“The roosters are crowing and it’s time to go noodling,” said Sen. Eddie Lucio Jr., D-Brownsville, today before the Senate passed a bill to crackdown on cockfighting rings.
May 2011
Posted in
Energy
Prospects Dimming for Bill to Aid McDonald Observatory
A bill aimed at reducing the glare from outdoor lighting in a large swath of West Texas in order to help the McDonald Observatory is currently stuck in the Senate, though its sponsor hopes to get it to the floor by the tomorrow’s legislative deadline.
Posted in
Economy
Budget Notes: The Race to Fix School Finance Without a Special Session
One day after the education fiscal bill, SB 1581, died on the floor of the House, lawmakers are scrambling to reach a deal and keep the budget bill, HB 1, on track for approval by both chambers before the weekend deadline. The governor is among the optimists who think they’ll finish their work without going into overtime.
Posted in
State Government
DPS Institutes Surcharge Breaks for the Poor
The Texas Department of Public Safety today announced the start of a program to help poor drivers pay off expensive surcharges and get their driver’s licenses back.
Posted in
Health care
House Gives First OK to Dewhurst’s Health Reform
House lawmakers have given the first OK to a key piece of Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst’s health reform plan, after efforts to turn the bill into a health care Christmas tree fell short.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Senate Approves Loser-Pays Bill
The Senate unanimously passed a major tort reform bill today that would allow courts to grant attorneys’ fees to prevailing parties under certain circumstances.
Posted in
State Government
Video: Perry Demurs on 2012, But Patrick Enthuses
After signing the abortion sonogram bill into law, Gov. Rick Perry declined to rule out a bid for the White House in 2012 — but state Sen. Dan Patrick, R-Houston, said he’d make a “great” president.
Posted inState Government
Perry Won’t Rule Out 2012 Run
With conservatives aching for more choices in 2012, Gov. Rick Perry declined Tuesday to rule out a White House bid. “I’ve said multiple times I’m not going to get distracted from my work at hand, and I’m not going to get distracted today, either,” Perry said.
Posted in
Higher Education
Powell, Powers Attack Productivity Analysis of UT-Austin
UT President Bill Powers and Regents Chairman Gene Powell slammed a controversial study that found that if some UT-Austin professors were more productive, tuition could be cut by as much as half.
Posted in
Health care
Video: “The Beginning of the End for Abortions”
This morning, Gov. Rick Perry signed into law House Bill 15, the so-called abortion sonogram bill, which Senate sponsor Dan Patrick, R-Houston, termed “the beginning of the end for abortions.”