Legislative activity begins to ramp up in the two chambers this week with speculation rampant that the Senate might take up as early as today legislation that would allow permitted gun owners to carry handguns openly.
Craig L. Estes
Posted in
Economy
Senators Show Interest in Ditching Margins Tax
As a key Senate committee prepares to hear public testimony on tax cut proposals Wednesday, senators expressed strong interest in repealing the state’s unpopular margins tax on businesses, which has raised $4.7 billion annually.
Posted in
Energy
The Brief: July 18, 2014
Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst is on his way out in a few months, but on Thursday he moved to fill some key Senate leadership slots to help the chamber prepare for the coming legislative session in January.
Posted in
Politics
Gun Control Just Got Stricter? Come to Texas!
UPDATED: As debates over gun control intensify across the nation, state senators on Tuesday tentatively approved a measure allowing Gov. Rick Perry to offer economic incentives to gun manufacturers that want to move to Texas.
Posted in
Higher Education
The Hot Seat: A Conversation with Estes and Crownover
At our Hot Seat conversation at the University of North Texas in Denton on 2/28, state Sen. Craig Estes, R-Wichita Falls, and state Rep. Myra Crownover, R-Lake Dallas, discussed cuts to public and higher education and other by-products of the 82nd Session.
Posted inState Government
Hot Seat: Estes, Crownover on Not Backing Ron Paul
At Monday’s Hot Seat conversation in Denton, state Sen. Craig Estes, R-Wichita Falls, and state Rep. Myra Crownover, R-Lake Dallas, talked about their unwillingness to support a certain Texas congressman in 2012.
Posted inState Government
Before Iowa Vote, Perry Blasts Rivals as “Corrupt”
Gov. Rick Perry is not going down without a fight. He spent his last full day on the campaign trail in Iowa throwing furious punches at his rivals, rallying his Texas “posse” for support and pleading with voters to look past polls showing him in fifth place here.
Posted in
Demographics
Where Are Perry’s Emergency Items?
With fewer than five weeks left in the regular session, none of Gov. Rick Perry’s emergency items — voter ID, sanctuary cities, sonograms for women getting abortions, a federal balanced budget amendment, and eminent domain protection — have made it to his desk.
Posted in
State Government
House Tentatively Passes Eminent Domain
Another bill on Gov. Rick Perry’s emergency items list — eminent domain — tentatively passed in the House today, and it could further curb the government’s right to take private property.
Posted in
Health care
Needles and the Damage Done
Public health officials have been trying for years to get dirty syringes and the diseases they spread off Texas streets with needle exchange programs that allow IV drug users to get clean ones — and always they’ve come up short. Given November’s election results, they fear 2011 may be no different.
