When tea party-aligned Republicans at the Texas Capitol talk about why they can't get any number of bills passed, they reflexively point to one man: House Speaker Joe Straus.
The anti-Straus forces – especially as they have amassed power in the Senate – have been careful about not laying blame at the feet of the whole House. Instead, the tea party crowd alleges a more us-versus-them framework that pits Joe Straus’ coalition of Democrats and so-called liberal Republicans against the tea party sympathizers who are vastly outnumbered in the lower chamber.
- Texas House Speaker Joe Straus to head national push to turn more legislatures red.
Texas House Speaker Joe Straus had to curb his enthusiasm Tuesday when, as expected, he was named the head of the Republican Legislative Campaign Committee, a national GOP group that aims to turn more legislatures red.
Republicans have been annihilating the Democrats’ “bench” of state officeholders so rapidly in recent cycles that you could almost read a how-do-I-top-that lament in Straus’ reaction. “We have a lot of ground to defend,” Straus said in a statement. Boy, is that an understatement.
- Important items on Straus’ list.
Among the items Texas House SpeakerJoe Strausis directing the 2017 Legislature to address are some that deserve particularly heightened attention. They go to adequate and effective state spending, transparent government and whether Texas students will be the workforce the state needs to be economically competitive.
They are “interim charges” from Straus. They offer a possible preview of priorities for the House in the next session. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick issued his directives to Senate committees earlier.
- Patrick says state voters' approval of Proposition 1 a first step in tax relief.
In a news conference Thursday at the Texas Federation of Republican Women convention in Lubbock, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said state voters’ recent passage of Proposition 1 was just the first step in property tax relief. . . . Given the newly approved increase in homestead exceptions, Patrick said the next step should either be to reduce the maximum amount appraisal districts can increase property values or to lower the rollback rate on property taxes that requires cities and counties to hold elections if they exceed it.
- Texas conservatives look to finally move on ‘sanctuary cities’.
Lawmakers and our law enforcement officials have the responsibility to keep our communities safe. Many security officials say illegal immigration puts us in danger. But will lawmakers try again for a controversial law to get rid of “sanctuary cities.” Lawmakers tackled this issue and waded into this passionate issue at a Senate Border Security Committee at the State Capitol. The debate centered around two issues. The first is who commits crime. The second is what can and should the state do to encourage action from our local police.
- 1-on-1 with Lt. Governor Dan Patrick.
Many call it the most powerful position in the State. Nothing passes the Senate without approval from the Lt. Governor. Today that position is held by Dan Patrick, a former sportscaster and state senator. He passed all but one of his priority items out of the Senate last session. But some of his ideas did not pass the House and, as a result, did not become law. But in the interim (time between sessions) he gave Texas’s 31 senators some homework.
“School choice is back,” said Lt. Governor Dan Patrick. Last session he said he’d put his shoulder behind it. While a bill giving tax credits to businesses who paid for kids to leave failing schools passed the Senate, it did not pass the House. He’s bringing it up again.
