Lobbyists spent a record $15 million on advertising during the 2005 session and another $12 million in 2007 — but less than $1 million this year. What happened?
Texas Legislature
Posted in
State Government
Shapleigh Ever After
The longtime El Paso state senator, who said last month that he would not run for reelection, hasn’t revealed his statewide ambitions, but his public and private remarks leave little doubt that he’s seriously considering a gubernatorial bid.
Posted in
State Government
2010: Plano Dominoes
Plano City Councilwoman Mabrie Griffith Jackson is telling supporters she will resign that city job as early as Monday to put her name into the race to replace Rep. Brian McCall, R-Plano, who has decided he won’t seek an 11th term next year.
Posted in
State Government
2010: McCall won’t seek reelection
Brian McCall, a key member of House Speaker Joe Straus’ leadership team, won’t seek reelection next year
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Behind Closed Doors
Should the Texas Forensic Science Commission meet in private? The new chairman, John Bradley, says there’s a good argument for it.
Posted in
Politics
Party Hoppers
“It’d be like someone standing at the Alamo going, ‘I’m not gonna survive this thing,’ and all of a sudden he jumps up and starts speaking Spanish!” says Rep. Mark Homer, D-Paris. Maybe so, but switching parties usually works out.
Posted in
Public Education
Robert’s Rules
State schools chief Robert Scott recently failed to get the Legislature to increase the cap on charter schools — then found a legal way to do it anyway, much to the dismay of state Democrats and teachers unions.
Posted in
Politics
2010: Hopson’s BFF
Republican Brian Walker, who lost a close race to Democrat Chuck Hopson in 2008, endorsed Hopson’s reelection bid next year — now that Hopson has switched to the GOP.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Forensic Science Chairmen Face Off
John Bradley, the Williamson County District Attorney and the newly-appointed chairman of the Texas Forensic Science Commission, spent his morning answering a steady stream of questions from Texas lawmakers. At issue, if and when his panel will re-open the investigation into whether faulty science led to the arson conviction of Cameron Todd Willingham, who was executed by the state in 2004.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
TribBlog: Bradley Makes His Case
Williamson County District Attorney John Bradley expected some verbal jousting today at the Senate Criminal Justice Committee about his plans for the Texas Forensic Science Commission. He was right.
