Vol 32, Issue 5 Print Issue

The Week in the Rearview Mirror

Potential presidential candidate Rick Perry announced on Thursday that he has pulled together the backing of more than 80 major donors, heavily weighted toward Texans. Perry, who stepped down as governor last month, has also landed a seat on the corporate board of pipeline company Energy Transfer Partners.

Gov. Greg Abbott and Comptroller Glenn Hegar said they would seek authorization from the Legislature to move the Major Events Trust Fund, an incentive program to lure high-profile sporting events to Texas, from the comptroller's office to the governor's division of economic development and tourism.

Abbott told business leaders Tuesday that he'd veto a budget that doesn't contain tax cuts for business.

John Otto and Dennis Bonnen, key lieutenants of House Speaker Joe Straus, were tapped this week to lead the Appropriations and Ways & Means Committees. The 19 members who voted against Straus for speaker — many of whom were freshmen or sophomores — mostly received assignments to lower-tier committees.

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Senate Transportation Chairman Robert Nichols, R-Jacksonville, unveiled a plan Wednesday to boost transportation funding by dedicating some of the sales tax already collected on car sales to road work. Nichols estimated the move would provide about $2 billion a year to transportation beginning in 2018. That figure is expected to grow to $3 billion over the next decade.

Michael K. Young, president of the University of Washington, was named the sole finalist to become the next president of Texas A&M University.

In an interview Thursday, University of Texas System Chancellor William McRaven defended a law that provides in-state tuition for undocumented students, calling it the "morally right thing to do."

More than 38,000 Texas students — about 0.75 percent of the state's overall school-age population — had nonmedical exemptions to school immunization laws in the 2013-14 school year. Just 10 years prior, that figure was just under 3,000 — or 0.09 percent of the overall school-age population.

Disclosure: Texas A&M University is a corporate sponsor of The Texas Tribune. A complete list of Tribune donors and sponsors can be viewed here.

Political People and their Moves

Gov. Greg Abbott named Bryan Daniel as director of economic development and tourism as part of a larger restructuring that has the Texas Film Commission, the Texas Music Office, the Women’s Commission and the Workforce Investment Council now report to Daniel. Abbott also named a new director for the Women's Commission, LaChristian Taylor, and the music office, Brendon Anthony.

Tonya Baer has been reappointed by Abbott to the Office of Public Utility Counsel for a term to expire Feb. 1, 2017. She was first appointed public counsel in October 2013.

Cynthia Meyer has been named deputy press secretary and spokeswoman for Attorney General Ken Paxton. She most recently was the press secretary for the 2015 inaugural committee and, before that, was on the communications team of Abbott's gubernatorial campaign.

Kirk Cole took over as interim commissioner of the Department of State Health Services this week as the state searches for a successor to David Lakey, who announced his resignation in early January. Cole had been serving as associate commissioner at DSHS.

Senate Republicans elected their leadership this week, selecting Kelly Hancock, R-N. Richland Hills, to serve as caucus chairman and Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe, as vice chairman.

Crystal Perkins has been named the new executive director of the Texas Democratic Party. A San Antonio native, Perkins most recently was national financial director for Michigan gubernatorial candidate Mark Schauer. She succeeds Will Hailer, who stepped down to take a job with BerlinRosen Public Affairs in Washington, D.C.

The Alamo has a new director. Rebecca Bridges Dinnin of San Antonio will take the post, a new senior-level position in the Texas General Land Office, on Feb. 17. She previously worked for more than seven years at the Greater San Antonio Chamber of Commerce.

Caddo Associates announced it is adding Wayne Hamilton and Tiffiny Britton as senior directors. For Hamilton, it is a return to the firm. Most recently, he was the manager of Abbott's gubernatorial campaign. Britton previously was the assistant vice chancellor for government relations with the Texas A&M Engineering Program.

Disclosure: The Texas General Land Office was a corporate sponsor of the Tribune in 2011. A complete list of Tribune donors and sponsors can be viewed here.