estimations )

$2.1 billion to pay for local school district property tax shortfall as property taxes revenues are down for schools at the local level

$1.4 billion to balance local school district monies owed by the state

$2.2    billion for student growth  (80,000 new students expected in 2012 and 2013 - many economically disadvantaged)

$3.2 billion to replace stimulus money that was supposed to one time money, but was spent on new teachers, employees, and salary increases for teachers. The state does not have to replace those dollars, but that means those teachers and employees who were hired with those dollars would be terminated.

$ .2 other

NOTE: Education is financed by local property taxes, the state, and a small percentage of federal dollars.

HEALTH CARE SHORTFALL

We are facing nearly $9 billion in our health care side of the budget due to two major factors. First, we have seen a major increase in those applying for Medicaid. Secondly, we expect the federal government will send us less in the Medicaid match programs.  Currently the feds might pay up to 70% of every medicaid dollar we spend. We pay the other 30%.  If they drop their match rate, because they are trimming their budget as well, to 55-60%, our share goes up from 30% to 40-45%.  That increase will cost billions.

A SIDE NOTE: If Obama Health care goes into effect in 2014 as scheduled, the cost to Texas will increase our cost of health care by an estimated 20 billion or more between 2014 and 2025. This would place health care costs in Texas at a level that could exceed education in a short time.

TOTAL POTENTIAL SHORTFALL REVIEW:

As of March 1, 2011, we are facing a possible $3-4 billion deficit for the current budget year that must be paid.  We are facing a potential funding gap in education of $9.2 billion in education, plus $500 million for textbooks, and a possible $9 billion in health care in addition to other budget requests.

OTHER ISSUES THAT IMPACT OUR BUDGET

LOTTERY:

Many people ask about why the lottery doesn't pay for education as promised by Democrats in the 1990s.  It never did nor was it intended to pay for a large part of education funding. All lottery proceeds go into education today.  However, those proceeds only account for about 5% of the total education budget.

GROSS MARGINS TAX  - THE BUSINESS FRANCHISE TAX

In 2006, before I was a member of the legislature, the legislature was under court order to address education funding. Our Constitution prohibits a statewide property tax. However, with almost every school district at the maximum allowed under law of $1.50 per one hundred dollars of evaluation for M&O (maintenance and operation of their schools) the courts said we had an unintended statewide property tax.  The legislature created the gross margins tax in order to buy down the local property tax rate from $1.50 to $1.00 to resolve that issue.  In order to pay for that buy down the business tax was created.  However, the business tax under performs by approximately $4-5 billion per budget cycle from expected collections creating a "structural deficit" each budget cycle.  Local districts can raise the rate by 4 cents to a $1.04 without a vote of the taxpayers.  Most have done so.  Districts are allowed to raise the rate up to 13 cents in total to a cap of $1.17 but must have approval of the voters for anything over $1.04

BALANCE IN SCHOOL FUNDS

Schools districts are required to keep a fund balance for at least two months of operations in the bank at all times. However, many districts have more in their "local version of the rainy day fund."  The total that all districts in the state have in reserve is estimated to be $10 billion.  Again, a large portion of this is required reserve.

I hope you have found this review helpful in better understanding the budget process and the current status of our budget. This will be an ongoing process over the next several months for the legislature.

Senator Dan Patrick

You Keep Scanners, We'll Keep Privacy* (March 14, 2011)

What kind of people would take these jobs?

A government advisory board in Austin, joined by a team of citizen groups, is asking the city council there to tell the federal Transportation Security Administration that the government can keep its invasive airport pat-down procedures and nude-imaging scanners, and they'll keep their privacy.

It is the Austin Airport Advisory Commission that has resolved, in a petition to the city council, that it is recommending the city "oppose the installation of [advanced image scanners] at [the Austin airport] and further oppose the practice of invasive body searching and encourages the city council to inform the TSA, the state and federal delegations of such opposition."

A petition, already signed by tens of thousands, is demanding action against the intrusive airport screening procedures implemented by the Obama administration.

The dispute over the invasive procedures has been heating up since before Thanksgiving, after the federal government announced it was ramping up security at the nation's airports. It is installing X-ray machines that look through a person's clothes, essentially allow TSA personnel to view a nude image of the passenger.

Alternatively, TSA employees have been given instructions to pat passengers' bodies, including private parts, in a procedure critics have called a government-sponsored sexual assault.

Several lawsuits have been filed over the procedures, and some states have announced plans to prosecute TSA agents who violate state pornography or sexual assault laws. Also, doctors have warned of a long list of contagious diseases agents could pass from one passenger to another in the process. And there have been warnings the scanning machines could cause cancer.

Further, a petition, already signed by tens of thousands, was launched demanding action against the intrusive airport screening procedures implemented by Janet Napolitano.

The Austin resolution, signed by Dale Murphy, chairman of the Austin Airport Advisory Commission, included a list of statements that:

    * WHEREAS, the [Advanced Image Technology] AIT health risks for passenger and screener, for short term and long term exposure, lack of health safety standards, and medical issues are not conclusively determined by a non-partisan evaluation; and

    * WHEREAS, privacy rights, especially for children, sexual assault victims, medical prosthetic users, children, senior citizens, women susceptible to breast cancer, pregnant women and other physical and/or emotional challenged travelers have not been satisfactorily addressed; and

    * WHEREAS, the TSA's actions at other airports currently operating them have been the source of derision, ridicule, embarrassment, and other negative connotations reflecting poorly on the airport in question. These actions include the management and are therefore construed to be within their operating policy; and

    * WHEREAS, impact on passenger screening operations at the security checkpoints have been demonstrated by the TSA's own video capture to routinely require at least three and up to ten times longer processing times compared to current standards, exacerbating the delay factor for a flight; and

    * WHEREAS, the AITs themselves most importantly can be rendered ineffective or marginally by their own admission (A March report from the GAO found that such scanners might not have detected the hidden explosive used by Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab); and

    * WHEREAS, the U.S. constitutional 4th amendment issues precluding unreasonable search and seizure, suspension of criminal process, and other basic freedoms of encroachment by the federal government cases being challenged in court are yet to be resolved.

The resolution also explained that the city itself is responsible for actions on its airport property.

The city board is being joined by a citizens' campaign that is operating under the name KeepAustinFree.org.

Testimonials include those of Austin resident Wesley Strackbein, a seventh-generation Texan, who recently told the city council that Washington "has declared war on the Constitution, and it's time for Austin to fight back."

"As you well know, the TSA has mandated the use of naked body scanners and intrusive pat-downs at our airports where no probable cause for wrongdoing has been shown – a clear violation of the Fourth Amendment," he said. "This abuse is outrageous, and it must be opposed. Your own Airport Advisory Commission has rightly urged you to forbid the scanners and invasive pat-downs at Austin's airport. Travelers at ABIA must be protected."

He explained the federal government "cannot use one constitutional power as a club to bludgeon another constitutionally protected right. In the name of protecting us, Washington cannot suspend citizens' right to free speech, right to due process, right to keep and bear arms – or 'right to be secure in their persons.' To do so would break our charter covenants and subvert the very foundation of this Republic."-

Strackbein said the city's options are clear.

"Now is the time for this council to interpose against the unlawful demands of Washington – to check the TSA's tyranny at the Constitution's gate. This means that the naked body scanners and groping pat-downs must be banned at ABIA," he said. "Momentum is building to see Austin become a safe-haven for liberty."

The government has maintained an unchanged defense of the procedures, with TSA chief John Pistole writing in USA Today recently, "These machines are safe, efficient, and protect passenger privacy. … Rigorous privacy safeguards are in place to protect the traveling public. All images generated by imaging technology are viewed in a walled-off location not visible to the public. The officer assisting the passenger never sees the image, and the officer viewing the image never interacts with the passenger."

Pistole also claimed that the technology "cannot store, export, print, or transmit images," although federal document indicates otherwise. Politico over the holidays reported, "On the day after Christmas, readers of The Washington Post were given a real treat: pictures of naked men. The men in the pictures were fully clothed, but they were naked nonetheless, because the pictures came from airport full-body scanners. The machines provided graphic pictures of the male anatomy. True, they were no more graphic than Michelangelo's David or Leonardo da Vinci's Vitruvian Man (that's the naked guy with his arms and leg stuck out), but both of those were depictions, not actual people trying to heft their wheelie bags on the conveyor belt."

*To read the full World Net Article go to http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=251041

News Across Texas 02-07-11

Houston Chronicle – January 10, 2011

CITY, COUNTY FEAR THAT STATE WANTS TO PICK OUR POCKETS

City and Harris County officials may not agree on much, but they are unified in their approach to the legislative session: They want Austin to stay out of Houston. As state lawmakers confront a budget shortfall estimated by the Texas comptroller at $15 billion, local leaders’ traditional fears of having to pick up a greater share of the financial burden are soaring. Lobbyists for the city and county acknowledge that most of their efforts in the next six months will involve fending off new rules or regulations that require local governments to spend money without any way to pay for it.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7375445.html

Houston Chronicle – January 10, 2011

DEMOCRATS SAY CUTS CAN’T CURE $15-27 BILLION BUDGET SHORTFALL

With the revenue shortfall estimated between $15-$27 billion, almost every state spending program is on the chopping block for budget cuts—in large part because many members of the Legislature as well as the Governor, ran for election promising not to raise taxes. Democrats claim that stripping down the budget will end up costing significantly more in the long term than it will save in the short term. “What does it cost when we don’t repair a highway?” asked Democratic House Caucus Chair Rep. Jessica Farrar, D-Houston. “When we have cuts to mental health care, what does that cost our criminal justice system?”

http://blogs.chron.com/texaspolitics/archives/2011/01/democrats_say_c_1.html

San Antonio Express News – January 10, 2011

OFFICIALS: STATE BUDGET DEFICIT TO HURT LOCAL EDUCATION

During a news conference Monday with education leaders in San Antonio, Rep. Mike Villarreal, D-San Antonio, said the revenue shortfall is unfortunate, especially because it was to be expected in such a fast-growing state. Villarreal called on legislators to commission a bipartisan citizens panel to review Texas’ current tax structure with an eye toward affording the state’s growing needs. He also proposed altering the budgeting process to include five years-worth of projected revenues and needs, instead of the current two.

http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/politics/article/Officials-State-budget-deficit-to-hurt-local-949271.php

Houston Chronicle – January 10, 2011

PERRY: FORGET RAINY DAY FUND

Gov. Rick Perry on Monday said he was opposed to using the state’s rainy day fund to help pay for services despite a looming budget shortfall that is estimated at $15 billion to $27 billion during the next two years. “We will prioritize what’s important in this state. We will fund those. And we will craft a budget that meets those revenue projections and not raise taxes nor get into the rainy day fund,” Perry said. “And that’s been a consistent message for at least a year and a half.”

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7375326.html

Austin American Statesman – January 10, 2011

AAS: EDUCATION—REFRAIN FROM MANDATES; LEAVE TOUGH DECISIONS TO LOCAL POLICY-MAKERS

It says a lot about Texas’ financial predicament when state leaders are talking about making deep cuts to a sacred budget cow public education. But school districts across Texas are being warned to brace for up to $5 billion less in appropriations. There isn’t $5 billion — or for that matter $1 billion — in fat in school district budgets, so such a cut is more akin to an amputation. There is no question it would reach deep into classrooms in all of Texas’ 1,200 school districts. Thousands of teaching jobs are at stake, particularly if the Legislature adopts a proposal by state Comptroller Susan Combs that would increase class sizes in lower grades.

http://www.statesman.com/opinion/education-refrain-from-mandates-leave-tough-decisions-to-1175499.html

Dallas Morning News – January 11, 2011

TEXAS LEADS STATES’ ATTACK ON EPA’S CLIMATE-CHANGE RULES

Seven years ago, a group of Eastern and Western states sued the federal government to require the regulation of greenhouse gases. The resulting Supreme Court decision paved the way for the first limits on carbon-dioxide emissions that took effect this month. Now a smaller gang of Southern states, with Texas leading the pack, is aggressively challenging those rules. Joining forces with oil and mining companies that are subject to the rules, the states have sued the Environmental Protection Agency over every step of its rulemaking process, including the critical “endangerment finding” that greenhouse gases threaten public health and welfare.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/bus/stories/DN-texasepa_11bus.ART.State.Edition1.7e16ac.html

WFAA - January 10, 2011

TEXAS BUDGET SHORTFALL COULD BRING NEW FEES, TAXES

For now, Republicans who control the Texas House and Senate say new revenue isn’t on the table. “Those ideas of fees or taxes are just not in the ballpark,” said State Sen. Florence Shapiro (R-Plano). “Cuts… cuts is the magic word.” But with the new revenue estimate, Democrats say cuts alone won’t let the state keep up with growth in medical care for low-income residents and with the needs of educators. “We won’t have educated kids, or we’ll have a few… this is about the priorities of spending,” said State Rep. Garnet Coleman (D-Houston).

http://www.wfaa.com/news/politics/State-budget-shortfall-could-bring—113248034.html

Texas Observer – January 10, 2011

LIFESTYLES OF THE CORRUPT AND ELECTED

Attorney Gen. Greg Abbott used campaign funds to pay off cell phone bills, which averaged $600 a month. State Sen. Craig Estes, a Republican from Wichita Falls, rented a $3,000-a-month condo in a swank downtown Austin high-rise. Sen. Dan Patrick, a Houston Republican, dropped almost $600 to decorate his office with stuffed animal heads. Sen. Jane Nelson, R-Lewisville, took her husband to Hawaii. Her Senate colleagues John Whitmire, D-Houston, and Mario Gallegos Jr., D-Houston, traveled to the Aloha State too. Sen. Florence Shapiro, R-Plano, used campaign money to pay for a $1,200 stay at the oceanside El Conquistador Resort and Golden Door Spa in Puerto Rico. (Shapiro’s office noted that she was attending the Council of State Governments conference, which was held at the resort.)

http://www.texasobserver.org/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=17251:lifestyles-of-the-corrupt-and-elected&Itemid=1951

Austin American Statesman – January 10, 2011

DESPITE TEA PARTY PROTESTS, GOP CAUCUS SIDES WITH STRAUS

Texas House Speaker Joe Straus appeared to seal his re-election to the chamber’s top job Monday when a sizable majority of returning and incoming Republican lawmakers said they wanted him to stay. Activists who have waged a months-long campaign to oust Straus lined the hallways outside lawmakers’ offices with hopes of persuading GOP members to vote against Straus at the closed-door meeting of the House Republican Caucus. But Republican leaders said that 70 of the 100 Republicans present at the caucus voted for Straus. The vote was not recorded or made public.

http://www.statesman.com/news/texas-politics/despite-tea-party-protests-gop-caucus-sides-with-1177048.html

Austin American Statesman – January 10, 2011

TEXAS’ REVENUE STILL LAGGING DESPITE ECONOMIC RECOVERY

Comptroller Susan Combs offered proof Monday that Texas’ upcoming budget will be as difficult to balance as many have predicted. Texas is expected to collect $72.2 billion in taxes, fees and other general revenue during the 2012-13 budget, down from the $87 billion appropriated in the current two-year budget, Combs announced on the eve of lawmakers’ 2011 regular session. That figure is also below what the state has generated in every budget since 2006-07, when Texas had about 3 million fewer residents. The comptroller’s estimate sets the limit for spending and would put the budget shortfall at $27 billion if the state were to maintain the same level of service in public education, health and human services, prisons, and more.

http://www.statesman.com/news/texas-politics/texas-revenue-still-lagging-despite-economic-recovery-1177223.html

Austin American Statesman – January 10, 2011

REVENUE ESTIMATE PUTS SHORTFALL AT $27 BILLION

Texas is expected to collect $72.2 billion in taxes, fees and other general revenue during the 2012-13 budget, down from the $87 billion used in the current two-year budget, Comptroller Susan Combs announced Monday. That puts the shortfall at $27 billion given that maintaining services would run $99 billion for biennium. Collections for the current budget will come in $4.3 billion less than budgeted.

http://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/politics/entries/2011/01/10/revenue_estimate_puts_shortfal.html?cxntfid=blogs_postcards

Austin American Statesman – January 10, 2011

SULLIVAN: TEXAS VOTERS WOULD NOT BE BEST SERVED BY SPEAKER STRAUS

When Texas’ lawmakers gather in Austin today for the start of the 82nd legislative session, they will confront issues of historic proportions with a history-making super-majority of Republicans in the lower chamber. The very first vote House members take will strongly shape the policy outcomes Texans can expect from the Legislature. Texas voters outperformed the national conservative wave in November by responding to campaign messages focused on strict budget accountability, sensible tax policy and reasonable enhancements to the security of elections and borders.

http://www.statesman.com/opinion/texas-voters-would-not-be-best-served-by-1177013.html

Dallas Morning News – January 10, 2011

PERRY SAYS CUTS ARE LIKELY TO BE ‘ACROSS THE BOARD’

Gov. Rick Perry dismissed the gloom-and-doom predictions of crippling budget cuts and said Monday that the state can survive its huge shortfall without new taxes. As the Legislature convenes today facing a $15 billion hole – or about a 20 percent cut in current state spending – Perry told The Dallas Morning News in an interview that reductions probably “will be across the board,” including health care, services for the mentally ill, higher education, prisons and public safety.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/011111dntexperry.394ba2.html

Dallas Morning News – January 10, 2011

TEA PARTY HANDED OUT WET WIPES FOR REPUBLICANS TO “WASH THEIR HANDS” OF A BAD DECISION

Many Tea Partiers, who waited in great anticipation to hear the results coming from the Republican caucus meeting, did not give up the fight even after hearing Rep. Joe Straus came out ahead over their preferred candidate. The 300 or so ralliers waited in anticipation in the tunnels of the Capitol extension and the lobby of the building where the caucus met. As the representatives left the meeting, many of the ralliers chased them out and chanted for their prefered candidate, Rep. Ken Paxton. Some of the Tea Partiers, more subtly, handed Wet Wipes to representatives leaving the building.

http://trailblazersblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2011/01/tea-party-handed-out-wet-wipes.html

Houston Chronicle – January 10, 2011

TEA PARTY GROUP TAPING REPORTERS WHILE THEY DO INTERVIEWS

Concerned about negative coverage in the press—a Tea Party affiliated group, helping to organize events around the start of the next Legislative session, has taken it upon themselves to tape reporters as they interview Tea Party supporters and officials. The hub for Tea Party-related activity surrounding the start of the next Legislative session is a meeting room on the second floor of the La Quinta Inn near the Capitol. Sponsors of the rallies and events for the next couple of days have put up their tables and signs. Tea Party supporters gather between the those tables, which line the walls, to listen to speeches from various activists and state representatives who come by to talk with them. Members of the press aren’t allowed to do interviews with people inside of that room, said Alice Linahan, a partner with Resolute Media Group – which is coordinating the media access and activities associated with the Tea Party in Austin over the next couple of days.

http://blogs.chron.com/texaspolitics/archives/2011/01/tea_party_group.html

San Antonio Express News – January 11, 2011

FLORES-PANIAGUA: SAISD BOND OVERSIGHT PANEL NEEDS TO BE STRONG WATCHDOG

When big decisions are on the line, most of us are lucky to have more than one shot to get it right. With SAISD’s $515 million bond project, trustees have had many opportunities, and, but for its passage, have yet to hit a home run. The bond oversight committee might be their last chance to recover any shred of public trust. But already there’s concern that the board hasn’t put together the panel that community groups, activists and others had hoped would be in place before significant decisions — like last week’s selection of the bond program administrator — were made.

http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/news_columnists/veronica_flores-paniagua/article/SAISD-bond-oversight-panel-needs-to-be-strong-949425.php

Quorum Report – January 11, 2011

HK: SORTING THROUGH THE MEANING OF THE 8 WEEK SPEAKER MELODRAMA

Winners, losers and bad faith

After dutifully publishing every press release that came our way from self-styled grassroots groups, the SREC and Republican county parties calling for the House GOP caucus to vote in order to unify behind a speaker candidate, we expected to actually see at least a few congratulatory press releases.

I admit I was less than stunned not to find a single such statement since yesterday’s Caucus meeting.

On December 21, Warren Chisum wrote his colleagues, “There are three Republican candididates for Speaker now, and the Republican caucus is the appropriate place for us to narrow the field to one candidate.”

As recent as last weekend, Chisum was assuring members that all he wanted was a vote, that he expected Straus to win and he would then stand down.

Neither Chisum’s statement nor his assurances are operative any longer. He defied the will of his caucus last night, gave lie to his previous assurances and threw his support to Ken Paxton.

It was increasingly clear over the last several weeks that no matter what his talents, Paxton could never be speaker. He and his team and his surrogates impugned the intergrity of colleagues and promised to recruit primary opponents for “wrong” votes.

Most House Republicans have now written off Paxton’s campaign quixotic effort as little more than the opening salvo in his 2012 campaign to run for Senator Florence Shapiro’s or Congressman Sam Johnson’s seat next election.

They are not amused that he was willing to throw the institution of the House or their own personal reputations under the bus for what more than one has called a cheap campaign trick. His insistence on taking the vote to the floor today will change little other than demonstrate his ambition at the expense of others.

Unlike Chisum, Paxton has never called a press conference to discuss his candidacy nor has he personally talked to many of the Republicans whose vote he sought. He has preferred to conduct his campaign through the outrage industry apparently calculating their support will be crucial in 2012.

Phil King told QR in the days after the election that he thought a caucus vote would calm the waters and kill the argument that Straus was an illegitimate Republican speaker. Individual members of the SREC told QR their resolution calling for a caucus vote was not anti-Straus.

None of that was apparently true. It was just a tactic to hardball decent Republican lawmakers.

Instead, the outrage industry spent two months smearing an honorable man who was drafted by his colleagues to return power in the House to its members. Straus was elected to preside over a tied House that had rejected a domineering, top down, take-no-prisoners management style of Tom Craddick

In an editorial published in today’s Austin American Statesman, Michael Quinn Sullivan inadvertently explained the justification for the smears and what ultimately became a caricature of a Republican primary campaign.

Sullivan wrote, “Politics, even speaker politics, must not be about personalities but policy outcomes. Texas voters are demanding bold policy results based on common-sense, conservative principles.”

To be generous, Sullivan’s statement reflects a fundamental misunderstanding of the Speaker’s role in the House.

Republicans chafed so badly under the last presiding officer operating under the “Sullivan principle” that his Republican chairmen tried to remove him from the Chair mid-session in 2007. They rebellion began as early as 2003 when Craddick turned the House over to “the owners box”, what became shorthand for Texans for Lawsuit Reform. Craddick violated House rules by giving them the third floor back hall conference room to coordinate amendment and floor strategy.

Members of both parties were furious that Craddick granted a handful of lobbyists more power than any chairman or member in the institution.

With their new found majority, major Republican committee chairs were incensed that they were not permitted to run their committees. In fact, after working for years to get there, many Craddick chairs fled the House after one term in the majority.

The members do not and should not elect one of their own because of either personality or “policy outcomes.”

They give permission to one of their own to lead them because they trust that individual to run a fair process in which each member can represent their districts to the best of their ability. They seek a leader who pays more than lip service to the “will of the House”

Sure, there are always plays for personal advantage but after the previous six years under Speaker Craddick, veteran lawmakers were stunned and frankly delighted when Straus moved power back to the chairs and the members. Members who were never permitted to negotiate discovered that they could actually impact legislation without the permission of the Speaker.

Calendars Chair Brian McCall even dedicated a week of calendars to make sure that members who had not been permitted to get a bill to the floor in six years were given a legitimate shot.

Sadly, the outrage industry can claim only one victory from this tawdry melodrama. They were able to force the GOP caucus to take a non-binding vote on a speaker – something most veteran Republican lawmaker opposed.

In fact, during the three minutes allotted for Straus to speak to the Caucus, the Speaker told his colleagues that the vote was setting a bad precedent and he opposed the move. When he was finished speaking Caucus Chair Larry Taylor called for those supporting Straus to stand.

He stopped counting at 70 because it was obvious Straus had the support of more than 2/3s of the Republicans. There were more.

The purveyors of rage will find themselves unwelcome at the Capitol this session. Among other things, they confirmed that they doctor their “report cards” to produce outcomes favorable to the friends and adverse to independent members.

They impugned the integrity of the very people whose votes they seek.

The 101 Republicans will pass a strong socially conservative agenda in spite of the groups they now detest because most of the GOP members are socially conservative and represent socially conservative constituents. They will do their best to pass a budget that takes maximum care of their communities with diminishing available resources and no new taxes. They may not succeed, but they will care little about the approval of the outrage industry after the cavalier threats and intimidation of groups who so degraded the process in the last six weeks.

The outrage industry will no doubt field candidates in 2012, but redistricting shuffles the deck and there are always lots of challengers for newly configured districts. As they always do, Republicans and Democrats alike will have to go into their communities, explain what they did and once again win the support of their voters.

“HK” pieces are commentary and analysis reflecting only the views of QR editor Harvey Kronberg.

Texas’ Renewable Energy Experiment: High Costs, Poor Results (January 24, 2011)

A Report by Bill Peacock,

Vice President of Research & Director of the Center for Economic Freedom

While much of the criticism of the restructuring of the electricity market over the last few years has focused on its alleged role in increasing prices, most of the actual increases in consumer costs have been brought about by fuel and energy efficiency mandates. For instance, subsidies for Texas wind energy through the federal Production Tax Credit should cost taxpayers about $300 million in 2010—though this is a tax subsidy, not an add-on to the electric bill.

·        The cost of wind Renewable Energy Credits - perhaps $41 million this year - are passed on to consumers through the price of electricity.

·        Competitive Renewable Energy Zone transmission lines—being    built to transmit electricity from wind in West Texas—will add as much as $1.3 billion annually to electricity bills once the lines have been completed.

·        The extra annual cost to consumers and taxpayers for wind energy could reach $2 billion by 2020.

·        Likewise, government-mandated energy efficiency programs today generally work by increasing the cost of electricity in order to reduce electricity consumption.

In all of these cases, consumers or taxpayers pay more for electricity.

The result is reduced economic growth and decreased wealth for most Texans.

A common defense of subsidies for renewable energies is that traditional energy sources receive subsidies, so why shouldn’t wind, solar, biomass, and other renewable energy sources?

While it is true that most energy sources get some sort of government subsidy, this argument ignores the fact that subsidies for certain renewable energy sources are far higher on a per unit of production basis than traditional sources of energy.

Texas subsidies today also favor renewable fuels, certainly on a per unit of production basis, and probably on an absolute basis. Th e Texas Comptroller noted that $6.2 million of Texas subsidies went toward renewable energy sources in 2006—much less than subsidies to conventional energy sources.5 But that was quite early in Texas’ rapidly growing commitment to renewable energy.

For 2008, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) estimated that renewable energy credits (RECs) cost between $13 and $65 million.6 Th e Foundation estimated the 2008 costs at $28 million, and 2009 costs at $41 million. Through 2025, the cost of RECs could total as much as $1.4 billion.

These high levels of subsidies for renewable do far more to distort the market and introduce inefficiencies into the system than the minimal subsidies for traditional fuels. Other distortions and inefficiencies come from regulatory mandates and restrictions on different fuel sources.

These often come in the form of mandates for certain levels of production—renewables and natural gas currently have such mandates in Texas. They also come through restrictions on production from fuels such as coal and nuclear material.

Read the full report at: http://www.texaspolicy.com/pdf/2010-12-PP25-TexasRenewableEnergyExperiment-paper4-bp.pdf

News Across Texas 01-31-11

Quorum Report – January 10, 2011

COMBS SAYS GR WILL BE $72.2B, MEANS LIKELY SHORTFALL AROUND $26.8B

Number does not include shortfall for current fiscal year; Full report on Comptroller announcement shortly

Texas Comptroller Susan Combs announced today that lawmakers should have $72.2 billion in general revenue available to construct a budget for the next two years. The revenue estimate, announced in a press conference this morning at the Comptroller’s headquarters, has been eagerly anticipated for months by those trying to figure out the size of the shortfall awaiting budget writers this legislative session.

Combs did not provide an estimate on how much lawmakers would need to spend to maintain current services but others have done so, based on budget requests already turned in by state agencies.

An advocate group for low-income Texans, the Center for Public Policy Priorities, has calculated that the state will need at least $99 billion to maintain current levels of service in the state budget.

If we use that figure, the shortfall facing lawmakers is $26.8 billion.

CPPP analysts arrived at their number by collecting the spending requests submitted by six of the biggest state agencies. The $12 billion in extra spending requested by those agencies was added to the $87 billion general revenue budget for the current fiscal biennium.

CPPP hastens to add that the state is also looking at roughly a $3 billion to $4 billion deficit in the current budget – a hole that is being partly addressed by agency budget cuts but will also require a supplemental appropriation bill.

Other cost drivers, like higher ed, could actually push the current services need in the next budget even higher, the CPPP analysts said. And other factors like a further weakening in property values could also increase costs for the state. That’s because the state would bear a higher funding share for the public school system.

The shortfall itself is a product of several factors, including a cyclical revenue shortfall, the phase out of billions in federal aid from the 2009 stimulus package and a structural revenue imbalance caused by the 2006 school property tax rate compression.

Other analysts might quibble with the assumptions made by the CPPP but the $99 billion figure points to the extreme difficulty faced by lawmakers in keeping the budget whole in the next cycle. As it is, many sectors are expecting difficult cuts this year. For example, the Houston Chronicle reported today that public school officials anticipate a $4 billion trim in the next budget.

Houston Chronicle – January 9, 2011

LAWMAKERS RETURN TO RED INK, MIXED VOTER MESSAGE

The 82nd Legislature convenes this week in a session that could directly impact your pocketbook, the quality of your life, your children’s health and education, as well as determine whether Texas can keep a grip on its claim to be a beacon of prosperity. Overshadowing everything is a state budget shortfall that could reach nearly $30 billion – an amount equal to more than a third of current state tax spending on schools, highways, prisons, environmental protection, social services and economic development – through the next two years.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7373440.html

Fort Worth Star Telegram – January 8, 2011

TEXAS BUDGET SHORTFALL LIKELY TO SPUR TAX-INCREASE DEBATE

It’s not hard to find strange bedfellows in the Texas Legislature when the bills start flying, as they have already in advance of Tuesday’s opening of the next session. Republicans and Democrats often cross the aisle to support legislation they think will help their constituents, an effort that’s likely to surface as lawmakers try to figure out how to balance the state budget and bridge a massive deficit. The expected 2011 budget cuts are often compared to the situation in 2003, when the state had to trim about $10 billion from the budget.

http://www.star-telegram.com/2011/01/08/2755074/texas-budget-shortfall-likely.html

Houston Chronicle – January 9, 2011

BUDGET CUTS LOOM OVER SCHOOLS, HEALTH CARE, ENVIRONMENT

Public school officials are preparing for the worst — think teacher layoffs – as they try to predict how much state lawmakers will slash from their budgets. The most commonly cited estimate: $4 billion over two years. Education consultant Lynn Moak, who has been involved in Texas school funding for four decades, said he can’t remember a tougher time . “This is the worst problem we’ve ever faced,” said Moak, of the Austin consulting firm Moak, Casey & Associates.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7373702.html

Houston Chronicle – January 9, 2011

ALL EYES ON NATION’S REDDEST STATE THIS SESSION

When Texas lawmakers convene beneath Austin’s pink-hued capitol dome Tuesday morning, the interior of the venerable building will be fervid red. With two-thirds control of the House, nearly two-thirds control of the Senate, the longest-serving governor in state history and control of every statewide office, Texas Republicans enjoy near-total dominance — dominance not seen since now-anemic Democrats ruled what was essentially a one-party state throughout much of the 20th century. Other states are GOP-dominated, but Texas is “the iconic red state,” said SMU political scientist Cal Jillson. “Of the consequential states, Texas is certainly the reddest.”

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7373692.html

Fort Worth Star Telegram – January 9, 2011

BILL WOULD RAISE AGE TO BUY TOBACCO TO 19

Texas youths will have to be at least 19 to buy tobacco products, if a state senator has his way. Sen. Carlos Uresti, D-San Antonio, has filed a bill for the upcoming legislative session that would require Texans to be 19, one year older than the current minimum, to use and buy tobacco products. “Raising the smoking age would limit availability to the vast majority of high school students, most of whom have graduated by the time they turn 19,” Uresti said. “With this decrease in availability would come a corresponding decrease in accessibility for underage adolescents.”

http://www.star-telegram.com/2011/01/09/2756076/bill-would-raise-age-to-buy-tobacco.html

Texas Tribune – January 10, 2011

REPUBLICANS MEET TO CHOOSE A SPEAKER

It (finally) comes to this: The House Republican Caucus will meet today to express its preference in a race for speaker of the House that has three candidates: the incumbent, Joe Straus of San Antonio, and challengers Warren Chisum of Pampa and Ken Paxton of McKinney. Outside, or somewhere nearby, grassroots and Astroturf activists will be demonstrating for and against the candidates. And tomorrow, the Legislature convenes for its regular session and the House will actually and officially vote on its next leader.

http://www.texastribune.org/texas-house-of-representatives/2011-house-speakers-race/republicans-meet-to-choose-a-speaker/

Austin American Statesman – January 8, 2011

AAS: FIRST, DO NO HARM

The people we elected to make our state laws convene at high noon Tuesday for the biennial regular session that will end 140 days later with the motion to adjourn “sine die,” Latin for “without another day.” Here’s a Latin phrase lawmakers should keep in mind during those 140 days: Primum non ?nocere. It translates to “first, do no harm,” a caution given to physicians and worth heeding as lawmakers write a two-year spending plan for a rapidly growing state facing a budget shortfall of about $24 billion. That means a chilling challenge just to maintain current levels of crucial services upon which many Texans depend.

http://www.statesman.com/opinion/first-do-no-harm-1172861.html

Austin American Statesman – January 8, 2011

FEDERAL HEALTH INSURANCE POOL HAS FEW TAKERS

A federally run health insurance pool for previously uninsurable people with pre-existing conditions is off to a slow start, some officials say. The ambitious new program was set up as part of Washington’s health insurance overhaul, but some officials are surprised at its sluggish pace of registration. Meanwhile, the pricier Texas-run health insurance program that shares the same goal continues enrolling hundreds of people each month. Some blame the longer waiting period of the Washington-born plan for the low numbers. Others said potential enrollees fear that the federal program might not last.

http://www.statesman.com/news/texas-politics/federal-health-insurance-pool-has-few-takers-1172811.html

Fort Worth Star Telegram – January 9, 2011

SURVEY SHOWS MOST TEXANS DON’T WANT PERRY TO RUN FOR PRESIDENT

Gov. Rick Perry insists that he has no intention of running for president, and that’s apparently just fine with a strong majority of his fellow Texans, according to a newly released poll conducted for the Star-Telegram and other major newspapers. The survey shows that 61 percent of Texans do not want to see the state’s longest-serving governor run for president in 2012. Pollsters said the survey findings did not necessarily signal lack of confidence in Perry’s presidential credentials but may be more of an indication that many voters want him to stay where he is.

http://www.star-telegram.com/2011/01/09/2756163/survey-shows-most-texans-dont.html

Houston Chronicle – January 7, 2011

GOP GOVERNORS CALL FOR RELAXING MEDICAID REQUIREMENTS

Thirty-three Republican governors, including Texas Gov. Rick Perry, signed a letter calling on Obama Administration to relax federal rules that dictate how much coverage should be provided by states’ Medicaid program. The maintenance of effort rules, better know as MOE, essentially tell states that they can’t change their Medicaid eligibility standards in such a way that it would make it harder for people to apply for Medicaid or in a way that would reduce the number of people eligible for Medicaid without losing their federal funding.

http://blogs.chron.com/texaspolitics/archives/2011/01/gop_governors_c.html

Austin American Statesman – January 10, 2011

TEA PARTY COMING TO THE CAPITOL TODAY

This may be one of the most eventful days of the 2011 legislative session, which is something, considering that the session doesn’t even start until tomorrow. Much of the drama of the day will focus on the so-called speaker’s race. Tea partiers are coming to Austin for two rallies. In fact, someone sent me a picture of a car they saw Sunday along Interstate 35 in Temple. It was headed toward Austin with a large sign on the side of the trunk that said, “Ken Paxton for TX Speaker.” Will members catch any grief from tea-partiers as they head into the GOP caucus? What about when they walk out? It’s not hard to imagine that this will be something of a scene.

http://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/firstreading/index.html

Texas Tribune – January 9, 2011

MEDINA: STRAUS PREFERABLE TO “IRON FIST” LEADERSHIP

Republicans might not all like House Speaker Joe Straus, but he’s got a better chance than his predecessor to lead the House to “fiscally responsible, limited and just government,” according to Debra Medina, the conservative activist and former Republican gubernatorial candidate. And she says the race for speaker is a distraction from important business ahead. In an opinion piece sent to media organizations on the eve of a GOP Caucus vote on speaker preferences, Medina urges her fellow Republicans to ignore the campaigns against Straus and to pay attention instead to the issues ahead.

http://www.texastribune.org/texas-house-of-representatives/2011-house-speakers-race/medina-straus-preferable-to-iron-fist-leadership/

San Antonio Express News – January 10, 2011

SAEN: A STATE AGENDA FOR AUSTERE TIMES

With a budgetary shortfall that may exceed $20 billion, the Republican leadership’s focus in Austin will be on cutting spending during the 82nd regular session of the Legislature. In making cuts, lawmakers must place a priority on their constitutional duty to “make suitable provision for the support and maintenance of an efficient system of public free schools.” Weakening public education would be penny-wise and pound-foolish, making Texas students less able to compete in a global marketplace, less desirable to businesses looking for an educated workforce and less productive as citizens.

http://www.mysanantonio.com/opinion/editorials/article/A-state-agenda-for-austere-times-944272.php

Houston Chronicle – January 9, 2011

BETTENCOURT: IT’S ALL ABOUT THE TAXPAYERS

Many things about Paul Bettencourt have been true for as long as he has inhabited public life. The former Harris County Tax Assessor-Collector hates when public money is spent on professional sports stadiums. The self-proclaimed “Taxman” always has advocated for lower taxes and fees, often in the form of unwelcome advice to elected city officials. And he, apparently, enjoys a good fight, especially one that garners headlines. The latter quality has brought Bettencourt roaring back into the limelight after he drew widespread criticism for quitting his office just days after he was re-elected in 2008.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7373446.html

Houston Chronicle – January 6, 2011

MAYOR PARKER ON ONE POTENTIAL 2011 OPPONENT

With a budget crisis on one hand and City Council drama on the other, Mayor Annise Parker may have had little time to deal with questions about potential opponents in her reelection contest this year. None have officially surfaced or publicly declared interest, but speculation, which runs wild come election time, has already begun to ramp up. In addition to former police chief and current City Council Member C.O. Bradford, one potential candidate that has warranted frequent mention is former Harris County Tax Assessor-Collector Paul Bettencourt.

http://blogs.chron.com/houstonpolitics/2011/01/mayor_parker_on_one_potential.html

San Antonio Express News – January 10, 2011

SAEN: SAISD IS FAILING ON TRANSPARENCY

Taxpayers showed extraordinary confidence in the San Antonio Independent School District on Election Day when they voted overwhelmingly to approve a $515 million bond proposal for the aging inner-city school district. District trustees are doing little to keep that confidence. Last month, trustees directed staff to “prepare partnership concepts” for the renovation of Alamo Stadium. Presumably, that means bringing professional soccer to the venue. At least that’s what officials at Spurs Sports & Entertainment seem to think.

http://www.mysanantonio.com/opinion/editorials/article/SAISD-is-failing-on-transparency-944370.php

Quorum Report – January 7, 2011

IF WASHINGTON IS THE MODEL, LETS GO ALL THE WAY SAYS GALLEGO

If House GOP Caucus picks speaker, Democ caucus should pick which Dems go on which committee

Readying itself for a possible sea change in how the Texas House operates, Democratic state Rep. Pete Gallego (D-Alpine) raised the stakes today.

If Republicans caucus to pick a speaker, Democrats should caucus to pick which of their members go on which committees thus eliminating what had once been a speaker perogative.

Gallego said: “If the Speaker of the House is selected by party caucus, I propose an amendment to the House rules that would effectively allow the minority party to select and assign its own membership for each committee of the Texas House.”

Gallego’s full statement can be viewed here: http://www.quorumreport.com/downloadit.cfm?DocID=8884

Medicaid Crisis in Texas (January 17, 2011)

Executive Summary of Cato Institute report

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (ObamaCare) expands Medicaid eligibility and introduces an individual mandate for all U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents to purchase health insurance.

Under the new law—which will become fully effective in 2014—the federal government will almost fully cover the cost of those newly eligible for Medicaid through 2019, with federal financial support expected to be extended thereafter. However, additional federal financial support is not provided for new enrollees among those

eligible for Medicaid under the old laws. The individual health insurance mandate makes it virtually certain that many more “old-eligibles” will enroll in Medicaid and increase states’ Medicaid financing burden significantly.

This study examines the potential increase in Medicaid costs from ObamaCare for the State of Texas—one of several states that have challenged the validity of the individual health insurance mandate in court. This study constructs Texas’ Medicaid spending projections under ObamaCare to reveal the implied increase in that state’s

Medicaid spending commitments from the new health care law. More importantly, through the spending projections without ObamaCare, this study shows that the Medicaid program could not be sustained for too much longer without imposing crushing new fi nancial burdens on state residents. ObamaCare makes the situation even worse.

Under pre-ObamaCare laws, projected total Medicaid spending in Texas over the period 2014-23 would have increased by $44 billion on the General Revenue (GR) basis and by $112 billion on the All Funds (AF) basis (which includes federal grants) compared to keeping nominal Medicaid spending constant during that period.

This projected increase—excluding the effects of ObamaCare—arises primarily because of rising health care costs; and some of it because of higher projected enrollments.

The introduction of ObamaCare is estimated to increase Texas’ GR funded Medicaid costs by an additional $31.2 billion during the first 10 years of its implementation by spurring enrollments among old-eligibles.

Medicaid costs on an AF basis are projected to increase by an additional $198 billion during the fi rst 10 years of implementing ObamaCare. Thus, GR funds’cumulative Medicaid spending growth is projected to be 71 percent larger; and AF Medicaid spending is projected to be a whopping 177 percent larger under ObamaCare during 2014-23.

Given the strain being placed on the federal budget by defi cits, debt, and the unfunded liability for Social Security and Medicare, the prospect for pushing more responsibility to the states for Medicaid seems likely. Under the assumption that the enhanced federal cost sharing rate will be reduced for newly eligible Medicaid enrollees back to the current, lower rate for old-eligibles, the 10-year Texas GR funding cost of Medicaid would increase to $38.6 billion because of ObamaCare.

The sizable prospective increase in Medicaid costs under ObamaCare may prompt Texas and other similarly affected states to consider alternatives to Medicaid in providing basic health care support to their low-income and medically needy populations.

Read the entire report at: http://www.texaspolicy.com/pdf/2010-12-RR12-FinalNoticeMedicaidCrisis-ForecastofTexasMedicaidExpendituresGrowth-CHCP.pdf

News Across Texas 01-17-11

Dallas Morning News – January 3, 2011

COURT TEMPORARILY HALTS GREENHOUSE GAS PERMIT PROGRAM IN TEXAS

The Environmental Protection Agency gave Texas an unwelcome present on the day before Christmas: the announcement that EPA would take over the award of greenhouse gas permits in Texas. State agencies typically award pollution permits under the Clean Air Act, but Texas has refused to participate in federal regulation of greenhouse gas emissions. In response, Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott sought an emergency stay of the EPA’s action. The AG argued that the EPA’s action “seeks to deprive Texas of its right to manage its air resources.” Abbott also argued that the EPA’s decision, announced as an “interim final rule,” didn’t give Texas or anyone else a chance to comment on the proposal.

http://energyandenvironmentblog.dallasnews.com/

Texas Tribune – January 4, 2011

PHILPOTT: SOME EYING SALES TAX INCREASE TO PLUG BUDGET HOLE

It’s not hard to find strange bedfellows in the Texas Legislature when the bills start flying. Republicans and Democrats frequently cross the aisle to support legislation they think will help their constituents. The same could be true as lawmakers try to figure out how to balance the state budget during the upcoming legislative session. The expected 2011 budget cuts are often compared to the situation in 2003, when the state had to trim about $10 billion from the state budget. But Dick Lavine, who watches state revenues for the Center for Public Policy Priorities, says the better comparison is the late 1980s, when the cuts weren’t as high but were proportionally closer to what’s expected in 2011.

http://www.texastribune.org/texas-taxes/2011-budget-shortfall/some-eying-sales-tax-increase-to-plug-budget-hole/

Business Insider – January 3, 2011

WEISENTHAL, LUBIN: THERE’S ONE HUGE STATE BUDGET CRISIS THAT EVERYONE IS REFUSING TO TALK ABOUT

The state is Texas. This month the state’s part-time legislature goes back into session, and the state is starting at potentially a $25 billion deficit on a two-year budget of around $95 billion. That’s enormous. And there’s not much fat to cut. The whole budget is basically education and healthcare spending. Cutting everything else wouldn’t do the trick. And though raising this kind of money would be easy on an economy of $1.2 trillion, the new GOP mega-majority in Congress is firmly against raising any revenue. So the bi-ennial legislature, which convenes this month, faces some hard cuts. Some in the Texas GOP have advocated dropping Medicaid altogether to save money.

http://www.businessinsider.com/texas-state-budget-crisis-2011-1#

Dallas Morning News – January 3, 2011

EAGLE FORUM CALLS SPEAKER VOTE CRUCIAL

The social conservative group Texas Eagle Forum today put House members on notice that their vote for speaker will account for half of the group’s rating of them this session. “We at Texas Eagle Forum believe the vote for speaker of the Texas House is so important we will be weighing this one vote as 50 percent of the total score,” Pat Carlson of Fort Worth, the group’s president (above, staff photo), said in an email. “Please remember who elected you and why you were elected.”

http://trailblazersblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2011/01/eagle-forum-calls-speaker-vote.html

Lubbock Avalanche Journal – January 4, 2011

CONSERVATIVE ACTIVISTS PRESSURING REPUBLICAN TEXAS LAWMAKERS TO OUST SPEAKER

Eagle Forum President Pat Carlson said Straus is too moderate for the lopsided GOP majorities in the Legislature. She also said the group will keep close track of how legislators vote in the speaker’s race. “Unfortunately, Speaker Straus is not a conservative,” Carlson said. “Anyone who says otherwise was not paying attention during the last legislative session or has not looked at Speaker Straus’ political associations and background or both.” Two conservative Republicans, Warren Chisum of Pampa and Ken Paxton of McKinney, are vying to replace Straus. Asked for comment, Straus spokeswoman Tracy Young issued a statement saying Straus “is focused on the upcoming session and tackling the important issues, including passing a ‘no new taxes’ budget and cutting spending, that voters expect the Legislature to address.”

http://lubbockonline.com/texas/2011-01-04/conservative-activists-want-new-texas-speaker

El Paso Times – January 2, 2011

DAYOUB: LAWSUIT REFORM NEEDED TO SPUR BUSINESS

I read with great interest the article in the Dec. 21 El Paso Times regarding the discrimination lawsuit brought by a former employee of the El Paso Electric Co. The secondary title of the article captures the essence of the attention-getter: “Anglo ex-supervisor.” So, apparently, what is really so surprising is that an “Anglo” in El Paso may have been the victim of discrimination. Our concern shouldn’t be with the ethnicity of the employee but rather the proportionality of the award. My interest is two-fold: Representing the Greater El Paso Chamber of Commerce, with support from our Governing Board, it is the responsibility of our staff and me to serve the best interests of the El Paso community, the business sector and our 1,800-plus members.

http://www.elpasotimes.com/opinion/ci_16988773

Texas Tribune – January 4, 2011

KEY EDUCATION MANDATES COULD BE CUT TO SAVE MONEY

Get acquainted with a phrase that will be oft-repeated in the upcoming 82nd Legislature’s brawls over public education: unfunded mandate. And there will be brawls. As lawmakers come under pressure to help schools cope with the reduced funding that the budget shortfall will surely bring, they will look to relax state regulations that create costs local school districts bear on their own or with limited help from the state. They include a wide range of well-established requirements like maximum class sizes, end-of-course exams, gifted-and-talented programs, dropout prevention strategies, assistance for dyslexic students, college-credit programs and instruction on religious literature.

http://www.texastribune.org/texas-education/public-education/key-education-mandates-could-be-cut-to-save-money/

Dallas Morning News – January 3, 2011

GARRETT: PAXTON WINS MORE OUTSIDE-THE-HOUSE SUPPORT; WOMEN BEHIND ANTI-STRAUS AD STEP FORWARD

Former United Nations Ambassador John Bolton today endorsed Ken Paxton for Texas House speaker. Bolton, who doesn’t have a say in the matter, said Paxton’s bid to oust incumbent Joe Straus has national implications because of redistricting and border security. With Texas gaining four more U.S. House seats, Bolton said, the Texas Legislature needs GOP leaders who will “rectify literally decades of skewed redistricting decisions.” Bolton (right, AFP/Getty Images photo) also said that Texas needs to signal grave concern about drug-related violence across the border in Mexico.

http://trailblazersblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2011/01/paxton-wins-more-outside-the-h.html

Houston Chronicle – January 3, 2011

GOP MEETING COULD RAISE VOTING RIGHTS ISSUES, DEM LAWMAKER WARNS

Rep. Joe Deshotel, D-Beaumont, sent a letter to his GOP colleagues today warning of potential voting rights issues if they select a House speaker in a closed meeting next Monday. State photo Rep. Joe Deshotel, D-Beaumont Deshotel reminded his colleagues of the Voting Rights Act. “No longer is it necessary to show a discriminatory purpose, only effect. As stated, there is no discriminatory purpose here, but certainly a discriminatory effect. The forty-nine (49) Democratic legislators not being allowed to participate in what is tantamount to the election of the Speaker consist of forty-two minorities.

http://blogs.chron.com/texaspolitics/archives/2011/01/post_157.html

Wall Street Journal – January 3, 2011

STATES, INDUSTRY IN OVERSIGHT FLAP

States are getting ready to take over the regulation of thousands of investment advisers from federal agencies this summer in an effort to intensify scrutiny of the firms. But that oversight has costs that some cash-strapped states can’t easily afford. Securities regulators in states that will pick up the lion’s share of the extra workload are battling to get funding for extra staff from local lawmakers who already are struggling with ballooning deficits… Data drawn from the latest “home state” registrations of the advisers show that a handful of states will bear the brunt of the new regulatory workload. Four states—California, Florida, New York and Texas—will account for 35% of all the firms switching over, according to analysis by National Regulatory Services, a Connecticut consulting firm.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703820904576058080426805832.html?mod=WSJ_business_whatsNews

Austin American Statesman – January 3, 2011

REPORT PROPOSES OVERHAUL OF PROPERTY TAX BREAKS FOR COMPANIES

The Texas comptroller, not local school districts, should be in charge of negotiating school property tax breaks to businesses to attract large-scale investments such as manufacturing plants or wind farms, a new report by the Legislative Budget Board recommends. The recommendation, if adopted by the Legislature, would end the decade-long practice of businesses negotiating tax breaks with school districts, not the state. Under current law, school boards negotiate and approve the deals, which the state then reviews.

http://www.statesman.com/news/texas-politics/report-proposes-overhaul-of-property-tax-breaks-for-1161558.html

New York Times – January 3, 2011

STRAINED STATES TURNING TO LAWS TO CURB LABOR UNIONS

Faced with growing budget deficits and restive taxpayers, elected officials from Maine to Alabama, Ohio to Arizona, are pushing new legislation to limit the power of labor unions, particularly those representing government workers, in collective bargaining and politics. State officials from both parties are wrestling with ways to curb the salaries and pensions of government employees, which typically make up a significant percentage of state budgets. On Wednesday, for example, New York’s new Democratic governor, Andrew M. Cuomo, is expected to call for a one-year salary freeze for state workers, a move that would save $200 million to $400 million and challenge labor’s traditional clout in Albany.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/04/business/04labor.html?_r=2&hp

Politico – January 4, 2011

GOP WON’T COUNT COST OF REPEAL

House Republicans plan to use a special exception in their budget rules to repeal the Democrats’ health care overhaul without paying for it – technically, at least. The Congressional Budget Office said last year that the health care reform law and its accompanying reconciliation law would reduce the deficit by $143 billion through 2019. That figure is widely disputed and Republicans argue the law would actually increase the deficit. Still, since Republicans’ new rules to govern the House require that nearly all proposed legislation is fully paid for, the new House leaders have exempted repeal of the health care overhaul from such requirements.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0111/47000.html#ixzz1A465ZaL4

Quorum Report – January 3, 2011

SENATOR PATRICK RADIO SHOW TO BE BROADCAST IN SAN ANTONIO

Puts the talk show host in three major Texas radio markets

Senator Dan Patrick will be expanding his daily radio talk show audience today. In addition to KSEV in Houston and KVCE in Dallas, the Dan Patrick Show will also be broadcast on San Antonio’s KLUP.

“The radio talk show platform gives me the unique opportunity to speak directly with constituents on a daily basis,” said Patrick. “And it provides listeners the ability to have their voices heard and weigh in on important issues. I’m excited about joining KLUP and their great line up of hosts and I’m looking forward to speaking directly to the people of San Antonio.”

KLUP broadcasts on AM 930 and includes conservative talk from Bill Bennett, Mike Gallagher, Hugh Hewit and Dennis Prager

Voters to Legislators: Cut the Spending (January 10, 2010)

AUSTIN – Americans for Prosperity State Director Peggy Venable issued the following statement in response to a recent press conference by the group Texas Forward.

“Future generations are counting on government to do what is right, and that means cutting spending,” said Peggy Venable, AFP-Texas State Director. “No way should we spend all the rainy day funds, and no way should we hesitate for a moment to take a scalpel to government spending.”

“This coalition group of left-wing organizations is clear in their intent to raise taxes,” Venable said. “In no way can that be considered a ‘balanced’ way to bridge the budget shortfall. Cutting spending, paring back on government bloat, and ensuring a predictable and low-tax business environment are the only ways to ensure long-term success for our state and for Texans across the board.”

“This group advocates for emptying the state’s Rainy Day Fund and raising taxes as a way to bridge the anticipated shortfall in the state’s budget:,” said Venable.

“Voters sent a strong message November second,” Venable said. “That message was to stop spending. Lawmakers need to listen and deliver or they will likely be delivered a pink slip come next election.”

“Texas Forward claims that budget cuts will harm ‘the children’ and other Texans,” Venable said. “That is a baseless, emotional argument that has no truth behind it. Those of us who focus our attention on fiscal issues, conservative approaches to budgeting, and the constitutional limits of government aren’t buying it. Tax increases and government largess hurt the poorest of us most.”

“If enacted, this group’s goals would set Texas back. In these economic times, it is not appropriate to raise taxes or to raid all of the states’ surplus funds. That simply exasperates the problem,” Venable said.

“Americans for Prosperity’s position is that spending cuts need to be made at the federal, state and local levels and that government should not resort to raising taxes, but need to stop feeding the beast,” Venable said. “Taxpayers can spend their own money more wisely than government can.”

Texas House Speaker Critical Choice (January 10, 2011)

Americans for Prosperity to weigh Speaker vote more than any other this Session

AUSTIN – Americans for Prosperity announced that it plans to weigh Texas legislators’ vote for House Speaker more heavily than any other vote during the 2011 Legislative session. The grades will be included in AFP’s biannual Legislative Report Card.

“The voters spoke firmly and clearly on Nov. 2 – they demand conservative leadership in Texas,” said AFP State Director Peggy Venable. “To ignore the strong mandate coming from those same voters right now regarding the Texas Speaker race is to say, ‘Your opinion doesn’t count anymore.’”

AFP decided to weigh in on the Speaker race this year because of the problems conservatives faced during the 2009 Legislative Session. Conservatives faced major roadblocks in getting their agenda through. Some of AFP’s key legislation languished in committee, and chairmen even touted that they would make sure key taxpayer protection bills didn’t see the light of day.

“We learned from the mistakes of the 2009 Legislative Session and won’t accept leadership that is willing to compromise Texans’ conservative values in order to pay off liberal political friends,” Venable said. “We want to make it clear to Texas House members: We are watching, and we will hold you accountable.”

AFP-Texas has more than 95,000 members throughout the state.

News Across Texas 01-10-11

Austin American Statesman – January 3, 2011

AUSTIN LEADERS PLOT 2011 JOB GROWTH

As many U.S. cities continue to reel from job losses and a stagnant business climate, Austin is regaining its footing, thanks in part to its ability to draw outside employers like LegalZoom, which plans to hire 600 workers over the next five years. Twenty-seven companies, including nine from California, moved their headquarters or other operations to Austin in 2010, making it one of the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce’s most successful recruiting years. Still, it will take years for Austin to fully bounce back from the deepest national downturn since the Great Depression, experts say. And the weak national job market — coupled with looming state layoffs — could slow Austin’s momentum.

http://www.statesman.com/business/austin-leaders-plot-2011-job-growth-1157559.html

Houston Chronicle – December 31, 2011

TEXAS TAKES FIRST PLACE IN CONSERVATIVE CLOUT INDEX

Our recent “print exclusive” story in the Houston Chronicle documented the growing clout of Texas in the new world of divided government in Washington. In conjunction with the story, we have created a “conservative clout index” to gauge the influence of each of the 50 states among congressional Republicans. These factors were included in our calculations: number of Republican lawmakers, conservative voting ratings (as measured by the American Conservative Union) of the GOP members, Republican gains in the midterm elections, members of GOP leadership and committee chairmen. Each factor was given a point value.

http://blogs.chron.com/txpotomac/2010/12/texas_takes_first_place_in_con_1.html

Dallas Morning News – January 2, 2011

OHIOANS’ EXODUS TO TEXAS OFFERS LESSON TO LONE STAR STATE

“Our country has walked away from manufacturing and shipped it abroad as a matter of policy,” Morrison said. “People who have left here and gone to Texas didn’t want to go to Texas. ... They’re there because that’s where the jobs are. But it’s not where their hearts are.” In what looks like a coming age of government austerity, Ohio doesn’t expect that sort of federal investment. Nevertheless, Cincinnati will push ahead, van der Horst said, by building on its strengths, concentrating on keeping the companies it has, and thinking of itself as a region competing with the world. “Don’t take anything for granted,” she advised Texans. “Understand your community’s strengths, and invest and invest. Skate to where the puck is going.”

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/bus/stories/DN-ohio_02bus.ART.State.Edition2.1483618.html

Houston Chronicle – January 2, 2011

FIKAC: TEMPORARY SALES TAX INCREASE ON THE HORIZON?

While some Republicans want to follow Arizona’s example in cracking down on immigration, some Democrats and advocates for lower-income Texans hope it’s an Arizona-style tax move that gets attention as the state takes on a massive budget shortfall. Arizona voters last year approved a temporary sales tax increase to help fund services in the economically hard-hit state. The revenue will go for education, public safety and human services. Texas GOP leaders say they’ll close our state’s budget gap without new taxes. That’s expected to mean cutbacks in the current level of services in education and human services, which get the bulk of state discretionary dollars.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7362972.html

Austin American Statesman – January 2, 2011

AAS: IN THE APPRAISALS GAME, TAXPAYERS LOSE

A tax appraiser’s work should be precise, but in Texas it’s a guessing game that home owners and small business people lose. As the American-Statesman’s Marty Toohey reported last week, appraisers are guessing at what downtown commercial property is worth. Guessing is never a good way to do business, but state law forces appraisers to guess about commercial property values. Patrick Brown, the Travis County appraisal district chief, told Toohey that his staff has been guessing low for years.

http://www.statesman.com/opinion/in-the-appraisals-game-taxpayers-lose-1159059.html

Dallas Morning News – January 2, 2011

GARRETT: SPEAKER’S RACE —ANY VOTES MOVING BENEATH FROTH?

“The Tea Party in Texas has been working overtime to ensure that we have conservative leadership in the Texas House,” says the unknown producer of this anti-Joe Straus video, which appears on the website StopJoeStraus.com , itself something of a mystery. Since I first noticed the site a few weeks back, I’ve asked the most visible organizer of the push for a more conservative speaker, Michael Quinn Sullivan, president of Texans for Fiscal Responsibility, if he has learned who’s behind StopJoeStraus.com. “I have not,” he told me today.

http://trailblazersblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2011/01/speakers-race-froth-on-the-sur.html

Texas Tribune – January 2, 2011

PRICE: DON’T TAKE THE SPEAKER RACE TO CAUCUS

Texas lawmakers shouldn’t let the party caucuses choose the next speaker of the House, according to former Speaker Rayford Price. In a letter to House members shared with the media, he says the House could end up with a leader who has the support of less than half of them. And he urges them to ignore calls to elect the next speaker in caucus and then stick to the caucus decision when it comes to the floor. Challengers to Speaker Joe Straus have called for a Republican Caucus meeting before next week’s legislative session. The proposal, forwarded formally by Rep. Warren Chisum, a Pampa Republican who also wants to be speaker, would have the 101-member caucus vote and also agree that all of the members would vote for the caucus candidate when the matter goes to the full House.

http://www.texastribune.org/texas-house-of-representatives/2011-house-speakers-race/price-dont-take-the-speaker-race-to-caucus/?utm_source=texastribune.org&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20Main%20Feed

Austin American Statesman – January 3, 2011

FIRST READING: CAUCUS SHOULDN’T DECIDE RACE, FORMER SPEAKER SAYS

We’re a little more than a week from the start of the legislative session, and still much of the pre-session chatter focuses on the so-called speaker’s race. A Republican caucus to discuss the speaker election has been called for one week from today, Jan. 10, the day before the session. It’s not at all certain that there will be a vote in that caucus on a GOP choice for speaker, although that’s clearly what Speaker Joe Straus’ GOP challengers would like. Former Speaker Rayford Price, who was elected in 1972 and presided over the House for one term, will send House members a letter today urging them not to use a vote in the Republican caucus to choose a speaker. The letter notes that Price won the speakership with the support of 68 Democrats and nine Republicans, while 65 Democrats backed his opponent. Six Democrats and one Republican did not vote.

http://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/firstreading/entries/2011/01/03/_countdown_8_days_until.html?cxntfid=blogs_first_reading

Corpus Christi Caller Times – January 2, 2011

CCCT: HONEST, OPEN GOVERNMENT IS A STRUGGLE

Three of 36 government entities monitored by the Caller-Times were forthright for an entire year in the preparation and conduct of their public meetings, which means that 33 weren’t. This year’s Caller-Times FOI review focused on meeting agendas, minutes and executive sessions, and found many violations of the letter or the spirit of laws requiring open government. Vague, unclear or overly terse wording of agenda items was a prevalent problem. To the average person, this may not sound like a big deal, or it may sound unintentional, but the consequences are significant. A potentially controversial government action, obscured successfully with vague wording, can mean the difference between a large audience of dissidents and no audience at all. A steep tax or fee hike or cessation of a favorite government service shouldn’t come as an after-the-fact surprise to the public.

http://www.caller.com/news/2011/jan/02/honest-open-government-is-a-struggle/

Washington Post – January 2, 2011

ISSA SAYS OBAMA ADMINISTRATION IS ‘ONE OF MOST CORRUPT’

The Republican congressman who is taking over responsibility for congressional oversight called President Obama’s administration “one of the most corrupt administrations” on Sunday and predicted that the investigations he is planning over the next two years could result in about $200 billion in savings for U.S. taxpayers. Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), the incoming chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, was bullish in laying out his agenda for the new Congress with Republicans in control of the House.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/02/AR2011010201493.html?nav=hcmodule

Houston Chronicle – January 2, 2011

FEE ON OFF-BRAND CIGARETTES SUGGESTED

A state facing a severe budget shortfall might be missing an easy opportunity to increase revenue and finance public health costs at the same time, said a spokesman for big tobacco. Texas is only one of two states that do not impose a fee on off-brand cigarettes sold by companies that didn’t participate in the historic tobacco settlement a decade ago. Also, Texas levies only a 2-cent tax on a pack of “little cigars” that look like cigarettes. The state tax on cigarettes is $1.41 a pack. Both carry 20 units. “It’s a pretty big difference and there’s really no public policy benefit in providing little cigars with a tax advantage like that given the similarities between the products,” said Bill Phelps, spokesman for Altria, whose companies include Philip Morris, the country’s largest cigarette manufacturer.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7363068.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+houstonchronicle%2Ftopheadlines+%28chron.com+-+Top+Stories%29&utm_content=Twitter

Corpus Christi Caller Times – January 2, 2011

LARSON: SUPREME JUDICIAL ACTIVIST COURT SHUTS OUT THE PUBLIC

It is the job of the Texas Legislature to draft the laws of this state, not that of the courts. This doctrine, basic to the separation of powers of the branches of government, and a canon of conservative political philosophy, has been turned on its head by the Texas Supreme Court. In its zeal to exempt birth dates of governmental employees from release under the Texas Public Information Act, the court has created an entirely new right to privacy. This right to privacy applies only to governmental employees and only to requests under the Texas PIA.

http://www.caller.com/news/2011/jan/02/supreme-judicial-activist-court-shuts-out-the/

Politico – January 2, 2011

HOUSE GOP PLANS TWO-PRONGED ASSAULT ON HEALTH LAW

The new Republican-controlled House plans to schedule a vote to repeal the sweeping health care overhaul before President Barack Obama delivers his annual State of the Union address late this month, incoming House Energy and Commerce Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) said Sunday. “We have 242 Republicans,” he said on “Fox News Sunday.” He added, “There will be a significant number of Democrats, I think, that will join us. You will remember when that vote passed in the House last March, it only passed by seven votes.” Upton, whose committee will play a key role in the GOP’s effort to roll back the law, said that he believes the House may be near the two-thirds majority required to override a presidential veto.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0111/46942.html

Medical News Today – January 2, 2011

MEDICARE TO GAIN 7,000 NEW BABY BOOMERS PER DAY IN 2011

In 2011, there will be 7,000 new Medicare beneficiaries each day; a total of 2.5 million baby boomers who will swamp America’s senior’s health care insurance program. According to AARP (American Association for Retired Person’s), 70 million individuals are estimated to be Medicare beneficiaries over the next 20 years, compared to 45.2 million in 2008. Economists predict that Medicare’s current 3.6% of GDP (gross domestic product) cost will jump to 6.4% in twenty years’ time, mainly because the costs of medical care and medications are going up considerably faster than inflation, rather than the impact of an aging population.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/212585.php

Austin American Statesman – January 1, 2011

UNCLEAR STATE LAWS HAMPER CORPORATE CAMPAIGN SPENDING IN TEXAS

Spending by groups outside political campaigns, including corporations and unions, was a tsunami in federal elections across the country last year when compared with the trickle disclosed in state elections in Texas. The U.S. Supreme Court is credited with — or blamed — for opening the floodgates when it ruled a year ago that corporations and unions have a free-speech right to spend unlimited sums to elect or defeat candidates as long as the spending is independent of campaigns. During the 2010 elections, independent expenditures in federal elections increased fivefold from 2006, to $211 million, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, which tracks political spending. By comparison, only about $360,000 was disclosed in state elections in Texas.

http://www.statesman.com/news/texas-politics/unclear-state-laws-hamper-corporate-campaign-spending-in-1157603.html

News Across Texas (January 3, 2011)

KETK - December 15, 2010

Update: East Texas Congressman Louie Gohmert talks estate tax

WASHINGTON - While Congress waits to vote on President Obama’s tax cut package, East Texas Congressman Louie Gohmert is speaking out against part of that deal… the estate tax.

Some say the “estate” tax… others say the “death” tax.  But no matter what you call it, the law allows the federal government to continue to dip into the pockets of the wealthy even after they’re dead and one Texas lawmaker is saying “enough.”

Now that the senate has voted for President Obama’s more than $ 800 billion dollar tax bill, America’s eyes look toward the House.

But East Texas Congressman Louie Gohmert says there’s been a lot of worry on Capitol Hill, during the wait.

http://www.ketknbc.com/news/update-east-texas-congressman-louie-gohmert-talks-estate-tax

Quorum Report – December 15, 2010

CONSERVATIVE THINK TANK GIVES LOW GRADE TO TEXAS EFFORTS TO TURN AROUND SCHOOLS

Texas Charter School Assn advocates for raising the bar on performane for Texas charter schools

The Thomas B Fordham Institutehas found a dismal record in 10 states, including Texas, when it comes to turning around low-performing schools and charter campuses, despite increased state and federal accountability pressures.

Are Bad Schools Immortal? The Scarcity of Turnarounds and Shutdowns in Both Charter and District Sectors, which was http://www.edexcellence.net/publications-issues/publications/are-bad-schools-immortal.htmlyesterday by the conservative national think tank, indicates little success across a number of states in either fixing or closing low-performing campuses. In Texas, that also includes the “death penalty” sanctions that now apply to chronically underperforming schools.

Education Secretary Arne Duncanhas pumped $3 billion, including $285 million in to Texas, to encourage low-performing schools to restructure, and he is an active supporter of allowing new operators to take over failing campuses, which is an unutilized option, to date, in the current Texas accountability system.

The Fordham study, which tracked the performance of more than 2,000 campuses across a 5-year period, found 72 percent of charters and 80 percent of district campuses unchanged, most of them still on the low-performing list. Margins for closure or significant improvement on campuses were http://www.edexcellencemedia.net/publications/2010/20101214_AreBadSchoolImmortal/Fordham_Immortal_Texas.pdf.

“We hear a lot, especially from Secretary Duncan, about turning around ‘chronically failing schools,’ be we can now see how rarely this actually happens,” said Fordham president Chester E FinnJr. “We need to overhaul our accountability systems to make it tougher for bad schools to continue.”

The caveat to the report is that only K-8 schools were tracked. Data for high schools was considered to be too inconsistent across the board. Efforts at reconfiguration and reconstitution, either state mandated or voluntarily sought, have occurred primarily high school in Texas. Johnston High Schoolin Austin ISD and Sam Houston High Schoolin Houston ISD were forced to close and reconfigure by the state, followed by Pearce Middle Schoolin Austin ISD.

Waco ISD chose to close a low-performing middle school on its own, and Dallas ISD sought new configurations for its lowest-performing high school campuses last year. Those are the highest profile changes in the state, despite 15 years under an accountability system that was intended to make schools accountable for the performance of all students.

Fordham’s report tracked 108 campuses in Texas, a third of them charter schools. Results showed fewer closures than most states but also included some campuses with moderate improvement.  The study placed the state in the middle of the pack among the 10 states that were tracked.

The performance of charters in Texas was not significantly different than traditional campuses. In a conference call with reporters yesterday, Finn said that was a surprise, given that charters were given greater latitude in regulations in order to be more nimble and responsive to the needs of students.

Responding to the report, the Texas Charter School Associationpointed out the superior performance of many of its K-8 charters in the state and noted it was an advocate for raising the bar on performance of all charter schools in the state, including the launch of the TCSA Quality Framework.

That framework, which was two years in the making, is intended to support and assist existing charter holders to improve performance in a variety of areas. TCSA also supported the closure of Benji’s Academyin Houston earlier this school year, a departure from earlier advocacy, which suggested every charter was a good charter.

As for the state, it has invested significant resources in the Texas Turnaround Center, a network of support provided by the Education Service Centers. Specifics on whether and how well these centers is still lacking, but the Turnaround Center, out of ESC XIIin Austin, did provide a chart of the interventions and support that the service centers are providing to identified low-performing campuses.

 
Houston Chronicle – December 16, 2010

TCEQ GETS AN EARFUL FROM PUBLIC

Dozens of people, including doctors, school teachers and church-going grandmothers, pleaded Wednesday with Texas lawmakers to make the state’s environmental agency tougher on polluters. The hearing, which was part of the first legislative review of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality in a decade, drew people from around the state, with many of them saying the agency had failed to protect them from pollution. The Legislature’s Sunset Advisory Commission periodically evaluates and considers potential reforms at state agencies, and its findings could lead to significant changes in the TCEQ’s operations during the legislative session that begins next month.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7341461.html

Dallas Morning News – December 16, 2010

JOE STRAUS SAYS HE’LL BE BACK AS TEXAS HOUSE SPEAKER

Republican Joe Straus said Wednesday that he expects to be re-elected speaker of the Texas House when the Legislature convenes in January. “I feel very confident about being re-elected,” Straus said before giving the keynote address at a United Negro College Fund luncheon at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. “I was ready after Nov. 2 to move on with governing and have, for the most part, been spending my time getting ready for Jan. 11.” Straus, of San Antonio, said lawmakers were happy with the way that he managed the last session and that House members were “looking forward to being productive and representing their districts.”

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/politics/local/stories

Dallas Morning News – December 16, 2010

TEXAS SEN. JOHN CORNYN AT ODDS WITH SPENDING BILL BECAUSE OF EARMARKS

Texas’ senators sought Wednesday to distance themselves from a $1.1 trillion spending package that contains hundreds of millions in earmarks they requested, including $20 million for Dallas’ Trinity River Project. Sen. John Cornyn accused Democrats of using the measure, which would keep the government running through next September, to ram through billions in pork-barrel spending. That drew allegations of hypocrisy from Democrats, who noted that he sought scores of earmarks contained in the bill. Cornyn, a member of the Senate GOP leadership, defended his stance at a contentious Capitol news conference, saying that he opposes the package even though it contains elements he championed.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/nation/stories/DN-earmarks_16nat.ART.State.Edition1.43664a1.html

Ellis County Observer – December 11, 2010

Dear Texas Education Agency: We Have Serious Financial Questions in Venus ISD That Are Out of this World

The Venus Voice is asking for the Texas Education Agency to come into Venus Independent School District and investigate severe financial discrepancies contained in numerous documents obtained by VISD taxpayers and through public information requests.

http://www.elliscountyobserver.com/?p=17443

San Antonio Express-News – December 15, 2010

Unless smoking is outlawed, show respect for smokers

Across the country, from college campuses to casinos and even city parks, more lines are being drawn in the sand in the war against smokers.

Yes, I do mean the war against smokers and not the war against smoking. Because everyone knows smoking can kill, the fear of second-hand smoke is being channeled as anger onto the people who choose to do it anyway. And the schizophrenia with which this country approaches this health threat is part of the problem: We sell cigarettes legally and reap benefits from their tax revenue on one hand while funding health studies and public outreach programs to get people to stop puffing on the other.

http://www.mysanantonio.com/opinion/commentary/article/Unless-smoking-is-outlawed-show-respect-for-901946.php

 
Dallas Morning News – December 16, 2010

TEXAS CHALLENGES IRVING FINANCE METHOD FOR ENTERTAINMENT CENTER COMPLEX

The Texas attorney general’s office filed court papers Wednesday that challenge part of Irving’s plan to finance its $250 million entertainment center. Public finance attorneys for Texas said in the documents that the city cannot receive rebates on the state’s share of taxes on alcoholic beverages. The attorneys also argue the use of other sales and hotel occupancy tax rebates to the city would have to be decided by the Texas Legislature every two years. The challenged revenue streams are among several the city wants to pledge against construction bonds it will sell to build the project.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/city/coppell_vr/stories/DN-irvcenter_16met.ART1.Central.Edition1.43680e6.html

Dallas Morning News – December 16, 2010

JOE BARTON TO OPPOSE BILL EXTENDING BUSH TAX CUTS

Rep. Joe Barton, R-Arlington, said today he’ll oppose the compromise bill that extends the Bush tax rates for two more years. Barton said he opposes the legislation because he thinks the lower tax rates should be permanent, and because the bill extends special-interest tax breaks and unemployment compensation that weren’t offset with spending cuts. The Senate approved the $858 billion legislation, 81-19, on Wednesday, with Sens. John Cornyn and Kay Bailey Hutchison supporting it. It moves next to the House, which could hold a final vote as early as Thursday.

http://trailblazersblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2010/12/joe-barton-to-oppose-bill-exte.html

Austin American-Statesman – December 16, 2010

PANEL LOOKS AT ELIMINATING ELECTED OIL, GAS OVERSEERS

Conventional wisdom is that a more conservative Legislature is coming to Austin to cut spending and streamline government, including the possibility of layoffs. But would lawmakers really give pink slips to three statewide elected officials all Republicans who oversee the state’s powerful energy industry? The Texas Sunset Advisory Commission, a panel of lawmakers who review state agencies to make them more effective, began mulling that option without tipping their hand at a public hearing Wednesday.

http://www.statesman.com/news/texas-politics/panel-looks-at-eliminating-elected-oil-gas-overseers-1124886.html

Austin American-Statesman – December 16, 2010

HAYS COUNTY REPUBLICAN PARTY TO ISAAC: DON’T PICK STRAUS

The Hays County Republican Party this week passed a resolution urging GOP state Rep.-elect Jason Isaac of Dripping Springs not to vote for Joe Straus for House speaker, according to a report by Jen Biundo in the Hays Free Press. Bud Wymore, chairman of the county party, was quoted in the Free Press as saying that there “is a place in the Republican Party for people like Joe Straus that are more moderate — it’s just not in leadership positions.” Isaac was quoted in the article as saying that “it’s good to hear from people in the district” but that “it’s not going to force me into making a decision one way or another.”

http://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/politics/entries/2010/12/15/hays_county_republican_party_t.html?cxntfid=blogs_postcards

Houston Chronicle – December 16, 2010

HOUSTON HIKES 150 FEES; BUSINESSES PASSING THEIR COSTS TO YOU

Houstonians should be prepared to pay more to fix their cars, make minor home repairs and renew neighborhood association dues now that the City Council has voted to raise more than 150 fees by an average of 25 percent, said a handful of contractors and business associations. Johnny Gibbs, owner of Lighthouse Electric, predicted Houstonians will balk at paying the higher fees for simple jobs like changing out a ceiling fan or replacing a light fixture.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/facebook/7339430.html

Politico – December 16, 2010

TAX-CUT PLAN CLEARS SENATE EASILY

The Senate voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to advance President Barack Obama’s tax package to the House, where the $858 billion bill is expected to receive a final vote Thursday. The Senate vote was 81-19, with 13 Democrats, five Republicans and independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont voting no. The strong support elevates the pressure on the House to approve the package without making any changes that would endanger the compromise that Obama struck with Republicans. Many liberal House members, as well as a dozen or more conservative Republicans, oppose the measure, but not enough to derail the bill.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1210/46426.html

News Across Texas (12-20-2010)

Fort Worth Star-Telegram - December 13, 2010

NORMAN: TEXAS ENVIRONMENTAL AGENCY STAFF SEEMS TO BE FED UP WITH BEING TOOTHLESS

For years, natural gas companies have told the people of Fort Worth they need not worry about air quality around the Barnett Shale wells and production facilities multiplying near their homes. This year, the City Council and Mayor Mike Moncrief had heard enough constituent concerns about the veracity of that claim and commissioned an independent study of emissions from those wells and facilities. Results are due in March. Now, even the staff of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, people who a year ago agreed with the industry's claims, apparently are having doubts.

http://www.star-telegram.com/2010/12/09/2693530/texas-environmental-agency-staff.html

San Antonio Express-News - December 13, 2010

SCHOOL FINANCE SUIT ON HOLD?

Texas school districts are ready to sue the state again over public school funding but likely will wait to see what the state Legislature does in the spring. “School districts are so disgusted and fed up with this funding situation because it's the same thing year after year after year. We're ready to go,” said John Folks, past president of the Texas Association of School Administrators. Folks is the superintendent of San Antonio's largest school district, Northside Independent School District, and the former superintendent of Houston's Spring ISD.

http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/education/article/School-finance-suit-on-hold-876118.php

Washington Times - December 13, 2010

DEMOCRATS NOT PLEASED WITH DEAL ON ESTATE TAXES

Sen. Bernard Sanders' impassioned eight-hour speech Friday, slamming President Obama's tentative tax-cut deal with Republicans, directed some of his sharpest attacks at the plan's provisions to tax dead people's estates. Armed with giant charts and statistics galore, the Vermont independent argued that wealthy individuals, including the heirs to the Wal-Mart fortune, are in a better position financially to shoulder more of the national debt and for that reason the estate tax should return to 2009 levels, or higher.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/dec/12/democrats-not-pleased-with-deal-on-estate-taxes/

Politex - December 11, 2010

Tea Party rally in works for first day of legislative session

The members of the Texas House and Senate may start next year's legislative session with a sign-waving, crowd-cheering Tea Party rally going on right outside their windows.

Some conservative groups are urging members to plan to be in Austin for Jan. 11, 2011 to rally at the Texas Capitol.

The main focus of the rally appears to be the contentious race for Speaker of the House, the vote for which historically is one of the first orders of House business on that first day. Various Tea Party groups have been openly campaigning for Republican members to back someone other than current House Speaker Joe Straus.

Groups including the Texas chapter of Americans for Prosperity and the Johnson County Tea Party have started promoting the event to their members.

http://blogs.star-telegram.com/politex/2010/12/tea-party-rally-in-works-for-first-day-of-legislative-session.html#ixzz180sTmVnp

Austin American-Statesman - December 11, 2010

CLASS-SIZE LIMITS ROUTINELY WAIVED DESPITE LAW

Amid talk this week of relaxing a 25-year-old state law that limits class sizes in kindergarten through fourth grade to save money comes evidence that the law has often been waived over the years. School districts can request waivers from the state if they want to exceed the class limits. And they have done so 3,085 times since 1984, according to figures that the Texas Education Agency provided to the Texas Classroom Teachers Association last month. The state denied five waiver requests in that time.

http://www.statesman.com/news/texas-politics/class-size-limits-routinely-waived-despite-law-1112900.html

Austin American-Statesman - December 13, 2010

AUSTIN-AREA FRESHMAN HOUSE MEMBERS FACE SPEAKER'S RACE DILEMMA

Central Texas' four newly elected state representatives, all Republicans, haven't even taken office yet, and already they're facing a dilemma about whether to listen to vocal conservative activists who want a new House speaker or to maximize their power at the Capitol by aligning themselves with the likely winner, Speaker Joe Straus. Rep. Ken Paxton, R-McKinney , a long-shot speaker candidate, has picked up the endorsements of a handful of about 30 Republican freshmen who will join the House in January. But at least so far, none of the Austin-area representatives-elect, who were swept into office on a GOP wave, has come out in support of Paxton.

http://www.statesman.com/news/texas-politics/austin-area-freshman-house-members-face-speakers-race-1116222.html

San Antonio Express-News - December 13, 2010

DEMOCRATS PLOT THEIR NEXT MOVE

On a sunny December afternoon, veteran state Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston, was sitting behind a desk in his district office, a century-old two-story frame house. The warm sun slanting through the second-floor windows belied the stormy legislative session forecast for Whitmire and his fellow Democrats, dazed survivors of an Election Day debacle. “I don't think we've ever been in this weak a condition with the problems so great,” said the 63-year-old lawmaker, who first was elected to the House in 1972 and now is the dean of the Senate.

http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/politics/article/Democrats-plot-their-next-move-877060.php#page-2

San Antonio Express-News - December 13, 2010

WENTWORTH BILL WOULD OUTLAW STRAIGHT-TICKET VOTING

A Republican legislator from San Antonio has proposed a bill that would outlaw straight party ticket voting in Texas. State Sen. Jeff Wentworth says straight-ticket voting is a detriment to the system. The Dallas Morning News reports, for its Monday editions, that Wentworth calls the straight-ticket method "lazy." Texas Republican Party spokesman Chris Elam says the GOP is in favor of giving voters an option, not taking options from voters.

http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/article/Wentworth-bill-would-outlaw-straight-ticket-voting-877855.php

Politico - December 13, 2010

WHITE HOUSE LAUNCHES CHARM OFFENSIVE WITH INCOMING GOP CHAIRS

House Republicans don’t take power for another three weeks, but the White House is already engaged in a behind-the-scenes charm offensive designed to build relationships with incoming committee chairmen before they become powerful adversaries. The GOP chairmen are getting congratulatory phone calls from President Barack Obama, and private meetings with Vice President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Attorney General Eric Holder. The incoming Agriculture Committee chairman, Frank Lucas (R-Okla.), is setting up a regular monthly lunch with Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. The White House's efforts moved into high gear shortly after the Republican victory on Election Day.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1210/46258.html

New York Times - December 13, 2010

IN TAX BENEFITS TO THE MIDDLE, POLITICAL LIFT FOR OBAMA

With the Senate poised to hold a key vote on Monday on the tax cut deal between President Obama and Republicans, the political jousting has focused on what the agreement does for the wealthy by extending all of the Bush-era tax rates, and for the unemployed, by continuing jobless aid. But a hefty portion of the $858 billion tax package will benefit middle- and upper-middle-income Americans — precisely the demographic that felt neglected the last two years as the White House and Congress focused on the major health care law and on helping the unemployed and people facing foreclosure.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/13/us/politics/13tax.html?_r=2&hp

Official Tea Party License Plates in Texas?* (December 13, 2010)

The tea party symbol could soon be rolling off the production line at the state's prison license plate factory in Huntsville.

The "don't tread on me" message is somewhere near 180 degrees from the once-familiar "drive friendly" message from Texas plates.

One benefit to the buyer: Keeping tailgaters at bay.

The rattlesnake image comes from a traditional pre-Revolution American flag. Colonists were in a bad mood where England was concerned.

Tea partiers have a bit of attitude themselves this year, and the flag has been a common sight at tea party rallies. You can get yourself a "don't tread on me" bumper sticker, refrigerator magnet, coffee cup, T shirt -- you name it -- on the web.

I was surprised to see the image come up on the latest round of specialized offerings from official plate vendor MyPlates. Maybe I shouldn't have been, since you can buy a hamburger license plate these days and plates from a number of out-of-state universities. To me, they all are equally weird for a state-issued plate.

You can go to MyPlates and vote on the snake plate, if you like. Also vote on plate with the defiant "come and take it" message that draws on a pre-Texas Revolution flag, the Gonzales flag. http://www.myplates.com.

I asked MyPlates spokeswoman Kim Drummond about adopting the image from the rattlesnake flag, also known as the Gadsden flag. Unlike other plates, where outside groups make a proposal and share the proceeds, MyPlates came up with these ideas to appeal to the public's interest in history, she said.

Drummond said she learned about the Gadsden flag's tea party significance only after the planning was under way.

"Our idea has no particular group in mind," she said. "These flags have different meanings to different groups."

*From an article by Rodger Jones of the Dallas News

Texas News Across the State (December 13, 2010)

Austin American Statesman - December 6, 2010

AUSTIN RANKS THIRD AMONG BEST CITIES FOR MILITARY RETIREES

Austin's not your traditional military town, but its healthy economy, proximity to Army posts and cool factor have earned the city a third-place ranking on a national survey of best places for military retirement. The first-of-its-kind survey, released today by USAA and Military.com, has a strong Texas flavor. Waco, with its affordable housing and manufacturing industry, topped the list; College Station came in fourth; and San Angelo placed sixth. Rounding out the top five were Oklahoma City at No. 2 and Harrisburg, Pa., in the fifth spot. The Texas cities earned extra points because federal pensions are not taxed in the state, rankers said.

http://www.statesman.com/news/local/austin-ranks-third-among-best-cities-for-military-1101820.html

Houston Chronicle - December 6, 2010

CASEY: ALREADY LEAN TEXAS FACES BITTER DIET

Texas may be leading the nation's economic recovery, but you wouldn't know it by what is happening in state and local government. Mayor Annise Parker this week announced police department cuts and furloughs of other city employees — voluntary for now. But Austin is where the longer knives are being sharpened. Everybody agrees that there will have to be heavy cuts in state expenditures, but we won't know how much until State Comptroller Susan Combs issues her two-year revenue forecast in January. That will provide the target number the Legislature will have to stay under in order to satisfy the constitutional requirement of a balanced budget.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/casey/7325697.html

Victoria Advocate - December 6, 2010

AREA SCHOOL DISTRICTS PASS RESOLUTIONS CALLING FOR SCHOOL FINANCE REFORM

Several Crossroads school boards have joined more than 200 others statewide in passing resolutions calling for school finance reform during the 2011 Texas legislative session. One of the major problems is the inequity in funding. Some districts receive less state funding than others, although taxpayers pay the same amount of school taxes, said Jeff Black, Ganado superintendent of schools. "The state is requiring Ganado students to compete against other Texas students with unequal resources providing that education," he said. "This inequity has been bad enough for the last six years, but with the projected $23 billion Texas budget shortfall, there is talk in Austin of cutting school funding for every district by 5 to 8 percent."

http://www.victoriaadvocate.com/news/2010/dec/05/sl_education_finance_120610_120396/?features&features

Dallas Morning News - December 6, 2010

STUDY SHOWS TEXAS TEACHER MERIT PAY HELPS KEEP STAFF, SLIGHTLY HELPS TEST SCORES

More Texas teachers stayed put and students saw a slight jump in their test scores at schools where teachers received performance-based pay in the first two years of a $400 million state program, a study indicates. The work by researchers at Vanderbilt University, the University of Missouri and Rand Corp. also found that school districts got better results when they gave teachers bigger bonuses – $3,000 and up – although a majority of districts chose to spread the money around to more teachers and give smaller payments. Results for the District Awards for Teacher Excellence plan could help the Legislature decide whether to keep the program – the largest of its kind in the nation – when lawmakers deal with a massive revenue shortfall next year. More than 200 districts participated, including the Dallas district.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/texassouthwest/stories/120610dntexmeritpay.3efeead.html

Austin American-Statesman - December 6, 2010

LAIRD: LEGISLATURE NEEDS TO INCREASE PAY FOR TEXAS JUDGES

It's the time of year when it seems everyone is asking you to dig a little deeper. The trouble is no one is offering pay raises to those whose decisions affect the lives of innumerable Texans every day. For decades, the public image of a judge has been that of a reputable lawyer at the pinnacle of his or her legal practice who, in taking a judicial seat, holds the prestige, responsibility and power that come with the position. While that is still often true, most of the experienced attorneys who are now judges have taken a substantial pay cut in the interest of community service.

http://www.statesman.com/opinion/laird-legislature-needs-to-increase-pay-for-texas-1101418.html

Quorum Report - December 3, 2010      3:43 PM

GOV. PERRY STEPS BACK FROM MEDICAID OPT OUT

In statement distributed this afternoon, Perry says he "will be working on ways to improve the utilization of Medicaid dollars in Texas."

On the heels of a joint report released this morning that chronicled the high costs of opting out of the Medicaid program, Gov. Rick Perry issued a statement this afternoon indicating that leaving the joint state-federal program is off the table.

Instead, Perry indicated he would push for more state flexibility in spending Medicaid dollars, including pushing for conversion of federal aid into a block grant.

Here's his statement in its entirety:

“The current Medicaid system is financially unsustainable for states and the federal government, as costs increase about nine percent per year in Texas alone. Without greater flexibility and the elimination of federal strings, Medicaid will strangle state budgets and taxpayers as Obamacare and other programs expand Medicaid rolls.

“Texas, the states and the federal government would be much better served by increasing flexibility and innovation in Medicaid, even block granting funds to the states, so we can tailor Medicaid dollars to best serve the needs of Texas patients, families and taxpayers. I have discussed these issues with other governors and policy experts, and will be working on ways to improve the utilization of Medicaid dollars in Texas.”

Lubbock Avalanche-Journal - December 6, 2010

BAN ON CELL PHONE USE WHILE DRIVING SEEN AS MORE LIKELY

Every two years when the pre-filing of bills begins, state Rep. Jose Menendez is usually among the first legislators in line. As he did two years ago, when this year’s pre-filing period started on Nov. 8, one the first proposals the San Antonio Democrat filed was House Bill 37, which would ban the use of cell phones while driving. “I am trying again because this has gotten out of hand and it has become a road-safety hazard,” Menendez said. “People talking or texting while driving are causing accidents, or putting themselves and others at risk of serious injuries and even death.”

http://lubbockonline.com/local-news/2010-12-06/ban-cell-phone-use-while-driving-seen-more-likely

KGNB 1420 AM - December 6, 2010

INCREASING POLITICAL DEBATE OVER MEDICAID COSTS IN TEXAS

A newly issued report from the Texas Health and Human Services Commission and the Texas Department of Insurance says cutting Medicaid could prove costly to Texas. The report says while Medicaid and the CHIP, or Children's Health Insurance Program, are gutting the state budget, eating up more than 25% of all state funds, opting out of the federal programs would cause even bigger problems for healthcare in the state. Gov. Rick Perry, who floated the idea of opting out of Medicaid and CHIP as a way to trim the state budget, and free Texas from the costly federal programs, issued a statement following that report. Perry says that the current Medicaid system is financially unsustainable for states, with costs increasing about 9% each year in Texas alone. Perry says that without greater flexibility, and the elimination of federal strings, Medicaid will strangle state budgets and taxpayers as Obamacare and other programs expand the roll of Medicaid.

http://kgnb.am/radio/news/increasing-political-debate-over-medicaid-costs-texas-106

Austin American-Statesman - December 6, 2010

WEAR: TRANSPORTATION PIE UNAPPETIZING FOR LEGISLATORS IN 2011

Legislative transportation leaders fed their new colleagues foul-tasting pieces of pie Friday. Specifically, what new Senate Transportation Committee chairman Sen. Tommy Williams and other veteran lawmakers served rookie legislators at a University of Texas symposium was a pie chart about the Texas Department of Transportation's proposed budget for the 2012-13 biennium. The highlights, in a rapidly growing state that most would agree needs as many ways of getting around as possible: TxDOT spending will fall from almost $17 billion to $15.5 billion (a 9 percent drop), and the amount for new construction will fall from $3.8 billion to $2.3 billion. That's a 39 percent decrease.

http://www.statesman.com/news/local/transportation-pie-unappetizing-for-legislators-in-2011-1101651.html

Dallas Morning News - December 6, 2010

FARMERS BRANCH MAYOR OUTLINES VISION FOR INDEPENDENT CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT

The mayor of Farmers Branch envisions a school district for Farmers Branch alone – a small, conservative district that is free of what he calls "far left-wing" policies. But whether Tim O'Hare's vision lives through the week will depend on what lawyers tell him Tuesday, when the city meets to explore the possibility of extracting thousands of students from Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD and Dallas ISD. "The roadblocks for doing this may be so substantial they're incredibly difficult to overcome," O'Hare said. "But we owe it to our town to look at it."

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/120610dnmetfbschools.36d0478.html

Houston Chronicle - December 6, 2010

DEEP-WATER DRILLING SHOWS SIGNS OF A REBOUND

After dual setbacks of a recession and the BP spill, the oil and gas industry is seeing signs of a global rebound in deep-water drilling, even as the outlook remains cloudy in the Gulf of Mexico. The optimism comes from the convergence of several bullish trends, including continued strength in crude oil prices, renewed growth in global energy demand and ongoing exploration success in both established and emerging deep-water basins around the world. Many projects delayed by this year's six-month ban on deep-water drilling in the Gulf are also ready to move forward.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/energy/7325691.html

Politico - December 6, 2010

EXTENSION DEAL TAXES DEMS' PATIENCE

The deal that Democrats, Republicans and the White House appear to be stepping gingerly but inexorably toward to wrap up the lame-duck congressional session is generating some grumbling from Democrats that they won't be particularly pleased with the likely outcome. "We're only moving there against my judgment and my own particular view of things,” Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said Sunday on CBS's "Face the Nation."

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1210/45980.html

Washington Times - December 6, 2010

SENATOR SAYS DEFICIT NEEDS WHITE HOUSE INVOLVEMENT

The chairman of the Senate budget committee on Sunday called on the White House to hold a summit to tackle the federal deficit, saying it is the next logical step in getting the nation's financial house in order. Coming off a week in which President Obama's deficit commission released recommendations of unpopular spending cuts and tax increases, Sen. Kent Conrad, North Dakota Democrat, said, "If we're going to reach conclusion, we've got to have the leaders of the House and the Senate, Republican and Democrat, and the president or his representatives at the table."

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/dec/5/senator-says-deficit-needs-white-house-involvement/

New York Times - December 6, 2010

BUSH TAX-CUT DEAL WITH JOBLESS AID SAID TO BE NEAR

White House officials and Congressional Republicans said Sunday they were closing in on a deal to temporarily continue the Bush-era tax cuts at all income levels, while bitterly frustrated Democratic Congressional leaders began exploring whether they would have the votes for such a package. A day after the Senate rejected President Obama’s preferred tax plan, officials said the broad contours of a compromise were in focus.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/06/us/politics/06cong.html?_r=1&hp

Texas Considers Medicaid Withdrawal (November 22, 2010)

According to a recent article by Emily Ramshaw of the Texas Tribune, some Republican lawmakers — still reveling in Tuesday’s statewide election sweep — are proposing an unprecedented solution to the state’s estimated $25 billion budget shortfall: dropping out of the federal Medicaid program.

Far-right conservatives are offering that possibility in impassioned news conferences. Moderate Republicans are studying it behind closed doors. And the party’s advisers on health care policy say it is being discussed more seriously than ever, though they admit it may be as much a huge in-your-face to Washington as anything else.

“With Obamacare mandates coming down, we have a situation where we cannot reduce benefits or change eligibility” to cut costs, said State Representative Warren Chisum, Republican of Pampa, the veteran conservative lawmaker who recently entered the race for speaker of the House. “This system is bankrupting our state,” he said. “We need to get out of it. And with the budget shortfall we’re anticipating, we may have to act this year.”

The Heritage Foundation, a conservative research organization, estimates Texas could save $60 billion from 2013 to 2019 by opting out of Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program, dropping coverage for acute care but continuing to finance long-term care services. The Texas Health and Human Services Commission, which has 3.6 million children, people with disabilities and impoverished Texans enrolled in Medicaid and CHIP, will release its own study on the effect of ending the state’s participation in the federal match program at some point between now and January.

State Representative John M. Zerwas, Republican of Simonton, an anesthesiologist who wrote the bill authorizing the health commission’s Medicaid study, said early indications were that dropping out of the program would have a tremendous financial ripple effect. Mr. Zerwas said that he was not ready to discount the idea, but that he worried about who would carry the burden of care without Medicaid’s “financial mechanism.”

“Because of the substantial amount of matching money that comes from the federal government,” Mr. Zerwas said, “there’s an economic impact that comes from that. If we start to look at what that impact is, we have to consider whether it’s feasible to not participate.”

State Senator Jane Nelson, Republican of Flower Mound, who heads the Senate Public Health Committee, said dropping out of Medicaid was worth considering — but only if it made fiscal sense without jeopardizing care.

Currently, the Texas program costs $40 billion for a period of two years, with the federal government paying 60 percent of the bill. As a result of federal health care changes, Ms. Nelson said, millions of additional Texans will be eligible for Medicaid.

“I want to know whether our current Medicaid enrollees, and there certainly could be millions more by 2014, could be served more cost efficiently and see better outcomes in a state run program,” she said.

Texas Speakers Race – AFP Statement (November 22, 2010)

by Peggy Venable, AFP-Texas Director

AUSTIN – Americans for Prosperity-Texas has called for fiscal conservative leadership in the Texas House.  We have consistently focused on free market issues and condemned any efforts to divert the discussion from the important issues facing our state.  Americans for Prosperity has weighed in on the speakers race because we believe this is the most important vote Texas house members will take. 

AFP has not, nor will we engage in personal attacks or innuendo. 

AFP does not consider one’s religion in the criteria for selecting a speaker.  Any group or media promoting this gutter politics is either attempting to divert the discussion or is complicit in its dissemination.

The speaker election is about leadership and for AFP, about eliminating roadblocks to getting our free market agenda enacted. 

Last session, the speaker was selected by a majority of the Democrats and 11 Republicans.  Then Republicans held a slim majority.  Now, almost two-thirds of the House members are Republican (99 Republicans and 51 Democrats).   We want to assure Texas voters that the mandate they delivered on November 2nd is not hijacked by last sessions’ speaker politics.

Texas is in a unique position following this historic election. 

We at Americans for Prosperity believe, in order to gain legitimacy, the speaker should be selected by the Republican caucus.  This is the only way to ensure leadership unencumbered by last session’s process.  Only then will a majority of the voters be heard, and our issues have a fair opportunity to be considered on the House floor.

Americans for Prosperity® (AFP) is a nationwide organization of citizen leaders committed to advancing every individual's right to economic freedom and opportunity. AFP believes reducing the size and scope of government is the best safeguard to ensuring individual productivity and prosperity for all Americans. AFP educates and engages citizens in support of restraining state and federal government growth, and returning government to its constitutional limits. AFP has more than one million members, including members in all 50 states, and 31 state chapters. For more information, visit www.americansforprosperity.org

Texas Speakers Race: Why AFP is Weighing In (November 15, 2010)

I want to set the record straight and explain why AFP is engaged in the Speakers race. The speaker of the Texas House will be officially elected by that body when they convene January 11, 2011 in Austin.

The current speaker is Joe Straus (R-San Antonio.) Straus was relatively new to the Texas legislature having won the seat forerely held by Elizabeth Aimes Jones. His first legislative session was 2007. Then-Rep Joe Straus got an A on the 2007 TX Taxpayer Report Card. We don't give those grades. Legislators earn them based on the bills that make it to a public vote which are part of our legislative agenda. I know he was proud to have earned that grade.

AFP did not give the Speaker a grade last session (his second legislative session) as the Speaker doesn't generally vote, but had we given him grades for his committee appointments, he would not have fared well. Some of our key legislation languished in committee and chairmen even touted that they were going to make sure key taxpayer protection legislation didn't see the light of day.

For instance, our taxpayer protection legislation was sent to the Ways & Means Committee. Chairman Rene Oliveira -- addressing the Texas Association of Counties during the session -- promised that organization that he would not allow our bill out of committee. TAC put that in their legislative update newsletter and I received a copy. I took that newsletter to Speaker Straus and expressed my concern that the legislation was (and is) part of the Texas RPT platform and was common-sense taxpayer protection which was necessary since the legislature had given a school property tax cut. Our concern was that other local taxing entities would increase their tax revenues (local governments could lower their tax rate and still take in more revenue via appraisal increases - resulting in higher property taxes for homeowners and businesses) and that tax cut would be devoured. They did and it was. Speaker Straus either was unable to or did not choose to make sure that bill got out of committee and to the floor for a vote.

We realized that he was elected by a majority of the D's and some R's who generally did not fare so well on our report card as he had, so Speaker Straus was likely beholding to those who selected and elected him.

With the overwhelming Republican majority and the voters' mandate November 2, we want the House leadership will reflect that. My concern originally was that the most liberal Democrats were early Straus pledges again this session. I would prefer that conservative legislators ask the Speaker to pledge to them that he will appoint conservative committee chairman before the legislator blindly pledges their support to the Speaker. Most other states elect their Speaker from the majority caucus. That would further ensure that the speaker elected -- whether it be Straus or someone else -- would be committed to and free to support the voters' mandate.

Reasonable people can disagree and this debate is an important one. Ultimately, Texas House members will select their speaker. We encourage citizens to let their legislators know how they feel about this important decision.

Peggy Venable, AFP-Texas Director

This just in:

Rep. Bryan Hughes Withdraws Support for Speaker Straus

Today after much prayer and counsel, I formally withdraw my support for Speaker Joe Straus. I do this with no malice toward the Speaker or any other member.

Over the past several days I have heard from an increasing number of my constituents and supporters. Their unanimous voice has called for me to withdraw my support of Speaker Straus. My decision, though not a light one, was made clearer after a phone call I received over the weekend from a member of Speaker Straus's leadership team. This member brought up the

subject of redistricting and explained to me how that process would be used to punish those members not on Speaker Straus's list of supporters.

More specifically, this member told me that maps were already being drawn to get rid of Representative-Elect Erwin Cain (R-Sulphur Springs) and Representative Dan Flynn (R-Van), because they were not on the Speaker's list of supporters.

I was then told that I had nothing to worry about in redistricting, so long as I stayed on the Speaker’s list.

This conversation first saddened and then disgusted me.

Using the redistricting process for retribution reminds us of all that is wrong with politics. The Speaker's race should be decided not based on threats of punishment and not on promises of power, but on principle.

The people of Texas have chosen us to speak for them. As we prepare to cast our first vote on their behalf, we should lay aside our ambition for powerful committees, stand against the threats, and support the Speaker candidate who best represents our conservative principles.

Texas Needs a Pro-Enforcement Speaker of the House (November 15, 2010)

As a result of the recent elections in Texas, the Republican Party will remain in control of the Texas House (it will actually have even greater control of the House).  This represents an excellent opportunity for the Republicans in the House to select a House Speaker that will further meaningful immigration legislation.  The current speaker, Rep. Joe Straus, has been very unwilling to further Arizona-type enforcement legislation and is very pro-business (i.e., he is willing to allow employers to hire illegal workers and believes Texas businesses need a steady stream of foreign workers because there simply aren't enough unemployed Texans to fill available jobs).

With even more Republicans making up the new Texas House, it might be possible for the state to pass meaningful immigration reform -- legislation that mandates the use of E-Verify and allows the state's law enforcement officers to actively enforce immigration laws.  However, this is unlikely if Rep. Joe Straus continues in his role as Speaker.

Please call your Republican Texas State Representative and urge him to oppose Rep. Straus' bid to retain the House Speakership and support a Representative who opposes amnesty and supports mandatory E-Verify and local immigration enforcement. Be sure to let him/her know that you care about illegal immigration and believe Texas needs to tackle the problem.

Texas Election Summary (November 8, 2010)

Although Texas didn’t have a Senate race this year, that doesn’t mean their election results weren’t important. Texas contributed a large number of Representatives to the Republican side this election, and also had a highly publicized Governor’s Race.

The election for Governor of Texas included incumbent Republican candidate, Rick Perry, against rival Democrat Bill White. With 99% of all votes accounted for in Texas, Rick Perry has won 55% of them, which Bill White walked away with 42% of the vote. In total Perry received 2,733,784 votes to White’s 2,102,606. Perry is just one more Republican in the US winning a Governor’s race, after their party also dominated in several key Senate and House elections.

Elsewhere within Texas politics, 32 seats in the House were up for grabs. Out of the 32 district votes, 23 Republicans won, while just 9 Democrats walked away victors. There were several blowouts as election results began coming in. District 1 went to Republican Louie Gohmert who commanded 90% of the vote. District 2 also went to a Republican, Ted Poe, who garnered 89% of the vote. Overall the Republicans have to be feeling pretty good about themselves after many key victories in Texas.

Vote Harvesters Are Stealing Votes (October 25, 2010)

If you are 65 or over, you can vote by absentee ballot. If you are 65 or over, you are a target of the Vote Harvester.

The Vote Harvester will call or come to your door offering to help you complete your absentee ballot request and mail it for you.

WHAT THEY CAN DO IS CHANGE YOUR BALLOT TO THEIR CANDIDATE!!!!

PROTECT YOUR PRECIOUS VOTE!

If you need assistance, ask a friend or family member.  Guard your vote.   Do not allow a stranger to mail your request or ballot.

The Vote Harvesters are in Irving, Texas now!

Ask for their name and telephone number.  Keep any materials they may give you and report their efforts to GIRC President, Oscar Ward at 972.258.1007.

You can also report any such shenanigans to the police, to the RNC/GOP and your local voter registrar.  Get their license plate if possible & demand to see their ID --- then call the authorities immediately.   Tell them to leave!

Mostly Texas News (November 1, 2010)

PRESIDENT OBAMA VERSUS THE WORLD ON JOBS

For a president elected on a promise of showing a kinder American face to the world, Barack Obama doesn’t seem to mind throwing a few elbows at allies and rivals alike when it comes to the economy. Included in Obama’s recent repertoire of rallying cries and campaign pitches is a refrain that goes like this: “Right now, countries like China and India and South Korea and Germany, they are fighting as hard as they can for the jobs of the future. They are trying to out-compete us.” “The United States of America does not play for second place. We play for first place.”

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0910/41728.html

Texas Tribune

COUNTIES WORRY CUTS LEAD TO UNFUNDED MANDATES

State lawmakers facing an estimated $18 billion budget shortfall will soon wield their knives, but who or what will sustain deep cuts? As Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune reports, county officials are among those waiting to see how the legislative slice-and-dice could affect things back home — and they're particularly nervous about unfunded mandates.

http://www.texastribune.org/texas-taxes/budget/counties-worry-cuts-lead-to-unfunded-mandates/

US LOSES FEWER JOBS THAN ANTICIPATED LAST MONTH

Unemployment rate inches up to 9.6%

From the report in Marketwatch.

Houston Chronicle

DEMOCRATS AGAIN SUE TAX OFFICE OVER VOTER REGISTRATIONS

For the second time in as many years, the Texas Democratic Party has filed a lawsuit against the Harris County tax assessor-collector, accusing the Republican-led voter registration office with illegally rejecting voter applications and with sharing information with political allies that it did not share with Democrats last year. Leo Vasquez, who in his capacity as tax assessor-collector is the county's voter registrar, said the lawsuit has no merit. "They're just trying to throw stuff up against the wall and see if it sticks," Vasquez said.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7183832.html

New York Times

BP SAYS LIMITS ON DRILLING IMPERIL OIL SPILL PAYOUTS

BP is warning Congress that if lawmakers pass legislation that bars the company from getting new offshore drilling permits, it may not have the money to pay for all the damages caused by its oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The company says a ban would also imperil the ambitious Gulf Coast restoration efforts that officials want the company to voluntarily support. BP executives insist that they have not backed away from their commitment to the White House to set aside $20 billion in an escrow fund over the next four years to pay damage claims and government penalties stemming from the April 20 explosion of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig. The explosion killed 11 workers and spewed millions of barrels of oil into the gulf.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/03/business/03bp.html?_r=2&hp

New York Times

EMPLOYERS PUSH COSTS FOR HEALTH ON WORKERS

As health care costs continue their relentless climb, companies are increasingly passing on higher premium costs to workers. The shift is occurring, policy analysts and others say, as employers feel more pressure from the weak economy and the threat of even more expensive coverage under the new health care law. In contrast to past practices of absorbing higher prices, some companies chose this year to keep their costs the same by passing the entire increase in premiums for family coverage onto their workers, according to a new survey released on Thursday by the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonprofit research group.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/03/business/03insure.html?hp

Austin American-Statesman

PERRY PROPOSES BUDGET CUTS

Not even Gov. Rick Perry's pet programs can duck the state's budget ax. Perry's office has offered up $38.7 million from two economic development funds controlled by the governor to help close the state's projected $18 billion budget shortfall next year. The money from the Enterprise Fund and Emerging Technology Fund together make up more than half of the $68.5 million in budget reductions from the governor's office. Together, the funds had $256.5 million available as of earlier this summer, the governor's office reports.

http://www.statesman.com/news/texas/texas-digest-perry-proposes-budget-cuts-gas-exploration-894800.html

Houston Chronicle

ENERGY INDUSTRY’S CRITICS POUNCE ON MARINER BLAST

Mariner Energy’s platform fire Thursday could prove a costly setback for a U.S. oil and gas industry trying to reassure policymakers already shaken by the BP oil spill that offshore drilling and production is safe. While Thursday’s accident took no lives and may not have spilled any oil, it provided fresh fodder to critics who contend the industry has systemic safety problems requiring a sweeping overhaul. “It seems that everyone is content to let another oil rig explode every few months rather than taking concrete steps to clean up the industry,” said Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz, joining a chorus of lawmakers and interest groups that pounced on the event Thursday.

http://fuelfix.com/chronicleenergynews/2010/09/03/energy-industrys-critics-pounce-on-mariner-blast/

 Texas Tribune

CHET EDWARDS FIGHTS FOR HIS CD-17 SEAT

On a Friday afternoon in late August, a handful of seniors — helmet-haired ladies and gentlemen with the upright bearing of former soldiers — gather in a small room at a Holiday Inn along Highway 79 in the Central Texas town of Hearne. Standing before them, U.S. Rep Chet Edwards, D-Waco, glides into his speech. “Let me share with you a story,” he says on the last day of his “Vets for Chet” tour. He talks about the father who lost five sons in World War II, the marine who lost his life disabling an IED in Iraq, the man who was on the USS Tennessee during Pearl Harbor.

http://www.texastribune.org/texas-politics/2010-legislative-races/chet-edwards-fights-for-his-cd-17-seat/

Conroe Courier

NEW CAUCUS CHAIR

New caucus chair: State Sen. Robert Nichols, R-Jacksonville, announced on Thursday his election as Senate Republican Caucus chair. “This upcoming legislative session, we will face important issues such as redistricting, border security and a large budget shortfall. So it is especially important that Senate Republicans work together to protect the interests of everyday Texans,” Nichols said. “It is an honor to be elected as caucus chair by my peers.” The Senate Republican Caucus is made up of all the Republican members of the Texas Senate. Caucus leaders strategize, coordinate and organize the Senate Republican agenda.

http://www.hcnonline.com/articles/2010/09/02/conroe_courier/news/brfs090310.txt

NEW CAUCUS CHAIR

New caucus chair: State Sen. Robert Nichols, R-Jacksonville, announced on Thursday his election as Senate Republican Caucus chair. “This upcoming legislative session, we will face important issues such as redistricting, border security and a large budget shortfall. So it is especially important that Senate Republicans work together to protect the interests of everyday Texans,” Nichols said. “It is an honor to be elected as caucus chair by my peers.” The Senate Republican Caucus is made up of all the Republican members of the Texas Senate. Caucus leaders strategize, coordinate and organize the Senate Republican agenda.

http://www.hcnonline.com/articles/2010/09/02/conroe_courier/news/brfs090310.txt

USA Today

DEMS IN POWER COULD BE IN PERIL, POLL SAYS

Democratic congressional candidates face a political landscape even rockier than those in 1994 and 2006 that ended with election upheavals that changed control of Congress, a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll finds. As the fall campaign begins in earnest over Labor Day weekend, dissatisfaction with the nation's direction is higher and support for the party in power lower than it was in those tumultuous midterms. This time, however, voters are more likely to say their vote reflects opposition to the party in power rather than support for the other side. Republicans are held in the same low regard as when the GOP lost control of Congress four years ago.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/2010-09-02-poll-longer-version_N.htm

DEMS IN POWER COULD BE IN PERIL, POLL SAYS

Democratic congressional candidates face a political landscape even rockier than those in 1994 and 2006 that ended with election upheavals that changed control of Congress, a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll finds. As the fall campaign begins in earnest over Labor Day weekend, dissatisfaction with the nation's direction is higher and support for the party in power lower than it was in those tumultuous midterms. This time, however, voters are more likely to say their vote reflects opposition to the party in power rather than support for the other side. Republicans are held in the same low regard as when the GOP lost control of Congress four years ago.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/2010-09-02-poll-longer-version_N.htm

Austin American-Statesman

EMBRY: LOW TAX COLLECTIONS MAKE BUDGET SHORTFALL WORSE

The state's 2010 fiscal year ended this week. Finally. It was an ugly one. Lawmakers wrote a state budget in 2009 based in part on Comptroller Susan Combs' estimate that Texas would collect slightly more in sales taxes in 2010 than it did the previous year. Things didn't turn out that way. August returns aren't in yet, but for the first 11 months of 2010, the state collected 7 percent less in sales taxes than the previous year. Put another way, sales tax collections fell about $1.4 billion short as the national economic downturn that began in 2008 hit Texas.

http://www.statesman.com/news/texas-politics/low-tax-collections-make-budget-shortfall-worse-892504.html

THE DEMOCRATIC LAWSUIT AGAINST LEO VASQUEZ ON HARRIS COUNTY VOTER REGISTRATIONS

VASQUEZ RESPONDS TO DEMOCRATIC LAWSUIT

Predicts it will be dismissed in court as frivolous

Harris County Tax Collector-Assessor and Voter Registrar Leo Vasquez responded to the lawsuit filed by the Texas Democratic Party:

 “Houston Votes has taken off its non-partisan mask by sending in the Democratic Party machinery to fight its losing battle. They can’t deny the evidence this Office has put forward of their misdeeds; so, they try to divert attention by once again slandering this Office again.

“The Tax Office has, per the law, fully and completely processed each and every application that has been submitted to it, even those that evidence obvious questionability. It is our duty to refer that questionable work over to law enforcement.

“It is the Texas Democratic Party that is making reckless and baseless allegations. No third party group has been granted access to any confidential information of any voter outside of legal open records requests available to any citizen. We continue to zealously guard voter data.

“The Tax Office met today with representatives of the Democratic Party to discuss their concerns. However, the Democrats were not interested in discussing actual facts. As we have seen in the past, their lawsuit is just about political posturing.

Mostly Texas News (September 6, 2010)

 Austin American Statesman - September 2, 2010

ADVOCATES FOR DISABLED RALLY AGAINST PROPOSED STATE CUTS

"No more cuts! Raise our taxes!" That unusual chant was heard Wednesday afternoon outside the Capitol, where about 150 advocates for Texans with disabilities rallied to draw attention to proposed state health and human services budget cuts that they say would be devastating. As a projected $18 billion state budget shortfall looms, Texas agencies were asked to submit proposed budget cuts, and everything from child abuse prevention programs to mental health services is on the list. Wednesday marked the first day of the state budget year.

http://www.statesman.com/news/texas-politics/advocates-for-disabled-rally-against-proposed-state-cuts-892658.html

Dallas Morning News - September 2, 2010

EDWARDS KNOCKS FLORES FOR ANTI-DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY COMMENTS

Rep. Chet Edwards dinged Republican challenger Bill Flores today for suggesting earlier this year that the Department of Energy be eliminated. "Maybe Mr. Flores doesn't understand what the Department of Energy does, but that is a very dangerous misunderstanding," said Edwards, D-Waco, in a call with reporters. "This proposal would have serious consequences, both here in Texas and across our nation." The criticism derives from comments that Flores made at a radio candidates' forum in March, where he suggested cutting funds for the department.

http://trailblazersblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2010/09/edwards-knocks-flores-for-anti.html

Fort Worth Star-Telegram - September 2, 2010

94 TEXAS EMPLOYERS TO GET FEDERAL AID FOR RETIREE HEALTHCARE

Four local cities and 90 other Texas employers are among nearly 2,000 entities nationwide to land federal subsidies to help with healthcare costs for early retirees, though Texas is among the states suing the federal government over the constitutionality of the healthcare reform law. Fort Worth, Arlington, North Richland Hills and Grapevine are among the cities, state governments, businesses and labor unions to qualify for the Affordable Care Act program, which plans to distribute $5 billion to help pave the way for health insurance changes in 2014, White House officials announced this week. "This is additional funding we didn't otherwise anticipate," said Horatio Porter, Fort Worth's budget officer. "It's good news."

http://www.star-telegram.com/2010/09/01/2440509/94-texas-employers-to-get-federal.html

Fort Worth Star-Telegram - September 2, 2010

FWST: JOHNSON HANDS THE HOUSE ANOTHER ETHICS PROBLEM

U.S. Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson, D-Dallas, slipped thousands of dollars in Congressional Black Caucus Foundation scholarship funds to her grandchildren, grandnephews and the children of an aide. That means she is: (a) clueless, (b) resting the ethical part of her brain until she's ready to use it, (c) bordering on criminal actions or (d) all of the above. You almost have to pick (b), the one about ethics gone dormant. Or you could believe what she says ("I did not intentionally mean to violate any rules"), which means maybe you'd choose (a). But it's hard to fathom that a nine-term congressional representative is that clueless.

http://www.star-telegram.com/2010/09/01/2440262/johnson-hands-the-house-another.html

Houston Chronicle - September 2, 2010

CUTS RILE TEACHER GROUPS

Teacher groups reacted strongly today to proposed budget cuts they say would cripple public education. Education Commissioner Robert Scott defended his agency's proposal to cut at least $260 million as a result of instruction from the state's GOP leadership to lay out reductions of 10 percent in the 2012-2013 budget. The leaders took the step because of a predicted $18 billion shortfall through the next two-year budget period. The cuts will be evaluated as the Legislature drafts the next budget.

http://blogs.chron.com/texaspolitics/archives/2010/09/cuts_rile_teche.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+houstonchronicle%2Ftexaspolitics+%28Texas+Politics%29

Beaumont Enterprise - September 2, 2010

GOV. PERRY TALKS PETROCHEMICALS IN NEDERLAND

Gov. Rick Perry dropped by Nederland Wednesday to meet with select plant managers during a Southeast Texas Plant Managers Forum. "This industry creates jobs and generates products and services that have helped our economy lead the nation," Gov. Perry said in a news release about the meeting. "We will continue to create the economic climate in Texas where these businesses can not only survive, but thrive. We will also continue to fight an increasingly activist EPA that threatens industries like this one to ensure they can continue driving Texas' economic engine."

http://www.beaumontenterprise.com/news/local/gov__perry_talks_petrochemicals_in_nederland.html

Houston Chronicle - September 2, 2010

TAX ASSESSOR, NONPROFIT SPAR OVER HARRIS COUNTY VOTER ROLLS

In dueling news conferences last week, the county's Republican voter registrar and a group run by a Democrat-dominated board accused each other of sabotaging efforts to sign up new voters. Tax Assessor-Collector Leo Vasquez accused the nonprofit Houston Votes of deliberately flooding his office with duplicate, incomplete and inaccurate registration applications. Houston Votes countered that Vasquez was suppressing the vote by rejecting legitimate applicants on technicalities and bullying voter registration groups with public accusations of wrongdoing.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7182556.html

Houston Chronicle - September 2, 2010

HIGH NUMBER OF HOME-SCHOOLED STUDENTS LEADS TO STATE AUDIT

In an attempt to ensure that public school districts aren’t disguising high school dropouts, the Texas Education Agency is conducting an audit of students who withdrew under the auspice of home schooling. TEA officials wouldn’t reveal details of the audit — other than to say that the state is contacting a random sampling of families to validate that they intended to home-school when they left middle or high school. More than 22,620 Texas secondary students were listed as withdrawing to home-school in 2008 — raising a red flag among some experts and educators who worry that Texas’ lax regulations are encouraging abuse in the hands-off home-schooling category.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/education/7182835.html

Dallas Morning News - September 2, 2010

WEST: OBAMA'S JUSTICE DEPARTMENT COULD REVIEW TEXAS' NEW LEGISLATIVE MAPS, VOTER ID AT SAME TIME

Two interesting points, from today's kickoff hearing by the Senate Select Committee on Redistricting. First, from the Legislative Council's David Hanna, a redistricting law expert: Next year will be the first time since Congress passed the Voting Rights Act in 1965 that there will be a Democrat in the White House at the time of redistricting. President Barack Obama's appointees at the U.S. Department of Justice will get to review election law changes and new maps from the states of the old Confederacy and other jurisdictions with histories of racial discrimination in elections, as provided by Section 5 of the act.

http://trailblazersblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2010/09/west-obamas-justice-department.html

Washington Post - September 2, 2010

IS THE TEA PARTY BECOMING THE NEW GRAND OLD PARTY?

Is the tea party the new Republican Party? The grass-roots network of fed-up conservative-libertarian voters displayed its power in its biggest triumph of the election year: the toppling of Sen. Lisa Murkowski in Alaska's GOP primary. Political novice Joe Miller is the fifth tea party insurgent to win a GOP Senate nominating contest, an upset that few, if any, saw coming. With the stunning outcome, the fledgling tea party coalition and voters who identify with its anti-tax, anti-spending sentiments proved that democracy is alive and well - within the Republican Party. Don't like who is representing you? Rise up, fire them and choose someone new.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/01/AR2010090104469.html?hpid=sec-politics

Dallas Morning News - September 2, 2010

PROPOSED CUTS AT TEXAS EDUCATION AGENCY INCLUDE $48 MILLION FOR ENGLISH TEXTBOOKS

English textbooks and new science labs for Texas students would be on the chopping block under a proposal to trim the budget for the Texas Education Agency by 10 percent in the next biennium. The budget reduction plan, asked for by Gov. Rick Perry and other state leaders in anticipation of a revenue shortfall that could reach $18 billion, also would scale back the state's merit pay program for teachers and reduce funding for a steroid testing program for high school athletes. Cutbacks in the proposal total nearly $262 million over the 2012-13 biennium.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/texassouthwest/stories/090210dnmettextbooks.afbaf3fe.html

Associated Press - September 2, 2010

DEMOCRATS LIKE EDWARDS FIGHT TO STAY IN OFFICE AMID BACKLASH

Rep. Chet Edwards, an imperiled Democrat deep in the heart of Republican territory, finds exiting American Legion Post No. 273 slow going. Supporters and well-wishers keep stopping him. The wife of a World War II veteran hugs him. Several men line up to shake his hand. Another woman talks to him for about 10 minutes, thanking him for his work on military issues, bringing jobs to this farm and ranching town of about 4,700 and, in her words, thinking for himself. "You've done a good job," said Donna Smith, 50, an office manager and a Republican who says she will vote for Edwards again this year. Later, she said Edwards "has proven himself and shown that he can get things done."

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5giRkTdTXrW801KSEv9mJ64tjR1TQD9HVKO7O0

Austin American Statesman - September 2, 2010

GOVERNOR OFFERS UP ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT FUNDS FOR CUTS

Not even Gov. Rick Perry’s pet programs can duck the state’s budget ax. Perry’s office has offered up $38.7 million from two economic development funds controlled by the governor to help close the state’s projected $18 billion budget shortfall next year. The money from the Enterprise Fund and Emerging Technology Fund together make up more than half of the $68.5 million in budget reductions from the governor’s office. Together, the funds had $256.5 million available as of earlier this summer, the governor’s office reports. One of the funds is used to encourage business investment in Texas. The other supports research and development in certainly technology fields.

http://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/politics/entries/2010/09/01/gov_rick_perrys_office_has.html?cxntfid=blogs_postcards

Austin American Statesman - September 2, 2010

LOW TAX COLLECTIONS MAKE BUDGET SHORTFALL WORSE

The state's 2010 fiscal year ended this week. Finally. It was an ugly one. Lawmakers wrote a state budget in 2009 based in part on Comptroller Susan Combs' estimate that Texas would collect slightly more in sales taxes in 2010 than it did the previous year. Things didn't turn out that way. August returns aren't in yet, but for the first 11 months of 2010, the state collected 7 percent less in sales taxes than the previous year. Put another way, sales tax collections fell about $1.4 billion short as the national economic downturn that began in 2008 hit Texas.

http://www.statesman.com/news/texas-politics/low-tax-collections-make-budget-shortfall-worse-892504.html

Obama is on the Attack (August 30, 2010)

Help us take back America

President Obama came to our state a couple of weeks ago and insulted Americans for Prosperity and in doing so insulted you.

He challenged American's motives - if we dare oppose his agenda.

He doesn't understand that true community organizers are Americans who are working hard to earn a living, taking care of their families, and paying their taxes -- and any volunteering we do in our communities doesn't involve using public dollars.

Here is what President Obama said at a Democratic fundraiser at the plush Four Seasons Hotel in Austin:

“Right now all around this country there are groups with harmless-sounding names like Americans for Prosperity, who are running millions of dollars of ads against Democratic candidates all across the country. And they don't have to say who exactly the Americans for Prosperity are. You don't know if it's a foreign-controlled corporation. You don't know if it's a big oil company, or a big bank. You don't know if it's a insurance company that wants to see some of the provisions in health reform repealed because it's good for their bottom line, even if it's not good for the American people.

“They don't want you to know who the Americans for Prosperity are, because they're thinking about the next election. But we've got to think about future generations. We've got to make sure that we're fighting for reform. We've got to make sure that we don't have a corporate takeover of our democracy.”

Radio talk show host Mark Levin rebuked Obama saying Obama specifically attacked AFP by name. Is this Presidential? Who does this? A Hugo Chavez wanna-be does this. Americans for Prosperity is trying to save this republic

Obama will not intimidate us and he will not silence us or drive us away. Honest American citizens can influence this government and stop the Pelosi-Reid-Obama Agenda. Perhaps that is what President Obama is afraid of.

After all, we aren't Americans for Redistributing Wealth - we are Americans for Prosperity.

The President is so worried about YOU - Americans for Prosperity members - and we are using the community organizing tools against the Community Organizer. He wants to demean, smear…if you weren't effective, he would not waste his time. Yes, we are on his radar screen. He can watch us…he can watch us take back America!

We will defend the constitution and stand on the shoulders of the Founding Fathers and we won't be intimidated.

We are creating a new army of patriots - hundreds of thousands of us. Our goal is nothing less than liberty.

Will you help us take back this nation? Please show your support by contributing and show President Obama that you aren't “big oil” or “big banks” - YOU are the American People.

Read more: http://www.americansforprosperity.org/082310-obama-targets-afp#ixzz0xqREcV3R

Texas News Texans Need to Know About (August 30, 2010)

Dallas Morning News - August 23, 2010

POOLS HAVE COST DALLAS TAXPAYERS UP TO $136 PER VISITOR

Over three summers, Dallas taxpayers paid $136 for each visitor who swam at Exline pool in South Dallas, one of the city's 21 public swimming pools. Between 2007 and 2009, the second-highest cost per visit – $80 – was at Glendale pool in east Oak Cliff. In comparison, a ticket to Six Flags' Hurricane Harbor in Arlington, touted as North Texas' largest water park, can be bought online for $19.99.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/082310dnmetpools.2669111.html

Austin American-Statesman - August 22, 2010

PLAN FOR RATE INCREASE RAISES QUESTIONS ABOUT AUSTIN ENERGY SPENDING

As Austin Energy plans its first base rate increase in nearly two decades, a question has surfaced: In monthly bills, should customers pay for more than the cost of electricity? Many Austin Energy customers might not know it, but they pay for much more. New streetlights. The city's economic development office. Research into sickle cell anemia. And a green-living expo, among at least $130 million in spending last year that has little or nothing to do with electricity, according to some city officials and civic activists.

http://www.statesman.com/news/local/plan-for-rate-increase-raises-questions-about-austin-871974.html

Houston Chronicle - August 23, 2010

FIKAC: STILL WAITING FOR THE 'ASPHALT FAIRY' TO FIX THE ROADS

When GOP Gov. Rick Perry was pushing the much-maligned Trans-Texas Corridor, he liked to say there was no “asphalt fairy” to build roads without money. Now that the corridor idea has withered, Perry hasn’t disclosed a new plan for an increasingly congested system predicted to run out of highway fund money for new projects in 2012. Instead, Perry is slamming Democratic challenger Bill White for refusing to rule out a gasoline-tax increase among options to pay for transportation needs.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7166430.html

Austin American-Statesman - August 22, 2010

AAS: MORE SPENDING, BETTER SCHOOLS?

Before giving the Austin school district any more money, parents, teachers and other taxpayers should ask what the district is doing with the money it has. It is fair to question whether Austin is getting the results it should with the dollars it's spending — about $10,000 per student in 2009-10. And we all should question whether investing more money will yield better performance.

http://www.statesman.com/opinion/more-spending-better-schools-870514.html

Amarillo Globe-News - August 23, 2010

IN THE RED, LAWMAKERS MAY GET SCHOOLED

Nearly 5 million students from kindergarten through 12th grade are back in Texas public schools today, most with some degree of anxiety ranging from excitement to consternation. Perhaps just as anxious are school administrators and other officials, but not for reasons that are purely academic. For starters, in next year's session of the Legislature lawmakers are expected to face what could be the largest budget shortfall in state history, perhaps as much as $18 billion over the next two fiscal years.

http://www.amarillo.com/stories/082310/new_news2.shtml

Fort Worth Star-Telegram - August 23, 2010

TEXAS CONSIDERS CUTTING THOUSANDS OF JOBS TO MEET BUDGET

State officials are presenting a somber picture of extensive job cuts and service reductions as they outline contingency plans to curtail spending by 10 percent over the next two years. The Texas Department of Criminal Justice, which runs the state prison system, says it could lose at least 4,700 positions and possibly as many as 7,200, including correctional officers and parole staff. Scores of other state entities are also drawing up plans to make unwanted personnel cuts that they say could have a withering impact on their public mission.

http://www.star-telegram.com/2010/08/21/2417313/state-budget-contingency-plans.html

Austin American-Statesman - August 23, 2010

PROPOSAL: STATE COULD MAKE ITS OWN ELECTRICITY FOR CAPITOL COMPLEX

Austin's next power plant might be in the Capitol complex. Don't panic. There are no plans for smokestacks rising from a coal-fired plant or windmills spinning on the Capitol dome. The Texas Facilities Commission is talking to lawmakers about an ambitious $40 million to $60 million plan that would combine gas-fired electricity generation and the use of waste heat to cut the complex's electric consumption by 40 percent.

http://www.statesman.com/news/texas-politics/proposal-state-could-make-its-own-electricty-for-873312.html

Austin American-Statesman - August 22, 2010

STATE WILL ASK HEALTH INSURERS TO JUSTIFY 'UNREASONABLE' RATE HIKES UNDER FEDERAL HEALTH LAW

Texas' long-standing policy of keeping its hands off health insurance rates unless a consumer complained or a health plan's premiums soared 50 percent in a year is about to change. Under the new federal health law, the Texas Department of Insurance will ask insurers to justify "unreasonable" premium increases, a consumer protection measure that starts this year, after Texas gathers data on insurers' premiums. Texas doesn't need legislation to enforce the law; it has had the authority all along, state officials said. But that authority wasn't regularly used.

http://www.statesman.com/news/texas-politics/state-will-ask-health-insurers-to-justify-unreasonable-871976.html

Austin American-Statesman - August 22, 2010

E-TEXTBOOKS ARE ON THE WAY, BUT NOT DOMINANT IN CLASSROOMS YET

The same digital revolution that upended the music industry and is transforming TV, movies and books is slowly working its way into classrooms. In many schools, students are just as likely to carry a cell phone as a backpack. Schools and libraries are wired, outfitted with desktop, laptop and netbook computers with high-speed Internet access. Many of them are beginning to experiment with touch-screen computer tablets like the Apple iPad or increasingly powerful smart phones.

http://www.statesman.com/life/e-textbooks-are-on-the-way-but-not-871780.html

Muslim Day at Six Flags 09/11 Weekend (August 23, 2010)

By Fred DeRuvo

Hey Kids, did you know that the folks at Six Flags are pulling out all the stops to create a Muslim Day at their parks? Wow!

That's right, tell Mom and Dad that you want to head over to the nearest Six Flags Amusement Park to enjoy Muslim Day and guess what? It's going to happen this year on 9/12 - wow, missed 9/11 by THAT much!

My first question is WHY would ANY amusement park feel the need to have special days that celebrate any particular religion? Moreover, though I see a Catholic Family day, I do not see anything labeled "Christian Day." That would probably be intolerant.

At any rate, if you missed it, the day of this year's Muslim Day is only one day AFTER the anniversary of the original 9/11 in which Muslim terrorists flew planes into the WTC buildings. Over 3,000 people were killed (SACRIFICED) by violent members of the Islamic faith. While it is not ON 9/11, it is being advertised as the weekend of 9/11.

So a country that was founded in biblical principles (not Qur'anic principles) now has companies pointedly offering special days for those within the Islamic faith who apparently need to be recognized for all that they gave to this country during its founding years and through to today.

There is something drastically wrong with the way the world is going and we all know where it's heading. Well, if you read and understand Scripture in its plain and normal (literal) sense.

The tragedy is that too many are doing their level best to placate individuals who hate this country. The Muslims who are NOT violent (like their jihadist counterparts) are not a threat to this country, but they are also not a DETERRENT to the more violent members of Islam. They simply either get out of the way, or remain in the shadows. The violent members of Islam are also not taken in by the attempts of companies like Six Flags to be placated.

If it isn't a demand for a mosque at Ground Zero, or now Muslim Day at Six Flags on the weekend of 9/11 anniversary, Muslims continue to push their agenda on the American people. They are not only pushing their agenda, but people and companies are bending over backwards in order to "respect" the Islamic faith. This means that employees of Six Flags are required to wear long pants instead of shorts, regardless of the temperature. Bare legs may be offensive to Muslims. I wonder if they shower in the dark.

For violent Islamic jihadists, there is no such thing as being placated. Will people ever learn? Will companies ever understand? Not until it is way too late.

Facts checked and confirmed. Also, for more information http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2010/07/six-flags-h...

Taxpayers On The Hook For $2.4 Trillion – In Local Gov’t Debt (August 23, 2010)

By mjsamuelson

It's much "sexier" for bloggers and the MSM to talk about the trillion-dollar national deficit and even Texas' projected budget shortfall than about local government debt.  But I like talking about pesky local government, mostly because I believe that the government closest to us also does the most damage.  When you consider than in just the last decade, local government bonded debt has gone from $1.5 trillion to $2.4 trillion, I think my point is proven.

Steven Malanga of City Journal has written a fantastic story about this problem, in which he points out that it isn't just the figure that's so shocking, but what is being purchased with it: "...giant development projects, for starters, including many in which the private sector has wisely shown little interest, except when government subsidizes them."  Malanga goes on to explain how this problem originated:

These projects trace their origin to the urban-renewal movement of the 1950s, when states and the federal government cleared tracts of supposedly blighted urban slums and replaced them with large, centrally planned housing projects. Over time, such efforts became so widespread that even thriving communities were declaring themselves blighted to justify construction. The nature of the projects changed, too, as politicians increasingly issued bonds to make bets on private ventures whose economic benefits were uncertain, at best.

I think we're all too familiar with what kind of structures are deemed so essential that local governments throw bonds on the ballot when they think we aren't looking, and pass them at astounding rates.  We get Taj Mahal high schools, Coliseum-esque football stadiums, cathedrals for administration buildings.  And that's just for starters, of course.  Bicycle "boulevard" projects, park improvement plans...the debt to which your local government is willing to obligate you, your children, and your grandchildren's children goes to pay for every boondoggle under the sun, and almost always without your complete prior knowledge and informed consent.

And of course, it's worse than that, if you can believe it.  Malanga points out that local governments "increasingly use the municipal debt to create the false appearance that they are balancing the budget."

Bond debt is not a new thing in American history; Malanga tells us that the first municipal bond debt on record in the United States was in 1812, to pay for a canal.  But just because something has been done repeatedly, and sometimes successfully, in the past does not justify the continued use (and some would say abuse) of the practice today.

For the most part, Malanga's story focuses on those states and municipalities who have reaped a bitter harvest from being unable to meet bonded debt obligations, and what he has written here ought to serve as a stern warning.  Texas is not immune to the problems California and New Jersey, and neither are Austin, Houston, and Dallas immune to the problems of Charlotte, North Carolina.  In fact, Texas is served best by the strong state economy that leaves the local government debt problem in the quiet shadows - when your state has one of the lowest unemployment rates and is still the number one state for Fortune 500 companies, it's hard for voters to get agitated about ISD debt to the tune of $250 million and more.  But that's exactly the problem, isn't it?  We appear to have it so good here that we're missing the problems that are a real drain on our resources, and which will haunt us during the state's tough budget cycle ahead.  Texas is among the worst in the nation for local government debt per capita (to get an idea of what that means, see this 2009 Denton Record Chronicle article)

I love what Veronique de Rugy had to say about this: "The bottom line: If this debt in the states should be added to the federal debt — and especially if this debt has to be repaid back with higher taxes — there is one very large bill coming our way. Remember, there is only one taxpayer, not a state taxpayer and a federal one."

Too true.  As such, there can be only one solution, and you can bet I don't mean electing tax-and-spenders at the bottom of the ballot.  This is why we need partisan elections, on uniform election days, to uncover the worst of the seemingly innocuous, hide-behind-the-rhetoric, tax-and-spend bureaucrats who lurk in county commisioners' courts, city councils, school boards, MUD boards, and so on.

And just to drive my point home:  the city of Austin, as of August 2009, has $4,653,793,433, or over $4.6 billion, in outstanding bonded debt.  That's just the principal amount, and is just city debt, not what taxpayers owe to the local ISDs or to Travis County.  (Thanks to the Bond Review Board for the information).  It also obviously does not include the $90 million in brand new bond debt that the city plans to ask taxpayers for this November.

Sleep well.

Guess Who Wants Gov. Perry to Violate the State Constitution (August 16, 2010)

You likely won't see this story in detail on how the new stimulus money will hurt Texas. One would need to be involved in the legislative process, and know our Texas Constitution, to understand how this bill, supposedly to save teacher jobs that Pelosi and Obama wants passed, and is calling members  back to pass, is an attempt to take control of local education and local budgeting.                                   

This administration is not only busting the federal budget and bankrupting America, they now want to tell us how to  spend our money in Texas. The President and the Dems will smile before the cameras and tell America how they are saving teaching and firefighting jobs, but they will not tell America that this is part of a plan to control state budgets from Washington and control education.                                                                                                                                                            What disturbs me the most is how sneaky it is. They know exactly what they are doing, or would not be doing it. They have trashed the U.S Constitution. Now they are now trying to trash the Texas Constitution. And they know that hardly anyone will know what is going on because the media will not fully understand what is happening below the surface and most people will not ready deeply below the headline. But I am alerting you and you will now know and can pass it on to others.                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

HERE IS THE DEAL: New stimulus money intended to protect primarily teacher jobs would send 800 million to Texas to go to classrooms. However, Texas Democrat Congressman Lloyd Doggett inserted language that says Texas would not get the money unless the Governor guarantees to continue funding after the fed money runs out.                               

First, this is unconstitutional. The Governor of Texas does not write the budget and cannot guarantee expenditures now, or in the future. The legislature also cannot guarantee spending beyond the 2 year budget cycle we pass each session. You can plan to spend money beyond two years, but you cannot guarantee it.

The money has to be appropriated every 2 years when we meet to write the budget. It is not possible, practical, or allowed by the Constitution, to guarantee monies beyond the budget cycle, Texas House and Senate Democrats understand this, but apparently Texas Democrat Congressmen do not.                                                                                         

Lastly, it is outrageous that the Obama administration is interfering with your tax dollars, your education system, and your state budget. Anyone who has any doubt that this administration wants total federal control only need to understand this issue. Looks like another lawsuit and l once again appears this administration wants to punish Texas .Problem is they were in such a rush to do so they did not even read or understand the Texas Constitution. The Governor couldn't do it if he wanted to do it; it's not in his authority and it's unconstitutional.                 

State of Texas Challenges Federal Government's Offshore Drilling Moratorium (August 16, 2010

 AUSTIN – Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott today filed a legal challenge to the Obama Administration’s offshore drilling moratorium. The State’s legal challenge charges the Administration with violating a federal law that requires the Secretary of Interior to consult with affected states before imposing an offshore drilling moratorium. Filed on behalf of the State of Texas, Governor Rick Perry and Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson, today’s legal action names the following defendants: the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI); DOI Secretary Kenneth Salazar; the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement – formerly known as the Minerals Management Service – and BOEM Director Michael Bromwich.

“The federal government ignored the State of Texas and failed to comply with the law when the Secretary of the Interior unilaterally imposed the Administration’s offshore drilling ban,” Attorney General Abbott said. “Under federal law, affected states are guaranteed the right to participate in offshore drilling-related policy decisions, but the Obama Administration did not bother to communicate, coordinate or cooperate with Texas. Worse, the Secretary of the Interior failed to consider the economic consequences of his decision, which will cost the Texas economy millions of dollars – and threatens far too many hard-working Texans’ jobs.”

Court documents filed by the State set forth that the Administration unilaterally imposed its offshore drilling ban without properly coordinating with the State of Texas. Further, the Administration also improperly failed to consider the moratorium’s economic impact on Gulf Coast states, including Texas. Under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA), the Interior Secretary must coordinate with affected states and weigh a moratorium’s economic impact before imposing an offshore drilling ban. Despite the OCSLA’s requirements, the Obama Administration did not consult with Texas on either issue.

On July 12, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced the current offshore drilling moratorium without any prior notice to or communication with the State of Texas – despite the fact that Texas refines more oil than any other state. As the State’s complaint explains, an economic impact analysis produced by Louisiana State University has projected that Texas will suffer a $622 million decrease in Gross State Product because of the six-month moratorium. Thus, Texas clearly meets the statutory definition of an “affected State” under the OCSLA. Nonetheless, the Department of the Interior did not give the State of Texas an “opportunity to participate” in the federal government’s decision-making process – which constitutes a violation of the OCSLA and the Administrative Procedure Act.

As the State’s legal challenge asserts, the Administration’s failure to consult Texas led the Secretary of Interior to implement an unjustified, arbitrary and capricious policy that will inflict economic harm upon coastal communities – particularly those that are most dependent upon offshore drilling for jobs and tax revenue. The legal action seeks a court order declaring that the State of Texas must be provided a reasonable opportunity to participate in the formulation of the Secretary’s offshore policy. Further, the Secretary must give due consideration to the drilling moratorium’s economic impact.

Today’s legal challenge targets the Administration’s second offshore drilling moratorium. The first drilling moratorium, which was also imposed without proper notice to – or consultation with – the State, was retracted by the Administration after multiple private parties successfully sued the Administration in a federal district court. A June 22 decision in the federal district court for the Eastern District of Louisiana enjoined the Administration from enforcing its moratorium. Undeterred by the court ruling – and once again without notice to or consultation with Texas – the Interior Secretary simply withdrew the initial moratorium and imposed a second offshore drilling ban on July 12, which halts all drilling operations in water depths of greater than 500 feet

Assistant Attorneys General Nicholas Canaday III and Nichole Bunker-Henderson with the Environmental Protection and Administrative Law division will serve as lead counsel to the State of Texas in this case.

Democrat Nominee for Railroad Commission Mum on Obama coming to Town (August 16, 2010)

The 2010 Democrat nominee for the Texas Railroad Commission is conspicuously quiet on President Barack Obama’s visit to Texas.

Jeff Weems, the rarely silent wanna-be Railroad Commissioner who has gotten rich off of defending BP, Enron and a gaggle of other big oil clients, has had nothing to say about Obama’s visit to Texas on his website, Twitter account or his Facebook page. 

This is odd for two reasons (aside from the fact that he rarely is without words):

1)    Weems is such a big fan of President Obama’s, he gave him so much money, the Obama campaign had to send Weems a refund because he exceeded his contribution limit of $4,600 (Weems contributed $5,000 and received a $400 refund.)

2)    Weems is a big supporter of ObamaCare.  He attended NetRoots Nation, the nation gathering of left-wing bloggers.   Admission to the event required attendees to make phone calls in support of ObamaCare.  Weems gladly participated.

“Mr. Weems’ silence, while a nice change of pace, is deafening.  If I were a Democrat running for office in Texas, I wouldn’t want Texans to know I support President Obama’s extreme left-wing policies like ObamaCare either,” said Corbin Casteel, consultant to the Republican nominee, David Porter. 

“Texas voters will have to ask themselves one simple question: if Weems supports policies that destroy our country’s health care system, what will he try to do if he has the opportunity to regulate the Texas energy industry?” concluded Casteel.

Multiple Ranches In Laredo, Texas Taken Over By Los Zetas (August 9, 2010)

by Digger - Republished with permission from DiggersRealm

http://www.diggersrealm.com/mt/archives/003439.html

Where are the 10,000 armed National Guard Gov. Perry has begged for since last year??!  Surround & exterminate them - Waco style!!!

Update - Story is now 100% confirmed by second source within the Laredo Police Department

The bloodbath continues along our southern border and now word is coming in that Los Zetas, the highly trained killers formerly with the Gulf Cartel, have crossed into the United States and taken over at least two ranches in the Laredo, Texas area. I am receiving word that the owners of the ranches have evacuated without being harmed. As of this hour I cannot confirm 100% on the situation (I am at around 90%) - though the source is law enforcement in the area.

Founder of the San Diego Minutemen Jeff Schwilk tipped me off to this story and passes along the following information on the location. The ranches are said to be "near Mines Rd. and Minerales Annex Rd about 10 miles NW of I-35". 

Update - Statement from Mr. Schwilk

I can personally vouch that this info came in late last night from a reliable police source inside the Laredo PD. There is currently a standoff between the unknown size Zeta forces and U.S. Border Patrol and local law enforcement on two ranches on our side of the Rio Grande.

The source tells us he considers this an "act of war" and that the military is needed on the border now!

Whether it is lone members or squads is not certain.

Anonymous sources in law enforcement in the Laredo area tonight have passed on word that US law enforcement agencies are in the area and are weighing their options regarding the ranches. The media has been silent on this incident and some law enforcement in the area says that they are furious that the media is not reporting the whole story of the continued violence along the border. Their frustrations are understandable because keeping the truth suppressed continues to hamper law enforcement from receiving the true support they need along the border.

The ranch assaults come on the heels of attacks in Nuevo Laredo that shut the city down as a gun-battle raged in the streets. Los Zetas blocked off intersections with vehicles and used fragmentation grenades to attack Mexican law enforcement. In the end 12 were killed and 21 injured in the assaults. Citizens in the area were told to stay in their homes and bullets whizzed all around.

Cypress Times

The U.S. Consulate in Nuevo Laredo had posted warnings on its website hours before the gunfire was reported by Texas citizens, “We have received credible reports of widespread violence occurring now between narcotics-trafficking organizations and the Mexican army in Nuevo Laredo.”

The U.S. Consulate went on to say, “The consulate confirmed that fragmentation grenades were used in the attacks and that suspected drug-gang members had blocked several roads, adding that it advised ‘all U.S. citizens in Nuevo Laredo to remain indoors until the security situation improves.’”

US Citizens in Laredo called 911 after hearing gunfire and explosions just across the border.   Laredo police spokesman Joe Baeza deflected the concerns of citizens with what I see as utter contempt. He said there was no spillover violence onto the US side and "We were getting reports from people who live on the river's edge that they could hear gunfire and explosions from the Mexico side," Baeza said, "We didn't have any incidents on the American side. It's hard for people to understand who don't live here ... They're not Vikings, they're not going to invade us, it doesn't work that way."

This was said just a day before the reported breaking news on the ranches being taken above.

Violence has been on the rise along the border.   In April 2010 a Border Patrol agent in Laredo shot and killed an lllegal alien drug smuggler near the Rio Grande

The Los Zetas are highly trained killers initially trained by United States Special Operations forces to combat the drug cartes within Mexico.   As the drug war heated up the Zetas saw more money in working for the cartels and joined up with the Gulf Cartel.

In March, 2010 there was a fracture between the Los Zetas and the Gulf Cartel when a Zetas leader was said to have been assassinated by the Gulf Cartel. They demanded that the killer be turned over to them. When the Gulf Cartel refused the Zetas captured 16 Gulf Cartel members.

Since March Los Zetas abandoned their stronghold in Reynosa and moved to Nuevo Laredo, just across from the border with Laredo, Texas. There are estimated to be over 1,000 Zeta members there.

Additional Sources: Houston Chronicle     Borderland Beat

Be sure to visit DiggersRealm.com

I'm surprised the liberal Houston Chronicle would publish this.  Governor wannabe White has turned Houston into a safe harbor (sanctuary city) for illegals.    

If it's the government's job to enforce illegal "immigration", they are doing a piss poor job of it, like everything else they have tried to control!

Texas Higher-Ed Students Face Ambition Tax (August 9, 2010)

In 2003, the Texas Legislature passed HB 3015 which deregulated tuition and required all public universities to set aside a certain percentage of every student’s tuition each semester to fund needs-based financial assistance programs for Texas residents.

This means that a Texas student paying $2,500 per semester in tuition will have $500 of their tuition set aside each semester for financial assistance programs under HB 3015. Students are obligated to pay into the fund even if they themselves receive some kind of financial aid. Over four years, the student will pay $4,000 into this program – a substantial amount considering that many students pay for college through student loans, requiring interest payments. In fact, if the student financed all of their tuition they would owe an additional $550 in interest on the tuition that was set asides for another student.

Tuition deregulation created two parts to tuition: statutory and designated.

Statutory tuition is the rate that the state mandates colleges to charge, and is the same for all public higher education institutions. It is currently $50 per semester hour for in-state students and $327 for out-of-state students. 15% of graduate and undergraduate statutory tuition is set aside and reserved for the Texas Public Educational Grant and Emergency Tuition and Fee Loans.

Designated tuition is determined by each institution. According to the Texas Education Code, there is no limit on how much designated tuition can be charged. Universities are required to set aside 15% of graduate and undergraduate designated tuition that exceeds of $46 per semester credit hour, and finances needs-based financial assistance programs selected at the discretion of each university. In the 2008-09 term $100 million in tuition was set aside from students for this purpose.

An additional 5% is set aside from undergraduate designated tuition to fund the Texas B-On-Time Loan Program. Set asides collected for this program go to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, which controls the program. Although the B-On-Time program awards loans to both private and public institutions, only public institutions are required to set aside students’ tuition. This creates an unfair burden for students attending public institutions by forcing them to share the bill for other students attending private institutions.

Since 2003, tuition rates have increased 86%. As the costs associated with higher education have continued to rise, more students and families are struggling to pay for college and must find additional funding sources to meet the growing costs. Yet many of these same students are unaware that a significant portion of their tuition is used to provide financial assistance to other students.

Not all students benefiting from tuition set aside programs are legal Texas residents. In 2001 HB 1403 enacted a loophole for non-legal Texas residents allowing students seeking financial aid that are non-U.S. citizens, who are ineligible to apply for federal student aid, to meet the Texas state residency requirements and can complete the Texas Application for State Financial Aid (TASFA) in lieu of the FAFSA form. These students can then compete for state funds without being U.S. Citizens or legal U.S. residents and makes them eligible for financial aid programs including the Texas Public Education Grant, the Texas Grant, and Texas State Exemption Programs.

Students of Texas universities graduate with the 4th largest amount of average debt after obtaining a four-year degree in the country. Texas Commissioner of Higher Education, Raymund Paredes, says that the average Texas student graduates with about $20,000 in student loans- a figure he said has roughly doubled in the last decade.

Transparency Needed in Texas (August 2, 2010)

One way to measure the quality of state government transparency efforts is to look at how easy it is for the average citizen to actually access and search through government documents.

In the case of Texas candidates and other state officials must file personal financial disclosure forms that list their income, assets, and liabilities. However, the documents are not available online in a searchable format. This makes it very difficult to search and sort through the more than 3,000 filings submitted by elected and appointed state officers, members of the boards of river authorities, executive heads of state agencies and state political party chairs. In order to access these documents Texans need to file requests for paper forms with the Texas Ethic Commission.

State Rep. Jim Dunnam, D-Waco and Sen. Rodney Ellis filled separate bills recently requiring online posting but both did not make it through the legislative process.

Online databases of all documents related to elected officials make is easier for ordinary citizens, journalists and watchdog groups to keep a closer eye on government actions. Interestingly, the local Texas newspaper, The Texas Tribune, decided to take matters into their own hands by creating an online application that allows citizens to search for officials and view, print, and download all 3,070 paper forms without the hassle of making an official request. It is a good start; however the records are not searchable. All records should be made available online in Texas.

Texas Opposes Financial Takeover (July 26, 2010)

 AUSTIN – In response to the recent vote on the Dodd-Frank financial regulation bill, Americans for Prosperity-Texas Director Peggy Venable issued the following statement:

“We commend Senators Kay Bailey Hutchison and John Cornyn for holding firm and opposing the disastrous Obama-Dodd-Frank big bank bailout bill that will cost taxpayers billions. 

 “This bill will all but guarantee future bailouts.  It does nothing about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. It takes the choice of ‘credit or debit’ away from consumers.  It creates a new federal agency with thousands of bureaucrats that will tie up everyday financial transactions in red tape.  It will not prevent another financial crisis, but it will dramatically expand the size, cost, and intrusiveness of the federal government. 

 “AFP-Texas members appreciate that Senators Hutchison and Cornyn opposed this terrible legislation, and when they struggle against the red tape of the bill’s new federal bureaucracy they will remember that it was the 60 senators who voted for the bill who are responsible.”

Klee’s Kaleidoscope joins in the commendation. Too bad we don’t get a chance to vote the 60 Senators who voted for this abomination out of office.

Klee Appointed State Chaplain (July 12, 2010)

Following the 92nd Annual Convention of The American Legion, Department of Texas held recently at the Holiday Inn in Beaumont, Texas, Harvey H. Klee, was appointed Department Chaplain 2010-2011 by the incoming Department Commander, Ken Mueller. Chaplain Klee is a member of Frank Griggs American Legion Post 370 in Llano, Texas where he holds the position of Hubmaster and Webmaster.

At the Convention, Klee was also awarded third place in the 2010 TEXALPA (Texas American Legion Press Association) Dan Fallon Award category for outstanding web design for Post 370’s web site. www.amleg370.org.

The Department of Texas is comprised of 524 American Legion Posts, 4 Divisions, and 23 Districts and has over 82,000 members.

Chaplain Klee had previously been appointed Department Chaplain for the years 1999-2000, 2001-2002, 2005-2006 and 2007-2008 which is a record in the Legion’s 92 year history. Harvey also serves as Chaplain for the Legion’s 21^st District and is a member of VFW Post 10376 in Marble Falls. He holds the position of Assistant Chaplain for the State of Texas for the Chapel of Four Chaplains and is a Chaplain for the Highland Lakes Honor Guard, a local organization certified by the Department of Defense to provide military funeral honors for honorably discharged veterans.

Chaplain Klee is the author of, “A Chaplain’s Story, Manual and Guide, now in its 2^nd Edition. He is the founder and President of the Texas Chaplains Association which has over 162 members. As an attorney, he also serves as an Associate Chancellor for the Southwest Conference of the United Methodist Church and is a member of the Highland Lakes UMC in Buchanan Damn where he serves as Chairman of their Administrative Council and webmaster. www.highlandlakesumc.org.

Harvey resides with his wife, Suzanne, in the community of Lone Grove in Llano County. They have 11 children, 14 grandchildren and 4 great-grandchildren.

Texas Leads the Nation in Job Growth – Again (July 5, 2010)

AUSTIN – Americans for Prosperity Foundation released a study that shows Texas continues to lead they way out of the economic downturn by adding more jobs than any other state during the month of May.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Texas Workforce Commission, Texas added 43,600 nonagricultural jobs in May. This marks the largest over-the-month increase in employment in the nation and is the largest monthly gain in more than three years.

“Individuals and businesses are flocking to Texas during these tough economic times,” said AFPF State Director Peggy Venable. “The reason for this is clear – our business environment is competitive, taxes are low, and we have no income tax. All of the right elements are in place to ensure prosperity and opportunity in our state.”

Texas continues to show positive employment growth as 2010 progresses. Texas employment figures have consistently outperformed national employment data, and the state remains among the strongest job growth environments in its region.

“Texas truly is a beacon of fiscal sanity in the nation,” Venable said. “Other states – and our leaders in Washington – would do well to implement similar policies that have led to the prosperity we enjoy in Texas.  Our leaders have kept taxes relatively low, limited the growth of government and enacted common-sense regulatory and civil justice reforms.”

Americans for Prosperity Foundation launched an initiative called Lone Star Strong to highlight how public policies impact economic success. On the website, www.LoneStarStrong.com, legislators, members of the media, and private citizens can see what other economic areas Texas leads the nation and which policies have led to such success in the state.

The study is available at http://lonestarstrong.com/2010/07/texas-employment-is-strong-continues-to-improve/.

California Condemns Arizona’s Laws but Not Its Own (July 5, 2010)

 LA City Councilman Blasts AZ Law for Provisions in CA Penal Code. Will they also now boycott their own state?

Before critics of Arizona’s new immigration law make fools of themselves, they should really try to read the bill.  And if those critics are officials of other states or cities, maybe they should take a quick tour of their own laws first, too. 

Kerry Picket at the Washington Times interviewed Los Angeles City Councilman Ed Reyes, who said that he would need his passport to travel in Arizona, but she points out that the very same provisions to which Reyes objects exist in California’s own penal code:

The Los Angeles City Council’s vote to boycott Arizona caused more consternation than anything else.   LA City Council members voted an overwhelming 13 – 1 to terminate any city contracts with Arizona (worth around $7.7 million) as did other American cities who have considered resolutions to protest the Arizona law or seek boycotts.   Among these cities are San Francisco and Saint Paul, Minnesota. …

“I cannot go to Arizona today without a passport,” Los Angeles Councilman Ed Reyes, a Democrat, said before the vote. “If I come across an officer who’s had a bad day and feels the picture on my ID is not me, I could be summarily deported — no questions asked. That is not American.”

Kerry has plenty of audio within the Times article, but transcribes the key points:

PICKET: Where exactly in the law does it say that?  Considering that it prohibits that?  As I’m asking here, federal law which has been around for about seventy years has been saying that undocumented individuals have to be carrying papers, so what exactly has changed between federal law of the last seventy years and Arizona’s law?

REYES: What’s changed is you have a very active effort to round up people that look a certain way, and if you have proof you are an American citizen that let you go, and if you don’t they deport you. So now, that I look like a Mexican, and I am Mexican American, I become a target.(AUDIO)

PICKET: Why is this law considered any different than what has been around for the last seventy years…because it’s being enforced?

REYES: Why does a state have to call that out? Why can’t it just follow the federal law like you said for the past seventy years? (AUDIO)

Well, why does California have to call it out, Councilman Reyes?    Kerry did a little digging and found this nugget in Section 834b in the California Penal Code:

(a) Every law enforcement agency in California shall fully cooperate with the United States Immigration and Naturalization Service regarding any person who is arrested if he or she is suspected of being present in the United States in violation of federal immigration laws.   

(b) With respect to any such person who is arrested, and suspected of being present in the United States in violation of federal immigration laws, every law enforcement agency shall do the following:

    (1) Attempt to verify the legal status of such person as a citizen of the United States, an alien lawfully admitted as a permanent resident, an alien lawfully admitted for a temporary period of time or as an alien who is present in the United States in violation of immigration laws. The verification process may include, but shall not be limited to, questioning the person regarding his or her date and place of birth, and entry into the United States, and demanding documentation to indicate his or her legal status.

    (2) Notify the person of his or her apparent status as an alien who is present in the United States in violation of federal immigration laws and inform him or her that, apart from any criminal justice proceedings, he or she must either obtain legal status or leave the United States. (3) Notify the Attorney General of California and the United States Immigration and Naturalization Service of the apparent illegal status and provide any additional information that may be requested by any other public entity. (c) Any legislative, administrative, or other action by a city, county, or other legally authorized local governmental entity with jurisdictional boundaries, or by a law enforcement agency, to prevent or limit the cooperation required by subdivision (a) is expressly prohibited.

Sounds very similar to the provisions of SB 1070, the bill that prompted LA’s City Council to launch its boycott of Arizona. 

Will they also now boycott their own state?  They do seem to be conducting a boycott of common sense and legal scholarship at City Hall.

Joe the Plumber at the Summit (June 28, 2010)

AUSTIN – Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher, better known as Joe the Plumber, will be in Austin this July 4th weekend to help empower citizens to take back America at the Texas Defending the American Dream™ Summit.

 “We are thrilled to have Joe the Plumber speak at the Summit,” said AFPF State Director Peggy Venable. “His fearlessly speaking out as an ordinary citizen led the exposure of then-candidate Barak Obama’s plan to ‘spread the wealth.’ Obama’s agenda isn’t working for us, and we are fighting to stop the bankrupting of America. We need more bold grassroots activists like Joe, who are ready to stand up for conservative principles and take back America.”

 The Summit events on July 2-3 feature some of America’s foremost free-market voices and top experts joining Joe the Plumber, including nationally-syndicated columnist Herman Cain; Wall Street Journal columnists Steven Moore and John Fund; conservative comedian and FOX News contributor Steven Crowder; ESPN commentator Craig James; Texas Gov. Rick Perry; actress and conservative activist Janine Turner; AFP Foundation President Tim Phillips and former Texas Solicitor General Ted Cruz.

 “Today, the voices of average Americans need to be heard. We are encouraging people to join our patriotic program this Fourth of July weekend and together, we can make a difference. While some policies are threatening to destroy the American dream – higher taxes, out-of-control government spending, job-killing regulations, and endless red-tape – we have a chance to defend that American dream,” Venable said. “This Summit will be Texas’ largest gathering of grassroots leaders from across the state coming together to learn more about issues and how we can together take back America.”

 The Summit will include educational sessions on some of the top policy issues in the state and nation today, as well as programs for tea party organizers, a program for high school and middle school students, and instructional sessions on using social media like Facebook, Twitter and blogging.

 More information on the 2010 Texas Defending the American Dream Summit can be found at www.TxDream.org.

Obama Ignores Texas Plea for Help (June 28, 2010)

By Omar Villafranca

Still No Word on Troops to Texas-Mexico Border. Perry's request goes ignored for more than a year.

National Guard troops will be headed to the U.S.-Mexico border, but Texas is still waiting for an official answer to its request for help.

President Barack Obama has agreed to send 1,200 National Guard troops to the U.S. border with Mexico. The White House said it has not decided where along the Southwest border, which includes parts of California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas, the troops will be deployed.

Gov. Rick Perry has sent letters to Obama, Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano requesting National Guard troops for the Texas-Mexico border.

Almost a year and a half after the first letter was sent, Perry hasn't received an answer.

"We've not received approval (or denial) regarding Gov. Perry's request," said Perry's spokeswoman, Katherine Cesinger, in an e-mail. "But we remain hopeful that the federal government will provide the resources we've requested, including 1,000 Title 32 National Guardsmen, to secure the Texas-Mexico border."

A spokesperson at the Department of Defense said he couldn't give more information on the status of Perry's request.

More than 300 National Guard personnel are already on the U.S.-Mexico border engaged in counternarcotics missions.

UAV Flights on Texas-Mexico Border (June 28, 2010)

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas) released the following statement on the beginning of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) flights along the Texas-Mexico border:

“The beginning of UAV flights over the west Texas portion of our border with Mexico marks an important advancement for border security in our state. High-tech tools have been spread thin among the southwest border states for too long. We are working hard to make round the clock aerial surveillance the standard for all 2,000 miles of the U.S.-Mexico border, and I hope this development is the first of many steps to bring our border detection and security efforts into the 21st century.”

On May 20, Sen. Hutchison, ranking member of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, convened a meeting between Federal Aviation Administrator J. Randolph Babbitt and members of the Texas Congressional Delegation. Administrator Babbitt committed to working closely with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to approve the use of UAVs along the entire Texas border before the end of the summer. He also agreed to create a streamlined process so that future requests to expand UAV coverage in Texas and the rest of the nation can be approved much more quickly than has been experienced to date.

Senator Hutchison has also pushed to expand the presence of UAVs, or drones, to help protect the southwest border through legislation. Hutchison authored an amendment in the Senate Commerce Committee that would allow CBP to obtain at least six new drone systems and hire pilots to operate them with the ultimate goal of covering all 2,000 miles of U.S-Mexico border every day of the week. Expanding the availability of UAV resources allows border enforcement officials to more efficiently and consistently monitor the border and respond to illicit activity. 

Last week, Senator Hutchison joined with other border state Senators to offer a series of amendments to the emergency war supplemental appropriations bill to heighten border security to an emergency spending bill that the Senate recently passed. The goal of the amendments was to provide resources and support, including UAVs, to border enforcement officials. The amendments were not passed.

The CBP reports that only about 700 miles of the 2,000 mile-long southern border are under effective control. Portions of the southern border that are ineffectively monitored become open portals for drug cartels, arms dealers, human traffickers, and even terrorists. Aerial surveillance using UAVs is a force multiplier, and it allows border enforcement officials to more efficiently and consistently monitor the border and respond to illicit activity.

Voter Fraud in Texas, Part 1 (June 28, 2010)

By Steve Miller, Texas Watchdog.org

Charged with illegal vote harvesting, a political worker explains how voter fraud works

 ALICE, Texas - Zaida Bueno, accused of illegal vote harvesting in the 2008 primary in Jim Wells County, is up-front about her deeds. Yes, she helped coach votes and collect mail-in ballots for a number of local elected officials over the past eight years.

"County, the whole county and the whole courthouse – city council, school board, any election you name, I’ve done," Bueno says.

She even worked for Jim Wells County District Attorney Armando G. Barrera in 2008, handling ballots for the campaign.

"I put them in my bag, I want to make sure nobody sees, you know, you're not supposed to do [this]," Bueno says. Then, she drops them off in the mail and leaves the post office quickly.

Trouble is, Bueno's line of work corrupts the vote and is against the law.

But Bueno says she didn't know that. After all, it was the candidates themselves who were giving her the instructions, she said.

"I would not have done it if I thought it was illegal," she said during a recent interview in her home in Alice.

Bueno, 55, was charged in February with four counts of illegally possessing mail-in ballots. Her case, along with charges against accused vote-harvesters Cynthia Lopez, 46, and, Norma Lopez, 50, is being heard in the Live Oak County courtroom of County Judge Jim Huff.

The charges, being pursued by the state Attorney General's office, are misdemeanors.

Mail-in voter fraud has prompted changes in election law, caused investigators from the AG’s office to comb South Texas and landed a number of people in court. Lawmakers have been urged to bolster the laws governing mail-in voting, but haven’t done so since 2003.

Most charges come out of South Texas, where generations of politiqueros, or political workers, such as Bueno have worked at getting out the vote for particular candidates.

In its simplest form, assisting others to vote, particularly the elderly and disabled, is not a crime.

But state law requires an assistant to co-sign the ballot envelope, and prohibits people from assisting more than one voter.

An assistant isn't allowed to possess the voters' ballots in most situations - the law is designed so that the voter, not a political worker, sees to it that the ballot is mailed. Bueno was charged with violating this rule.

Bueno lives in a small wood-frame house with her children, three sons and two daughters, ages 22 to 38. The house is a rental, $569 a month, about a 15-minute walk from downtown Alice.

Bueno lives on Social Security benefits of $695 per month plus $173 a month in food stamps, court documents show.

If it’s not a comfortable living, it’s cozy and familial, and on a recent Friday afternoon, cars came and went and the place buzzed of activity.

To earn extra money each spring, Bueno followed a blueprint laid out by generations of politiqueros in South Texas. It is a living she has renounced given her legal trouble.

Candidates begin to announce the fall before a March primary, and also begin choosing a team to help harvest votes. The workers are often listed on campaign finance reports as canvassers, and sometimes as employees.

After Bueno found several candidates up and down the ballot to work for, the rush was on for the blank mail-in ballot applications, which the elections administrator is legally obligated to provide to anyone in whatever quantity they desire.

 “They know the money is there, and the more cards (you) take, the more money you get,” Bueno said.

She said the going rate is $150 for the successful return of 50 mail-in ballot applications.

Politiqueras might request up to 300 applications each, she said, then the candidates pay for the stamps, and the applications are mailed to the voters.

That's where Bueno's willingness to pound the pavement, and sweet-talk some voters, came in, as Bueno made her rounds to the voters' homes.

As part of her paid work, “I have to push [the candidates], you’ve got to push their name," she said.

“I can’t tell them who to vote for. I will go to you, and you don’t know how to write or read," she said. So Bueno tells the voter who she's helping.

Do the voters ask for suggestions?

“Yes, they do, but I vote for the one I want, the one I am helping,” Bueno said. “But I am not going to write your ballot, I want you to tell me which one you want. ... You tell me, ‘I don’t know that lady, but I know (the other candidate), he has been in Alice for a long time, and I say ‘you are sure that’s right.' " They say ‘yes,’ I put [the ballot] in the envelope, and nobody knows but me, you.”

Voter Fraud in Texas, Part 2 (June 28, 2010)

By Steve Miller, TexasWatchdog.org

Bueno said she began her politiquera work at the behest of a neighbor, Elida Garza, who suggested it as a way to pick up extra pocket money. Garza was running for the school board of the Alice Independent School District.

“And she said, ‘Zaida, I want you to help me,' " Bueno said. “I had never done this in my life. She told me how to do the whole ballot, and she told me what to do. She gave me a list of names, and that’s how I followed it. I did it forever.”

The extra cash came in handy for Bueno, a former home caregiver.

“I raised my kids with half of the election."

A reporter called a phone number for Garza over several days, but no one answered.

Bueno said she worked in 2008 for three local candidates – Lupe Martinez, who was running for Justice of the Peace, Tavo Figueroa Jr., who was seeking the tax collector spot and Barrera, the DA candidate. That year's primary vote-harvesting is what brought Bueno to the attention of state prosecutors.

Bueno is listed on Barrera’s campaign finance reports as a canvasser and employee, earning $1,375 from January through March.

Barrera, the Jim Wells DA, acknowledged that he had hired some people to work for him dealing with the mail-in ballots.

“I don’t know how many we hired, but I explained the rules to them,” Barrera said. “I told them they could not be picking up ballots. Whether they followed the rules, I don’t know.”

The campaign finance reports of the other candidates Bueno says she assisted have gone missing from the Jim Wells County Clerk’s office. The office has no explanation. No investigation of the candidates who used politiqueras is ongoing, according to the AG's office.

Bueno vacillates as she describes her endeavor. On one hand, she tacitly acknowledges her willingness to coach the vote and collect mail-in ballots. On the other hand, Bueno claims that she had no idea what she was doing was a punishable offense.

Bueno said her downfall came two years ago through a flaw in her strategy.

She liked to have at least 10 ballots collected before returning to the candidate’s office for stamps.

“I can’t be going to his house, back and forth, back and forth for five or six ballots,” Bueno said. “So I at least collect up to 10 ballots. I go and put them in my bag. ... I have a bag I want to make sure nobody sees."

There is a coveted list of potential voters who can use mail-in ballots. Experienced politiqueros maintain the list and direct a team of assistants.

In the attorney general’s complaint against Bueno, investigators allege that she committed four misdemeanors. Each ballot triggers an individual charge, and Bueno allegedly appropriated four ballots from four voters.

One of those voters was Jesusa Arellano. She told Texas Watchdog that Bueno was part of a team sweeping her single-story apartment complex in early 2008.

Bueno said she saw Arellano's name on the court complaint, but has no memory of her, only the apartment complex which she had worked before.

Arellano, 64, who lives with her husband, had seen Bueno around Alice before but never knew her name.

“I trust her to come because I thought she was helping, you know, all of the people here, the elderly,” Arellano said. “So they came over here and filled out the application.”

Arellano's application completed, she proceeded to mail her ballot. But Bueno stopped her, saying, “I’ll mail it, you don’t have to worry," Arellano said. Bueno also told her not to worry about a stamp, and signed the application.

 A couple weeks later, after Arellano received her ballot, Bueno returned.

“So I didn’t know much about who to vote for, and she said, ‘Well, I’ll put the one I think is best.’ So that’s what she did,” Arellano said.

Several months later, an agent from the state AG’s office, Jose Gardea, came by with a picture of Bueno.

He showed it to Arellano, who identified her and told him of her voting experience.

“I didn’t know how serious these things are," she said.

Texas Says “No” to Federal High-risk Pool (June 21, 2010)

Gov. Rick Perry told the federal health and human services commissioner that Texas isn’t going to create a high-risk health insurance pool under the new federal health care law, saying the federal program “lacks rules to guide the states and appears to be underfunded at the federal level.”

The ObamaCare legislation is too vague and confusing for state government agencies to decipher, and they’re not the only ones scratching their heads over this bad bill.

The Wall Street Journal this week said retailers are doomed to fork over large sums of money, thanks to confusing language in the bill. The article notes:

·        62% of retailers face problems with at least one of three big requirements of the new law: to provide “affordable” coverage, to offer coverage for part-time employees working at least 30 hours per week, and to go above and beyond the limited benefit plans sometimes offered to part-timers.

·        Employers aren’t supposed to charge their full-time employees more than 9.5% of household income for coverage. If they do, and if even one employee receives government aid to purchase individual coverage through an exchange, the employer gets socked with a penalty.

·        Several unknowns retailers have to deal with:

o       Employees’ household income (not a figure that employers typically know)

o       The level of coverage that must be offered in an “affordable” plan. (Estimates show that 38% of employers have at least some workers whose current coverage would not meet the standard.)

Read more: http://americansforprosperity.org/050410-texas-says-%E2%80%9Cno%E2%80%9D-federal-high-risk-pool#ixzz0n9HlAc5i

The War on Sunshine in Texas (May 10, 2010)

By Americans for Prosperity State Director Peggy Venable

A war on sunshine and an attack on open government rages in Texas. Cities are using public money to sue the state to gut the Texas Open Meetings Act (TOMA), which prohibits a quorum of elected officials from discussing official matters outside of a posted public meeting. 

This constitutes lawsuit abuse. And to add insult to injury, the Texas Municipal League is behind the measure. The League is one reason Texas property taxes are so high, since they oppose any legislative effort to give local voters the right to reject property tax increases that exceed the rate of inflation and population growth.

The latest assault on open government began in 2004, when in Alpine, a city councilmember used private email accounts to ask fellow council members if a specific item should be on the council’s agenda. One councilmember replied using a private email account that is should. The local district attorney decided this email exchange violated TOMA because the emails involved a quorum of the city council. As result, two of the council members were criminally indicted by a grand jury. The charges were later dropped.

Alpine, and several other cities, filed a lawsuit last December claiming the Texas Open Meetings Act violates city officials’ right to free speech. Furthermore, the lawsuit claims that official communications over the Internet, including emails and social networking sites, should be allowed. 

City officials want to use social media to get around the Open Meetings Act, and in doing so, they want to take the teeth out of the Act. New media should not be used to constitute new ways to circumvent the law.

The criminal attorney representing the cities is none other than Dick DeGuerin, who also represented (among others) David Koresh during his standoff with federal agencies in Waco. 

The lawsuit claims that the cities “seek nothing more than to enforce freedom of speech for public officials the citizens of Texas have elected to speak for them.” They want to “unshackle Texas elected officials so they can perform their duties as representatives of the citizens who elected them to speak.” 

Actually, voters elected them to do the people’s business. Elected officials chose to work in the public sector. They handle public dollars and make decisions which impact citizens’ lives and livelihoods. That business should be conducted under the light of public scrutiny.

Would the same argument these rogue cities are making work for insider trading? Would free speech cover a corporate representative of a publicly-held company giving private tips to sell the company before the information is made public?

The Texas Municipal League passed a resolution supporting the cities’ lawsuit which reads, in part:

“…the Texas Municipal League has the ability to represent the best interests of Texas municipalities before the legislature…” and they call for amending the Open Meetings Act by replacing the criminal enforcement provisions with less restrictive penalties to “balance the First Amendment right of governmental officials.”

First, to amend TOMA by only lifting the criminal enforcement provisions indicates they just want the penalties to be lighter, while not changing the law.

Second, the League contends that citizens elect the city officials to “speak for them” before the legislature.  Really? Then why do cities and the League spend millions of taxpayer dollars a year hiring lobbyists to speak for the cities, a practice most taxpayers find offensive.

Third, an elected official’s ability to speak in private among a quorum of his fellow elected officials is trumped by the public’s right to have the people’s business done in public. The simple fact that these city officials and the League want the right to do business in private makes their work all the more suspect.

Those organizations coming to the public defense in support of TOMA include the Texas Press Association, Texas Daily Newspaper Association, Texas Association of Broadcasters, The Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas and now Americans for Prosperity.

While the cities’ lawsuit claims that elected officials’ individual free speech rights are being chilled, they are willing to put the citizens’ rights to an open, transparent government on ice. If their claim that the Texas Open Meetings Law is unconstitutional prevails, the public will be the biggest loser.

Abolish the Texas State Board of Education? (April 12, 2010)

AUSTIN – The Texas chapter of Americans for Prosperity denounces the promise of State Sen. Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa (D-Dist. 20) to abolish the elected Texas State Board of Education.

“State Board of Education members are elected, and last election, while Rep. Hinojosa received 124,456 votes, the average number of votes cast for a single SBOE member was more than twice that – 335,207,” said AFP Director Peggy Venable. 

“To suggest eliminating an elected body because you don’t agree with their decisions is un-democratic,” said Venable.

“Americans for Prosperity’s members are pleased with the SBOE’s decisions regarding the social studies curriculum standards. We are disappointed that Democratic Gubernatorial candidate Bill White and others on the left have grossly misrepresented the board’s actions,” said Venable. “Sen. Hinojosa apparently thinks that if the voter-elected Board makes rulings that don’t fit his liberal agenda, then the Board should be eliminated.”

“Sen. Hinojosa is attempting the typical left-wing maneuver of stripping the power out of the hands of the people and putting it into the hands of an unelected, appointed board,” Venable said. “With so much at stake in our children’s education, it only makes sense that voters have the right to determine who will represent them on these key issues. Thankfully, our state constitution protects that right.”

Hinojosa’s plan would undermine the provisions set out the Texas Constitution. According to Article 7, Section 8, the Constitution clearly sets out the mandate for an elected State Board of Education. It reads: “The Legislature shall provide by law for a State Board of Education, whose members shall be appointed or elected in such manner and by such authority and shall serve for such terms as the Legislature shall prescribe not to exceed six years. The said board shall perform such duties as may be prescribed by law.”

“Sen. Hinojosa is attempting to defy our state constitution and deny voters their right to have an elected body represent their interests regarding the public education of our children,” Venable said.

[Americans for Prosperity (AFP) is a nationwide organization of citizen leaders committed to advancing every individual’s right to economic freedom and opportunity. AFP believes reducing the size and scope of government is the best safeguard to ensuring individual productivity and prosperity for all Americans. AFP educates and engages citizens in support of restraining state and federal government growth, and returning government to its constitutional limits. AFP has more than 1million  members, including members in all 50 states, and 24 state chapters. For more information, visit www.americansforprosperity.org]

Texans Experience “Tax Freedom” on April 5 (April 5, 2010)

AUSTIN – Texas pay off their taxes earlier than the average U.S. taxpayer. U.S. citizens will have to work until April 9 this year to pay for the cost of government. It was April 8 last year. Thanks to the limited-government, low-tax policies of Texas’ elected leadership, Texans will begin working for themselves – and not the federal government – four days earlier, on April 5.

Tax Freedom Day refers to the number of days that taxpayers work before they pay off the state, federal and local taxes. The average American must work 99 days to pay these taxes. Nationally, Texas has the 8th lowest tax burden as a percentage of income.

 “Most workers are astounded to learn that they are working more than 3 months to pay taxes, and only after that begin earning money they can spend freely,” said Peggy Venable, AFP State Director. “This is a reminder to voters that there is no such thing as government money. Every dollar government spends comes from the pocket of a hard-working American and is one less dollar that we can spend at their own discretion.”

The tax burden amounts to more than the average taxpayer pays for food, clothing and shelter, according to the national group Tax Foundation. This amount does not include the federal debt.

According to Tax Foundation, Americans have the biggest federal deficits since World War II. To eliminate the deficit, all income tax rates would need to go up 244%.

If taxes at the federal level were increased to pay for all government, tax freedom would fall on May 17 – resulting in 38 more days of work to pay the additional taxes. This does NOT include the recent taxes just passed in the Health Care legislation. That should add 2-3 days to tax freedom day.

“We are burdening future generations with this enormous debt,” Venable said. “We are leaving our children a legacy of debt, and that is not the legacy most of us want to leave. We must stop the overspending and debt accumulation so that our children and grandchildren can have opportunity to experience the American dream of home ownership and financial independence.”

(For more information on Tax Freedom Day, see http://www.taxfoundation.org/taxfreedomday.html. The Tax Foundation calculated the national rankings using the latest government data on income and taxes to produce the ratios between the number of days Americans work to pay taxes and the number of days they work to support themselves. National Tax Freedom Day is April 17.)

Americans for Prosperity (AFP) is a nationwide organization of citizen leaders committed to advancing every individual’s right to economic freedom and opportunity. AFP believes reducing the size and scope of government is the best safeguard to ensuring individual productivity and prosperity for all Americans. AFP educates and engages citizens in support of restraining state and federal government growth, and returning government to its constitutional limits. AFP has more than 1million members, including members in all 50 states, and 24 state chapters. For more information, visit www.americansforprosperity.org

Landmark Second Amendment Issue Before the U.S. Supreme Court (April 5, 2010)

WASHINGTON, DC – Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott attended oral argument at the United States Supreme Court, which recently heard the Second Amendment case, McDonald v. City of Chicago. The landmark case involves a constitutional challenge to the City of Chicago’s prohibitions on handgun possession. Attorney General Abbott led a national effort to protect all Americans’ right to keep and bear arms by forging a 38 state coalition that defended the Second Amendment and argued that Chicago’s handgun ban is unconstitutional.

The case before the high court today stems from a legal challenge brought by Otis McDonald, a 76-year-old Army veteran who lives in a high-crime area of Chicago. McDonald was denied a handgun registration certificate by the city. As a result, he is prohibited him from legally possessing a handgun – which he wants to protect himself and his wife in their South Chicago home.

“Less than two years ago, we successfully fought to have the U.S. Supreme Court confirm that Americans have an individual, constitutionally protected right to keep and bear arms,” Attorney General Abbott said. “Now, the City of Chicago claims that the Supreme Court’s 2008 decision does not apply to local governments – so cities and towns can simply ignore the Second Amendment and pass laws that disregard Americans’ constitutionally protected rights. Texas has led the fight to defend the Second Amendment by forging a coalition of 38 state attorneys general who reject Chicago’s attempt to circumvent the Constitution and who understand that all Americans – whether they live in Washington D.C. or not – have a fundamental right to keep and bear arms.”

In 2008, Attorney General Abbott filed an amicus brief on behalf of 32 states that challenged the constitutionality of a Washington, D.C. ordinance that banned all handguns – and required that rifles and shotguns be disassembled or encumbered by trigger locks at all times. In a landmark decision styled District of Columbia v. Heller, the Supreme Court agreed with the attorneys general, declared the federal city’s handgun ban unconstitutional, and held that the Second Amendment protects an individual right to keep and bear arms.

Attorney General Abbott's brief in the McDonald case explains: “The Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms is a critical liberty interest, essential to preserving individual security and the right to self-defense.”

Despite the Supreme Court’s Heller decision, the City of Chicago contends that Americans’ constitutionally protected right to keep and bear arms does not apply to – or place limits on – states or cities. Under the City of Chicago’s argument, law-abiding gun owners are not protected from municipal action that abrogates the constitution – because Chicago argues that the Supreme Court’s Heller decision does not apply to state and local governments.

The states’ brief refutes that argument by explaining that the Fourteenth Amendment applies the Second Amendment to cities, counties and other local governmental bodies across the country.

“Just as local governments cannot constitutionally act as ‘laboratories’ for initiatives to abrogate their citizens’ right to free speech or their freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures, nor can they nullify the fundamental right to keep and bear arms secured by the Second Amendment,” the attorneys general wrote in their Supreme Court brief.

If Chicago’s unconstitutional gun ban were allowed to stand, the attorneys general explain, “millions of Americans will be deprived of their Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms as a result of actions by local governments, such as the ordinances challenged in this case.”

The states’ amicus brief acknowledges that some firearms regulations are permissible, including in circumstances where they are necessary to prevent violent felons from owning guns.

Attorney General Abbott’s brief is co-sponsored by Ohio, Arkansas and Georgia. Other states that joined the brief are: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.

Texas Will Challenge Federal Health Care Legislation (March 29, 2010)

Following the passage of the health care legislation, the Texas Attorney General provided the following statement:

"The federal health care legislation passed tonight violates the United States Constitution and unconstitutionally infringes upon Texans' individual liberties. To protect all Texans' constitutional rights, preserve the constitutional framework intended by our nation's founders, and defend our state from further infringement by the federal government, the State of Texas and other states will legally challenge the federal health care legislation."

AUSTIN--Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott and 12 state attorneys general today filed a legal action challenging the constitutionality of the recently enacted federal health care law. The bipartisan legal challenge explains that the new law infringes upon Americans' constitutionally protected individual liberties; encroaches upon the states' constitutionally guaranteed sovereignty; forces states to spend billions of additional dollars on entitlement programs; imposes an unconstitutional tax; and violates the Tenth Amendment of the United States Constitution.

Under the new law, for the first time in the nation's history, the federal government is attempting to force individual Americans to enter into contracts and purchase services from private companies-in this case, insurance companies-or face a penalty. The state attorneys general are challenging this so-called individual mandate requirement, explaining that such an imposition on the American people exceeds Congress' authority and violates Americans' constitutional rights. Additionally, the states are challenging provisions of the new law that will impose dramatic Medicaid spending increases on the states-including more than $24 billion in mandatory spending increases in the State of Texas.

Greg Abbott

Attorney General of Texas

A Better Way to Challenge Obamacare (March 29, 2010)

Relying on a federal lawsuit to invalidate the new Health Care Reform Law is not only an uncertain endeavor in the face of decades of bad Supreme Court precedent; it could also take years to go anywhere, according to the Tenth Amendment Center. “The reality is this, considering a lawsuit as the primary response leaves the people in opposition holding the bag,” says Michael Boldin, founder of the Center. “That's why we advocate a solution to this mess that leaves the people, not the courts, in charge."

Los Angeles, CA (PRWEB) March 25, 2010 -- "Prominent founders such as Thomas Jefferson and James Madison warned us that if the federal government ever became the sole and exclusive arbiter of its own powers, those powers would continue to grow, regardless of elections, courts, separation of powers or other much-vaunted checks and balances in our system," said Michael Boldin, founder of the Tenth Amendment Center.

Nullification, according to the Center, is the rightful remedy to an unconstitutional act, as it considers the recently-signed Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to be. When a state nullifies a federal law, it is proclaiming that the law in question is void and inoperative, or non-effective, within the boundaries of that state; or, in other words, not a law as far as the state is concerned.

Today, the Tenth Amendment Center announced a different strategy for activists and state government. "We are pleased to announce model nullification legislation that is crafted to specifically address the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act on a state level,” Boldin said. “We encourage grassroots activists and state legislators alike to work to get this bill passed in their home states."

The legislation, the Federal Health Care Nullification Act, would codify in state law that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act "is not authorized by the Constitution of the United States...is hereby declared to be invalid...shall not be recognized...is specifically rejected...and shall be considered null and void and of no effect" within the boundaries of any state enacting it. It also mandates that it “shall be the duty” of the State’s legislature “to adopt and enact any and all measures as may be necessary to prevent the enforcement.”

“The greatest problem with relying on lawsuits by state Attorney’s General for Constitutional protection is the reality that the Supreme Court has set years and years of bad precedent, allowing the federal government to control many aspects of our lives that the Founders and Ratifiers never authorized,” said Boldin. “The real question we must ask is this,” he continued, “Does the Constitution mean what the founders said it means, or does it mean what the Supreme Court says it means…until it changes its mind?”

“Like any legal document, the words of the Constitution mean today the same as they meant the moment it was ratified,” said Boldin. “The Commerce Clause, the General Welfare Clause and the Necessary and Proper Clause have not been amended, and the original Constitutional meanings of those clauses do not permit the federal government to exercise such powers.”

According to the Center, on a political level, the new health care reform legislation not only violates conservative principles by greatly enlarging federal power and control, but also is an affront to traditional progressive principles because it requires millions of people to their money to an industry that many liberals revile, and interferes with the ability of states and local communities from enacting their own health care programs as they see fit.

“It’s time to remind the federal government that We the People are in charge and not the other way around,” said Boldin. “Following the Constitution every issue, every time, without exceptions or excuses requires us to resist federal overreach and keeping our health care decisions where the Founders assured us that they’d be and where they belong…close to home.”

About the Tenth Amendment Center:

The Tenth Amendment Center, a Los Angeles-based think tank founded in 2006, acts as an educational forum on issues related to the 10th Amendment and Constitutional governance. http://www.tenthamendmentcenter.com/

Obama: No Fishing Permitted (March 22, 2010)

By Robert Montgomery - ESPNOutdoors

The Obama administration will accept no more public input for a federal strategy that could prohibit U.S. citizens from fishing the nation's oceans, coastal areas, Great Lakes, and even inland waters.

This announcement comes at the time when the situation supposedly still is "fluid" and the Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force still hasn't issued its final report on zoning uses of these waters.

That's a disappointment, but not really a surprise for fishing industry insiders who have negotiated for months with officials at the Council on Environmental Quality and bureaucrats on the task force. These angling advocates have come to suspect that public input into the process was a charade from the beginning.

"When the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) completed their successful campaign to convince the Ontario government to end one of the best scientifically managed big game hunts in North America (spring bear), the results of their agenda had severe economic impacts on small family businesses and the tourism economy of communities across northern and central Ontario," said Phil Morlock, director of environmental affairs for Shimano.

"Now we see NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) and the administration planning the future of recreational fishing access in America based on a similar agenda of these same groups and other Big Green anti-use organizations, through an Executive Order by the President. The current U.S. direction with fishing is a direct parallel to what happened in Canada with hunting: The negative economic impacts on hard working American families and small businesses are being ignored.

"In spite of what we hear daily in the press about the President's concern for jobs and the economy and contrary to what he stated in the June order creating this process, we have seen no evidence from NOAA or the task force that recreational fishing and related jobs are receiving any priority."

Consequently, unless anglers speak up and convince their Congressional representatives to stop this bureaucratic freight train, it appears that the task force will issue a final report for "marine spatial planning" by late March, with President Barack Obama then issuing an Executive Order to implement its recommendations — whatever they may be.

Led by NOAA's Jane Lubchenco, the task force has shown no overt dislike of recreational angling, but its indifference to the economic, social and biological value of the sport has been deafening.

Additionally, Lubchenco and others in the administration have close ties to environmental groups who would like nothing better than to ban recreational angling. And evidence suggests that these organizations have been the engine behind the task force since before Obama issued a memo creating it last June.

As ESPN previously reported, WWF, Greenpeace, Defenders of Wildlife, Pew Environment Group and others produced a document entitled "Transition Green" shortly after Obama was elected in 2008. What has happened since suggests that the task force has been in lockstep with that position paper.

Then in late summer, just after he created the task force, these groups produced "Recommendations for the Adoption and Implementation of an Oceans, Coasts, and Great Lakes National Policy." This document makes repeated references to "overfishing," but doesn't once reference recreational angling, its importance, and its benefits, both to participants and the resource.

Additionally, some of these same organizations have revealed their anti-fishing bias by playing fast and loose with "facts," in attempts to ban tackle containing lead in the United States and Canada.

That same tunnel vision, in which recreational angling and commercial fishing are indiscriminately lumped together as harmful to the resource, has persisted with the task force, despite protests by the angling industry.

As more evidence of collusion, the green groups began clamoring for an Executive Order to implement the task force's recommendations even before the public comment period ended in February. Fishing advocates had no idea that this was coming.

Perhaps not so coincidentally, the New York Times reported on Feb. 12 that "President Obama and his team are preparing an array of actions using his executive power to advance energy, environmental, fiscal and other domestic policy priorities."

Morlock fears that "what we're seeing coming at us is an attempted dismantling of the science-based fish and wildlife model that has served us so well. There's no basis in science for the agendas of these groups who are trying to push the public out of being able to fish and recreate.

"Conflicts (user) are overstated and problems are manufactured. It's all just an excuse to put us off the water."

In the wake of the task force's framework document, the Congressional Sportsmen's Foundation (CSF) and its partners in the U.S. Recreational Fishing & Boating Coalition against voiced their concerns to the administration.

"Some of the potential policy implications of this interim framework have the potential to be a real threat to recreational anglers who not only contribute billions of dollars to the economy and millions of dollars in tax revenues to support fisheries conservation, but who are also the backbone of the American fish and wildlife conservation ethic," said CSF President Jeff Crane.

Morlock, a member of the CSF board, added, "There are over one million jobs in America supported coast to coast by recreational fishing. The task force has not included any accountability requirements in their reports for evaluating or mitigating how the new policies they are drafting will impact the fishing industry or related economies.

"Given that the scope of this process appears to include a new set of policies for all coastal and inland waters of the United States, the omission of economic considerations is inexcusable."

This is not the only access issue threatening the public's right to fish, but it definitely is the most serious, according to Chris Horton, national conservation director for BASS.

"With what's being created, the same principles could apply inland as apply to the oceans," he said. "Under the guise of 'marine spatial planning' entire watersheds could be shut down, even 2,000 miles up a river drainage from the ocean.

"Every angler needs to be aware because if it's not happening in your backyard today or tomorrow, it will be eventually.

"We have one of the largest voting blocks in the country and we need to use it. We must not sit idly by."

Chatroulette.com is Dangerous to Your Health (March 15, 2010)

Consumer Alert: Parents Should Keep Children Away From new Video Chat Web Site Chatroulette.com

An increasingly popular Web site poses a threat to Texas children by giving users – including dangerous sex offenders – an opportunity to conduct live video chats with randomly selected participants.

Armed with only a Web camera and Internet access, www.chatroulette.com users are paired with a random stranger for a video chat. Neither a login nor registration is required before young users can be face-to-face with a total stranger. Worse, users who simply click “next” are shuffled to a new video chat partner.

An undercover investigation by the Cyber Crimes Unit revealed startling results. Nearly half of the randomly selected users encountered by Cyber Crimes investigators immediately exposed themselves and conducted sexually explicit acts on camera.

In light of the serious threat that children will be exposed to graphic sexual conduct, Texas parents should prohibit their children from accessing www.chatroulette.com. Although site users are supposed to be at least 16 years old, the rule is not clearly enforced – which means parents’ preventative role is particularly important.

Attorney General Abbott reminds parents to closely monitor their children’s Internet activities by using the following safety tips:

• Place the computer in a public room at home so that parents can monitor their children’s Internet use. Do not allow computers in a child’s bedroom or permit the use of Web cameras.

• Make sure children know never to agree to a face-to-face meeting with someone they meet online and never to divulge personal information to an Internet stranger.

• Stay informed. Surf the Internet with children or at least talk to them about the Web sites they are visiting.

• Establish ground rules for children’s Internet usage, including the hours they may surf and the kinds of Web sites they may visit. Post the rules near the computer.

A Texas Representative Worth Applauding (March 8, 2010)

Americans for Prosperity-Texas applauds Congressman Joe Barton (R-Fort Worth) for introducing a resolution which would block the Environmental Protection Agency from regulating greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act, something the Act was never designed to do. 

“Rep. Barton has taken a leadership role in blocking the EPA’s unacceptable regulatory overreach, and I urge other members of Congress to support his bill,” said AFP-Texas Director Peggy Venable.  “We consider the EPA action as just another Obama Administration end-run around Congress and the Constitution.”

Rep. Barton is ranking member, House Energy and Commerce Committee.  In addition to Barton,  Representatives John Boehner, R-Ohio (Republican Leader); Mike Pence, R-Ind.( Republican Conference Chairman);  Darrell Issa, ranking member, House Oversight and Government Reform; Frank Lucas, R-Okla, ranking member, Agriculture Committee; and Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn, House Energy and Commerce Committee.  The resolution currently has 79 co-sponsors.

“The EPA’s actions are unprecedented,” said Venable.  “The agency is inappropriately using the Clean Air Act to promulgate the so-called endangerment finding regarding carbon dioxide emissions would force millions of businesses, churches, schools and hospitals across the country to deal with the complex, time consuming and costly EPA permitting process for the first time”

“This proposal would literally shut down commerce as the private sector tries to figure out just exactly how it will be affected by the new regulations,” Venable said. “The EPA’s plan would also cripple state permitting agencies, which would be forced to implement the new unfunded mandate.”

The Congressional action comes just two weeks after Texas Governor Rick Perry, Attorney General Gregg Abbott and Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples filed a lawsuit against the EPA for attempting to regulate green house gases under the Clean Air Act.

“We are pleased that Texas is taking a leadership roll in the EPA fight, since we will be affected so disproportionately by these proposed regulations,” Venable said. “We're pleased that the state is suing to block the EPA, but the most direct action is for Congress to shut down the EPA’s overreach. The Clean Air Act was never intended to be the vehicle for global warming regulations.”

Texas Takes the EPA to Court of Global Warming Regulations (February 22, 2010)

AUSTIN – The Texas director of Americans for Prosperity applauds the decision of Gov. Rick Perry, Attorney General Greg Abbott and Agriculture Commission Todd Staples to challenge the federal Environmental Protection Agency’s attempts to enforce the Clean Air Act in Texas.

“Hats off to Governor Perry, Attorney General Abbott and Commissioner Staples for taking this step –  they are protecting citizens by challenging this rogue agency’s actions which do not fall within the EPA’s jurisdiction,” said AFP State Director Peggy Venable. “This is regulation without representation and represents an end-run around Congress.”

Venable had advocated for Texas leaders to take this step to challenge the EPA in the January 29, 2010 Lone Star Report article “The Feds are Messing With Texas”.  Venable’s full article is available by following this link: http://www.lonestarreport.org/CurrentNewsletter/FeaturedArticles/tabid/85/ctl/Detail/mid/462/xmid/320/xmfid/1/Default.aspx

Texas is the No. 1 energy producer in the country, so it is serious business when the federal government sets massive new energy policies. It affects a huge swath of the Texas population, which relies on the energy industry for jobs, and energy consumers across the nation.

“Texans are faced with the economic doom promised by the Waxman-Markey Cap-and-Trade bill. Now the unelected and unaccountable Environmental Protection Agency is issuing back-door climate regulations under the Clean Air Act,” Venable said.

AFP supports a full and vigorous debate about the state’s and the national environmental policies. But the EPA has sidestepped debate and gone directly to the regulations.

“We are excited to see our state’s leadership take a stand against this kind of unaccountable regulation,” Venable said. “Texas isn’t about to sit by and let the feds mess with Texas.”

Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison has signed onto the Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) legislation introduced late January which would overturn the EPA endangerment finding. 

“We are supportive of both actions taking place to stop this harmful regulation from moving forward,” said Venable. 

The Feds are Messing with Texas (February 16, 2010)

Texas is the number one energy producer in the country and a large sector of the Texas job market relies on energy. So do Texas consumers. It is serious business when the federal government sets massive new energy policies. In doing so, the feds are messing with Texas.

Texas consumers: prepare for a body blow. Unless it can be blocked, the feds are set to drop kick Texas’ prosperity in a big way.

Cap and trade legislation may be dead or on life support in the Congress but via the Environmental Protection Agency, the Administration has picked up the ball and is running with it. The only question now is whether or not they will make it to the end zone.

Back in June, the U.S. House passed a cap-and-trade energy tax bill, which would have capped our prosperity and traded our jobs to China.

Texans were paying close attention. The Waxman-Markey bill passed the House by a narrow 219 to 212 vote in June with 44 Democrats voting against the bill, among them Texas Reps.Cong. Chet Edwards (Dist 17), Solomon Ortiz (Dist 27) and Ciro Rodriquez (Dist 23). They joined every Texas Republican in the House opposing the bill.

The Lone Star Report blog had a good write-up following passage of the House plan which quoted Gov. Rick Perry slammed the legislation, saying that if passed in its current form, it would amount to "the largest tax increase in American history," and calling it a "pending meteor strike on the Texas economy."

Texas Department of Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples said the bill would cost Texas farmers up to $5 billion, and force the nation to outsource agriculture.

Martin Hubert of the Texas Comptroller's Office reported that 137,000 jobs in Texas would be lost by 2020 alone under the bill, and Workforce Commission Chairman Tom Pauken cited a Spanish study showing that when Spain tried a government-directed “green jobs” program, they destroyed 2.2 jobs in the private sector for every one they propped up with government subsidies.

Kathleen Hartnett-White from the Texas Public Policy Foundation, put it in perspective when she said Texans could pay seven times more in the carbon tax than most other states.

The Waxman-Markey bill is an energy tax, pure and simple. It will cost Texans jobs at a time the feds are claiming they want to create jobs, and it is punishing Texas disproportionately.

Fortunately, the Senate isn’t so hot about the global warming legislation.

But making an end run around Congress, the unelected and unaccountable Environmental Protection Agency is trying to issue back-door climate regulations under the Clean Air Act (CAA), something the Act was never designed or intended to do.

In December, Gov. Perry sent a letter to the EPA urging the ruling be withdrawn, especially in light of the recent “Climategate” scandal, which uncovered that data had been manipulated and destroyed in order to falsely show a preordained result. He claimed politics had hijacked science

He is right.

This issue deserves a full debate. But EPA has sidestepped debate and gone directly to the regulations, declaring that carbon dioxide and five other greenhouse gases are pollutants that “threaten public health and welfare,” the magic words that will allow the runaway bureaucracy to regulate to their heart’s content.

The scientific establishment has dropped the ball. Carbon dioxide is not a pollutant. On the contrary it makes crops and forests grow faster. We exhale carbon dioxide.

Americans for Prosperity and numerous other groups are fighting the regulations citing economic impact, and over 17,000 AFP activists filed comments to the EPA opposing the new regulations.

Only Congress can stop the EPA now and they must be held accountable if they do not.

There are currently several pieces of legislation that have been introduced in Congress that would preempt EPA’s ability to regulate greenhouse gasses under the CAA. Senator Murkowski (R-Alaska) has the most promising proposal, an expression of congressional disapproval, which has the power to block executive regulations if both chambers pass the bill and the president signs on. Due to parliamentary rules, the resolution only needs 51 votes in the Senate, something that is appearing more and more likely. The heavy lift for conservatives will be mustering the 218 votes to pass the resolution in the House. However, if Members of Congress don’t support a move to block EPA from strangling our economy, they must be held accountable. This is one of our last chances to stop EPA and our elected officials are the only ones we can duly influence.

Another approach being considered by Texas officials is suggested by AFP ally, attorney and physician John Dale Dunn who proposes attacking the EPA as a purveyor of bad science under federal statutes that prohibit junk science by agencies. The Rules of Good Science are published by the US Federal Judicial Center in a book called The Reference Manual on Scientific Evidence. Dunn points out that the pubic health research and claims of the EPA on greenhouse gas human effects do not meet the basic guidelines for good scientific evidence in a federal courtroom.

The Administrative Procedure Act provides a mechanism to take legal action against any agency for misconduct in its policy and science conduct. It is Dunn’s contention that the EPA consistently, constantly and consciously engages in cheating on the public health science rules in pushing public policies making alleging public health risk. He says the research results the EPA relies on is not adequate and fails the basic test for good scientific evidence. He also asserts claims that greenhouse gases are a threat to human welfare are not true.

Texas is unlikely to roll over and it is clear the EPA will aggressively move to impose harmful regulations.

With the EPA encroaching on the economy and using unsportsmanlike conduct in circumventing debate, it’s about time someone throws a flag.

The Tenth Amendment is There for a Reason (February 8, 2010)

Will 2010 be the year of the 10th? According to Tenth Amendment Center founder, Michael Boldin, "With people looking to resist D.C. through state laws on everything from national health care to medical marijuana, the 10th Amendment appears ready to be front and center in the national debate this year."

In 2009, seven states passed sovereignty resolutions under the 10th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. Two states passed laws nullifying some federal firearms laws and regulations. States with Medical Marijuana laws in direct opposition to federal laws reached thirteen. In 2010, some expect the ante to be raised significantly.

"Already, over a dozen states are considering laws or state constitutional amendments that would effectively ban, or nullify, any proposed national health care plan in their state, and we expect that number to reach at least twenty in 2010," said Michael Boldin, founder of the Tenth Amendment Center.  "In conjunction with 20+ states that have already said "No" to the Bush-era Real ID act, another dozen or more considering state laws to nullify federal gun laws, and the steady growth of states refusing to comply with federal marijuana laws, some might consider what we see today to be an unprecedented state-level rebellion to the federal government." 

The principle behind such legislation is nullification, which has a long history in the American tradition. When a state nullifies a federal law, it is proclaiming that the law in question is void and inoperative, or non-effective, within the boundaries of that state; or, in other words, not a law as far as the state is concerned.

"Nullification has been used to stand up for free speech, resist the fugitive slave laws, reduce tariffs and more.  It's a peaceful and effective way to resist the federal government, and might be our only hope for moving towards the constitution.  Legislators drawing this kind of line in the stand should be commended," said Boldin.

Grassroots activists around the country are looking to the Tenth Amendment and nullification to bolster their efforts too.  Tenth Amendment rallies are planned in at least 10 states before the end of January, including Virginia, Washington, Alabama and Texas.  "These aren't tea party protests, or tax protests, or any of the other topics that were popular last year," said Boldin.  "These are rallies solely in support of the 10th Amendment, State Sovereignty or Nullification - something that indicates a major shift from the grassroots, and shows potential for the growth of a popular mass movement in support of the Tenth."

A recent article in the New York Times included "Tenther" as a top buzzword for 2009. In response, Boldin said, "With people looking to resist D.C. through state laws on everything from national health care to medical marijuana, the 10th Amendment appears ready to be front and center in the national debate once again this year."

NOTE: The Tenth Amendment Center, a Los Angeles-based think tank founded in 2006, acts as an educational forum on issues related to the 10th Amendment and Constitutional governance. http://www.tenthamendmentcenter.com/

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