Top officials at the Texas National Guard and the Department of Public Safety on Tuesday told a select House committee looking at the costs of the ongoing border operation that they did not request Guard troops.
Dennis Bonnen
Posted inState Government
Lizard Protection Bill Caught in Oil Politics
Top Republicans say Texas Comptroller Susan Combs has teamed up with major oil company interests to fight reforms of species protection programs.
Posted in
Public Education
House Passes Controversial School Testing Bill [Updated]
A bill from state Rep. Rob Eissler modifying how end-of-course exams factor into graduation led House Republicans into a debate over how best to handle student testing during what one called “extraordinary times” in public education.
Posted in
Higher Education
TribBlog: Killing Them With Contact
Among the most controversial issues in House Bill 1, the base budget, is its denial of state funding to four community colleges. While the bill does not represent a final decision, critics say presenting the proposed budget executions this way is as dangerous as the methodology behind the decision is misleading.
Posted in
State Government
Speaker’s Race, Anyone?
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.
Posted in
Politics
The Brief: November 10, 2009
If Williamson County DA John Bradley is sick of the spotlight, then he got appointed to the wrong commission. Of course, many people would argue that regardless.
Posted in
State Government
TribBlog: Sunset’s Up
House Speaker Joe Straus’ picks for the legislative committee that says whether the state should kill or keep state agencies: Reps. Dennis Bonnen, R-Angleton, Rafael Anchia, D-Dallas, and Byron Cook, R-Corsicana. San Antonio attorney Lamont Jefferson, who’s with the Haynes and Boone law firm, will serve as the House’s public member.
