Sunday, May 02, 2021
Friday, April 30, 2021
"Briscoe Cain is His Name"* Week-Ending Wrangle
And Cain is what he raised yesterday at the state capital.
(Yesterday afternoon, self-described 'parliamentary guru') Rep. Briscoe Cain, the chair of the House Elections Committee made an unexpected move when he tried to replace the Senate’s priority voting bill with his own. His scheming fell short thanks to one abstention from Republican Travis Clardy and led to the bill being withdrawn, but it signals how contentious voting legislation has become.
Update 8:50 pm, April 29: The House Elections Committee passed SB 7 on a party-line vote 5-4 late Thursday night. In a committee substitute, Chairman Cain replaced the text of SB 7 with his bill, HB 6, and then proceeded without a public hearing because he argued the text of the substitute already received a hearing two weeks ago. Despite claims by Cain and Speaker Dade Phelan that the House priority voting restriction bill is very different from SB 7, they used this maneuver to move the Governor’s emergency item on election integrity faster as the session enters its final month. It also allows the two chambers to negotiate what they like (known as "conference committee") in each of their omnibus voting restriction bills to send to the Governor’s desk.
Before voting it out of committee, Democrats tried to add amendments to prevent intimidation by poll watchers and voter assistants’ mistakes from being criminalized and to collect data on the disparate racial impact of penalties in SB 7 and AG investigations opened from them. All were voted down also on party lines.
The outrage from the afternoon move couldn't even catch up to the evening's. That's how fast this House is working under Speaker Phelan's lead. Expect more of the same on the rest of their agenda.
Divided Texas Senate backs bill defining transgender medical care as child abuse https://t.co/LKHEASMPrp #TXLege
— Forever in debt to your priceless advice. (@PDiddie) April 28, 2021
Helen said in her testimony against the healthcare bills: “The idea that my parents could have been punished for accepting me and allowing me to be the person I need to be is frightening.”https://t.co/BQ8gGZbFo8#TXlege #protecttranskids
— Equality Texas (@EqualityTexas) April 29, 2021
"Reveal your child's genitals or we will do it ourselves!" #TXLege https://t.co/aygTfGIC7U
— Forever in debt to your priceless advice. (@PDiddie) April 29, 2021
Check out our Legislative Counsel @BlakeRocap on @fox7austin, explaining HB 1515/SB8's extreme provisions. #StopHB1515 #txlege https://t.co/zfTnYwaBsw
— Avow – Unapologetic Abortion Advocacy (@avowtexas) April 28, 2021
Thank you to the 300+ Texas Lawyers who signed onto this letter. #HB1515 is one of the most extreme abortion bans in the country and would allow ANYONE to sue an abortion provider and anyone who they suspect helped a person obtain an abortion. #StopHB1515 #TxLege https://t.co/GGjjwu70K2
— Planned Parenthood Texas Votes (@PPTXVotes) April 28, 2021
A Texas bill that would allow people to carry handguns without a permit or training quickly sailed out of a state Senate committee recently created to specifically hear the bill. #txlege #publicpolicy #politics #guns #2A #gunsafety #texashttps://t.co/KxNLg3MIRg
— PLCTexas (@PLC_Texas) April 30, 2021
Little Gov @DanPatrick says:
— Scott Braddock (@scottbraddock) April 30, 2021
- he doesn't bully senators on votes (lol)
- he's going to force senators to vote on permitless carry of handguns (contradicting the first statement)
- he can't guarantee it'll pass (that'll aggravate the GOP base) https://t.co/S2XpOgLWJI #TxLege pic.twitter.com/OkfCaNknRT
The @ExpressNews gets it: "Asking that a well-intentioned, law-abiding gun owner knows how to handle a firearm and is licensed to do so is not a violation of Second Amendment rights."
— TMF (@TMFtx) April 29, 2021
Saying no to #HB1927 & #PermitlessCarry is just common sense. #txlegehttps://t.co/5Nm1sYkKcF pic.twitter.com/Gd1ndZutiW
#DanPatrick #TXLege
— Disna4change (@disna4change) April 29, 2021
“You’re going to pass this bill out of committee over the 81% of Texans who oppose it. You’ve chosen the wrong side.”#StopPermitlessCarry#EndGunViolence https://t.co/TbATUp6QhF
And RoofieGate was quickly swept under the rug.
Authorities clear lobbyist of alleged #TXLege staffer drugging https://t.co/06rWcx6LMO
— Forever in debt to your priceless advice. (@PDiddie) April 29, 2021
"We have concluded that there is not enough evidence to support these allegations and that criminal charges are not appropriate," a joint statement from the Texas Department of Public Safety and Travis County district attorney's office said. https://t.co/jiynXZiWvb
— Austin Statesman (@statesman) April 29, 2021
Time and time again the message that has been made clear is that you either risk your health and safety to come to #txlege or you stay silent. #txdeservesbetter https://t.co/nqmUIgynpa
— amber mills (@amberrmills) April 29, 2021
Yeah, they just don't give a shit what anybody thinks (unless you're voting in their primary election, that is). Speaking of elections, there's several happening around the state happening tomorrow, and one in the Fort Worth area for the Congressional vacancy. There should be a runoff in that one.
Actor #CharlieSheen sues #Texas mayoral candidate over legal fees related to dispute over employment as Sheen's bodyguard
— ChickenFriedPolitics (@ChkFriPolitics) April 27, 2021
-Southern politics are always on the menu at ChickenFriedPolitics.com-https://t.co/TzDHarGeTP
Several Dallas City Council candidates are activists who want to make an impact not just through protests, but by shaping policy inside city hall.https://t.co/emksZSKhEO pic.twitter.com/dsEcMU2IEA
— KERA News (@keranews) April 27, 2021
San Antonio activists ‘cannot in good faith’ support this year’s mayoral candidates https://t.co/Akyh4a9sCR #SATX
— Forever in debt to your priceless advice. (@PDiddie) April 30, 2021
Tomorrow's special election in Texas is the Democrats' best House hope in 2021 #TX06 #TX6 #txlegehttps://t.co/xfjGdYfwme
— Mark P. Jones (@MarkPJonesTX) April 30, 2021
Some Texas Democrats were giddy, some more practical after Biden's speech Wednesday night, and the announcements previously that two Texans are heading to Washington to serve the president.
White House nominates Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez to lead ICE https://t.co/kEUaP0KD1E
— Ben Wermund (@BenjaminEW) April 27, 2021
Biden taps Gina Ortiz Jones of San Antonio for Air Force undersecretary https://t.co/PeipAGBMNJ
— San Antonio Express-News (@ExpressNews) April 27, 2021
Not all good news for Team Donkey, though.
Before elected in 2016 (and re-elected in 2020), Judge Fredericka Phillips was a vice chair for the Texas Democratic Party. #hounews https://t.co/B6eSAvCOpr
— Forever in debt to your priceless advice. (@PDiddie) April 29, 2021
With respect to Gonzalez and ICE, I've already done all the pushing back on Twitter I'll be doing for now. Will wait to see what he does before commenting further, but don't have much in the way of expectations on reforms. ACAB.
DWN is eager to see immediate shifts in ICE’s culture and operations under the leadership of Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez, but the racist underpinnings of ICE will continue regardless of who is in charge.
— Detention Watch (DWN) (@DetentionWatch) April 27, 2021
Read our statement on the new ICE director: https://t.co/4wD2P0Ts1g pic.twitter.com/5i6lEt5nEv
I'll dedicate the rest of this post to catching up on topics I've neglected for awhile, so first up: environmental news.
Texas Fisherwoman Diane Wilson Holds Hunger Strike to Stop Dredging for Oil Exports https://t.co/Fk76IXiJqU
— Democracy Now! (@democracynow) April 28, 2021
Lone Star State's super-polluters revealed in wake of #TexasFreeze https://t.co/ZLQ43tWDzs #txlege
— Forever in debt to your priceless advice. (@PDiddie) April 29, 2021
Your takeaway from the poll below? Eleven percent of self-identified Texas Democrats either do not think -- or are unsure -- that climate change is happening.
Is #ClimateChange Happening? Texas responses from March 2021 @TxPolProject poll, by party identification.
— Jim Henson (@jamesrhenson) April 29, 2021
Dems: 88% yes, 3% no, 8% not sure.
GOP: 30% yes, 45% no, 25% not surehttps://t.co/fe77XjmJQN #txlege pic.twitter.com/ZWcAYgErpF
'Not as bad as the TXGOP' is a bar too low, y'all. Do better.
3 Texas refineries continue to emit cancer-causing benzene above federal limits https://t.co/y864MtdakH #SETX #HouNews
— Forever in debt to your priceless advice. (@PDiddie) April 28, 2021
Texas enabled the worst carbon monoxide poisoning catastrophe in recent U.S. history https://t.co/b2HQhrq9IZ #TXLege #TexasFreeze
— Forever in debt to your priceless advice. (@PDiddie) April 29, 2021
And yes, we still have to fight our legislators to stop rewarding the oil companies and punishing the greens for trying to fix things.
#txlege attempts to kneecap renewables hurt TX communities and our economy.
— EDF Texas (@EDFtx) April 27, 2021
Per @HoustonChron, renewable energy projects paid more than $380M in state/local taxes and provided landowners nearly $250M in lease payments. https://t.co/LhBBzzW3xf
And yet, the Texas Senate just passed a bill imposing new fees on renewables. It is now in the House. Tell your state representative to vote no on new fees for wind and solar: https://t.co/secw2uPegh #TXLege #TexasFreeze https://t.co/TiC5qmGPeB
— One Breath Partnership (@OneBreathHOU) April 28, 2021
WHY would Texas PENALIZE #ElectricVehicle Drivers by charging them more than TWICE what fossil-fuel vehicle owners pay? #txenergy, #EVs #txlege https://t.co/JP2KBMYvct pic.twitter.com/TLmPnLNhq4
— Texas Electric Transportation Resources Alliance (@TxETRA_TX) April 28, 2021
This story by @abc7amarillo was a great explainer of what's going on. Great quotes from Republican Senator Kel Seliger and @ACORE president Greg Wetstone. #txenergy #txlege https://t.co/xZhOE1Kv44
— Doug Lewin (@douglewinenergy) April 27, 2021
"Even with one hand tied behind his back, County Attorney Menefee socked them pretty good," @lukemetzger said. "But to put an end to chemical disasters, we need the legislature to strengthen enforcement to it no longer pays to pollute." #txlege https://t.co/3gvPhT4QZu
— Matthew Tresaugue (@mtresaugue) April 28, 2021
A few COVID updates:
After months of not having enough COVID-19 vaccines to meet demand, Texas suddenly appears to have plenty of shots but not as many people lining up to receive them — though 75% of Texans still aren’t fully vaccinatedhttps://t.co/as33hcOya6
— Alfons López Tena (@alfonslopeztena) April 28, 2021
Two thoughts:
— Matt Schwartz (@SchwartzChron) April 29, 2021
1. Because getting vaccinated against a highly contagious and potentially fatal disease is not enough?
2. Could this money be better spent taking the vax to underserved transportation-challenged communities? https://t.co/HqeSyNREwq
This isn’t remotely how herd immunity works, so Austin’s SInclair-owned CBS Austin (KEYE) is either genuinely confused by science or they’re playing a more sinister and dangerous political long game suggesting to viewers the pandemic is over. Either way, Austin deserves better. pic.twitter.com/T5d0VcRjQ2
— Andy Langer (@Andylanger) April 27, 2021
And some criminal and social justice developments.
Texas Senate adopts SCR 29, urging federal officials to approve name changes for Texas places containing the word 'Negro.' Sen. Miles, D, gives heartfelt thanks to all senators for signing on as co-authors.
— Chuck Lindell (@chucklindell) April 28, 2021
Next stop is the House.
Background: https://t.co/vYLO0p40sh
Real talk: As long as Charles Schwertner is a committee chair in the senate, another enhancement isn't going to make anyone believe the #txlege has really transcended these attitudes. He either harassed a student or covered up for her harasser. https://t.co/ZWTvdWDkMH pic.twitter.com/KaeTHV7g2Y
— Grits for Breakfast (@Grits4Breakfast) April 29, 2021
Austin PD released video of police fatally shooting a man in front of his child after a traffic dispute where they claim he flashed a gun.
— AJ+ (@ajplus) April 29, 2021
Police fired 10x as #AlexGonzales walked to the back of his car, lawyers say to check on the baby.
Video does not show Gonzales with a gun. pic.twitter.com/oWGVHSN3Il
Reminder: she went into his apartment and murdered him in his own home. https://t.co/y1DdH69YOu
— Read Mutual Aid by Dean Spade (@JoshuaPotash) April 28, 2021
Context in this on today's debate on officer discipline which would limit appeals - From 2006-2017, 70% of San Antonio fired police officers were reinstated.https://t.co/R6KhT9cxMO #txlege https://t.co/3tNlqcr67f
— Jolie McCullough (@jsmccullou) April 29, 2021
Dallas didn’t invest in the communities you see until Black people were removed from Freedman’s town and Latinx people were displaced from Little Mexico. Both of these communities were combined to form Uptown, and the rest is a new whitewashed gentrification history. https://t.co/kd9pJqLfhO
— Jerry Hawkins (@JerryLEADS) April 28, 2021
Landlords filed more than 2,000 evictions in the city of Houston and judges continued hearing thousands of cases during a six-week "grace period" when Mayor Turner claimed evictions were on hold.https://t.co/vsBXJY26D0
— Jen Rice (@jen_rice_) April 27, 2021
I'll wrap this Wrangle with the latest from Boca Chica, or Starbase, or whatever they're calling it.
"Many things merge in this part of Texas: land and sea, the Rio Grande and the Gulf, Mexico and the United States, big business and the federal government, and now Earth and space. The relationships are complicated, and so is SpaceX's with the Rio Grande Valley."
— Teddy Schleifer (@teddyschleifer) April 27, 2021
— @Brandlingle
And a few soothers.
Motels were once a reliable respite for budget-conscious road warriors or transitory locals, but today's motel owners are seeking a younger generation of travelers who have more cash to spend.https://t.co/DnJAEarkaI
— Texas Monthly (@TexasMonthly) April 27, 2021
Gary Larson here, casually summing up Twitter in The Far Side. pic.twitter.com/Nx2hwQDz8J
— Gary Wigglesworth (@gpwigglesworth) April 28, 2021
*With all apologies to Levon Helm and Robbie Robertson.
Tuesday, April 27, 2021
Taco Tuesday, Hold the Roofie Wrangle
Texas suffers under many ailments, but one is not an overabundance of critical thinking. Big Lies over inconvenient truths rule, man.
An all-night ERCOT meeting is raising questions about @GregAbbott_TX's role in the power pricing debacle that created a multi-billion dollar mess. A top Abbott aide was at the previously undisclosed meeting #txlege 1/ https://t.co/zKpfUfmzB8
— Jay Root (@byjayroot) April 23, 2021
This was last Friday's news, which barely makes a ripple among the daily atrocities, it seems.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott dispatched a top aide to the ERCOT operations center on the night the grid operator made the controversial decision to leave electricity prices at maximum levels -- a move blamed for creating a multi-billion dollar mess.
Abbott has squarely placed the blame for the blackout boondoggle on ERCOT, which operates the power grid, and called for its CEO to resign right after the lights started coming back on across Texas on Thursday, Feb. 18. The ERCOT board eventually fired its CEO.
Unmentioned while Abbott was distancing himself from the power outage fiasco and railing against ERCOT on TV: a top energy policy adviser, Ryland Ramos, spent the previous night -- and into early Thursday morning -- at the agency’s operations center in Taylor, outside of Austin. That’s where ERCOT’s high-tech control room, handling the flow of power to most Texans, is located.
Also on hand at the previously undisclosed meeting were Public Utility Commission Chair DeAnn Walker, an Abbott appointee who later resigned under bipartisan pressure, along with representatives of four of the major electric transmission and distribution companies in Texas.
Ramos returned to the operations center Friday morning, February 19 -- right after the price cap was lifted -- and stayed there most of the day, according to ERCOT visitor logs obtained by Hearst Newspapers.
Abbott spokesman Mark Miner said neither the governor nor Ramos “were involved in any way” in the decision to keep prices at the maximum, which contributed to bankruptcies and billions in losses that will reverberate in the Texas economy for years to come. He said Abbott wanted Ramos at the operations center because he felt ERCOT was spewing “disinformation” about the crisis.
Just helping get the power back on. Keeping those price surges under control. Looking out for us while we froze, every step of the way. I'm sure nobody was scream-blaming anybody for anything, regardless of what the Guvnuh was saying publicly and nevermind those heads that tumbled off the chopping block a few days later.
One thing Abbott loves is his money. He likes to raise it, he likes to control it, he likes to hand it out to his friends and supporters. What he doesn't like to do is spend it on anything having to do with the public good. How would that help him at all?
Gov. Greg Abbott sought a waiver to reroute nearly $18 billion in federal COVID aid from public schools to other areas of the budget.
— Houston Public Media (@HoustonPubMedia) April 24, 2021
Abbott also requested a waiver in Feb. that would have allowed him to do the same with $17.9 billion in education funds.https://t.co/C7gheEYSxH
With all the money Abbott has collected over the years, you'd think we -- maybe I should say 'they', since it wasn't my money -- could have gotten a little better government for their investment. Wonder how Farris Wilks and Tim Dunn and Rich Kinder's heirs and some of those other billionaires are feeling these days about those millions wasted. Oh well, easy come easy go. As $60 oil reminds us, at their level money is fungible. Like people. Especially poor people, poor sick people, children, old folks, and Brown and Black people. And women. Besides, the Texas Freeze really didn't kill that many Texans, comparatively.
Maybe the greatest single tragedy in TX history?
— Prof Peter Hotez MD PhD (@PeterHotez) April 24, 2021
1. 50,000 deaths from COVID19
2. 22,000 Texans sacrificed their lives in WWII
3. 6,000-12,000 Galveston flood
4. 5,000 WWI
5. 3,417 Vietnam
6. 3,000 Civil War (some say higher)
7. 1,723 Korea
8. 700 TX Revolution
9. 600 TXCity1947
As long as none of our freedumbs get sacrificed, it's all good.
The #txlege's insistence on passing extreme, unpopular #PermitlessCarry bills is chilling.
— Katy N. (@Katy_Phelps) April 26, 2021
Related, at least two senators in Dan Patrick's hastily formed committee have terrible judgement (*cough @SenatorBobHall & @DrSchwertner cough*): https://t.co/xTBmlzLCSs via @TexasTribune
#HB1515 would:
— ACLU of Texas (@ACLUTx) April 26, 2021
- Ban abortion at 6 weeks
- Allow ANYONE to sue Texans for providing abortions
We’re only days away from it being voted out of the House and sent to Gov. Abbott’s desk. Find your rep and tell them you oppose this extreme bill: https://t.co/HZRFQGtfaW. #StopHB1515 pic.twitter.com/QCkKywVacC
TEXAS: Your voices are slowing the anti-voter omnibus bills HB 6 and SB 7, but we must not forget other bills with the same harmful provisions. One example: the TX House Elections Committee passed HB 4322, which would ban drive-thru voting. #txlege https://t.co/Nz6t56EUAQ
— Stacey Abrams (@staceyabrams) April 26, 2021
I'm far from Ms. Abrams' biggest fan, but when she speaks -- and acts -- on voter suppression, it comes from an unfortunate wealth of experience and knowledge. Pay attention, Texas.
Or don't, I suppose. Maybe that's a big part of the problem here.
Attention to the #Txlege Session (March 2021) https://t.co/QnWzD0YhR2 via @TxPolProject pic.twitter.com/9f9siOVHDk
— The Texas Politics Project (@TxPolProject) April 24, 2021
It's probably time for me to move on to another topic. More Republicans behaving badly? There's one we haven't had enough of lately.
DC riot arrest totals still rising as North Texas couple accused of assaulting officers during Capitol insurrection, FBI says. @KelliSmithNews has the story. #CapitolRiot #Trump #Congress #capitolinsurrection https://t.co/iqxFaniaiP
— John Gravois (@Grav1) April 24, 2021
In post-riot campaign ad, @DanRodimer holds assault rifle and vows to ‘strip power’ from @JoeBiden and @SpeakerPelosi#TX06 #2A #CapitolRiot
— Todd J. Gillman (@toddgillman) April 27, 2021
https://t.co/JXyGBbFBpH
I'm trying to care about the TX-6 election. It's just not registering. Mostly because there are 23 candidates, and the latest poll shows the wife of the deceased GOP incumbent and the lady Blue Dog with the Spanish surname leading. That sounds about right to me. *zzzz*
Here I will make space to add some Tweets that emphasize the real absurdity of what we are all going through with the Lege at the moment.
the crappy thing here is that Texas has laws requiring employers to give staff paid time off for voting on Election Days. Yet we know that many employers are violating these rules, disenfranchising their employees.
— Zenen Jaimes Perez 🎆 (@zenenjp) April 21, 2021
Why isn't this a Lege Priority @GregAbbott_TX? https://t.co/CHTDUightQ
Amber Briggle is the parent of a trans child.
I filed a police report today over threatening voice messages listing all the ways I should kill myself.
— Amber Briggle (she/her) (@mrsbriggle) April 20, 2021
I'm MAD.
“I know there are a lot of dry cleaning and car wash coupons, but uninsured people need those too,” one GOP lawmaker said. https://t.co/5L7V3QYMWG
— San Antonio Current (@SAcurrent) April 26, 2021
Yes, this one is satire, but I'd rather the first two were as well.
Two environmental updates; not at all greasy or smoky.
I don't understand why ATT and Kroger, two companies I subsidize entirely too much, keep showing up on my shit list.
Why is @ATT blocking legislation to #savethebees and other pollinators? HB 520 by @ForHD65 is supported by beekeepers, farmers, the North American Butterfly Association, environmentalists and many others. The only opponent? AT&T. #txlege https://t.co/RVBWEIVAYe
— Luke Metzger (@lukemetzger) April 21, 2021
But there's good news ...
Whooping cranes are laying eggs in Texas for the first time since the late 1800s. The animals are some of the rarest birds in North America.https://t.co/OPDFe7stLQ
— Texas Monthly (@TexasMonthly) April 26, 2021
I'm not through with Lege business yet. When they're not moving the bad bills as fast as they can, they're stalling the good ones.
One of 3 narrow police reform bills that made it out of Senate committee - restricting chokeholds - has been taken off the full chamber's intent calendar.
— Jolie McCullough (@jsmccullou) April 26, 2021
More on what's progressed and what's stalled in TX's George Floyd Act. https://t.co/3u7oQL1Cv6 #txlege
Dade Phelan is a Trump/Patrick/Abbott shithole conservative, and I will keep saying it until everybody gets it. But guess what? If you're wondering how bad we have it in Texas, just realize there are plenty of influential Texas conservatives who think he's too liberal.
If you’re wondering how bad we have it in Texas just realize that our Republican speaker knows CRT is being funded in our budget, and is defending that funding. #txlege https://t.co/sEzznbnLhT
— Luke Macias (@lukemaciastx) April 23, 2021
(Not familiar with critical race theory? It's not the boogeyman. Tangentially, expect some long and long-winded bloviating on this topic from Gadfly shortly, if he hasn't posted about it already. You know he's the expert on everything.)
Gerrymandering will be hot, but not until the special session, commencing sometime this summer (or perhaps fall), and it's worth boning up on now.
Can Ed Helms save Texas from GOP cracking and packing political districts?https://t.co/ikYxIZvWRv
— Dallas Observer (@Dallas_Observer) April 23, 2021
Prison gerrymandering: the practice of governments counting incarcerated persons as residents of their facilities when districts are drawn, instead of as residents of their last addresses.
— Texas Civil Rights Project (@TXCivilRights) April 26, 2021
Effect: power stolen from racially diverse communities. 👎#txlege can & should fix this. https://t.co/O8DRWUFGkM
Fun to look forward to. I've run long here again so I'll save the rest -- criminal and social justice posts and assorted what-not -- for tomorrow or the next day. Here's the "calm down" portion.
You a fan of beer and bicycle riding?
From the people who brought you award-winning bike pub crawls and the beer-to-go ride comes #Saint2Saint, a 3-day bike ride from @stelmobrewing to @SaintArnold rolling out this Thursday. Maybe we'll remember to update here, but probably better to find us on Insta. #norain pic.twitter.com/hq0HRfwvMk
— Austin Beer Guide (@AustinBeerGuide) April 26, 2021
ACL posted Denny Freeman's obituary.
Sending love to Denny Freeman’s family and countless friends and fans in the Austin area. Denny Freeman helped create the Austin scene as we know it & embodied its spirit for the last half century. He was a force of nature, and we’ll never see another like him again. pic.twitter.com/ajUGwyAYcy
— Paramount Theatre (@ParamountAustin) April 26, 2021
Joe Maudlin, Jerry Allison and Buddy Holly at Ray Miller Triumph Motorcycles in Dallas on May 13, 1958. Buddy bought that motorcycle. His father held onto the bike until 1970, then sold it. The two remaining Crickets found it & gave it to Waylon Jennings on his birthday in 1979. pic.twitter.com/H0bvlK63Q2
— Traces of Texas (@TracesofTexas) April 27, 2021
Starting Saturday at the San Antonio Museum of Art and venturing through downtown, the walk features stops at several colorful murals. https://t.co/4AqzgEnp7e
— San Antonio Current (@SAcurrent) April 22, 2021
Monday, April 26, 2021
The Monday Wrangle from Far Left Texas
The (state police) investigation, first reported by the Austin American-Statesman, stems from a complaint recently made by a #TXLege staffer, though officials have so far declined to comment on further details .https://t.co/zAcMLZIWTl via @Progrexas
— Forever in debt to your priceless advice. (@PDiddie) April 26, 2021
Meanwhile, one of the heads of the prominent Austin lobbying firm HillCo Partners wrote in a Sunday email to state lawmakers that the group had hired outside legal counsel and “a respected former law enforcement official” to launch an internal investigation into the matter.
“If facts come to light that anyone associated with HillCo partners had any involvement with such conduct, that person will be immediately terminated,” HillCo co-founder Buddy Jones wrote, adding that the firm would also cooperate with the DPS investigation. [...] Later Sunday, Bill Miller, the other HillCo co-founder, told the Tribune that the firm had been “tipped off” that one of its employees "is a person of interest" in the DPS investigation.
HillCo has been the most influential Republican-based lobbying firm for over twenty years. (Some might take issue with "Republican", so just replace the word with "corporate" if you're 'some'.) And maybe you're 'today' years old, hearing the names Buddy Jones and Bill Miller as two of the most powerful people in Texas politics. That's okay; these guys prefer working in the shadows.
Miller is the public face and spokesman for HillCo Partners, and former legislator Neal T. “Buddy” Jones is the lead lobbyist (they co-founded HillCo in 1998). The firm’s clients include the City of Dallas, the public employee pension funds in Dallas and Houston, the Dallas Cowboys, and the Houston Astros, as well as various interests of Koch Industries. At (71) Miller remains a central figure in Texas politics -- so central, in fact, that it’s not easy to narrow down just what he’s up to. He seemingly has a hand in just about everything.
[...]
Texas Monthly once observed of Miller that “nobody knows exactly what he does, but they know he does it very well.” Officially, he’s a lobbyist and consultant, but that doesn’t really cover it. He’s also an adviser, a soothsayer, a pundit, and a sage. Perhaps he’s best described as a fixer: someone who generally makes the lives of public officials easier.
Journalists love Miller because he is politically insightful and gives good quotes. Politicians like him because he gives consummate back-scratching. His most infamous favor came in 2004, when he arranged for then-House Speaker Tom Craddick, a devout Catholic, to have an audience with Pope John Paul II at the Vatican. Before that, Miller employed Rick Perry’s wife, Anita, as a consultant, when the future governor was the agriculture commissioner, and Miller then helped her land a job with political economist Ray Perryman. “I’m happy to do favors. I’m happy to be helpful. That is what I like to do,” Miller once told the Houston Chronicle.
Some of the links embedded above go to stories filed in 2017, but if you think anything's changed since then -- in Austin, at HillCo, at the Lege -- maybe you had better talk to some of the women who've been working there.
Legislators banning this lobbyist and his firm is not enough.
— Rep. Ina Minjarez (@vote4ina) April 25, 2021
Change the culture.
Ensure she receives full support & the services she needs.
Invest in the safety of our staffers & believe them if they ever outcry.
CHANGE THE CULTURE #txlege https://t.co/uuDomKTsZt
Update: Jeramy Kitchen at Texas Scorecard names the accused.
#txlege culture has long-protected the absolute worst behaviors. Rick Dennis of @HillCoPartners is allegedly just the latest example: https://t.co/SfCFkK4SgM
— Texas Scorecard (@TexasScorecard) April 26, 2021
A few years ago my state senator, Borris Miles, was at the center of a sexual harassment scandal under the Pink Dome. He was by no means the only legislator involved. Miles gives every indication that he's learned better, and the voters of SD-13 have returned him to the Capitol to serve them. But the climate, as Rep. Minjarez notes, remains the same. And I honestly do not know what it will take to change it at this point, short of outlawing bad actors. I really hope that happens, but Speaker Phelan and Lite Guv Patrick aren't likely to suddenly show up as men who advocate for the needed reforms. And if the Lege follows through on blocking cities and counties from lobbying them, expect a lawsuit on First Amendment (i.e., Citizens United) precedent. That would of course be far from the only bills eventually passed that will have to withstand a SCOTUS challenge.
Moving on to Rep. Dan Huberty, also a so-called leader in the Texas House.
Texas lawmaker @DanHuberty told @MomsDemand volunteers he opposed permitless carry, but then he voted for it anyway. He also claims to support MADD, but was arrested for a DWI last night.
— Shannon Watts (@shannonrwatts) April 24, 2021
These are the men *protecting* our communities? #txlege https://t.co/KERb4hsDBH
We've officially reached that point in the session that when you're a Tex-Pach and Mucus has you in his crosshairs, you know you're in deep shit.
The first Census numbers have been compiled and released; here's a summary of reactions from earlier this afternoon.
Breaking news - Texas will gain two seats in Congress as residents of color drive population gains - https://t.co/6BSulosCEf #texas #hounews #HTX
— KPRC 2 Houston (@KPRC2) April 26, 2021
BREAKING: new Census apportionment counts...
— Dave Wasserman (@Redistrict) April 26, 2021
TX +2
FL +1
CO, MT, NC, OR +1
CA, IL, MI, NY, OH, PA, WV -1
CENSUS 2020: 331,449,281 living in USA, 6 states to gain and 7 states to lose US House seats. pic.twitter.com/R8n0xRE6Bw
— Disclose.tv 🚨 (@disclosetv) April 26, 2021
This evening's update is late arriving so I'll save everything I have -- election, COVID, social justice, environmental updates, and some of my artistic soothers for tomorrow. Here's a few scattershots to tide you over until then.
Kuff joined me in deriding that ridiculous Abbott/McConaughey poll, which could have told us something about 2022 but failed to do so. Socratic Gadfly also echoed my Earth Day post, blogging about the ecosocialist Earth Day to May Day framing by the Green Party of what a real Green New Deal entails.
(No, I don't mind linking to TPA blogs who don't link to me any more. I've never had a problem linking to blogs or bloggers that I happen to have minor -- or for that matter, major -- disagreements with. That's for small-minded, petty people.)
Grits for Breakfast reminded that under current Texas law, a police officer has to be fired twice before they can have their law enforcement license revoked. John Hryhorchuk at Texas 2036 explained what's holding up federal stimulus money for Texas public schools. And Jef Rouner for Reform Austin gave a legislative marijuana bill update.
Closing today as we began.
A conservative anti-Trump group graded lawmakers on whether they tried to thwart democracy by overturning the November election. https://t.co/69O1wdkdO1
— San Antonio Current (@SAcurrent) April 26, 2021
Many Americans are dumb af. Example: https://t.co/XMfymMYPDC
— Zane (@zane622) April 26, 2021
Biden’s climate plan doesn’t ban meat. But baseless claims left Republicans fuming: "Stay out of my kitchen" https://t.co/4dpt3RxTc7
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) April 26, 2021
Last: a voice from Dallas goes silent.
Ron Chapman, Longtime North Texas Radio Voice and Legend, Passes at 85 | https://t.co/RgQolfKw2z pic.twitter.com/ie3vvYFVs8
— NBC DFW (@NBCDFW) April 26, 2021
Lots more coming.