By Mark Lavergne on 3/26/2010 2:28 PM

In today's Lone Star Report, we covered the need for housing of new charter school campuses. We wrote: 

"Brooke Terry, a policy analyst for the Texas Public Policy Foundation, cited the policy group’s recent report finding that around 15,000 students were currently on waiting lists for charter schools in Texas."

That sentence should have read:
 

"Brooke Terry, a policy analyst for the Texas Public Policy Foundation, cited the policy group’s recent report finding that about 40,000 students were currently on waiting lists for charter schools in Texas."

LSR regrets the error.

Terry's latest paper on the charter school waiting list can be found here.

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By Mark Lavergne on 3/23/2010 9:54 AM

The Public Utility Commission of Texas today announced the launch of new website www.smartmetertexas.com , which aims to make both residential and commercial electric consumers with smart meters more able to keep track of and control their electric bills.

“SmartMeterTexas.com gives Texans more control over their electricity use,” said Public Utility Commission (PUC) Chairman Barry Smitherman. “Smart meters increase reliability, enhance customer choice and enable demand response.”

Customers should have their most recent electric bill on hand when visiting the Website to verify identity.

The PUC has authorized four transmission and distribution utilities (TDU) to deploy smart meters for their customers:
• ONCOR
• CenterPoint
• AEP Texas Central
• AEP Texas North

In recent weeks Sen. Troy Fraser (R-Horseshoe Bay) and other lawmakers including Rep. Ralph Sheffield (R-Temple) have called attention to complaints from Oncor ratepayers over smart meters that allegedly overestimated people's electric usage, leading to skyrocketing utility bills. In response, Oncor has begun side-by-side accuracy tests comparing smart meters with analog meters.

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By Mark Lavergne on 3/17/2010 8:58 AM

Republican David Sibley, who served in the Texas Senate from 1992 to 2002, announced this morning that he will run for the seat being vacated today by Sen. Kip Averitt (R-Waco), who has occupied the seat since Sibley left. Gov. Rick Perry is expected to call a special election, but no word yet on when it would be held.

Said Sibley in a statement:

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By Mark Lavergne on 3/15/2010 1:06 PM

The Houston Chronicle reported earlier today that Rep. Al Edwards (D-Houston) is requesting a vote recount in the primary bout he lost by 10 votes March 2 to former Rep. Borris Miles.
 

Edwards filed the paperwork and submitted a $4,400 deposit this morning at the state Democratic Party headquarters in Austin, a spokeswoman confirmed.

Election day results showed Miles with an 11-vote lead. After an early-voting ballot board canvassed provisional and mail ballots, 39 votes were added to the total in the House District 146 race, and Edwards closed the gap by one vote. The tally stands at 5,050 for Miles and 5,040 for Edwards.

The Edwards campaign will cover the cost of the recount unless the outcome of the race changes, in which case the state party would pick up the tab.

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By Mark Lavergne on 3/15/2010 10:46 AM

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott has an oped in the Houston Chronicle, in which he explains that he wants a court to order the Environmental Protection Agency to do its own scientific review of greenhouse gases, which the agency has claimed will lead to climate change that will endanger public health and welfare.

The Environmental Protection Agency recently concluded that man-made greenhouse gas emissions — including carbon dioxide — are harmful pollutants and must be regulated. The lawsuit I filed challenging that finding does not address the disputed science surrounding global warming. Instead, it focuses on the indisputable fact that the EPA relied on information that has been discredited, manipulated, lost or destroyed, and sometimes evaded peer review. The lawsuit does not attempt to show that the globe is not warming. It does, however, show that the process used by the EPA in deciding to regulate greenhouse gases is riddled with errors that render its conclusion untrustworthy.

Before regulating man-made greenhouse gas emissions, the EPA was required to conduct a scientific assessment. Rather than conduct its own assessment, the EPA relied on reports by third parties. The EPA's conclusions rest primarily on information gathered by a creation of the United Nations called the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, or IPCC — an organization that has become mired in scandal because the reliability, objectivity and scientific validity of its work has come under fire.

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By Mark Lavergne on 3/2/2010 11:29 PM

DRIFTWOOD -- At about 10 p.m., 10-year incumbent Gov. Rick Perry took the stage at the Salt Lick BBQ restaurant southwest of Austin to announce that U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison called to congratulate him on his victory.

Hundreds of supporters, including capitol and campaign staffers, erupted in applause and dozens of bloogers and reporters from around the state scribbled away.

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By Mark Lavergne on 3/2/2010 2:48 PM

Brandon Aghamalian and Snapper Carr, both formerly of HillCo Partners, gave $500 each to Rep. Vicki Truitt's (R-Keller) GOP primary campaign on Feb. 26, telegram reports at the Texas Ethics Commission indicate.

Aghamalian worked for HillCo PAC during the 2009 regular session, when the lobby group coordinated under contract with local governments around the state to push for passage of the Texas Local Option Transportation Act (TLOTA). That bill, which would have allowed local governments to place optional gas tax increases on the ballot to pay for local transportation projects, incurred the wrath of government spending watchdog groups like Texans' for Fiscal Responsibility. TLOTA would not have allowed voters to lower their local gas taxes.

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By Mark Lavergne on 2/22/2010 2:03 PM

Gov. Rick Perry and Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison have each released new attack ads saying ... well, not much new.

Here's Perry's:


Here's Hutchison's:


Here's the script for Perry's ad:

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By Mark Lavergne on 2/16/2010 4:31 PM

The Texas Civil Justice League Political Action Committee (TCJL PAC), a lawsuit reform group, today released a list of endorsements for the upcoming primary elections.

It's mostly Republicans, with a few Democrats mostly from the Rio Grande Valley and El Paso, all of whom have a history of supporting tort reform.

The TCJL PAC has announced support for the following candidates for statewide elected office (all Republicans):

*=Incumbent
-Governor Rick Perry*
-Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst* (R)
-Attorney General Greg Abbott* (R)
-Comptroller Susan Combs* (R)
-Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples* (R)
-Railroad Commission Victor Carrillo* (R)
-Supreme Court, Place 9 Eva Guzman* (R)

Other endorsements include:

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By Mark Lavergne on 2/12/2010 12:06 PM

The Young Conservatives of Texas added to its endorsement list this week. Here they are:

For the State Board of Education, Republicans:
Joanie Muenzler,
Don McLeroy,
Geraldine “Tincy” Miller, and
Randy Rives.

McLeroy and Miller are incumbents. Muenzler is running for the seat vacated by Rick Agosto’s (D-San Antonio) retirement, and Rives is running against incumbent Bob Craig (R-Lubbock).

For Texas Supreme Court, the group also endorsed
Rick Green for the open seat on the Texas Supreme Court and
incumbent Eva Guzman for re-election.

YCT endorsed Dave McIntyre in Congressional District 17 (incumbent Chet Edwards, D-Waco).

For the State Legislature, YCT backed Republicans
Raul Torres in HD 33,
Mike Murphy in HD 65,
Charles Perry in HD 83,
John Frullo in HD 84,
David Andrews in HD 85, and
Fernando Herrera in HD 148.

Frullo is running for the Carl Isett (R-Lubbock) open seat. (We cover that race and the primary challenge against Delwin Jones [R-Lubbock] in this week's issue.) The rest are running against incumbents.

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