Before Gov. Rick Perry's speech to the Real Estate Council of Austin today, Craig Douglas, the group's president, got on his soapbox. He recited numbers on Austin's declining voter turnout in municipal elections. Last month, only 58,400 people -- 13...
Legislative leaders are discussing strategy to ensure that a bill on windstorm insurance is passed in the twilight hours of the session, according to House Speaker Joe Straus, R-San Antonio. Speaking to the press corps on Wednesday afternoon, Straus...
The House just finished final passage of bills on the infamous Local and Consent Calendar of Friday, May 22 -- five full days later. The tactic probably has worked. We have 26 minutes left before voter ID and 10 other...
The House in the past several minutes noticeably picked up the pace, quickly giving final approval to several local bills. It brought Rep. Dennis Bonnen, R-Angleton, to the back microphone: "Is the chair advised as to what has magically occurred,...
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...
There were some unexpected twists as House Democrats plotted how to kill voter ID, leader Jim Dunnam says. The Democrats have had to scramble, switching game plans. Last Thursday, he said, the plan was for Democrat who had bills on...
The House, after an all-day debate of top 10 percent at universities, is back on the infamous Local and Consent Calendar. This time, it's giving "3rd reading" or final approval, to the 200 or so Senate bills that Democrats slow-talked...
An email alert today from state GOP chairwoman Tina Benkiser kicks off partisan courtship of public opinion about House Democrats' slow-talking of hundreds of bills for the past three days in a bid to kill voter ID legislation. "In this...
The House adjourned 20 minutes after midnight this morning. A group of 20 or 25 members, though, lingered for nearly 20 minutes at the dais. Among the group were the two party caucuses' leaders, Speaker Joe Straus and a fairly...
Democrats are none too pleased with a Republican lawmaker's suggestion for Texas poll workers who have a hard time with the names of Asian-American voters. Rep. Betty Brown of Athens says Asians just need to change their names to something...
Rep. Robert Miklos, D-Mesquite, passed his first bill today. The House has a ritual of ribbing freshmen when they reach that milestone: Goofy jokes and interrogations from the back microphone. In Miklos' case, the jokes reflected a House panel's plan...
Within two hours of the Senate vote on the voter-ID bill, the Texas Republican Party was touting its success in an on-line appeal to raise money. The Senate, meeting as a committee, passed the bill requiring a photo ID to...
The Senate, meeting as a committee, passed the voter ID bill this morning on a straight party-line vote. It passed 20-12 -- with Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst voting with the majority. The action came after 23 hours of round-the-clock debate...
After 23 hours, the Senate closed testimony at 9 a.m. this morning in an around-the-clock hearing on voter ID. The contentious issue has divided Democrats and Republicans. Democrats say the requirement for a photo ID to vote is aimed at...
Attorney General Greg Abbott's mishandling of a open-records request from Democratic lawmakers is further lowering the trust level in Austin in advance of the voter-ID debate in the Senate. Christy Hoppe tells the story here. Two lawmakers -- Dallas Rep....
Ross Ramsey at the indispensable Texas Weekly helpfully posts Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott's brief to the Supreme Court arguing in favor of the Indiana law upheld today....
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