Texas prison guards who’ve been on the job for more than three years will get a pay hike of $138 a month on top of the $100 a month given all state employees during the last legislative session. That means their pay will rise a total of $2,856 annually, almost as much as the $3,000 pay hike the Legislature gave to Texas teachers last year.
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Health care
Acronyms of the Week: T.D.E.D., F.U.B.A.R.
The honchos at the Texas Department of Economic Development tried to get rid of former legislator Randall Riley quietly, and in fact, the executive director and the chairman of the agency apparently went out of their way to get folks in the Pink Building to talk Riley into quitting. But it finally came to a force-out when Riley got a call from friendlies in the lieutenant governor’s office who said TDED Chairman Mark Langdale and Executive Director Jeff Moseley wanted to wring his neck.
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Health care
Tweaking Facts in the Presidential Race
You’ve heard that aphorism: “When elephants fight, the grass suffers.” Well, the presidential race shows all signs of doing for the reputation of this fair state what previous contests did for the luster of Massachusetts, Arkansas, California and Georgia. The home states of governors who run for the presidency often come away looking like prospects for visits from the Peace Corps.
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Four Dems in Ohio
The spin engines went into overtime when four Texas Democrats went campaigning in Ohio for Republican presidential candidate George W. Bush. The official message was a two-parter. Bush’s folks touted the bipartisan nature of the deal, strumming a chord they’re playing to try to contrast Bush as a non-partisan and his opponent, Democrat Al Gore, as a partisan. Secondly, since Gore’s attacks on Bush’s record have begun to gather some steam, the four were there to fly the flag and say they were ready to punch anyone attacking the Lone Star State.
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Shock Probation for Housing and Eco Devo
The state’s Sunset Commission was expected to be tough on the Texas Department of Economic Development and on the state’s Department of Housing and Community Affairs.
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t’s Not a Pretty Process, But We Have a Ballot
Even by runoff standards, this was pitiful. One in 25 registered voters actually cast a runoff ballot in Texas this year, with several counties turning in record low turnouts and local races — as often happens in a runoff — driving attendance. Republicans turned out 219,974 voters, or 1.9 percent of the 11.6 million Texans who carry political hunting licenses in their wallets. Democrats turned out 246,285 Texas voters — about 2.1 percent of the total. The 4 percent turnout this year compares with a turnout percentage of 7.37 in the last presidential round in 1996.
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Strolling Through the Home Stretch
To imagine an intrigued and engaged voter, you first have to imagine an intriguing and engaging runoff race, and those are scarce this year. There are but a handful, and fewer still involve incumbents still fighting for their jobs.
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Groundhog Day at Economic Development
The Texas Department of Economic Development could get a new board of directors and be stripped of two of its highest-profile programs if a recommendation from the state’s Sunset Commission gets into print as a final report and through the Legislature next session.
Posted inState Government
Gov. Bush Won’t Be There…
Expect a photogenic skirmish for the benefit of the TV cameras when the Republican Attorneys General Association, or RAGA, gathers at the end of the month at the Barton Creek Resort in Austin. Texas AG John Cornyn is one of the founders of the GOP group and is a member of its executive committee. With the group holding its spring conference in a presidential candidate’s back yard, a couple of non-profit outfits — Texans for Public Justice and the Center for Public Integrity — are taking shots at him and the group, calling it everything from a bad idea to a protection racket.
Posted inState Government
What the Hell Happened Over There?
You know it’s an upset when the winner, the loser and the allegedly dispassionate observers are all surprised on Election Day. Nobody even came close to predicting the result of the GOP primary in the 3rd Senate district. In fact, operatives in both campaigns were expecting a runoff and hoping, respectively, for a narrow win that would avoid an April contest.
