Losing Steam

Republican candidates, left to right, Rick Santorum, Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul say the Pledge of Allegiance at the CNN Charleston debates on January 19, 2012.
Republican candidates, left to right, Rick Santorum, Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul say the Pledge of Allegiance at the CNN Charleston debates on January 19, 2012.

What might have been a big turnout year has turned into a ho-hum affair, with the presidential race petering out before the Texas primary.

That leaves a set of political races that are important to the personalities involved without portending any historic changes in either the Legislature or in the congressional delegation.

And that leaves the political people on the ground with a turnout issue. Candidates dependent on big turnouts don't have the edge they'd have had with a knock-down-drag-out presidential primary in March. That would have been a national battleground fight, what with a viable Rick Santorum fighting a wobbly Mitt Romney in a state where the polls favor the Pennsylvanian.

Goodbye to all that.

The Republicans are probably going to lose their constitutional supermajority in the Texas House. Most of the watchers think they'll lose a handful or two of their 102 seats. They'll still have a huge majority in all likelihood, but probably short of the 100 it takes to command two-thirds in that chamber.

The Senate could become marginally more conservative, depending on which of the replacement senators prevail in the four open races there. But the two-thirds majority that would give Republicans a lock in that chamber is apparently out of reach, by one or two seats, as it has been for years.

The congressional delegation adds four seats and gets a little more clout in Congress, but that happened when the Census was done and isn't a function of Election Day.

The ballot is dotted with interesting and heated races that could ignite local interest here and there, but appears to lack the sort of concentrated statewide race that could drive up turnout. A presidential primary. A governor's race. Something like Rick v. Kay v. Debra, or Obama v. Clinton.

The Senate race hasn't generated that sort of interest outside of the five blocks surrounding the state Capitol. David Dewhurst appears, from his ads online and off, to be running in the general election for president. His target is President Obama. His opponents are vying for and hoping for a runoff spot in late July. They, too, are talking about the administration but also about the frontrunner and his unwillingness to appear in public forums and debates.

It's not dominating the political news in the state — that's all about the presidential race. And it's a little early yet for heavy advertising.

Both major parties told the redistricting courts that delaying primaries would suppress turnout, create confusion and uncertainty, and threaten their convention planning and organization.

Looks like they knew what they were talking about.

Beef Stakes

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is abandoning the use of hot-iron branding and moving towards the use of ear tags for the identification of cattle.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture is abandoning the use of hot-iron branding and moving towards the use of ear tags for the identification of cattle.

The Texas economy is churning out record job numbers, but the $7.5 billion cattle industry isn’t doing too hot — or rather, it’s too hot. After a year and a half of drought, Texas cowherds have shrunk drastically. And lean, texturized beef — now commonly known by the epithet “pink slime” spread by The Naked Chef, Jaime Oliver and the national press — has become a hot-button issue with consumers, prompting many big name supermarkets to remove the product from their shelves. 

Mix the two together and you’ve got a recipe for sky-high beef prices.

Last summer, ranchers sold off more cattle than usual and at unusually low prices, because crisp fields had left little grass for herds to eat. Cowherds are now the smallest size since 1955, according to the Texas Beef Council. And as those in the industry know, beef production has been steadily shrinking for decades. There’s a myriad of factors contributing to the production decline, but in essence, ranchers are not making enough profit annually to increase production the next year.

Cattle raisers are making efforts to turn slowing beef production around in the long term, like increasing education to attract the next generation of ranchers, raise healthier heifers to birth calves and enhance cattle nutrition with food supplements. But the “pink slime” debacle is having a huge effect on rising prices in the short term.

Typically, an extra 10 to 12 pounds of meat can be salvaged from a carcass that’s already had its prime cuts sliced and turned into lean, texturized beef. For years, the FDA-approved beef byproduct has been used as filler in ground beef to keep prices cheap, despite lowered beef production. 

The beef industry says the ammonia-treated beef scraps are “beef,” plain and simple, but consumers weren’t happy when national media brought to their attention how it was made and how much of it was in their food.

The sudden loss of demand for the product has now tightened the already limited beef supply — and it's now affecting Texas jobs. Beef Products Inc., which originally crafted the beef byproduct, closed production plants in Amarillo and two other states. And AFA Foods, which also has a facility in Texas, filed for bankruptcy after some of its largest customers, including Walmart, severely scaled back their orders.

And if you missed the headlines, even Gov. Rick Perry chimed into the national debate over the beef byproduct, saying it is healthy, not horrifying. He estimates it could take an additional 1.5 million cattle to replace the lean, texturized beef in the market.

Otherwise, economists say most of Texas’ non-farm industries are still on track to recession recovery. The Texas unemployment rate is still a little high at 7.2 percent, but the number of jobs in Texas has surpassed pre-recession levels.

Degrees of Confusion

Sen.Judith ZaffiriniD-Laredo
Sen.Judith ZaffiriniD-Laredo

Next Wednesday, Senate Higher Education Chairwoman Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo, will lead the committee’s first hearing of the year, focussing on an interim charge calling for an examination of the system that allows students to transfer from one type of higher ed institution to another — for example, from a community college to a four-year university.

Because of the savings made possible by spending the first two years of higher learning at a cheaper two-year school, the “transfer” issue is a hot — and surprisingly touchy — topic. The House Higher Education Committee, chaired by Rep. Dan Branch, R-Dallas, held a hearing on it in February.

It’s also indicative of the ever-blurring lines between different types of institutions.

Nothing illustrates the changing, increasingly multifaceted nature of the state’s education pipeline than the much-lauded $10,000 degree currently being offered by Texas A&M University-San Antonio. It requires students to earn their associate’s degree by amassing college credit while still in high school, knocking out what would traditionally be considered their junior year at a community college, and then finishing up at the university.

Not all moves from community colleges come so deliberately mapped out. Ensuring that students get credit for the work they’ve put in requires colleges and universities to enter into so-called articulation agreements, which lay out how each course will count toward each degree when a student moves from one institution to another.

Articulation agreements are voluntary and not tracked by the state. Estimates by lawmakers and officials at the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board put the number of agreements between the state’s 50 community college districts and its 38 public universities in the thousands.

There is a growing sense in Austin that the dramatic variance in degrees and agreements has grown a bit unmanageable — both for students attempting to navigate the world of higher education and for those who are trying to monitor it.

At the February House hearing, for example, Texas Higher Education Commissioner Raymund Paredes pointed out that an associate's degree can require anywhere from 60 to 72 credit hours, depending on where it is earned. He has called for capping associate’s degree requirements at 60 hours unless there are compelling licensure requirements for a specific profession.

But some higher education administrators worry that efforts to rein in and standardize pathways to a degree may encroach on their ability to determine what’s best for their individual institution.

A significant majority of Texas students begin their post-high school education at a community college, likely because of the increased affordability. So Paredes and others insist that something needs to be done to increase the number of those who transfer to universities — a move currently made by a mere 28 percent community college students.

“I continue to advocate for the equivalent of a Constitutional Convention for higher education in Texas where you get together and hammer these things out,” said Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-San Antonio.

In lieu of that, the discussion will start in committees like Zaffirini’s and Branch’s  — and will very likely crop up on the floors of their respective chambers next session.

Campaign Chatter

State Representative J.M. Lozano (center) shakes hands with Attorney General Greg Abbott as he announces that he's switching to the Republican Party during a press conference Thursday, March 18, 2012.
State Representative J.M. Lozano (center) shakes hands with Attorney General Greg Abbott as he announces that he's switching to the Republican Party during a press conference Thursday, March 18, 2012.

Attorney General Greg Abbott endorsed state Rep. J.M. Lozano, who's running for reelection as a Republican to the seat he won two years ago as a Democrat. Abbott is making the rounds — he also endorsed Rep. Ralph Sheffield, R-Temple, who's seeking another term in HD-55, and Wayne Christian, R-Center, who's in a tough reelection primary in HD-9 against Chris Paddie.

He's not the only statewide making the rounds: Comptroller Susan Combs endorsed state Rep. Jim Pitts, R-Waxahachie, for reelection in HD-10. And she's backing Paul Workman, R-Austin, for reelection in a part of Travis County she herself once represented in the Texas House. Workman's opponent, Ryan Downton, uncorked a PaulWorkman.org website that attacks the incumbent for his ties to the construction business (that's Workman's occupation) and for past support for Democrats in political races.

• The Texas Association of Realtors announced their endorsements in 77 primary races. They ignored some incumbents, picking former Rep. Tommy Merritt over Rep. David Simpson in that rematch of Longview Republicans; Chris Paddie, R-Marshall over Rep. Wayne Christian, R-Center; and Trent Ashby, R-Lufkin, over Marva Beck, R-Centerville. That's particularly notable because the Realtors' political action committees are the biggest buckets of PAC money in the state.

• Railroad Commission candidate Christi Craddick picked up Houston endorsements from Sen. Dan Patrick, former tax assessor-collector Paul Bettencourt, and Republican leaders George Strake, Jared Woodfill and Gary Polland.

• U.S. Rep. Silvestre Reyes, D-El Paso, spanked his challenger, Beto O'Rourke, for using a stock photo of a Latino family on his Facebook page instead of getting an El Paso family to pose. In the incumbent's telling, the challenger's position on Social Security was too "embarrassing" to win any support.

• The Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association PAC endorsed Kelly Hancock in the SD-9 Senate race in Tarrant County. That group also endorsed J.M. Lozano in his first Republican primary, and Susan Todd, a Republican running for an open Tarrant County seat in HD-97.

Tom Pauken, the former Texas GOP chairman and (for another month) the chairman of the Texas Workforce Commission, endorsed Giovanni Capriglione, a Republican challenging state Rep. Vicki Truitt, R-Southlake, in HD-98. Pauken also endorsed Republican Cecil Bell Jr. in HD-3, an open seat.

Chris Turner picked up an endorsement from the Arlington Professional Firefighters Local 1329; he's running against fellow former Rep. Paula Hightower Pierson in HD-101.

• State Rep. Jason Isaac, R-Dripping Springs, endorsed Michael Williams in the crowded Republican primary in CD-25. Isaac was briefly touted as a candidate himself, but decided to stay in the statehouse. His district is on the southern end of that congressional district, which reaches all the way north to Fort Worth.

Stephanie Klick, R-Fort Worth, got an endorsement from Texas Right to Life for her HD-91 race. The Texas Alliance for Life endorsed Paul Workman in his race.

Roger Fisher got an endorsement from the MetroTexas Association of Realtors in HD-92. His opponent, Jonathan Stickland, countered with an endorsement from lame duck state Rep. Rodney Anderson, R-Grand Prairie.

• State Rep. Linda Harper-Brown, R-Irving, got the endorsement of the Texas State Rifle Association — the state branch of the National Rifle Association.

• That second weekend in June will be busy with political gatherings. Texas Republicans will hold their convention in Fort Worth on June 7-9. The Democrats are in Houston on June 8-9. The Green Party will be in San Antonio on the 9th and 10th. And the Libertarian convention is in Fort Worth on June 9.

Inside Intelligence: How Many, and What Sort?

The Texas House has 102 Republicans among its 150 members, and we started this week's survey of our political and government insiders by asking what the numbers will be after this year's elections. The biggest bunch, 29 percent, predict Democrats will pick up 6-8 seats, while almost as many said 4-6 seats and an equal number said 8-10. Put it this way: 78 percent of the insiders think the Republicans will lose between four and ten of the seats they hold now.

Much of the action on the ballot is in the primaries and the GOP primary has more contested races than the Democrats have. What kinds of Republicans will prevail? "Very conserative" ones, according to 28 percent of the insiders; "conservative" ones, according to 56 percent. How'd the "moderate" Republicans come out? Only 2 percent think they'll prevail in those primaries.

We included three open-ended questions this week, asking the insiders which races are most critical for various factions and which will be the most expensive. Finally, we asked a question suggested by one of the insiders, to wit: If you could pose one question to every candidate this year, what would it be?

The answers are interesting and, as always, are included in full in the attached file of verbatim answers. A sampling follows:

.

There are now 102 Republicans and 48 Democrats in the Texas House. How many seats will the Democrats pick up this year?

• "The Democrats will end up with at least 70 seats."

• "The ECONOMY will drive people to the polls to vote AGAINST Democrats."

• "OBAMA at the top of ticket wipes out Ds potential for significant gain."

• "The Democrats don't 'pick up' seats; the Republicans drew districts for them. The Democrats LOST 25 seats in the election of 2010."

• "6-8 for now, but if the Republicans keep up their idiotic attacks on women's health care & nominate Santorum, 8-12 is not out of the question."

• "With the higher turnout that will come in a presidential election year, I expect a net Democratic gain of 12. The pendulum always swings back."

.

What sort of Republicans will prevail in this year's primaries?

• "Voters are FED UP with conservative rhetoric. They want CONSERVATIVE ACTION."

• "Though I wouldn't have said this just a couple of months ago, the climate seems to be shifting away a bit from the most extreme tea party elements in the GOP.  Despite that, however, the standard policy positions on issues such as women's health, etc. on the Right have gotten a lot more radical."

• "Difficult to answer because the crazies keep redefining what 'conservative' means. I am predicting that fewer crazies are elected. They will still be conservative, but they will be more realistic."

• "Depends on the district, but generally education issues (specifically, funding) will separate the far, far right from the right."

• "There will be a mix, and it will come down more to the strength of campaigns than the will of the people."

• "Tea party anger is fading, or being channeled towards national election.  Tea party and extreme right wing always make more noise than election-day impact anyway.  No major changes expected."

• "Anything less than very conservative is considered liberal these days."

• "The tin foil hat caucus will grow."

What races are critical to the makeup of the next Legislature — the must-wins for the lobby, interest groups, the political parties, and other factions?

• "Straus--for the state"

• "The Lobby has bet a bunch on Hancock and Shelton.  Davis is a must for the D's.  Lozano is important to the R's Hispanic outreach.  MQS is betting on a ton of losers and will finally be sent to the pasture next Session."

• "All of the suburban districts are critical to D prospects. Obama provided a surge in 08...but took it away in 10."

• "Wendy Davis is probably the most important race for the Democrats.  TLR has staked its reputation to some extent on beating Wentworth and Tuffy Hamilton.  The Republicans would really like to defend minority members such as Lozano and Garza."

• "With Dewhurst running, the U.S. Senate race is the most important to the makeup of the next legislature. If he wins - which is highly likely - who will become the next Lt Guv? Will he/she govern to the right of the right or hold decorum? We just don't know."

• "Lobby---the ones that will do as they say; interest groups---ones that think like they do; political parties--only ones that have drink the Kool-Aid"

• "Wentworth, Todd Smith, Wendy Davis"

• "Must wins are in the Senate.  Davis. v. Shelton becomes important for a variety of business and legal issues.  Taylor in Jackson's district becomes important."

• "Other than Straus, which members are elected is only of interest to the lobby and interest groups. Otherwise, to partisans, it is only a question of the size of the majority in each house."

• "There are no single races that are critical.  Republicans will dominate the General. Even if the House leadership changes it will not make any difference as to the legislative agenda. Gambling will not pass no matter what happens and abortion cannot be regulated anymore than it already; how could the House get anymore conservative?"

• "Lozano losing in the primary will further establish the ethnic bias of the Republican base. TLR will be exposed as a paper tiger after Wentworth cruises to victory. Keeping Wendy Davis as the 12th vote would help to keep the other Democrats honest."

• "The critical races will determine the leadership."

• "If parents and teachers can beat just a handful of legislators who voted to cut school budgets, a shockwave will go through the Capitol."

Which legislative and congressional races will be the most expensive?

• "Wentworth, Doggett. Wendy Davis"

• "Ames Jones v. Wentworth.  And nobody will outspend The Dew."

• "Dewhurst will spend the most, followed closely by Doggett.  Davis and Wentworth will be the most expensive legislative races."

• "CD 25"

• "KBH's seat will cost millions."

• "Hancock/Smith, Taylor/Norman, Wentworth"

• "The real expensive races will be in the Republican primary: US Senate, CD-14, CD-25. Other than that, in November look to CD-23 and SD-10.  That's about it for expensive races in the fall."

• "All of them all contested races are expense now days. Pity the poor lobby."

• "SD 10 leads the pack for the general. In the primary, the Wentworth and Harris seats will be costly, as could the Estes seat. In the House, I would bet the Scott-Herrero race will cost a ton in the general, and the White-Hamilton race will not be cheap, either."

• "Gallego/Canseco"

If you could pose one question to every candidate this year, what would it be?

• "How will you pay for education"

• "If we don't teach safe sex, don't provide birth control, don't allow abortions, don't require health care mandates, don't fund public health care programs, don't provide safety nets kids, and don't fund their education, what will Texas look like in 20 years?"

• "Why would you ever want to hold political office?"

• "Are you willing to vote to increase taxes to pay for improvements to our educational system, transportation needs and water infrastructure, or do you oppose any increase in revenues for these purposes?"

• "Will you support a tax bill or will you have the courage to make deeper cuts in the state budget?"

• "Currently, the Texas Public Utility Commission is considering regulatory changes designed to make electricity more expensive and designed to increase generator profits. These changes are intended to address the state's future resource adequacy challenges. Do you think this is the right approach? Do you think regulators should change the rules to make electricity more expensive in Texas?"

• "When does government get so small that it's useless?"

• "If you are currently an elected official or if you win office, will you participated in the State/Federal Sponsored health insurance program?"

• "Why do you want to subject your family to this crap?"

• "When was the last time you read the U.S. and Texas constitutions?"

• "Are you for more taxes?"

• "Will you hire me?"

• "Can we adequately prepare the future workforce of Texas if we keep cutting public education?"

• "Why the hell are you running?"

Texas Weekly Newsreel: Primary Voter Turnout

The Texas presidential primaries don't look to be as competitive as they would have been in March, and races from the U.S. Senate, Congress and the Legislature don't have the attention of voters. That's got people worrying about turnout.

The Calendar

Tuesday, April 10:

  • House and Senate committees are busy this week hearing interim charges. The Senate Business and Commerce Committee meets today at 10 a.m.
  • Reception for House candidate Cecil Bell Jr.; Austin (4:30 - 6:30 p.m.)

Wednesday, April 11:

  • Senate Natural Resources Committee hearing (9 a.m.)
  • Senate Criminal Justice Committee hearing (9 a.m.)
  • Senate Higher Education Committee hearing (9 a.m.)
  • House Public Health Committee hearing (10:30 a.m.)
  • Reception for U.S. Senate candidate Paul Sadler; Clear Lake (7 p.m.)
  • Birthday reception for Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston; Houston (5 - 7 p.m.)
  • Fundraiser for House candidate Jacquie Chaumette; Richmond (6 p.m.)

Thursday, April 12:

  • Joint Senate Veteran Affairs and Military Installations Committee and Transportation and Homeland Security hearing (9 a.m.)
  • Senate Intergovernmental Relations Committee hearing (9 a.m.)

Friday, April 13:

  • The Texas Tribune Festival: On the Road — Energy & the Environment, A One-Day Symposium; University of Houston (7:30 a.m. - 3:45 p.m.)
  • Fundraiser for Greg Parker, candidate for railroad commissioner; Energy PSC, LLC., New Braunfels (11 a.m. - 1 p.m.)
 

The Week in the Rearview Mirror

Wal-Mart heiress Alice Walton has issued a statement denying that she supports Craig James in Texas’ U.S. Senate race. The James campaign had released a statement with a video touting the endorsement of Walton, whom James characterized as a good friend. In response, Walton issued a statement saying she supported Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst in the race.

Two Republican lawmakers have filed an ethics complaint against conservative activist Michael Quinn Sullivan, who leads the group Empower Texans. Reps. Jim Keffer, R-Eastland, and Vicki Truitt, R-Southlake, allege that the group lobbied during a period when it had not filed proper disclosure forms with the state. In a separate complaint, the two House members charged that the financial wing of the organization did not file the proper financial disclosures for the second half of last year. Sullivan downplayed the allegations, saying Keffer and Truitt are trying to distract voters from their records.

In the latest tussle over the state’s voter ID law, lawyers for the Justice Department argued this week that Texas legislators should not be prevented from testifying about the intent of the new law when it goes to trial this summer. The Texas attorney general’s has alleged that the Justice Department is searching for testimony from lawmakers that will suggest discriminatory intent in the passage of the law. The three-judge panel hearing the motions in preparation for trial is expected to rule on those motions soon, since time is critical in resolving the law. A trial date of July 30 is tentative, pending resolution of the issues, but lawyers on both sides have expressed doubt about getting the case resolved quickly.

In response to a request from a British journalist, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice has filed a brief with the Texas attorney general’s office asking for permission to withhold information on the size of the state’s stock of a key drug used in executions. The state contends that Reprieve, a British anti-death-penalty group, would use the data to harass the drug makers and suppliers and might even lead to violence. Ed Pilkington, the New York correspondent for the British paper The Guardian, asked for the amount of pentobarbital the state has on hand and what its backup plan is for doses of drugs to be available at executions.

In a recent letter to Mexican President Felipe Calderón, Rep. Lyle Larson, R-San Antonio, asked the head of the Mexican government to reimburse Texas for the money it spends on Mexican citizens who are in the state illegally. Larson wrote that the state spends between $6 billion and $8 billion a year on health care and other services for illegal immigrants. The estimated 1.6 million illegal immigrants in Texas pay property and sales taxes, though, making the net effect hard to nail down. The Mexican embassy claimed it has not received Larson’s letter.

Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson is protesting a recent ruling by the Texas Supreme Court that he says weakens the Open Beaches Act. Five of the court’s nine justices voted last week to restrict public access to a beach if it is eroded by a sudden event, such as a storm. Patterson thinks the opinion creates exclusionary private beaches in Texas and urged voters to replace the justices who voted with the majority. He also pointed out that the decision has an effect on his department — it will no longer be able to clean up debris on Galveston Island after a storm or add sand to certain beaches on the island.

The lingering water dispute between Texas and Oklahoma has taken on a new twist. At issue is an agreement between four states — Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana — that divide up water from the Red River and its tributaries, and the amount of water to which each state is entitled. After five years of legal disputes between the Tarrant County Water District and the state of Oklahoma, the case has reached the federal level, and the U.S. Supreme Court has asked the solicitor general to weigh in on the case. Attorneys for both sides will consult with the solicitor general’s office before they issue an opinion for the justices. Once that opinion is on the books, the opposing sides will be able to file briefs with the high court, which may or may not hear the case.

Political People and their Moves

Speaker Joe Straus, R-San Antonio, announced the appointment of Casandra Cascos Ortiz of San Antonio, an attorney with the law firm of Shelton & Valadez, to the Sunset Advisory Commission.

On April 2, in a special meeting on the phone, the Texas A&M University System Board of Regents named James Hallmark the vice chancellor for academic affairs. He had been serving as acting vice chancellor since March 1. Prior to that he was provost and vice president for academic affairs at West Texas A&M University, a position he held since 2008.

Gov. Rick Perry appointed four members to the Select Committee on Economic Development:

  • James Epperson Jr. of Dallas, senior vice president of AT&T Strategic and Employee Communications, was named presiding officer of the committee.
  • Stacey Gillman Wimbish of Houston is president of Gillman Companies.
  • Maher Maso of Frisco is mayor of the city of Frisco and manager of Maso Asset Management.
  • Carlton Schwab of Austin is president and CEO of the Texas Economic Development Council.

Deaths: John Chase, an architect and former president of the alumni association at the University of Texas, one of the first two black students enrolled in a southern university, the only black architect licensed in the state for the first ten years after he graduated, and a Houston power broker. He was 81.

Quotes of the Week

Mark my word, Wolf, Texas will be a critical state in this primary process. Keep an eye on Texas, that’s going to be important.

Rick Santorum spokeswoman Alice Stewart to CNN's Wolf Blitzer on Tuesday

I am going to remain optimistic that we will have a great voter turnout because everyone will have all the resources they need to go out and make their mark.

Texas Secretary of State Hope Andrade on whether she is concerned about the drawn-out redistricting process and the uncertainty that lingers over the state's voter ID law 

It has been reported, erroneously, that I am supporting Craig James in the primary. In fact, I support Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst for this nomination.

Wal-Mart heiress and Texas GOP donor Alice Walton challenging U.S. Senate hopeful Craig James' claim that she had endorsed him, as quoted in The Dallas Morning News

We now have private beaches in Texas where the public can be excluded. I think folks should remember this when it's time to vote.

Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson on a Texas Supreme Court ruling upending part of the Open Beaches Act

What we need, if not outrage, is at least concerned involvement.

U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Austin, to the San Antonio Express-News on the number of vacant benches in Texas' federal courts

Illegal immigration isn’t simply a threat to our sovereignty. This problem has huge financial implications that affect every Texas taxpayer. Now is the time for us to take action and share the bill.

Rep. Lyle Larson, R-San Antonio, on why he sent a letter to Mexican President Felipe Calderón requesting reimbursement for services rendered to illegal immigrants from Mexico who live in Texas

It takes extraordinary leaders to break out of the bottom category if you’re poorly funded. And we reward not-so-extraordinary leaders for succeeding with significantly more money.

Rep. Scott Hochberg, D-Houston, on the flaws in the way the state finances and holds its public schools accountable