The latest Joe Straus news from The Texas Tribune.
In what might just be the toughest letter you'll see exchanged among legislative colleagues, state Rep. Burt Solomons today attacked state Rep. Leo Berman over his "conspiracy theories" regarding illegal immigration. Full Story
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State Rep. Leo Berman, R-Tyler, said he's counting on Tea Party supporters to call their state representatives and urge them to vote for him for Speaker instead of incumbent Joe Straus, R-San Antonio. Full Story
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Three months after his retirement, it might be back to work for Kip Averitt. Full Story
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Speaker's race 2011: Oh, yeah, it's on. Full Story
Rep. Leo Berman, R-Tyler, is expected to challenge House Speaker Joe Straus for his job, according to Capitol sources. Asked Monday whether he would seek Straus' post, Berman told the Tribune: "I can't say anything until tomorrow." Full Story
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The state GOP’s new chair talked to the Tribune on Tuesday about the party’s fiscal condition, redistricting, fundraising across partisan aisles, how to unify with the Tea Party and the status of his relationship with his dethroned predecessor, Cathie Adams. Full Story
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The ouster of Cathie Adams as the titular head of the Republican Party of Texas was the biggest news at its biennial convention this weekend. There was also open hostility toward Speaker Joe Straus, predictable fretting about a rift between moderates and conservatives and, of course, a laser-like focus on the state GOP's common enemy: Washington. Full Story
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Ramshaw and the Houston Chronicle's Terri Langford on incidents of abuse and mistreatment at residential treatment centers, M. Smith on the state Republican Party platform and 10th Amendment embracers, Galbraith on a pipeline project raising crude concerns and the most important word in water law, Ramsey on former officeholders who are now lobbyists and the possibility of a speaker's race, Grissom on a fight over solar power in Marfa, Hamilton and Aguilar on the TxDOT audit, Philpott on budget cuts affecting school districts and my conversation with Dallas County D.A. Craig Watkins: The best of our best from June 7-11, 2010. Full Story
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Nobody's openly campaigning right now, but there's talk of who might succeed Joe Straus if he stumbles before January. Attribute the speculation to inertia: The House's top job was in play for at least four years before Straus won it 17 months ago, and members and the lobby and the press and other gawkers have been trained to study every new complaint, slight, reward and compliment for signs of a coup. While he appears to be on solid ground going into his second session behind the podium, don't erase the possibility of a contest. It's an uncertain environment: It's an election year, Straus is green and the Capitol is full of people who are constantly looking for a better deal than the one they've got. Full Story
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Shopping for a new athletic conference? Make sure the political alignment matches up with the school alignment. Full Story
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Forecasters pegging a looming state budget shortfall at $18 billion don't have Gov. Rick Perry particularly worried. Full Story
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The governor, lieutenant governor and speaker directed all state agencies on Friday to cut their budgets by an additional 10 percent. Last week, those same agencies had their current budgets trimmed by a total of around $1.2 billion in an effort to close a projected $18 billion budget shortfall in the next legislative session. Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune reports. Full Story
Fresh off of asking for five percent cuts from state agencies and actually approving $1.2 billion of what was proposed, the state's top three leaders are asking for ten percent cuts in the amounts the agencies will be seeking next time the Legislature meets. Full Story
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Coming soon to a large pink state capitol building in this very state: A day-long seminar on slot machines and casinos and all that, especially as it pertains to the state budget. Full Story
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Speaker Joe Straus, R-San Antonio, may be 50, but he's only been in the House for three sessions. He's part of a youth movement in the power corridors of the Legislature — one that's less about age than lack of seniority. Full Story
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Lawmakers fishing for ideas on how to deal with a coming budget shortfall are going to need a bigger rod and reel: The newest projections show itl could be as much as $18 billion. Full Story
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Texas lawmakers have been fishing for ideas on how to fill a looming budget deficit when they return to Austin in 2011. Based on new projections out today, they’re gonna need a bigger boat. Full Story
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Amid reports that a merger deal might soon be struck between Houston-based Continental Airlines and United Airlines, with the latter as the surviving company headquartered in Chicago, state Rep. Garnet Coleman discusses Houston's long-standing relationship with Continental. Full Story
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Karen Hughes, a communications advisor to Speaker Joe Straus, told our TribLive audience this morning that it was "a little undemocratic" of the newly formed Independent Conservative Republicans of Texas not to invite every Republican in the House and Senate to join. Full Story
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Every candidate vying for a legislative seat knows what lies ahead in 2011: a budget shortfall of at least $11 billion, probably higher, and state agency cuts to save as much of that amount as possible. But new revenue is a possibility as well, even if lawmakers are expert at the old sleight of hand, employing creative accounting and semantic trickery to avoid stepping on that political third rail, the tax hike. Full Story
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