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Email information to
txpoliticstoday
@gmail.com
or text us a 512-431-5385
Texas Politics Today is designed to keep people who work in and around the Capitol informed about their colleagues -- elected officials, capitol staffers, lobbyists, association people and others who work there.
If you missed a previous newsletter or want to go back and refresh your memory about someone go to our Texas Politics Today
website where we have the newsletter archived by date.
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Editors Note: With the end of the legislative session coming soon, many of you will be moving on to other jobs, school, travel and various life adventures. Please be sure to send us your news so we can share it with the Capitol community.
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Quotes of the Week
"In the meantime, we hope that both the governor and the attorney general will seek treatment for an apparent problem with premature litigation."
Thomas Saenz, President and General Counsel of MALDEF, on the preemptive lawsuit filed by AG Paxton in anticipation of lawsuits against SB 4, the Sanctuary City bill.
"Last session these guys couldn't pass gas. Now they're running the floor."
Rep. Rafael Anchia on the influence of the House Freedom Caucus this session.
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Best Bill Bracket of the Session
HB 1300 by Springer:
"In addition to the purposes provided by Subsection (a), a municipality that has a population of not more than 10,000, that contains an outdoor gear and sporting goods retailer with retail space larger than 175,000 square feet,
and that hosts an annual wiener dog race may use revenue from the municipal hotel occupancy tax to promote tourism and the convention and hotel industry by..."
(h/t David Edmonson)
note: for those who may not be familiar with what a bracket is in legislation, its an effort to limit the effects of a piece of legislation to a specific entity, in this case a city in one legislator's district.
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Texas Politics Today
Sponsored By
An Austin, Texas based lobby firm specializing in public affairs and advocacy work in Texas for both corporate and non-profit organizations
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People on the Move
Joel Allison, the former president and CEO of Baylor Scott & White Health, will be the new chairman of Baylor University's board of regents.
Michael Williams, former TEA Commissioner, has been elected to be the Chairman of the board of directors for Texas Aspires. Williams will be replacing co-chairmen Jim Windham and Woody Hunt, who will remain on the board.
Stuart Bowen, the Inspector General at Texas Health and Human Services, resigned recently after stories appeared about his consulting arrangement with the government of Iraq.
R. G. Ratcliffe, a longtime fixture among journalists covering the Capitol has been named
the new Politics editor at Texas Monthly. R.G. will be writing the 10 Best and Worst Legislators biennial story so send your thoughts to him at rgratcliffe@texasmonthly.com.
John and Michelle Sneed, both have accepted job offers with Energy Sec. Rick Perry in DC. John worked for Perry at the Texas Department of Agriculture and recently retired as Executive Director of the State Preservation Board. Michelle was the COS to former First Lady Anita Perry.
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Shout Outs
Congratulations to former Reps.
Myra Crownover and
Terral Smith on their recent nuptials.
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Congratulations to
Ryan Murphy, Neena Satija,
and
Kiah Collier, of the Texas Tribune, who were selected as finalists for the Livingston Awards.
The Livingston Awards for Young Journalists honor the best reporting and storytelling by journalists under the age of 35 in print, broadcast and digital journalism.
Upcoming Birthdays:
May 19 --> Lindsey Howe Parham; May 22 --> Rep. Tan Parker; May 23 --> Rep. J.M. Lozano, Jennifer Deegan; May 24 --> Brad Westmoreland; May 26 --> Ann Erben, Randy Chapman; May 28 --> Becky Walker, Court Koenning, Emily Ramshaw Hartstein;
May 29 --> Sen. Charles Schwertner, Will McAdams; May 30 --> Rep. Hubert Vo
Correction:
Senator Kel Seliger's birthday is not May 29th as previously reported, but June 16th.
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In Our Thoughts
Our condolences to Rep. Chris Paddie and his family on the passing of his grandmother,
Mary Lou Paddie Deville
.
Read her obituary
here
Condolences to the friends and family of former Rep.
Lauro Cruz who passed away recently. Cruz was elected to the Texas State House of Representatives for District 115 in Houston and served three terms, from 1967 to 1971. He was the first Mexican-American legislator to be elected in Harris County since 1836. Read more
here.
Condolences to the friends and family of former Rep. Tom Moore, Jr. Moore served McLennan County in the Legislature and practiced law for over 70 years. His daughter, Margaret Moore, is the Travis County District Attorney.
Read more
here
.
Condolences to the family and friends of Peter Flawn, who passed away recently at the age of 91. Flawn served two terms as the President of the University of Texas at Austin.
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Politics
Texas Republican Party Chairman
Tom Mechler is expected to make an announcement Saturday, amid rumors that he is stepping down as Party Chairman.
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U.S. Sen.
John Cornyn announced that he is not interested in replacing James Comey as the FBI Director, ending a 48 hour speculation-thon about who Governor Abbott might appoint to take his Senate seat. Among those mentioned as appointees were Lt. Governor
Dan Patrick, US Reps
Michael McCaul and
Roger Williams, Land Commissioner
George P. Bush and Supreme Court Justice
Eva Guzman.
Former Rep.
Robert Miklos
has won a city council seat in Mesquite, TX. in the recent municipal election.
Former Rep. Dee Margo, who is running for Mayor of El Paso, is in a June 10th runoff for the position.
Matthew Dowd, former political operative to President George Bush, has announced he won't challenge incumbent U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz in 2018.
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Events
Sign up for the
Campaign Bootcamp, which will take place from
Friday, May 26 - Sunday, May 28
Belo Center for New Media
The University of Texas at Austin. Find out more info
here.
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The Texas Tribune will be hosting
A Conversation with UT System Chancellor William McRaven
on June 1st from 7:30 am - 9 am at the Austin Club. Find out more info here.
Register now
for the TX Conference for Women, an event on
Nov. 2nd in Austin featuring Viola Davis and Sheryl Sandberg.
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Engaging Stories
Coarse correction: How the Freedom Caucus changed the session's trajectory.
"
On Wednesday, Patrick did exactly what the Freedom Caucus hoped he would do and the Freedom Caucus was recast from hopeless outcasts to
The Dirty Dozen
, a grizzled and fearless band who had gone behind enemy lines and taken the hostage needed to carry the day." Read more
here.
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New Consultant Rule Looms Large
"This week, the Texas Ethics Commission will take up a proposed rule that could have serious consequences on how campaigns operate. The rule would create new requirements for candidate filers who use consultants. The commission has struggled with this issue in recent months, even though former chairman Jim Clancy volunteered to lead the charge as a pet project. Now in its 3rd iteration in at least 12 months of discussion, disagreement, and revision, the rule is set to be discussed yet again by the commission this week..." Read more
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From the
Houston Chronicle:
Eminent domain fight pits two of Texas' sacred cows against each other
"Property rights groups have tried for years to change state law to allow landowners to recover legal costs if their challenges in eminent domain cases succeed. A bill that would have done that during the 2015 session passed the Senate, but died in the House.
This session, landowners got behind proposed legislation that would have required utilities, pipeline companies and governments and utilities to reimburse legal fees if the special commissions of landowners assess values at 20 percent or more than the final offer..." Read more here.
From the
Austin American-Statesman:
At Capitol, eco stalwart Tom 'Smitty' Smith ushers in a successor
"Meet at the Capitol with Tom Smith, the bearded crusader with the white straw hat who has long worked the environmental angle on bills making their way through the Legislature, and it's hard to get through more than a few sentences without a passerby - a lawmaker or a lobbyist - patting him on the shoulder or waving hello. '
I thought you retired,' they say with a laugh, as if they expected Smith, known affectionately as Smitty in these corridors, never to bother, barter with or cajole them again..." Read more here.
From the
Austin American-Statesman:
Effort to shut lawmaker-to-lobbyist revolving door may fail once again
"When lobbyist John Otto walks into the Capitol, he passes Department of Public Safety troopers who draw their salaries from money appropriated by 2015's House Bill 1, the current state budget. As he walks down the pristine hallways, the lights are on, the elevators are running, and water flows from the water fountains, all thanks to HB 1. And when he reaches the office of..." Read more
here
.
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Miscellaneous
Andy Cates has a new blog that specifically provides updates on campaign and lobby laws. Here's the
link.
Kevin Stewart has a website devoted to analysis on Texas parliamentary procedures and trends in points of order. His link is
here.
Check out the
Texas Politics Project for internships with state reps, senators, the governor, lobbyists, and other organizations.
Follow these Twitter accounts to keep yourself updated on bills being considered and other news. @TXLegeBills and TXLegeBot
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Record Votes provides an in depth look at members' voting history. See the
Below are links to several
podcasts
on Texas politics and what's happening at the Capitol:
The
Legislative Reference Library
puts out a weekly report on topical issues (besides being the quietest place to do work in the Capitol). The latest is on their
website
.
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| Contact us at txpoliticstoday@gmail.com or text me a 512-431-5385 to let us know of other moves, birthdays, lobby sign ups, birth announcements, events, and happenings that you and your Capitol colleagues would like to read about. |
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