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The propositions address voter ID, state budgets, federal taxes, the use of the word “God” and the Ten Commandments on public buildings, and requiring sonograms to be performed before “medically unnecessary” abortions.
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Both the Department of Transporation and Department of Insurance were placed in limbo when lawmakers refused to extend their operations without a more thorough review. This assures the Governor will call a special session and some Democrats suspect a Republican effort to revive the controversial voter identification issue.
Republicans claim additional ID is needed to prevent voter fraud. Democrats say that intimidates or inconveniences up to three percent of Texas voters, most of whom are Democrats.
To listen to the rest of the story visit KERA.
The long and very slow march in the Texas House has ended. At midnight this morning that chamber reached a procedural deadline that killed a controversial Voter ID Bill. Democrats had been dramatically slowing debate in the House to make sure the bill wouldn’t come up. 
The day passed at a snails pace, only to finally speed up at about 9 p.m., but nothing was going to get the Voter ID bill up for a vote. Caucus leader Fred Taylor, R-Friendswood says the list of dead goes well beyond that bill.
“You’ve got Texas Department of Insurance Sunset. You’ve got some CHIP program. You’ve got some healthcare programs. You’ve got Windstorm Insurance, which is an emergency issue. There’s any number of issues. There’s hundreds of issues,” Taylor says.
A spokesperson for Governor Rick Perry says the governor has made no final decision on the possibility of a special session. But if he does bring lawmakers back to Austin – there’s a chance Voter ID would come up again. MORE from KUT.
Monday was another day with very little work done in the Texas House. Democrats in the chamber have been dramatically slowing down the pace of debate in an effort to delay voting on a highly partisan Voter ID bill.
Monday’s PR showdown began with House Speaker Joe Straus calling Democrats obstructionists. The long winded debate in the House, know as “Chubbing,” has led to a lot of finger pointing. And pointing out the fact that several Democrats in the House voted for a voter ID bill in the 90’s.
“I think it’s complete hypocrisy that a number of Democrats who have been here a very long time didn’t object to photo ID legislation way back then. And yet they’re willing to bring the House to a grinding halt over the same issue now,” Straus says.
To listen to rest of the story visit KUT.
Lawmakers at the state capitol today looked for ways to keep their legislation alive as Democrats continued stalling tactics in the House.
The Democrats’ goal is to kill the Voter ID bill, which will die at midnight if it doesn’t reach the House floor. Speaker Joe Straus, R-San Antonio, has called the Democrats obstructionists for holding up business and potentially taking hundreds of other bills down with Voter ID. Democrats have said they wouldn’t be in this position if Republicans in the Senate hadn’t changed procedural rules and pushed the controversial measure in that chamber.
Democrats oppose the Republican Voter ID bill saying a requirement that voters show photo identification would keep about 3 percent of eligible voters from casting ballots. Many Republicans say photo ID’s are important to prevent voter fraud.
To read the rest of the story visit KERA.
Credit: Katie Hayes, Public Media Texas. Rep. Paula Pearson addresses the issue of the voter ID bill
Friday, on the House floor, there was a lot of talk about drainage districts, a discussion on good congestion medications and plenty of minutiae.
Democrats slowed down business by talking nearly ten minutes a piece on hundreds of non-controversial bills that are usually settled in about thirty seconds.
Veteran Democrat Pete Gallego of Alpine admits the stalling tactic was designed to make Republican lawmakers nervous. Delays at this late point in the session put a backlog of bills in jeopardy (KERA).
AG FILES SUIT AGAINST DEBT SETTLEMENT COMPANIES — Four debt settlement companies are being sued by Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott. They’re accused of misleading their customers with claims to eliminate or reduce their debt. (KUHF)
DALLAS CITY COUNCIL PREPARES BUDGET CUTS — Libraries, parks, street repairs, and as many as 350 city jobs could
be casualties in the battle against “red ink” at Dallas City Hall. KERA’s BJ Austin says council members got a long list of bad news at a budget workshop. Under the plan to close a 100 million dollar budget shortfall libraries would close one day a week; money for parks and the Zoo would be cut, so would funds for street repair. Water rates would go up six percent. Parking meter fees and fines would also increase. Councilman Mitchell Rasansky wants to be sure city expenditures that do NOT require council approval are appropriate for these tough economic times. (KERA)
ANIMAL ID HEARING GETS HEATED — Representatives from the U.S. Department of Agriculture were in Austin Wednesday. They were seeking public comment on a proposed National Animal Identification System. As KUT’s Mose Buchele reports, the
proposal met with some pretty stiff opposition from Texas ranchers, farmers and consumers. (KUT)
LOTTO WINNERS’ INFO STOLEN — A former Texas lottery worker was arrested while training for a new job Tuesday — his fourth with the state — and charged with illegally “possessing” personal information on 140 lottery winners and employees, including their names and Social Security numbers. Joseph Mueggenborg was still working for the Lottery Commission in 2007 when he allegedly took the information. When arrested Tuesday, however, the computer analyst was training for yet another job, at the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. (Chron)
UT CHANCELLOR QUESTIONS BILL THAT WOULD ALLOW GUNS ON CAMPUS: Allowing concealed handguns on college campuses would complicate life for the police and impair recruiting of faculty members and students, the chancellor of the University of Texas System said Monday (Statesman).
VOTER ID ON THE MOVE: The Elections Committee sent Voter ID out of committee over lunch—but it’s not the bill most wanted (Burkablog). The bill will most likely lead to HOURS of debate on the House floor next week. Critics are already saying the time taken on voter ID will kill hundreds of bills this session — because it will keep them from coming up for a vote before parliamentary deadlines pass (Notes from the Lege).
CASTRO WINS BIG IN SAN ANTONIO: Julian Castro enjoyed a wide margin of support on election night, but amidst the celebration, the mayor-elect of San Antonio was also thinking about the challenges he will face (TPR).
MCCRACKEN STEPS ASIDE: In a joint appearance today Council Member Brewster McCracken cleared the way for Lee Leffingwell to become the next Mayor of Austin. McCracken cited the expense of a runoff both to his campaign donors and to Austin taxpayers as reasons to bow out. A runoff would have cost the city 500,000 dollars. (KUT).
MY WHAT BIG EYES YOU HAVE: There are parts of the body that scientists have never seen-at least, in a live patient. But with the help of a little military technology, scientists at UT Health Science Center are going in to uncharted territory. What they find will help thousands of cancer patients (KUHF).
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