House Speaker Tom Craddick is running radio ads in "selected markets across the state" — Houston, Dallas and San Antonio are on the list — defending the House's actions on school finance, attacking the Senate, and suggesting the Texas Supreme Court will have the final say on what lawmakers should do.
Full StoryHouse Speaker Tom Craddick's radio ad doesn't suit the head of the Mexican American Legislative Caucus, Pete Gallego, D-Alpine.
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Gov. Rick Perry isn't saying, directly, whether he'll sign the bills that got through the special legislative session. But he did add those issues to the Legislature's agenda, and he hasn't said anything snarky about the versions that came out. Bills waiting for his signature include a 23 percent increase in judicial pay and legislative retirements (including Perry's, as a former House member), new restrictions on when cities, counties and other governments can use their powers of eminent domain to condemn and purchase private property, and legislation that lets phone companies get into the television business without the restrictions that currently apply -- through contracts -- to cable TV companies. The cable guys say the phone companies won't be fettered by local franchise agreements and instead will be able to get statewide franchises that don't necessarily include sometimes costly extras like local access channels and local programming. The cable folks, as we've noted, intend to go to court to try to get themselves and their competitors on level ground. Meanwhile, a new report from Texans for Public Justice puts numbers to the legislative arms race between those factions. In its latest Lobby Watch, that group says the phone companies spent between $5.4 million and $10.9 million into 209 lobbyist's contracts. They spent $1.6 million -- through political action committees -- during the 2004 election cycle that put the current Lege in business. Of that amount, $176,000 went to Perry's campaign. San Antonio-based SBC Communications alone paid 123 lobbyists between $3.3 million and 6.8 million. The company's PAC gave $126,200 to Perry, and contributed a total of $1.2 million to him and other candidates in the 2004 election cycle. The cable companies and trade groups, on the other hand, paid 44 lobsters between $890,000 and $1.7 million, contributed $358,776 through PAC spending that included $25,000 to Perry. The phone companies got stiffed during the regular session and through the first of two special sessions, but look who's squawking now. TPJ's full report is online at its website: www.tpj.org.
Teachers at the bottom of the state's pay scale actually lost money during the special sessions this summer. State budget writers gave them a raise during the regular session, but it was vetoed by Gov. Rick Perry and wasn't replaced when the rest of public education funding was restored this summer. Perry signed an education bill this month -- replacing the public education funding he vetoed at the end of the regular session -- but in the veto-resurrection process, some teachers lost a pay raise. The state budget passed during the regular session changed school formulas to allow a pay increase for teachers making the state's minimum pay. Most districts add to the minimums. But for those that don't -- and for those who tie pay directly to the state schedule -- the increase in funding would have meant an average raise of 2.76 percent. A first-year teacher's minimum would have risen to $24,910 from $24,240. Number-crunchers at the Texas Education Agency figured a second-year raise at about 1 percent; teachers would have received the first amount starting this month and the second raise in a year. In replacing the public school funding that Perry vetoed, lawmakers changed some formulas, and in the changing, took away the increase in minimum teacher pay they had promised.
Texas is losing a state representative next week. Rep. Melissa Noriega, D-Houston, is giving the chair back to her husband, Lt. Col. Rick Noriega of the Texas Army National Guard, who was called up to serve in Afghanistan after the election. He came back at the beginning of the month and will take his spot back August 27; she plans to return to the job she gave up at the Houston ISD while she was subbing in the House. The two are also doing a few quick fundraisers with that outgoing-incoming bit as a peg. They've got funders set for early September in Houston and in Austin. • Rep. Phil King, R-Weatherford, announced he'll run for reelection. He's the chairman of the House Regulated Industries Committee and sponsored the telecommunications bill that finally passed during the second special session. King's announcement is a counterpoint to rumors that as many as three dozen House members won't be back. That might happen, but such talk is more pessimistic at the end of a special session than a month later. • Austin lawyer Mina Brees will run for the 3rd Court of Appeals seat held now by David Puryear. She's a Democrat, involved in civic stuff, and the mother of a couple of athletes: Drew, the quarterback for the San Diego Chargers, and Reid, a baseball player at Baylor. Her brother, Marty Akins, is a former UT quarterback who ran for governor, losing in the Democratic primary to Tony Sanchez Jr. • Donna Howard, a former trustee with Eanes ISD in Westlake (an Austin suburb) is reportedly considering a challenge to Rep. Todd Baxter, R-Austin in HD-48. She wouldn't be the first. Andy Brown, a lawyer and former legislative aide, is running and several other tire-kickers have been seen on the lot. • Duffy Doyle Crane, an Austin lawyer and Democrat who'd been considering a run against Baxter, dropped out. She sent an email to friends and supporters saying the time isn't right for her. But it also implies she'll be looking at public office again in the future.
Lobby spending, the end of a state agency, and virtual textbooks at UT Special interests of every stripe spent $953 million on state legislators and other state officials in 2004, according to the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Public Integrity, which tracks these things. They said that there were five lobbyists and spending of about $130,000 to work on every state lawmaker in the country, on average. As usual, Texas was among the big shots. Of the 42 states for which they had numbers, we ranked second with total lobby spending of $162.1 million, or just over $895,000 per lawmaker. They didn't get the money, understand (or at least they weren't supposed to), but the people trying to win their support or their opposition spent that much in the effort. And that's the least they might have spent. Texas law requires lobsters to report their salaries only vaguely, showing a range where the numbers fall. The Center used the low number in the range for each report. There were, on average, eight lobbyists for every state lawmaker in Texas. You can look over the details at www.publicintegrity.org. • The State Board of Educator Certification is being folded into the Texas Education on September 1, and Associate Commissioner Patricia Hayes will run what will now be a new division at TEA. SBEC's board will stay in business, but its rules and certifications still have to clear the State Board of Education. • Students taking required courses on U.S. and Texas politics at the University of Texas at Austin are getting out of about $60 in textbook costs. Their textbook is online. And it's free to civilians, too, at http://texaspolitics.laits.utexas.edu. They've been tinkering with it for a couple of years, with good results, and say one advantage is that the book can be edited or amended or expanded without new printings each time.
If you've been watching closely as the Legislature ran aground, you've been spun enough. We'll make our autopsy report brief. The highlights: • The Texas Legislature can't resolve big problems except under duress. With no orders from the state's high court to fix school finance or else, they got stuck. It has always been this way: Texas lawmakers needed prodding from judges to reform state schools and state hospitals and prisons and, four times now, public education. • Politicians are, for the most part, faithful to their principles. As the saying goes, they dance with who brung 'em. A significant number of these legislators ran as tax-haters, and they continued to hate taxes when they were presented with an opportunity to vote for them. They wanted to cut property taxes, and many of them wanted to cap increases in appraised values, but they suffered from vapor lock when asked to approve the new or higher state taxes that would make those local revenue cuts possible. In particular, when the size of the property tax cuts fell, the pains outweighed the gains. • Personalities can poison a project. House Speaker Tom Craddick, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, and Gov. Rick Perry were unable to agree among themselves at almost every point in the drama, and without consensus among those three -- or, instead, a healthy fear of a common fate for failure -- it was unreasonable to expect the other 179 people with votes to come along. As the session drifted during the last ten days, they resorted to finger-pointing and made the state Capitol seem, at times, like the world's most extravagant day care center. • The price of the failure to act is small unless the status quo is unbearable. You'll see exceptions in the March primaries and in races where lawmakers are trying to win promotions -- say, from the House to the Senate -- but most lawmakers won't be punished for the summer follies. Voters are more likely to react to action than to inaction, and what the Texas Legislature just produced was the status quo. We've heard endless variations of this line: Better no bill than a bad one. School finance now rests with the Texas Supreme Court, which heard the case in early July and can rule whenever the judges feel like it. They could produce a decision this fall or next spring or later. If they make their decision this fall, Gov. Perry could call another special session -- this time with the pressure of a court decision and a deadline from the high court for a solution -- either before or after the March primaries. Calling one before the primaries would put some lawmakers under pressure to get a result, and could interrupt anyone trying to bring attention to their efforts to unseat incumbents in the legislative or executive branches.
Gov. Rick Perry ended the special session by asking the Legislative Budget Board to do what can be done in education and other areas without the help of the full Legislature. And he said he won't call lawmakers back until they find "the collective will to finish." He wants the LBB -- a panel that includes the lieutenant governor, the speaker, and four members from each legislative chamber -- to approve $295 million in funding for textbooks and to increase minimum pay for about 8,000 teachers. That pay raise was included in the budget written during the regular session, but Perry vetoed public education spending in the budget to spur lawmakers to fix school finance. They didn't do that, but they put the public education spending -- with some changes -- back into the budget. One of the changes took the raise away from teachers who'd been promised more money. Perry wants the LBB to spend $200 million on increased reimbursement rates for nursing homes, and $13 million to raise the monthly allowance for patients in those homes to $60 from $45. That's what they used to get; the amount was cut during tight fiscal times two years ago and the current Lege didn't restore the funding. The money is used for things like toothpaste and other personal needs. Perry wants as much as $76.2 million for trauma centers. And he asked for $48.5 million to fund operations at the Irma Rangel School of Pharmacy at Texas A&M-Kingsville and the Texas Tech Medical School in El Paso. That's a shot at Speaker Tom Craddick and other House leaders who denied that funding so far this year, and Perry and Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst (see his letter, elsewhere in Notebook) both want the money. In Perry's words, "it is high time the state kept its commitment to these institutions."
Funding for a pharmacy school in Kingsville and a medical branch in El Paso has proven elusive in the Texas House, so Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst is forcing a showdown next month at the Legislative Budget Board. The buildings are built, but funding for operations has been stuck in the House, where it was used at least twice as trade bait by House leaders seeking votes from Border Democrats. The Democrats gave up their votes, but didn't get what they were after. Dewhurst pushed the idea in a letter to Gov. Rick Perry, sent as the Legislature ended a second failed special session on school finance. And Perry included a call for the funding in his requests to the LBB.
Texas Weekly's Soapbox is a venue for opinions, spins, alternate takes, and other interesting stuff. It's where we'll put interesting stuff from outside, whether it's op-eds, links to interesting writing elsewhere, whatever. We'll edit and moderate, and anonymous stuff won't be eligible. If the spirit moves them, readers will be able to respond to things posted here and with luck, we'll get a free flow of varied ideas and information going. We think it'll be entertaining, and maybe, sometimes, enlightening.Got something to submit? We're interested in everything from full-blown opinion pieces to short bits to observations or tidbits that have escaped us and the mass media. One rule: Your name goes on your words. Call or send an email:
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Houston Democrat Chris Bell -- a local politician making his first statewide race -- kicked off his campaign for governor with a speech to 150 supporters and onlookers on the University of Texas campus. He called for a "moon shot" for Texas public schools and called upon voters to join what he calls a "new mainstream." You can download a copy of his whole speech (with footnotes) by clicking here. Standing in front of a statue of Martin Luther King Jr. and surrounded by friendly placards, Bell rolled out what he called a "pact with parents," that would include reformed sex education, parental controls on porn and violence and other potentially objectionable content in video games, financial education in schools (the Legislature is already working on it), and education reforms. He uncorked some other ideas in the speech, saying insurance companies should be forced to lower premiums in light of reports that their Texas rates are $4 billion too high, that the state should encourage stem cell research.
He didn't mention his battles with U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Sugar Land -- that was left to introductory speakers -- but called generally for "political reforms to make our campaigns and our government more transparent and accountable." He suggested state limits on credit card interest rates and marketing practices. He wants to end tuition deregulation that was instituted by legislators two years ago and that resulted in higher prices at state schools (the schools wanted the change because legislators persistently short-sheet higher education).
Bell, a lawyer and a former reporter, was a former Houston city councilman and one-term congressman. He lost that second gig after the Legislature drew his district to his disadvantage, and he made a national reputation by filing an ethics complaint against DeLay. Bell broke a long-standing truce that protected members of the House from colleague's complaints. Congress admonished DeLay in a letter, but left some of Bell's complaint pending while prosecutors and grand juries in Travis County finish an investigation of the DeLay-founded Texans for a Republican Majority, or TRMPAC, and related matters.
Bell is one of two Democrats running for governor. Felix Alvarado of Fort Worth, a middle school principal and a political unknown, says he'll be on the ballot and that his sister, Maria Luisa Alvarado of Austin, is running for lieutenant governor. You can reach both of their websites at www.OneTexasForAll.com.
While Republicans Rick Perry and Carole Keeton Strayhorn have raised millions toward the contest, the Democrats aren't seriously in the money hunt yet. Bell reported raising $152,653 during the first six months of the year and spending $127,593. He had $10,741 on hand as of June 30. (Both Alvarados reported minimal activity; he ended with no money on hand, she with $99.72, and that's not a typo.)
Between the mumbling about the legislative session, there's been some mumbling that former Comptroller John Sharp might join the Democratic race for governor. But if he puts a toe in the water, he'll have to splash. Sharp's last campaign finance report -- filed in January -- included a notice from his treasurer, Austin attorney Ray Bonilla, that it would be the last: "I, the undersigned campaign treasurer, do not expect the occurrence of any further reportable activity by this political committee for this or any other campaign or election for which reporting under the Election Code is required. I declare that all of the information required to be reported by me has been reported. I understand that designating a report as a dissolution report terminates the appointment of campaign treasurer. I further understand that a political committee may not make or authorize political expenditure or accept political contributions without having an appointment of campaign treasurer on file." That doesn't keep him out of politics or anything crazy like that, but means he'll have to file papers with the Texas Ethics Commission if he wants to explore or announce a run.
One-night stands, getting lucky, and golf with Willie Gov. Rick Perry's team is aiming steady fire at Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn, who plans to run against the Guv in the Republican primary next year. It's a purity test: Strayhorn supporters and some aides say they want to attract new voters into the GOP primary, the theory being that Perry is strongest with conservative Republicans who show up for every election, and that other voters -- moderate Republicans, independents and disenchanted Democrats -- might sway the primary in her direction. Texas Republicans have welcomed Democratic votes in November elections, but some apparently think inviting donkeys to GOP primaries is bad juju. Jeff Fisher, the party's executive director, told the Austin American-Statesman it was a bad strategy: "It's one thing when a candidate tries to invite like-minded conservative Democrats and independents to make a lasting commitment to the Republican Party. It's quite another to encourage liberals to vote in the primary like a one-night stand." That triggered a response from the Strayhorn camp. Brad McClellan, the candidate's son and campaign manager, fired off a letter to party officials boosting his mom's Republican credentials and demanding an apology: "My Mom, like former President Ronald Reagan, believes in the 'Big Tent' theory. If we are going to be the majority Party for years to come, we must encourage voters to join our Party. That the executive director would think it appropriate to attack the honor of a mother and a grandmother who is a Republican statewide elected official is astounding." That tussle went another round, when Dr. David Teuscher, a Perry supporter on the State Republican Executive Committee, took Fisher's side. In a "private letter" to McClellan excerpted on Perry's website (www.rickperry.org), he called Fisher's comment "coarse," but also said that, "quite simply, the metaphor fits the situation." In a "public letter" that's also posted there, he accused Strayhorn of trying to lure liberals into the primary and asked her to cut it out and to stop consorting with trial lawyers and such. Perry, asked for a comment, ducked: "It's pretty much politics, and I'll leave the politics to another time." • Gov. Rick Perry picked up an endorsement from U.S. Rep. Pete Sessions, R-Dallas. Sessions is the second member of the Texas delegation (21 Republicans, to lend his name to Perry's reelection campaign. • If you ride your bicycle well enough for long enough, somebody will start a website like this: www.lance4president.com. Count his fingers. • Kinky Friedman, who's trying to get on next year's gubernatorial ballot as an independent, got lucky playing the slots in New Orleans, winning $45,612.65. That dollar figure is fairly close to the number of signatures he'll have to get from registered non-voters to get on the ballot next spring. Separately, singer Willie Nelson announced a fundraiser for Friedman at his home in the Hill Country. For $5,000 each, golfers will get to play a round with Willie and with former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura; another 100 spots are open for lunch guests at $1,000 a pop. That's on September 24. Details are on his website, at www.kinkyfriedman.com.