It’s a foregone conclusion that the composition of the Texas Senate, 19 Republicans and 12 Democrats, means the controversial voter ID bill will win approval in the upper chamber. State Sen. Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa, D-McAllen, explains why Senate Democrats have to keep the fight — despite being outnumbered.
Hinojosa: We Won’t Just Play Dead
Posted in
State Government
TribBlog: Voter ID Fight Set for Tuesday
Most of the drama was saved for another day in the Texas Senate after the first installment of the planned debate over the contentious voter ID bill was postponed. Senate Democrats did their best, however, to derail Republicans’ attempts to fast track the issue, which Gov. Rick Perry declared an emergency item last week.
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Guides
Texplainer: Why Is There a COW in the Capitol?
Legislation has to go through committees before the entire House or Senate can have a look. It’s a way of dividing up the work and getting things straightened out as much as possible before they get the full treatment from the Legislature. But there’s a pecking order involved. And that’s when the COW gets called in.
Posted in
Congress
2012: Jonesing for a Senate Race
Republican Railroad Commissioner Elizabeth Ames Jones will officially begin — or revive, rather — her campaign to replace U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison on Tuesday.
Posted in
Economy
TribBlog: Senate Starts Right Away on Budget
Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst announced he will name the Senate’s committees on Thursday or Friday of this week, with one exception. He wants the Senate Finance Committee to get going right away, and named that panel this afternoon.
Posted in
Economy
TribBlog: Senate Would Cut $28.8 Billion from Budget
The Senate’s version of a starting state budget is, at $158.7 billion, $2.3 billion bigger than the House’s, but still would chop overall state spending by $28.8 billion, or 15.4 percent, from current levels.
Posted inState Government
The Midday Brief: Jan. 24, 2011
Your afternoon reading: voter ID delayed, Elizabeth Ames Jones to kick off Senate campaign, and Tom DeLay’s regrets
Posted inState Government
The Brief: Jan 24, 2011
The governor calls it an emergency. His critics call it crying wolf.
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Inside Intelligence
Inside Intelligence: Our Next U.S. Senator is…
For the latest installment of our nonscientific survey of political and policy insiders on issues of the moment, we asked who will succeed Kay Bailey Hutchison in the U.S. Senate, who else might jump into the race, what factors are most likely to affect the outcome and what effect the political maneuvering will have on the legislative session.
Posted in
Politics
The Kids Aren’t All Right
The budget draft filed last week provided the first glimpse at the kind of deep cuts that state agencies could see in the next biennium. As Matt Largey of KUT News reports, advocates are particularly worried about what the final budget could hold for the agency that protects children from abuse and neglect.
