|
 |
Just as we all suspected, House Appropriations Chairman Warren Chisum has filed another motion to suspend the 60-day rule and will take up the fight tomorrow.
Just as none of us suspected, there's reportedly a deal in the works that could spell compromise between him and Rep. Jim Dunnam, who has the votes he needs to kill the suspension anytime someone brings it up.
Watch the House floor Thursday for an amendment with the names of some strange bedfellows at the top.
My former City Hall colleague Dave Levinthal and I went on a safari of sorts last night.
The exotic locale? The breathtaking 20th floor condo of State Rep. Tony Goolsby (R-Dallas), in Austin's Westgate Tower, which, with its endless supply of taxidermied zoo animals and meat-on-a-stick appetizers, was an herbivore's nightmare. (Mr. Goolsby kept with the theme, wearing an elephant and palm tree-printed tie).
The prey? A crowd of small-talking lawmakers, city council members, lobbyists and Dallas-area movers and shakers, who gave wide, welcoming smiles of recognition -- until they realized we were with the media, and not the children of someone important (Sorry, Dad).
Here's how we fared:
What we caught:
1) Rep. Brian McCall being referred to, more than once, as the "coulda-been speaker."
2) Rep. Terri Hodge awkwardly attacking Dallas Council Member Maxine Thornton-Reese over the city's effort to increase penalties for burglary of a motor vehicle to a state jail felony.
3) Rep. Allen Vaught pulling a ziplock bag of baby pictures (his son is a giant 7-month-old) out of his briefcase.
4) Sen. Royce West asking City Manager Mary Suhm how to get rid of a sexually oriented business located near his Dallas district office.
5) Rep. Goolsby pointing out the sharp teeth ("real!") of an enormous stuffed lion, shot and killed by his wife's father on a safari in "Botswanaland." ("They also got an elephant -- they made a coffee table out of one of its ears, and stools out of its feet. You know it's illegal now.")
For the record, Mr. Goolsby's condo -- which I quietly perused "in search of the coat room" -- is home to a number of other formerly-breathing, formerly African animals, most of which appear to be gazelles. But I could've sworn one of them was a giraffe.
Also Spotted: Rep. Rafael Anchia, Rep. Helen Giddings, Sen. Chris Harris, Sen. Craig Estes, Sen. Kip Averitt, Sen. Florence Shapiro, Council Member Ron Natinsky, mayoral candidate and Council Member Gary Griffith, Glenn White with the Dallas Police Association, former County Judge Margaret Keliher, Dallas' chief lobbyist Larry Casto.
The debate on the suspension of the rules today in the House brought to mind the Senate's now-famous "Rule of 21."
First made popular, of course, when Lt. Gov. Dewhurst revoked it during the Congressional redistricting fight and Dem senators' flight to Albuquerque.
Came to us next via Sen. Dan Patrick, a conservative R from Houston who ran - in part - on how much he hates the rule that lets the minority have some swat in the Senate.
He tried to revoke it a few weeks ago but got voted down 30-1.
The House vote that happened today, using only 34 votes to kill a routine motion to suspend the constution, gives the minority a little sway for a little while. So people were kind of buzzing about the Senate deal when someone noticed Sen. Dan Patrick on the House floor. Near the front. Shaking someone's hand, I forget who.
I didn't ask him what he was doing there, but could it really be a coincendence?
I mean ... really?
Nobody can get under the skin of the state GOP faster and better than Rep. Jim Dunnam, D-Waco.
He is to the Republicans what Tom Craddick is to the Democrats.
Calling him "Do-Nothing Dunnam" in a news release, GOP spokeswoman Hans Klingler said his actions against suspension of the rules this morning on the House floor were "reprehensible."
See? I told you they were mad.
This is the second press release the state GOP party has put out about Dunnam (just Dunnam) in, like, one week. One more and he could open a gallery.
"The taxpayers of this state want action on important items such as property tax relief, education funding and health care. Jim Dunnam obstructed the process when he went to Oklahoma and again today. Unfortunately, Dunnam’s “take my ball and go home” obstructionism is a victory for partisanship over leadership."
For the record, the gov wouldn't comment on this mess. But I'm guessing that if Jimmy Dunnam and his fellow Ds are managing to use THIS particular maneuver to block property tax relief .... yeah, the gov would step in and declare it emergency legislation.
I mean, I'm just guessing.
Tempers seriously flared on the House floor today. A couple of exchanges:
Chisum vs. Burnam
Rep. Lon Burnam, D-Fort Worth: "The reason we have such conflict is … the minority part has been totally disrespected for four years. The minority party has an opportunity to, all of us, join temporarily the Calendars Committee."
Rep. Warren Chisum, R-Pampa: "You bring up the issue of the minority party being mistreated somehow by the majority party. My feeling is, I generally served on the minority party. It is the purpose of the minority party to engage in the process and make it happen in a bipartisan manner. It is not the majority party....
"You’ve cut yourself off if you kill this deal here. In the minority party, you cut yourself out of being able to get your bills passed, and I encourage you not to do that."
Coleman vs. Branch
- Rep. Garnet Coleman, D-Houston stopped in front of the press table on the House floor today, fuming at a GOP chairman's on-mic threat that "minority party" members who voted against suspending the constitutional order of business were going to be cut out of the legislative process entirely.
Rep. Dan Branch, R-Dallas: "He's just acknowledging the reality."
Coleman: "Well then we can just keep beating ya'll at the polls, Mr. Branch."
Branch points toward Mr. Coleman and looks around at people standing nearby: "Now, THAT was being threatening."
Coleman and Craddick
Coleman: "Is it appropriate for a member of the House to threaten people on a vote based on the party that they may happen to be a part of, from the front mic?"
Craddick: "I wouldn't think so, Mr. Coleman."
Try as they might - and man, did they try - House leaders could not corral 120 of their members into blocking a procedural uprising that was hugely symbolic but in reality doesn't do much.
You coulda heard a pin drop in the House after that 108-34 vote. For about three beats, there was a shocked silence.
(Austin-centric koan for you: What's the sound of 108 jaws hitting the floor?)
The vote was about whether to suspend parts of the state constitution to let the House start debating bills on the House floor and in committee earlier than the constitution says. (March for bills on the floor and next week for House committees)
So unless they can turn the tide and vote again, any member who wants to bring a bill to the floor before March has to either get the governor's office to declare it an emergency or they've got to sweet talk a few people (mainly Dems).
It's that second part that's really REALLY got some of them p.o.'ed. What they'll tell you is that they're mad because the group of 34 is slowing down the process and will end up killing bills that are important to some districts.
That may be partly true, but I'm here to tell you that these guys don't do much on the House floor until March anyway - so it's not going to be a huge shift from the previous four sessions I've witnessed. They don't even start meeting full weeks until around April. They don't even meet on weekends until May.
I don't know - maybe they're not remembering that.
Tell you one thing, though: I haven't seen some of them this mad since Ardmore.
It's the national motto of the U.S., appears on all the nation's currency and soon it will be displayed prominently in the Texas Senate chamber. Senators unanimously adopted a resolution Tuesday to place the words "In God We Trust" on the message board at the front of the Senate chamber.
Sen. Dan Patrick, R-Houston, said the motto "sends a message to everyone who comes in this chamber." He also noted that senators may appreciate the words in the "long days ahead" in the current session, which ends in late May. Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston, a co-sponsor of the resolution, asked senators to remember the phrase as they vote on important issues affecting all Texans this year. "We don't want to get too caught up in symbolic issues," he said.
After the session, the four words will be etched in gold letters on the frieze above the Senate rostrum. House members approved a similar resolution for placement of the motto in their chamber last week.
One of the state's Young Republican Power Couples (the up-and-coming YRPC arm of the GOP) has figured out a way to grow their base by up to at least two.
Dierdre Delisi - Gov. Rick Perry's chief of staff - and her husband, Ted, a Republican consultant, are expecting twins.
Grandmom Dianne White Delisi says the twins are due in August and that Ted, her son, "is already shopping for double-strollers."
There's a cute joke in there somewhere, but it's cocktail time and I'm being summoned.
Meh. Depends on who you ask.
Some expected House Speaker Tom Craddick to be MUCH more punitive in his committee assignments than he was - although he did bust five chairmen who voted against him for speaker, but that wasn't a surprise.
But the committees still were unfairly stacked to railroad or kill legislation, a key Dem says.
With a weekend to mull over the new list, House Dem Caucus Chairman Jim Dunnam released his analysis today - and noted that the list of 40 chairmen includes fewer women and minorities than in past sessions.
Dunnam points out that Democrats, who picked up six seats last year, made no gains in chairmanships - they have 45 percent of the House but only 25 percent of the chairs. Republicans have solid (and sometimes super) majorities on the key committees; there are only five panels with D majorities, and some of the most critical committees - like Regulated Industries and Transportation - have only one or two Ds on them (out of nine members each).
Rural districts were largely left off the Public Ed committee, and border districts were largely left off the Border and International Affairs Committee. In fact, only one member of the Border committee is from the border - Rep. Tracy O. King, a Craddick Dem who was named chair of that panel.
Dunnam also says immigration issues are expected to go through the State Affairs committee - a panel that, he points out, lost two Hispanic members and now has only two minority members.
The Senate's two top budget writers sparred good-naturedly today over the $147.6 billion, two-year budget bill that was introduced by legislative leaders last week.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Steve Ogden, R-Bryan, said the "base bill" is only a starting point but is a pretty fair effort. Referring to Finance Committee Vice Chairwoman Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo, he said it's "what Senator Zaffirini referred to the other day in a press conference as probably the best base bill that we've ever had."
Just minutes earlier, Sen. Zaffirini had complained the bill doesn't fund the next step in a promise made last session to eliminate over 20 years the big waiting lists Texas has for in-home care of the mentally retarded and disabled.
The Democrat confirmed she had praised the bill. She then elaborated on what she meant: "We're starting the fight at a higher level."
Committee assignments are out.
Jim Pitts lost his chairmanship of Appropriations but stayed on Ways and Means, his seniority pick - despite, he says, efforts by the speaker's office to get him off that panel.
No word yet from speaker's office if that's true.
The House's Mexican-American Legislative Caucus sent Gov. Perry a letter on Friday demanding that he apologize for the “unfortunate” performance by Ted Nugent at his inaugural ball last week that reportedly included racially insensitive comments.
He was also wearing a confederate-flag shirt and reportedly had fake machine guns onstage. Just like he's always done. (Except in the '05 tour the guns were real.)
He's denied making the comments. No audio has been released – which is disappointing because there just aren’t enough live bootleg recordings of “Cat Scratch Fever” and I was sure I’d be able to get the cassette in the alley after the show.
Missed. Opportunity.
“We ask for an immediate and unequivocal apology directly from you for the
inappropriate conduct, offensive words, and indefensible actions exhibited by your
invited guest,” says the letter, signed by 23 House reps, all members of the Mexican-American Legislative Caucus.
Perry’s office answered back with a resounding, “Yeah, whatever,” and then added, “Bring it.”
Spokesman Robert Black said the confederate flag still flies over the airport in Laredo, smack in the middle of Rep. Richard Raymond’s district – but where’s the flap over that? Or, more importantly, the legislation banning it?
Raymond’s a MALC member, but it’s hard to tell if he signed the letter because I can’t read half the signatures. He couldn’t be reached Friday.
“The governor … is going to always come down on the side of freedom of expression” with regard to the confederate flag T-shirt, Black said.
In case you missed it, here's a little context from the Nuge.
We had lunch with the Lt. Gov. today. And when I say we, I mean myself, the News' illustrious Terry Stutz and the rest of the Capitol Press Corps, including several bouncy blond reporters ogling Mr. Dewhurst. And his tan. (And just for the record, there's no way he's that tan naturally. Have you all forgotten that we just emerged from an arctic ice age here in Austin, Texas?). A few thoughts on the luncheon, and Mr. Dewhurst's ex-wife, after the jump:
The best part was the meal -- a step up from hotel wedding food. Salad, and this fun chicken with an olive pesto rub, and asparagus and some fun couscous stuff. I sat two seats away from the Lt. Gov., close enough to eavesdrop and watch him eat (and absorb some of his glow) but not really close enough for a legitimate professional or political conversation. Not sure what got him on the subject of his ex-wife; must've been the budget surplus. The greatest line of the day: "She thought as long as there were checks in the checkbook there was still money in the bank."
The Lt. Gov. must not like iced tea, because he was the only person in the room who got served soda instead. He passed on bread (a low-carb diet?) and dessert, but the dessert (yum...strawberry shortcake) may have been because he had to get up and speak to us.
And speak he did. About sex offenders (lock 'em up). About prisons (we may need more space -- but we also need better rehab). About steroid use in high schools (we need a major deterrent.) I tuned out on some of the others because, as I said, the shortcake was delish.
But I did walk away with one tidbit of important information: Dude's observant -- and holds a grudge. He must've razzed Terry 15 times about a press conference he didn't report on earlier this week.
I'm hearing on good authority from three reliable sources that Rep. Leo Berman, R-Tyler, has been tapped to lead the House Elections Committee.
Berman won't comment on whether he asked for that post or whether he's been tapped for it.
And I still haven't heard from the Republican rep who has taken bullets for Speaker Craddick in the past and, reportedly, thought he was getting that post.
Why is this interesting?
Berman, if you'll recall, is the legislator who wants Texas to take "birthright citizenship" to court with the goal of stripping away the right to automatic citizenship for children born to illegal immigrants.
One piece of legislation that goes through Elections, formerly headed by Rep. Mary Denny, is the one requiring a picture ID to vote. Advocates for immigrants, the elderly and the poor don't like this because they say it preys on those populations - making it more difficult to exercise their rights to vote.
Berman's proposed legislation got a chilly reception from the guv, who found it "divisive," sparking a war of words between Perry and Berman. If Berman gets put in this spot - where he can mess with leadership favorites like February presidential primaries, just to name an example - that would be a thorn in some people's sides.
Nobody's saying he will, of course, or that they need Leo Berman to pass a Voter ID bill - since they did that last time (and it died in Senate). And since House members are getting bolder and bolder about throwing out legislation in amendments on the floor and bypassing committee altogether in recent years.
But if it's true, it'll be great fun to watch.
To keep leading the House, Speaker Tom Craddick had to make sure at least 75 House members were happy - he surpassed it and got 80.
But now, three weeks later, he's going to need the votes of 120 members to be able to start bringing bills to the floor for debate before the beginning of March (it's in the constitution and usually suspended). If 31 members say no, then any legislation will that’s not labeled an emergency by the governor will have to get the approval of 120 members before it can be voted on.
What does this have to do with committee assignments? It's all about timing.
The vote on the constitution takes place on Tuesday.
If they vote it down, legislation gets slowed waaaay down. The first week in March, that goes away. But then deadlines start looming – and the minority position (whether it’s by party or by loyalty) in the House has begun to get very good at gumming up the works. Session ends in May, whether anything gets done or not.
The timing of committee assignments, then, is interesting. Rep. Robert Talton, the Republican House chairman who defected from Craddick's camp during the speaker race, says Craddick opponents (and some supporters who feel slighted) are in a good bargaining position to avoid retailation.
It could also delay the committee assignments until after the vote, he said. For the record, Talton has no problem voting down the suspension on Tuesday. He’s expected to get busted from his chairman position.
“If the assignments have already been done (on Tuesday), then he has nothing to bargain with,” Talton said. “There’s nothing you can do, you’ve already done it to whoever you could. And now you want us to do what?!”
Talton said he had heard that Craddick supporters were already “unhappy” with some of their assignments – which have yet to officially come out.
“If it doesn’t come out the way they think, you’ll have more members that are dissatisfied, and dissatisfaction leads to them going and talking to others,” he said. “All of us have different parameters for getting dissatisfied. This is going to be step (toward that) for some members.”
House Speaker Tom Craddick isn't going to assign House committees this afternoon, as expected, because he's still meeting with members, his spokeswoman Alexis DeLee said this morning.
The highly anticipated assignments typically come out around this time in the session, and were expected at noon today. But the ice storm and other delays have made the process more time-consuming than expected, Ms. DeLee said.
She said her office doesn't know if they'll be released tomorrow, or if members will have to wait until next week to start meeting in their committees.
"We're working to get it done as quickly as possible and we'll get those out as soon as we can," Ms. DeLee said.
There was a minor flare-up from Ted Nugent’s appearance at Gov. Rick Perry’s inaugural ball last week, because that rock-and-roll maniac wore a confederate-flag T-shirt and had fake weapons on stage.
Right or wrong? Not our call.
But surprised? Not us.
I found an old interview with him - largely unpublished, for some insane reason - in my many thousands of bandwidth-(or something)-hogging files. A victory for pack rats everywhere. I'm lookin at you, Choppe. There's a method to the madness.
Lemmetellya. The phone interview was like drinking out of a fire hydrant.
(and actually, the reason is probably that it wasn't as relevant two years ago. Just guessing.)
More below:
Ted Nugent is and always has been over-the-top rabble-rouser who delights in shocking people. And he told reporters he was restraining himself this time.
His 2005 tour set featured a bunker, air horns, automatic weapons on stage, and the Nuge himself screaming out the Pledge of Allegiance, and then shooting a 12-foot Saddam Hussein (rising up behind the amps) through the heart with a crossbow.
I interviewed him on the phone in January 2005 for a story about how he was playing a benefit in Crawford, where he lives, to help pay for the high school students there to go to Gov. Bush’s ' inauguration that month.
The Motor City Madman was going to play Gov. Rick Perry’s party there, along with ZZ Top, but cancelled at the last minute for health reasons. Even in 2005 he was vowing to get Perry re-elected. It’s on the transcript.
Choice cuts from the transcript, which I dug up today for nostalgia’s sake:
Describing his 2005 stage show (in a cackling, growling, laughing voice):
- He says that the introduction to the stage show, featuring Ray Charles’ recording of “America the Beautiful” is so powerful, that anyone who isn’t truly moved by its performance should "go back to Guatemala and re-learn to wipe your a** with your hand.”
- As Ray’s voice is slowly “decaying” in the last stanza, he comes “exploding” onto the stage with his Gibson guitar, howling, screaming “like an angry pterydactyl flying up the *** of some gay picnickers.”
- “We’re only five seconds into the show. I’m screaming the Pledge of Allegiance, challenging people to take off their hats, take the **** out of their lips and say it with me like they mean it. The stage is aglow with machine guns and bows and arrows and elk skulls and buffalo skulls, the air-raid sirens are going berserk.”
- “Our stage set is all sandbags, two dozens machine guns on stage … it’s a wonderful set but particularly in New York and Chicago, where my stage is a felony.”
On politics:
- “We’ll sell it out and raise the money they need, and they can go to Washington and say, ‘Hey, we’re the president’s neighbors and we’re putting our heart and soul into music. There’s a number of statements being made here… Number one, we have great local pride _ contrary to the hippie statement of the iconoclast editor and local (liberals) who wish that Japan would have taken over the world. … They’re one-flew-over-the-Michael-Moore-is-Cuckoo’s-Nest rejects. War isn’t the answer?! Yeah maybe we can tell the Jews that. Do you realize how retarded that is? So I’m here to say, pay close attention, it’s (that) war is the answer. It’s how we stop evil, ya ****in’ idiots.”
-“I’m just a guitar player… I am political every day because politics must be exposed and embraced and celebrated as the function of the We-the-People experiment in self government! Duh! Of course you’ve got to be political. Political is voting, political is caring, political is going to school and say, you know, the children who are graduating from this building should probably be able to speak. You might want to teach them how to write. That’s being political.”
Getting the picture?
Former White House press secretary and Austin native Scott McClellan has probably faced tougher interrogators, but none who's ridiculed his non-responses as publicly and as often as comedian/faux newscaster Jon Stewart.
Tonight: Scotty's chance for revenge.
He will appear on "The Daily Show" with Mr. Stewart at 10 p.m. Central time on the Comedy Central channel, according to Mark Sanders, erstwhile spokesman for McClellan's mother, former Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn.
Scores of House Democrats today urged repeal of a tighter eligibility and enrollment procedure that the Legislature grafted onto a popular health program for children four years ago.
“It’s just flat the right thing to do,” said freshman Rep. Paula Hightower Pierson, D-Arlington.
She and freshman Rep. Allen Vaught, D-Dallas, knocked off GOP incumbents last fall after pledging to reverse a sharp enrollment decline in the Children’s Health Insurance Program.
But while Democrats picked up six seats in the House last year, they’re still not running the show.
And one of the Republican leaders who has cast himself as a defender of the program for children in working poor families, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, said he favors retention of a requirement that parents apply for the coverage every six months. Until 2003, coverage lasted a year.
“I don’t think most people in Texas have a lot of sympathy for someone that can’t fill out a two-page application every six months,” said Mr. Dewhurst, the Senate’s presiding officer.
Just got out of a presser where Charles "Doc" Anderson, a state rep from McLennan County and ally of Dallas Mayor Laura Miller's in coal plant opposition, announced he's filing a bill to ask for a 180-day moratorium on new coal plant permits.
The bill -- which comes in the form of a non-binding resolution -- will, at the very least, take the pulse of the House on the coal plant issue, which has heated up in recent months with TXU's plans for several more across the state. Lawmakers also expect it to open the door for a more detailed energy debate this session, which could include tax incentives for clean energy options.
The two wholesalers who control 90 percent of the booze market in Texas have launched a full-court press to grab the market for sales to restaurants and bars.
According to ethics filings released last week, Dallas-based Glazer’s Distributors and San Antonio’s Republic Beverage Co. dumped nearly $1.7 million on lawmakers in the weeks leading up to the Legislature.
What do they want? Since the 1970s, when Texas legalized liquor sales by the drink, restaurants and clubs have had to get their booze from package stores. Package stores, in turn, buy from wholesalers. The wholesalers want to cut out the middle man.
Reporter Robert T. Garrett will report in tomorrow's paper (but you can get a sneak peek today) that the company's contributions are five times greater than in the entire year leading up to the 2005 Legislature.
“It shows that in Texas we have a pay-to-play system,” said Suzy Woodford of Common Cause Texas, which tracks ethics in government. “We have no limits on the amount of money that these individuals, their PACs and their officers can contribute. So it clearly demonstrates to the average Joe that if you don’t have the big bucks … the item you care about is not even going to be considered.”
Go to the jump to see how much lawmakers got.
Liquor wholesalers recently gave nearly $1.7 million to Texas lawmakers in an apparent move to cut in on the business of selling booze directly to restaurants and bars. Top recipients of the campaign contributions include:
-- $100,000: Gov. Rick Perry
-- $100,000: House Speaker Tom Craddick
-- $75,000: Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst
-- $40,000: Sen. Kim Brimer, R-Fort Worth, chairman of the Sunset Advisory Commission, which recently reviewed whether to extend the life of the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission.
-- $40,000: Sen. Troy Fraser, R-Horseshoe Bay, chairman of the Senate business and commerce committee
-- $40,000: Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston, dean of the Senate and member of Sunset Advisory Commission.
-- $20,000: to 23 of 31 senators
-- $10,000: to 26 House members, including 9 committee chairmen
-- $6,000: to 27 House members
-- $4,500: to 9 House members
-- $3,000: to 39 House members
-- $1,500: to 17 House members
SOURCE: Texas Ethics Commission filings. Three other senators and 11 other House members received contributions in different amounts, ranging from $1,000 to $15,000 each.
Gov. Rick Perry, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and the Senate paid tribute Tuesday to the late Sen. Frank Madla of San Antonio, who perished last November in a house fire that also killed his granddaughter and mother-in-law. Mr. Madla, who would have been 70 on Tuesday, served 20 years in the House and 12 years in the Senate before he was defeated for re-election in 2006.
During a memorial ceremony in the Senate chamber, Mr. Perry, Mr. Dewhurst and Sen. Eddie Lucio of Brownsville recalled Mr. Madla's accomplishments as a lawmaker and a representative for San Antonio. "People say what they want about politics, but when Frank Madla said he would be there, he was there," Mr. Dewhurst said. "He had a heart as big as the State of Texas."
The final report from the Tom Pauken-led task force on property appraisals releases its report this afternoon in a presser with Gov. Perry. Quorum Report's Harvey Kronberg obtained an early copy, which reveals few, if any, surprises.
Some highlighted recommendations:
• Require voters’ approval for government spending to increase more than 5 percent year-over-year.
• Reform the property appraisal process by establishing minimum qualifications for appraisal board members and taking other steps to protect property owners.
• Require taxing entities to give taxpayers more specific and explicit information in their bills.
• Require the comptroller to give taxpayers better information about their rights -- notably their rights to appeal -- under the tax code.
• Change the makeup of the appraisal boards to include taxpayer representatives.
• Prohibit legislative actions that are in effect unfunded mandates – services that the state requires local governments to perform but does not fund. One example: Requiring school districts to lower the student-teacher ratio without providing additional money to hire more teachers.
• Require the disclosure of property sales prices. A lack of disclosure is thought to have depressed the taxable value of property, especially on high-end residential and commercial property.
Our Karen Brooks reports from the House floor that Austin power couple Mark Strama and Crystal Cotti are proud parents at last.
Victoria Rose Strama, their first child, was born Monday night. Vital statistics: Six pounds, two ounces.
Her dad is a House Democrat in his second term. Mom covers Austin City Hall for Lyndon B. Johnson's old TV station in the state capital, KTBC Fox Channel 7. All three were reported to be doing well.
Donna Howard dazzled, while Norma Chavez varoomed.
Both wore eye-catching garments on the House floor today. Ms. Howard, D-Austin, wore a bright green jersey of high school football powerhouse Southlake Carroll, winner of the state Class 5A Division I title last month over Austin Westlake. "I'm honoring my word," she said of a bet she lost to Rep. Vicki Truitt, R-Keller. Ms. Truitt also won House passage of a resolution declaring Tuesday "Carroll Dragons Day" at the Capitol.
Ms. Chavez wore a leather motorcycle jacket as she welcomed hundreds of motorcycle riders on their lobby day. "I'm the riding representative," said the Harley-owning lawmaker.
Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston, filed two bills today targeting wrongful convictions in Texas: one to create an innocence commission to investigate these cases, the other to boost the compensation for wrongfully convicted inmates released to the public.
Innocence commissions have gained popularity around the country. But no one's getting overly excited yet in Texas -- Mr. Ellis has filed identical legislation in past sessions, to no avail. Opponents say a state innocence commission would be a front for attempts to ban the death penalty.
Mr. Ellis' second bill would raise compensation for wrongfully convicted inmates to $50,000 per year of incarceration, or $100,000 per year served on death row, with no cap. Currently, Texas grants wrongfully convicted inmates $25,000 per year of incarceration, and caps out at $500,000.
You can read about Dallas County's DNA exonerations in today's print or online edition.
Ted Nugent is speaking up to deny he said anything objectionable at Gov. Perry's inaugural ball last week. He was on Dallas radio station WBAP with talker Mark Davis this morning to say his 90-minute performance at the Austin Convention Center was strictly PG and that he saw nothing but smiles from those in attendance.
In case you missed it, some attendees said the Nuge shouted unspecified offensive remarks about non-English speakers. At least one Republican strategist said Mr. Nugent was "a terrible choice" for the gala.
Mr. Nugent wrote on his website this weekend that he said nothing offensive: "Our film of the entire show is conclusive irrefutable evidence that not a single (English) word out of my all American mouth made any reference whatsoever to the English language or anyone using or not using it. My (our universal) logic stand is surely well known, but not a word on this subject was uttered this night. The media & all my critics are lying sacks of [expletive]. I am so very proud."
Sen. Mario Gallegos of Houston was in good condition this morning after receiving a liver tranplant late Friday evening. His physician said he passed the crucial 48-hour mark after the surgery without problems and will remain hospitalized for a few days.
Although the operation came sooner than anticipated, Dr. Joseph Galati of Houston said the senator "has not received special treatment, nor did he need any. Organs are allocated on rigid criteria based on medical need. He is fortunate that a compatible organ became available." The Houston Democrat is expected to have a smooth recovery and resume his duties in the Senate as early as next month.
Gov. Perry was in Washington today on a hush-hush visit to congressional Democrats. Yes, Democrats.
Our own Todd J. Gillman snooped the story out and was there alone. The host was the dean of the Texas delegation, Solomon Ortiz of Corpus Christi. In the photo above, he's arriving with Dem Eddie Bernice Johnson of Dallas.
Todd says Mr. Perry got an earful. You can bet he heard a lot about redistricting and the state's payments to Republican-connected lobbyists.
Now that Democrats run things in D.C., Mr. Perry wanted to stress that it's time to smooth things over and work together for better highway funding and other needs.
Here's an early copy of his story for tomorrow's paper.
In other news, the governor's peeps announced they have dumped the forementioned Republican-connected lobbyists. Read the jump for Todd's account of that.
Here's a piece of the release just out from Texas House Dems leader Jim Dunnam:
"Well, it's about time. House Democrats have been calling on Governor Perry, Speaker Craddick and Lt. Governor Dewhurst to cancel these exorbitant and unnecessary lobby contracts since 2003, when we first offered legislation to stop wasting more than $1.1 million state taxpayer dollars on two Abramoff/DeLay cronies."
By TODD J. GILLMAN
Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON - Gov. Rick Perry has canceled a pair of controversial state contracts with GOP lobbyists, bowing to the realities of a Democrat-controlled Congress.
Texas Democrats had long complained about the contracts with the Federalist Group and Cassidy & Associates, which were hired to push Texas legislative priorities and purportedly to work with the state’s entire congressional delegation. Both firms were hired for their ties to GOP leadership, though, and when Congress changed hands in the November elections, that no longer seemed like much of a selling point.
The chief lobbyist on the Federalist contract was Drew Maloney, former chief of staff to Tom DeLay - long the nemesis of Texas Democrats as the architect of a mid-decade redistricting that tipped a half-dozen House seats into the hands of Republicans. At Cassidy, the principal lobbyist for Texas has been Todd Boulanger, who worked with disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff - a close DeLay ally - and reportedly touted his ties to Bush adviser Karl Rove in pitching the contract to the governor’s office three years ago.
During the 2006 campaigns, even as he accepted Texas taxpayers’ money purportedly to work with the entire Texas delegation, Mr. Maloney actively raised money to defeat two senior Democratic House members, Martin Frost of Dallas and Charlie Stenholm of Abilene.
Cassidy’s contract is worth $15,000 per month. The Federalist Group gets $10,000 per month. Combined they have collected about $900,000 from the state.
Perry spokesman Robert Black said Friday that the firms were told in a Jan. 12 letter that their contracts were being terminated. Democratic members of the Texas congressional delegation learned of the move Thursday night, and were pleased.
“We recognize that Congress has changed and we’re going to look for other avenues where we can have an effective voice for Texas up there, in addition to our elected officials,” Mr. Black said.
E-mail tgillman@dallasnews.com
Anybody smell a cover-up?
Experts at Texas A&M are saying the dozens of birds found dead along Congress Avenue last week died of natural causes -- parasites and dropping temperatures. The results, following 9 bird-topsies, jibe with authorities' assertion that it wasn't the Avian Flu. But here's what doesn't track: they seemed to think last week that the birds had been poisoned. And they kept saying there had been no changes in weather that would've led to such a dramatic bird-kill.
It turns out our very own Erich Schlegel, who attended the ball on assignment Tuesday night, had an image or three of Uncle Ted and his Rebel Flag shirt.
Because we're just that curious, we went hunting for video of the Nugent performance. Didn't find it, but we did find video of Gov. Perry singing and dancing (you need to have a Yahoo account) to "Sweet Home Alabama" with Clay Walker.
We're no Simon Cowell, but we vote against a golden ticket to Hollywood for the foot-stompin' guv.
Disputing the origins of the hamburger is exhilarating, at least according to Rep. Betty Brown, R-Athens. Today, she recounted her exciting week -- "great fun," she said -- in an email to constituents. Her little-noticed resolution declaring Athens as the "Original Home of the Hamburger" landed her on a national cable-TV news channel.
Ms. Brown apparently relished her on-air debate with the mayor of New Haven, Conn., a rival claimant to burger-birthdom. They appeared on Fox News' "Fox and Friends". In today's email, she quoted Dallas Cowboys founder and Athens resident Clint Murchison Jr. as saying that if Connecticut can "get away with claiming the invention of the hamburger sandwich, they'll be going after chili con carne next."
This, off the wire today, shows why instrumental might be the way to go when picking music for political galas: The Nuge apparently thought Gov. Perry's inaugural ball wouldn't be complete without faux firearms, Confederate flags and slurs some in the audience found offensive.
Go to the jump for the story.
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Hours after Gov. Rick Perry kicked off his second full term in office, Ted Nugent helped him celebrate at a black-tie gala, but not all attendees were pleased by the rocker’s performance.
Using machine guns as props, Nugent, 58, appeared onstage as the final act of the inaugural ball wearing a cutoff T-shirt emblazoned with the Confederate flag and shouting offensive remarks about non-English speakers, according to people who were in attendance.
Perry’s spokesman, Robert Black, downplayed the Tuesday-night incident.
“Ted Nugent is a good friend of the governor’s. He asked him if he would play at the inaugural. He didn’t put any stipulation of what he would play,” Black said.
Others said the appearance was inappropriate.
“I think it was a horrible choice,” GOP strategist Royal Masset said. “I hope nobody approved it.”
Nugent, a hunting and gun-rights advocate, couldn’t be reached for comment Thursday because he was hunting, a spokeswoman said.
News of Nugent’s appearance drew criticisms from civil-rights leaders.
“Whenever someone sports the Confederate battle flag, many Texans will be offended, and rightly so, because of what it symbolizes — the enslavement of African-Americans and more recently the symbol of hate groups and terrorists,” said Gary Bledsoe, president of the Texas chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
Because there's so much bad weather and not much for them to do.
These are the folding chairs that are still out in front of the Capitol building after the freeze (and yes, Emily, it was a BITTER COLD) drove the inauguration inside yesterday.
But won't it make a great campaign mailer during the next election??
"Where was YOUR REPRESENTATIVE during this important vote?!"
Want to add a name to the list of unexpected contributors to Speaker Tom Craddick's reelection campaign? Dallas Mayor Laura Miller.
Ms. Miller's latest campaign expenditures -- trolled with fingers of fury by my former City Hall deskmate Dave Levinthal -- indicate she spent $2,000 on a catered dinner party for the speaker and his wife Nadine at Dallas' luxurious and legendary downtown Neiman Marcus.
Ms. Miller, who spent Wednesday digging out from far more than snow and ice (try a sewage leak in her Preston Hollow home) said November's dinner for 30 followed a day spent showing Mr. Craddick around downtown, where she and UNT Chancellor Lee Jackson lobbied him for a new law school in the inner city. The law school, which passed the Senate last session, got held up in the House.
Mary Wilson, founding member of The Supremes, Stop!p-ed by the House floor today in the name of music. She’s on a nationwide tour for the Golden Globes, the new movie “Dreamgirls,” a new book and – last night – the governor’s inauguration ball.
Today she was in the Capitol promoting the Truth in Music bill, sponsored by several state reps, which makes it illegal for cover bands to tour under the original group’s name without a disclaimer.
The national Vocal Group Hall of Fame, which is pushing the legislation in states across the nation, is using the inimitable Bowzer (Jon Bauman of Sha-Na-Na) as the chairman of its Truth in Music committee.
For Ms. Wilson's effort in Texas, she's being represented by attorney Geoff Connor, former secretary of state. And she was escorted to the Capitol today by former Rep. Ron Wilson, an entertainment attorney in Houston who drove her up to the west steps in his black Hummer and walked her to the House floor in his signature black-and-silver trench coat and black wrap shades.
This apparently happens in Vegas, Branson, and low-budget cruise ships more than it does in Texas. Not likely that a real Texan is going to be duped by a fake Willie. In fact, I think that may be part of the True Texan Citizenship Exam.
I’m just guessing.
p.s. No, this won't stop your neighborhood bar band from playing "Mustang Sally" and "Brown-Eyed Girl" yet again. Sorry to disappoint....
State Rep. Betty Brown's seemingly harmless bill to declare Athens as "original home of one of the nation's favorite foods, the hamburger" has sparked a battle royale (with cheese; sorry, couldn't resist.) that now involves three states.
First came a Connecticut restaurant owner to dispute Athens' claim. See this story.
And now comes a lawmaker in Wisconsin who says the hamburger was invented in Seymour, Wis., just west of Green Bay.
According to AP, Democratic State Rep. Tom Nelson is proposing a resolution not unlike Ms. Brown's in Texas. “Seymour is the hamburger capital, period,” Nelson said.
And there were fightin' words from Seymour Mayor Harold Pingel, who says Athens' claim to the hamburger is "bologna." Indeed, Seymour's hamburger legend appears to predate Athens' by almost two decades.
According to AP: "On its Web site, Seymour says Charlie Nagreen created the first hamburger in 1885 at the Seymour Fair. Each August, Seymour’s Burger Fest attracts thousands of people for such features as the Ketchup Slide, a parade and the Bun Run."
Not only that: Seymour also claims a record for the largest burger -- 8,000 pounds.
Read the jump for the text of Ms. Brown's bill and Athens' claim to hamburger history.
80R583 MMS-D
By: Brown of Kaufman H.C.R. No. 15
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, Athens, Texas, boasts a strong claim to being the
original home of one of the nation's favorite foods, the hamburger;
and
WHEREAS, Although accounts differ as to the origins of this
American classic, the staff at McDonald's management training
center has traced its beginnings back to the 1904 St. Louis World's
Fair, where it was sold by a vendor on the midway; a reporter for the
New York , writing about the fair, made note of the new
sandwich in an article and commented that it was the vendor's own
creation; and
WHEREAS, The vendor, Fletcher Davis, had moved from Missouri
to Athens in the 1880s to take a job at the Miller pottery works;
Mr. Davis had a flair for preparing food and usually served as chef
at his employer's picnics; when the business slowed down in the late
1800s, he opened a lunch counter on the courthouse square, where he
sold the sandwich that would become such a staple of the U.S. diet;
and
WHEREAS, Although it was served with slices of fresh-baked
bread instead of a bun, this early version of the hamburger was then
much like it is today and contained ground beef, ground mustard
mixed with mayonnaise, a large slice of Bermuda onion, and sliced
cucumber pickles; customers could also enjoy fried potatoes, served
with a thick tomato sauce; when the journalist from the was
told that Mr. Davis had learned to fix potatoes in that manner from
a friend in Paris, Texas, he misunderstood and described the item to
his readers as french-fried potatoes; and
WHEREAS, According to a nephew of Mr. Davis's, the new
sandwich acquired its name during the potter's sojourn in
St. Louis; one theory holds that local residents of German descent
may have named the sandwich after the city of Hamburg, whose
citizens had a special affinity for ground meat; each June,
residents of Athens celebrate the hamburger's origins in their
community with Uncle Fletch's Burger and Bar-B-Q Cook-Off; and
WHEREAS, A century after the hamburger debuted on the
national stage, it has become one of the best-loved foods in
America; its economic impact is no less evident than its
popularity: the immense volume of the burger business helps to
drive the beef and grain industries and supports the employment of a
substantial workforce; and
WHEREAS, The connection between Athens, Fletcher Davis, and
the famed hamburger of the St. Louis World's Fair has been well
documented, and it is fitting that the town's role in the history of
that all-American sandwich be appropriately recognized; now,
therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the 80th Legislature of the State of Texas
hereby formally designate Athens, Texas, as the Original Home of
the Hamburger.
Let me start this post -- a recap of yesterday's inauguration -- with some snotty East Coast sarcasm about the "arctic blast" (30 degrees?) and "icy mix" (can you say 'cold rain') and "dangerous conditions" (some slush on some bridges) paralyzing this city. But if you're going to complain about the weather and STILL come to inauguration, a word of advice: Leave the high heels at home.
I can't tell you how many big-haired women on Perry's big day refused to don boots or winter jackets, perched on these elegant Marc Jacobs and Stanley Korshak heels that normally are just extensions of their feet. They looked about as comfortable as if they were standing on stilts, shuffling sideways up and down the Capitol steps. (Perry's own daughter was wearing incredible heels that I swear were five inches high; I said a little prayer for her as she climbed up beside him for his swearing in.)
Then there were those who were so tied to their winter fashion that they wouldn't part with it. The barbeque tent was a sight to behold -- there's nothing more carnivorous than a woman, decked in animal skins from head to toe, gnawing on some brisket gristle. I saw one particularly trendy woman holding a dripping rib daintily between two fingers -- without taking off her red leather gloves.
Speaking of fashion, there was one particularly well-dressed individual in the audience: Mark Lunsford, father of 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford, who was abducted, assaulted and killed in 2005 in Florida. Mr. Lunsford, tuxedo-clad, came to Tuesday's inauguration at the request of Lt. Gov. Dewhurst, whose speech revolved around his plans for a hyped up, death-penalty inclusive version of Jessica's Laws in Texas.
Which brings up a point that's always bothered me about inaugural and campaign speeches -- elected officials always have people stationed in the audience to point out. Do you think they write the speech, and then twist arms to get these props into the audience? ("Mr. Lunsford, I've got this speech, and I think it would really add a lo
