The Dallas-based law firm of Haynes and Boone saw two of its partners tapped by Speaker Joe Straus recently to serve on the Sunset Advisory Commission: Rep. Rafael Anchia, D-Dallas; and Lamont Jefferson of San Antonio (right), the brother of...
House Speaker Joe Straus has warned that an increasingly nasty GOP gubernatorial primary contest between incumbent Rick Perry and U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison could hurt Republicans, fuel partisan passions and make it harder to close a state budget shortfall...
Former George W. Bush adviser Karen Hughes has signed on as one of two "strategic counselors" to Texas House Speaker Joe Straus as he seeks re-election and girds for the next session of the Legislature, Straus' office announced this afternoon....
Texas House Speaker Joe Straus, R-San Antonio, has $1.2 million in the bank and 123 pledges of support for re-election in his pocket, his office just announced. Straus raised $721,050 between the session's end and June 30, the end of...
We told you in a Friday post about the state GOP's new effort to try to play in state House races next year. Now, Rep. Phil King, R-Weatherford, is on the eve of launching GOPAC Texas. "GOPAC TX will be...
In the past hour, Joe Straus' office released 8 more names of House members who've pledged to back him for a second term as speaker: Joe Driver, R-Garland; David Farabee, D-Wichita Falls; Jessica Farrar, D-Houston; Patricia Harless, R-Houston; Donna Howard,...
Some final thoughts on the Texas House this session: At first, it sounded like rhetoric. You know, like Chairman Mao saying let a thousand flowers bloom. But it's now clear that Joe Straus really meant what he said back in...
Speaker Joe Straus took heat from Democratic leaders today for refusing to recognize their bid late last night to force a quickie vote on unemployment insurance. In a phone interview, he returned fire. From Friday through Tuesday, Straus said he...
Speaker Joe Straus, shoring himself up in his GOP caucus, is taking flak from the Democrats -- and planning to seek a second term as speaker in 2011. Straus, R-San Antonio, filed papers declaring candidacy for another term as speaker...
House GOP Caucus Chairman Larry Taylor of Friendswood says CHIP, insurance regulation, health care, bills for specific state universities, "very important things" are at risk because Democrats have tied the chamber in knots to avoid passage of a voter-ID bill....
A Democratic bid to kill the voter-ID bill on technical grounds -- late filing of minutes about a committee meeting -- is failing. Speaker Joe Straus, R-San Antonio, apologized for earlier comments that buoyed Democrats' hopes that he'd uphold a...
Speaker Joe Straus, R-San Antonio, often cites that the House is almost evenly split between the two parties. With the absence of Rep. Edmund Kuempel, R-Seguin, who recently collapsed after suffering an apparent heart attack, the Republican majority now stands...
Rep. Edmund Kuempel, who collapsed at the Capitol during a late-night House session Tuesday, remains in intensive care in stable condition at an Austin hospital, a spokeswoman for Speaker Joe Straus announced this morning. "The next 24-48 hours are critical,"...
You don't see this everyday: Rep. Dan Gattis, R-Georgetown, raised a point of order against a mandatory auto dealer education bill by House Administration Committee Chairman Charlie Geren, R-Fort Worth. And Gattis succeeded. Shortly thereafter, Gattis went to the back...
The House under Straus has had such a love in this session, we've been expecting hippies and Yoko Ono on the floor any day now. Well, this afternoon, things got a little more, ahem, House-like. We had our first roll...
For the past two hours, House members have side-stepped almost all record votes on proposed amendments to the budget. Conveniently, that has allowed them to dodge tough votes. One after another, amendments have fallen prey to "points of order," or...
While the House piddles -- Republicans are shooting down, right and left, indignant Democrats' stabs at Gov. Rick Perry's deal closing fund -- let's go back to the sales job House leaders are attempting on their use of federal stimulus...
Moments ago, Speaker Joe Straus reached a milestone. He broke the mallet head off his gavel -- the first time he's splintered wood in this, his maiden session as the House's el jefe. Straus' crusher came seconds after he took...
The budget won't be on the House floor until Friday, April 17. But members are warming up their vocal chords today. First, Rep. Norma Chavez, D-El Paso, dissented when the Calendars Committee approved a rule limiting floor amendments on the...
"Craddick D" Harold Dutton of Houston, who yesterday tried to challenge a denial of his request to swap committee assignments, just withdrew his motion to contest Speaker Joe Straus' ruling. Dutton said he knew he'd be turned down....
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