Free Republic

Lawmakers in the Texas House ran out the clock to kill two measures that would have provided substantial protection against the abuses experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic.. Among the dozens of measures that the Texas House killed by running down the legislative clock are two that would have protected Texans against abusive interventions to address a declared disaster like the COVID-19 pandemic. Senate Bill 1104 by State Sen. Brian Birdwell (R–Granbury) would have given the Legislature sole authority to suspend laws and regulations after 30 days of a declared disaster, at which time the governor would have been required to...

Republicans in the Texas State House voted 76-4 on Tuesday to arrest the runaway Democrats who fled to Washington D.C. to break the quorum and block the passage of Governor Greg Abbott's voting rights bills. 'Members, a sergeant-at-arms and any officer appointed by him are directed to send for all absentees whose attendance is not excused for the purpose of securing and maintaining their attendance under warrant of arrest if necessary,' Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan announced from the State House floor. Texas House rules allow the sergeant-at-arms to arrest members who are not present at the Capitol for a...

Empower Texans brings rather troubling news that today Texas State House of Representatives Republicans will meet at 1p.m. CT to begin “discussing” caving on Obamacare and expanding Medicaid. Governor Rick Perry is solid on the issue, but if enough members of the Texas legislature disagree with him, they could override him. The ring leader is apparently State Rep. Lois Kolkhorst, along with Representative John Zerwas. If you live in Texas, go to the RedState Action Center RIGHT NOW and email members of the Texas State House of Representatives. Tell them to oppose the Medicaid expansion.

Rep. Tan Parker, R-Flower Mound, today will remove his name from Speaker Joe Straus’ list of supporters in the upcoming race for House speaker. Several House Republicans have announced this week that they no longer support Straus, who is facing challenges from fellow Republicans Ken Paxton of McKinney and Warren Chisum of Pampa. “After much thought, prayer and reflection on the priorities of my Denton County district and this historic Republican majority, I have decided today to formally withdraw my pledge to Speaker Joe Straus and offer my full support to Representative Ken Paxton,” Parker said. “Speaker Straus and I...

PLEASE sign this petition, and forward right away to ALL Texans on your Ping Lists and Email Address book: http://conservativespeakermandate.com/alt1 "The victory of nearly two dozen new conservative Republican legislators was a clarion call for conservative leadership in the Texas House – leadership that has been absent the past two years. A change to a more conservative Speaker is in order...."

We, Conservative Citizens of the state of Texas, are in a fight to keep a corrupt, powerhouse RINO from keeping the Speaker of the House position in our Texas House of Representatives. After the election of November 2, 2010, the Texas State House of Representatives has the largest Republican majority since Reconstruction. Also, the majority of the ones elected are Conservative, representing Conservative districts. The current Speaker is Joe Straus. His supporters are trying to re-invent his image to portray him as a Reagan social and fiscal Conservative. This man is anything but. His voting record speaks for itself: Rep....

The Travis County clerk's election division began the process of reviewing and counting provisional and overseas ballots Friday, and the outcome could lead to the ousting of a West Austin Democrat.State Rep. Donna Howard led Republican challenger Dan Neil after election night by 15 votes out of more than 51,000 votes cast. But the race isn't quite over.After the current round of counting is complete — the official results are expected to be announced Wednesday — candidates can call for a recount, Howard said.Neil's campaign manager, Zach Vaughn, said it's too early to make a call on a recount.Beginning Friday...

Craddick quits House speaker's race; Straus poised to take over08:55 AM CST on Monday, January 5, 2009By KAREN BROOKS and CHRISTY HOPPE / The Dallas Morning Newskmbrooks@dallasnews.comchoppe@dallasnews.com AUSTIN – With a promise to end partisan clashes, newcomer and moderate Republican Joe Straus of San Antonio is poised to become the new Texas House speaker after toppling 40-year veteran Tom Craddick of Midland. In a meteoric rise, the two-term lawmaker won overwhelming support from 72 Democrats and 16 Republicans who said they were seeking a less combative atmosphere in the Capitol. Straus released a list Sunday night of 88 lawmakers –...

Put a fork in it. That’s what two Texas politicians recently said about the controversial Trans-Texas Corridor. “Everybody in Austin knows it’s dead. Everybody across the state knows it’s dead. It’s just something to be talking about,” House Speaker Tom Craddick, R-Midland, said at a debate in Midland on Oct. 19, according to a published report. But folks fighting the corridor here in Central Texas call it election season bluster. “Yes, they are still planning to do it,” said Mae Smith, Holland mayor. “That’s nothing but political talk. I don’t believe anything Mr. Craddick says, or any politician says prior...

How the hell should any of us know...? Actually, I know. He's the laughable candidate slated to take on Republican powerhouse Tom Craddick. Bill Dingus' history pretty much goes like this...he went to college, got a graduate degree, had a family, and a job, was a city councilman for 3 terms and decided he wants to take on the Speaker of the House Tom Craddick...HA! But it's going to be okay because, as his campaign slogan reads he's "One of the good guys"... Call me crazy but with his last Cash On Hand report sent to the Texas Ethics Commission...

State Rep. Jim McReynolds has sent a letter to the Texas Department of Transportation saying he thinks TxDOT should drop the idea of tying the Trans-Texas Corridor in with plans for routing Interstate 69 through East Texas. McReynolds says tremendous negative outcry from his constituents and other East Texas residents has made it clear to him no one wants infrastructure that massive and disruptive to the quality of life to be built, taking big swaths out of the Pineywoods countryside. "Within the past several weeks, I have personally attended every TxDOT hearing held in my district regarding this proposed corridor,"...

Senior executives of the Texas Department of Transportation can expect some heavy grilling from state legislators when the state Legislature convenes next January, state Rep. Jim McReynolds said Friday. Speaking to the monthly First Friday luncheon of The Chamber, Lufkin-Angelina County, McReynolds said many legislators, especially those from rural East Texas, are unhappy with TxDOT leaders over the Trans- Texas Corridor project and how it has incorporated plans for an Interstate 69 through the region. McReynolds said he attended all four of the TxDOT hearings on the TTC held in his district, which included one in Diboll, and "never heard...

AUSTIN - When it comes to road improvement and maintenance, by most accounts, the South Plains and Panhandle are fortunate. Despite a $1.1 billion accounting error, the Texas Department of Transportation recently reported no projects in the region have been canceled or delayed while cities like Dallas, Houston and Laredo had at least a half dozen highway projects delayed. But the $1.1 billion-error, which occurred because TxDOT inadvertently counted some bond money twice and consequently allocated more funding than it had, is just the latest problem plaguing the beleaguered agency. For months, TxDOT executive director Amadeo Saenz and other transportation...

State Sen. Glen Hegar says he opposes a route that would bring the mammoth Trans Texas Corridor through his district. The Texas Department of Transportation has kicked off a series of public meetings to discuss the project. Meetings are scheduled for Tuesday in Hempstead (6:30 p.m. at the Knights of Columbus Hall, 22892 Mack Washington St.) and Jan. 29 in Bellville (at the Austin County fairgrounds, also beginning at 6:30 p.m.). No meetings are scheduled in Washington County, which likely wouldn’t be impacted much by the highway project. Much of the discussion in public meetings already held centers on Interstate...

Williamson County Republican reshaped Austin area's transportation system State Rep. Mike Krusee, a Williamson County Republican who reshaped the Austin area's transportation system and, with Gov. Rick Perry, turned Texas toward a toll-centric approach to highway building, will not seek re-election next year. Krusee, 48, is not leaving the public stage right away. He will serve out his term, which runs through January 2009; will continue serving on national panels on transportation and urban planning; and could return to a statewide post after he retires from the Legislature. Talk around the Capitol is that Krusee, who has served in the...

Deficit may top $1.8 billion by fiscal 2012 with current slate of road projects AUSTIN — The Texas Department of Transportation, working to fend off a funding shortfall, intends to cut hundreds of millions of dollars budgeted for everything from consulting engineers to right-of-way purchases. The plan wouldn't affect existing road projects, and it's "difficult to say" what future projects would be delayed as a result, agency spokesman Randall Dillard said Friday. Projections show that if existing plans on awarding contracts and expenditures were to go forward, the department would have at least a $1.8 billion deficit by fiscal year...

Even though he didn't get a majority for re-election last year, Gov. Rick Perry's 39 percent was ahead of everybody else. And so he's now in a term that lasts into 2011. In the eyes of some of his detractors in the blogosphere, that's too long. Political activist Linda Curtis has started a website calling on legislators in 2009 to impeach the governor (www.impeachperry.indytexans.org/). That's a pretty rash idea. But since Texas doesn't allow for recall elections, like the one that nailed California Democratic Gov. Gray Davis in 2003, Texans' only way to toss Perry out before the 2010 election...

AUSTIN – State Transportation Commission Chairman Ric Williamson is proud that he can still work a bulldozer, a skill he learned early on the ranch and in the gas fields. Others would say he still drives it at meetings, committee hearings and town hall gatherings. Mr. Williamson, 55, is one of the most influential men in Texas. He has the ear of the governor, with whom he speaks almost daily. He is the architect behind the state's road plan for the next 25 years. He is smart, studious, self-made. And critics, who seem as endless as a West Texas highway,...

Gov. Rick Perry’s veto this week of an eminent domain bill designed to protect landowners left a lot of Texans scratching their heads, and you can lump us in with those feeling dumbfounded. Perry — who was among those making political hay when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2005 that cities can seize homes under eminent domain for use by private developers and made the issue an emergency item in a special session that same year — had a chance to back his tough talk and posturing on property rights with action. But when push came to powerful shove...

LUBBOCK, Texas — One Central Texas farmer said Monday he was "dumbfounded" by Gov. Rick Perry's veto of an eminent domain bill designed to protect landowners when the state wants to take their property. Robert Fleming is not alone in an area worried about the massive Trans Texas Corridor proposal. The planned route cuts through Fleming's Bell County farms. He's bewildered by Perry's veto. "We were so close to getting something done," Fleming said. "We've worked hard trying to get private property rights." Perry vetoed the bill, and 48 others, Friday. In 2005, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Kelo...