Top Stories
- HPD: Man charged in officer's death was an illegal immigrant, intoxicated and carrying drugs – KHOU.com
HPD officers are currently not allowed to inquire about immigration status. - State lawmakers ordered back to work today – Chuck Lindell, Austin American-Statesman
- For GOP, intraparty bickering defined legislative session – Patricia Kilday Hart, Houston Chronicle
- What – if anything – will Sen. Wendy Davis' filibuster accomplish? – Jason Embry, Austin American-Statesman
For starters: More ill-will, needless spending on a special session, and a real possibility of the Dems getting rolled on legislative items they had otherwise successfully stalled.
Media Watch
- “What liberal media?” (Texas edition) – Joshua Trevino, RedState
Some of us have long called it PolitiFarceTX, for reasons demonstrated here. - Dems Face Hurdles Winning Over Public – Jim Henson, Texas Tribune
A quick look at some polling crosstabs on attitudes toward cutting public education spending suggests Democrats face significant obstacles in their announced effort to mobilize public outrage against the $4 billion cut to public education that will be at issue in the special session.
In the world of some journos/professors/editors/activists, a $125 million increase in spending for 2012-2013 over 2010-2011 levels = $4 billion in cuts.
- School finances sit atop agenda – Peggy Fikac and Gary Scharrer, San Antonio Express-News
Democratic Sen. Wendy Davis of Fort Worth forced the special session with her filibuster late Sunday that killed a plan to give school districts $4 billion less than they’d get under current law.
The budget deal would have spent $125 million more in 2012-13 than in 2010-11.
- The Budget Session Nobody Enjoyed – R.G. Ratcliffe, BurkaBlog
They all knew that even though it would satisfy some voters in the short run, a budget containing massive cuts to state services was likely to make more constituents unhappy in the long run.
He could just as easily be describing what most of the state’s political media “know” hmm?
- Perry's higher education policy taking on a tea party flavor – Ralph Haurwitz, Austin American-Statesman
The article concedes Gov. Perry’s decade-long interest in higher-ed reform, then bizarrely seeks to tie it to a Tea Party movement that is much younger. Haurwitz usually is better than this. - No new taxes in state budget, but Texans likely to feel the cost of session in other ways – Anna Tinsley, Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Lawmakers may have passed a budget with no new taxes, but Texans and their wallets will not escape unscathed.
Lobbyists and watchdogs say that even without major across-the-board tax or fee increases during the 82nd legislative session, which ends today, a variety of new laws will carry a financial cost for Texans.”
The only people cited in the story are a lobbyist, a mayor, and an analyst from an outfit that argues for higher spending and taxes.
- Fix Washington? Too bad Texas wasn't fixed first – Robert Rivard, San Antonio Express-News
Quite a lefty rant from the editor of the San Antonio Express-News. We’re sure he self-identifies as a “moderate” of course.
Recommended
- The Not-So-Conservative Budget – David Simpson
- The HB 1 Apostates Explain Themselves – Evan Smith, Texas Tribune
- Dewhurst wants airport anti-groping bill in special session – Patricia Kilday Hart, Chron Texas Politics
Dan Patrick seems to have gotten Dewhurst’s attention. - Inside Intelligence: In the Race for President… – Ross Ramsey, Texas Tribune
Insiders = Democratic Party Activists and Republicans establishment types spurned by the rise of the Tea Party. - Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee “Recognized the Significant Progress in China Over the Past 100 Years” – Yvonne Larsen, Big Jolly Politics
- HISD pushes tax increase; Bramanti highlights fun HISD spending – Kevin Whited, blogHOUSTON