Category Archives: Texas Politics

Texas Politics

San Antonio Council Chooses Interim Mayor

Leave a comment

Appointed by Council, the great city of San Antonio has a new Mayor.  Here’s the breaking news story from KENS channel 5…

City Council has chosen Ivy Taylor as the new interim mayor….

Taylor is the city’s first black woman mayor. She started her career in Housing and Community Development Department and Neighborhood Action Department. Taylor joined District 2 as a councilwoman in 2009. Taylor also boasts a Master’s Degree in City and Regional Planning and has a Bachelor’s from Yale.

The vote came down to the 10 council members at Tuesday’s meeting. Mayor Julian Castro is headed to Washington D.C. to begin his job as the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Thursday.

Taylor’s tenure as Mayor commenced immediately following Secretary Designate Castro’s resignation, both of which occurred in today’s meeting of City Council.

Today’s appointment is likely to cause concern in the city’s LGBT community, as Ivy Taylor was one of three City Council members that voted against the city’s nondiscrimination ordinance in 2013.

District 2’s former Council member also announced that she has no plans to run for Mayor in 2015.  This being the case, it’s unlikely that Taylor would try to re-fight old battles, which should give the LGBT community some measure of comfort.  Sans an incumbent or a clear front-runner, the race promises to be exciting.  But for now, it’s time to hope for the best, and look forward to some great municipal politics in 2015.

Texas Politics

Texoblogosphere: week of July 21st

Leave a comment

The Texas Progressive Alliance mourns the tragedy of MH17 as it brings you this week’s roundup.

Off the Kuff looks at Travis County’s design for a new kind of voting machine, one that will add security, ease of use, and an honest to goodness paper receipt.

From WCNews at Eye on Williamson, Democrats running for office in Texas should make every Republican answer about Abbott’s chemical issue, Abbott Hemmed In By The GOP’s Ideology.

As the federal trial over Texas redistricting began, a series of GOP e-mails outlining their anti-Latino mapping strategy was revealed. PDiddie at Brains and Eggs observes that the outcome won’t be known for months, and the decision won’t affect the 2014 midterm elections, but the case for the Republicans looks very grim.

CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme wants everyone to know that the Texas Tribune exposes Dan Patrick as a liar and Leticia Van de Putte as a truth teller.

Texas (more like Rick Perry, Greg Abbott and Republicans) did not accept the Medicaid expansion, leaving millions of Texas’ poorest families without healthcare options. But this week as Texas Leftist discovered, there are over 800,000 Texans that qualify for Medicaid and CHIP under current policy, and just don’t know to sign up. Even as we fight for expansion, helping these families is something that can be done right now.

===============

And here are some posts of interest from other Texas blogs.

Lone Star Ma is busy block-walking for Wendy.

The Texas Election Law Blog highlights a few issues with the Comptroller’s webpage on the relative level of debt financing of counties, cities, school districts, and special law districts.

The Lunch Tray reminds us that summer camp is another opportunity for kids to get loaded up with junk food.

Grits wants to know why DPS is doing a full set of fingerprints for every drivers license renewal, even though the Lege has not authorized that.

BOR reports on State Senate campaign finance reports, where Libby Willis leads her opponent in SD10 and Rita Lucido is holding her own in SD17.

And finally, the TPA congratulates Andrea Grimes on her new gig as “State of the Media” columnist for the Texas Observer.

 

(photo credit:  JSVideos on Shutterstock)

Texas Politics

Davis Campaign Posts Impressive Numbers

Leave a comment

In the constant back and forth of a heated election season, there’s a lot of focus placed on fundraising totals. Particularly in large races, it seems nearly impossible for a campaign to have true credibility without posting huge numbers.

Thankfully for Texas Gubernatorial candidate Wendy Davis, that hurdle has been cleared. The Democrat has shown that she is not only competitive with Republican opponent Greg Abbott, but has actually been able to out-raise him in the latest reporting periods. Of course there are some that dispute the Davis campaign on their numbers, saying Davis was able to claim “in-kind donations” as a part of her funds formula.  As Wayne Slater of the Dallas Morning News reports, it’s mighty peculiar of the Abbott camp to attack Davis for her $250,000 in-kind donations when his campaign claimed even more than that.  Whether one agrees on the exact number or not, no one can deny that Davis has a competitive standing in the money race.

But Last weekend in front of a capacity Houston crowd, The Ft. Worth Senator reminded everyone that money isn’t the only indicator of a successful campaign.

“As of last Wednesday, we placed our 2 millionth phone call, with over 300,000 of those calls in Harris County alone” Davis proclaimed to the exultant crowd. “Thanks to your hard work, we’ve posted historic numbers in this campaign.”

The candidate was in attendance for the grand opening of her 3rd Houston-area campaign office. It’s becoming clear that enthusiasm among Texas Democrats is higher than it’s been in a very long time.  No one is doubting Davis’ standing as an underdog in this race. But if this impressive Get-Out-The-Vote effort continues, her campaign will end up triumphant at the finish line.

Texas Politics

Texas Medicaid, CHIP Enrollment Sees Uptick, But…

Leave a comment

There’s still a ways to go. 

Even without the help of a formal Medicaid expansion, it appears that more Texas residents are benefitting from the healthcare program.  Here’s the somewhat surprising news from the Texas Tribune…

More than 80,000 additional Texans have enrolled in Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program since the rollout of the Affordable Care Act last fall despite Republican state leaders’ decision not to expand eligibility to poor adults, according to federal figures.

The 80,435 new enrollees as of May — mostly Texans who already qualified for coverage but did not previously seek it — represent a 1.8 percent increase over pre-Obamacare figures. That places Texas, which has the nation’s highest uninsured rate, in the middle of the pack among states that chose not to expand access to those programs to everyone under 138 percent of the federal poverty line under the president’s signature health law. The expansion, a key tenet of Obamacare, was deemed optional by the U.S. Supreme Court.

This “woodwork effect” or “welcome mat effect” — in which people hear about Medicaid expansions around the country and learn they qualify in Texas — has not been huge. Roughly 874,000 Texans eligible for Medicaid or CHIP have still not enrolled, according to Kaiser Family Foundation estimates. That includes more than 700,000 children, said Christine Sinatra, state communications director for Enroll America, a group seeking to get the uninsured covered under the federal health law.

Though the Tribune says that the “woodwork effect” is not significant yet, there’s still time to get information out there.  It’s quite surprising that these issues haven’t been discussed by Texas Democrats yet, especially major office seekers like Wendy Davis and Leticia Van de Putte.  Not only should the campaigns be seeking broader healthcare expansion options, but one would hope they and the campaigns could spread the word, and help get these people signed up for Medicaid and CHIP.  700,000 Texas kids should not have to go without essential health services.  Win or lose in the 2014 election, this is work that needs to get done.

Here’s a video on how to apply for Texas CHIP…

If you are a Texas resident and would like to check your eligibility for Medicaid, click here or call 877-541-7905. 
If you would like to check a child’s eligibility for CHIP, click here or call 800-990-8247. 
Texas Politics

Van de Putte Bests Patrick in Latest Fundraising Haul

Leave a comment

It’s been a good month for the Senator from San Antonio, as Alex Ura of the Texas Tribune reports…

Democratic state Sen. Leticia Van de Putte and Republican state Sen. Dan Patrick, who are facing off in a fiery race for lieutenant governor, have both raised about $1 million since the end of May — with Van de Putte slightly outraising Patrick, according to fundraising numbers released by both campaigns.

Since defeating incumbent Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst in a May 28 runoff, Patrick has raised $1 million. Van de Putte, who ran unopposed, raised about $1.2 million in the same time period. Four months ahead of the general election, the two candidates are working with similar balances in their respective war chests, with Van de Putte reporting $1.1 million cash on hand while Patrick has $946,982 in the bank.

The two campaigns released some fundraising totals ahead of the Texas Ethics Commission’s Tuesday deadline for reports covering fundraising activity and expenditures through June 30. The reports were not immediately available.

The post goes on to say that Dan Patrick is still far ahead in total campaign resources.  The Republican has $7.8 million in funds compared to a $2.3 million total for Leticia Van de Putte.

Good news here is that Van de Putte has again proven her ability to run a successful campaign for Lieutenant Governor.   Pundits no longer have to debate about whether or not she can raise money, because she is.  It’s not necessary for her to actually win the fundraising race, but she does need to have enough money to be competitive.  Texas Democrats should find much encouragement in these numbers.

Politics, Texas Politics

Rick Perry Wants BOOTS On The Border, Not Humanitarian Aid

Leave a comment

Long gone are the days when Rick Perry showed any semblance of compassion for the plight of undocumented children and families.  Instead of working to find a solution to his state’s most recent border crisis, the Texas Governor and 2016 Presidential hopeful is doubling down on photo ops and party politics.  Here’s more from CNN…

Texas Gov. Rick Perry said he won’t encourage his state’s congressional delegation to approve President Obama’s request for $3.7 billion in emergency funds to mitigate the border crisis.

“The President doesn’t have to have this big amount of money,” Perry told Fox News Channel’s Brit Hume. “He could pick up the phone today, call the (Defense Department) and direct them to have the 1,000 National Guard troops on the border.”

[…]

Perry said the physical presence of the National Guard would send a clear, visual message to potential immigrants that U.S. borders are not wide open.

“They need to be right on the river,” he said. “They need to be there as a show of force, because that’s the message that gets sent back very quickly to Central America.”

It doesn’t take a thousand National Guardsmen and Guardswomen to decipher the message that the Governor is trying to send here.  The only thing Perry cares about now is using the current border crisis as a meal ticket to 2016.  Don’t forget… he is not someone that is unconnected to the realities of these issues, as he has dealt with them consistently since Barack Obama was a State Senator in Illinois.  For Perry to come out now and say that the only thing needed on the border is more troops is nothing short of lunacy.  He’s well aware of the detrimental need for more immigration lawyers and judges to process these children the correct way.  He’s well aware of the critical need for more humanitarian aid, including shelters, food and other supplies.

It’s a sad day for the people of Texas when our Governor can become so obsessed with his political aspirations that he completely ignores the needs of his state.  But in fairness, President Obama also needs to stop playing politics here.  It’s time for the Commander-in-Chief to come to the border… not for a photo op like Perry, but to assess the situation at a personal level.  Asking for aid from Congress is in part a political move, given the current brokenness of the institution.  We need some leadership on this issue Mr. President, and with the total ineptitude coming from our state’s top official and from Congress, that job (once again) falls to you.

Texas Politics

Texoblogosphere: Week of June 14th

Leave a comment

The Texas Progressive Alliance wishes you all a Happy Bastille Day as it brings you this week’s roundup.

Off the Kuff discusses the latest advances in voter ID litigation.

Libby Shaw at Texas Kos reports on the busy week in Texas politics. Greg Abbott Blames Terrorists for his Koch Problem. Meanwhile the POTUS pays us a visit.

Horwitz at Texpatriate gives a run-down of the possible Democratic candidates for President in 2016.

Texas Democrats have much to celebrate this week as San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro clears Senate confirmation. And as Texas Leftist discusses, his appoint brings some much needed geographic diversity to the President’s cabinet.

From WCNews at Eye on Williamson, the people see the government as a an abstract entity they have no control over, Transportation Trouble – Every Issue Comes Down To This.

The most important stories in Texas last week were the border refugee crisis and President Obama’s fundraising visits to Dallas and Austin, and PDiddie at Brains and Eggs, assembled several of the various reactions to both.

Another election questioning the Hidalgo voting machines. CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme wonders what will be revealed.

Neil at All People Have Value posted from Cincinnati, Ohio this past week. Neil offered nice pictures of Cincinnati & wrote about seeing his friends and the passage of time. All People Have Value is part of NeilAquino.com.

=============================

And here are some posts of interest from other Texas blogs.

Greg Wythe analyzes City of Houston turnout patterns to get a handle on how the attempt to repeal the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance may play out.

Texas Vox believes that US solar manufacturing could make a comeback.

The Texas Election Law blog reviews the lawsuit filed by college students challenging North Carolina’s voter ID law.

Unfair Park lauds the Texas Clean Fleet Program, which is designed to get old diesel-powered school buses off the streets.

LGBTQ Insider gives a fond farewell to former Fort Worth City Council member Joel Burns.

Texas Watch reports that workers exposed to cancer-causing asbestos have just had their lives made harder by the state Supreme Court.

Scott Braddock documents the resistance Texas business leaders face on immigration reform.