Today Atty. Gen. Greg Abbott filed a legal challenge against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's decision to disapprove of Texas' flexible air permitting process, which leaders in Texas including Gov. Rick Perry have said is crucial to Texas' economic success and air quality improvement.

Abbott's petition for review can be viewed here.

The flex permitting program, which has been in place since 1994, allows emitters to allocate emissions on a facility-wide basis rather than by source point, allowing producers to raise emissions in one area of a facility and lower them in others, granting them more flexibility to meet the clean air standards. The EPA rejected the program on July 15, 2010 on the grounds that it did not fit well into the regulatory framework of the federal Clean Air Act.

The AG's office filed today's challenge against the EPA on behalf of TCEQ in "an effort to defend the state's legal rights and challenge improper overreach by the federal government," according to a release from the AG's office. EPA Spokesperson Joe Hubbard issued the following statement to LSR today in response to the AG's action:

In a Senate District 22 executive committee meeting called today in Waco by Republican Party of Texas Chairman Steve Munisteri, eight county Republican chairmen from the district unanimously nominated Sen. Brian Birdwell (R-Granbury) as the Republican candidate in the upcoming November election for the seat formerly held by Kip Averitt.

Last month, Birdwell won a runoff against former Sen. David Sibley to finish out Averitt's term.

From a Republican Party of Texas press release:

When is money in the budget not exactly money in the budget? When it's dedicated.

Some moneys that are included in the revenue estimate calculation for the state can only be spent for certain purposes, possibly adding another hurdle to Texas' upcoming budget challenge, based on discussions earlier today in the House Appropriations Subcommittee on General Government, chaired by Rep. John Otto (R-Dayton).

The subcommittee met to discuss general revenue-dedicated funds and the Constitutional Debt Limit.

There are currently 265 dedicated account balances which total just under $3.7 billion, Legislative Budget Board analyst Stewart Shallow told the committee. The largest is the System Benefit Fund at $671 million, and the Emissions Reduction Plan with $515 million.

Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst today announced he is changing around some committee chairmanships in the state Senate, effective immediately.

New chairmanships include:
*Troy Fraser (R-Horseshoe Bay) at Natural Resources;
*John Carona (R-Dallas) at Business and Commerce;
*Tommy Williams (R-The Woodlands) at Transportation and Homeland Security;
*Chris Harris (R-Arlington) at Jurisprudence;
*Bob Deuell (R-Greenville) at Nominations;
*Jeff Wentworth (R-San Antonio) at Select Committee on Veterans Health. ...

With relatively few fireworks (pardon the Fourth of July pun), the Sunset Advisory Commission adopted Sunset recommendations with a few modifications to the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, and the Texas Department of Insurance, among others.

During TDI deliberations, the panel voted down a proposed modification to move away from the current system of file and use for insurance carriers, towards a system of prior approval.

Sen. Juan "Chuy" Hinojosa (D-McAllen) recommended, as expected, to move away from the file-and-use system at TDI, under which insurance carriers are allowed to file their insurance rate increases with the department and then use them withou having to wait for approval. Hinojosa wanted to move away from that back to a prior approval system.

Specifically, ...

The Texas Supreme Court has issued a stay in the ongoing case in which the Democratic Party is attempting to prevent the Green Party from being placed on the ballot for the general election in Texas in November. The stay means that the Supreme Court is suspending the ruling of Travis County District Court Judge John Dietz while the Supreme Court investigates the matter.

The Green Party was able to file their statewide candidates with the Secretary of State as a result of the Supreme Court’s ruling. “If Bill White wants to debate … about corporate contributions in general, of which we understand the Democrats have taken millions in corporate money, we’ll be happy to talk about their ties to Microsoft and AT&T all day long,” Green Party attorney David Rogers told LSR.

“I think it’s obvious that the court has decided that this is a serious issue of law and needs to be carefully considered,” Rogers said.

Texas Democratic Party Chairman Boyd Richie issued the following statement in response to the ruling:

Today the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced final disapproval of the flexible permit program that the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) had submitted for inclusion in its clean-air implementation plan.

The EPA has taken criticism from Texas regulators for not having taken action on this or other air permitting programs since they were first submitted to the EPA in the 1990s.

TCEQ Commissioners on June 16 approved changes to the Texas flexible air permit rules, in order to address EPA's concerns that the Texas program does not comply with federal Clean Air Act requirements. EPA's disapproval today does not apply to those changes, which will be opened up for public comment from July 2, 2010 through August 2, 2010.

Brian Birdwell has won the runoff against David Sibley in the special election race to round out the unexpired term of now-retired Sen. Kip Averitt (R-Waco).

Birdwell's victory comes despite being outraised and outspent by fellow-Republican Sibley. Turnout was down compared to the original runoff May 8, when 29,851 votes were cast. Tonight 24,351 votes were cast. Ellis County flipped to Birdwell tonight. He also carried Hood and Johnson counties. Sibley, not surprisingly, carried McLennan. Birdwell got 14,198 votes (57.87 percent), and Sibley 10,333 (42.12 percent).

Rep. Leo Berman (R-Tyler), a major figure among grassroots conservatives who cared enough about the Republican Party of Texas platform to attend its June 11 meeting, at 7:10 this morning filed the paperwork to challenge Joe Straus for Speaker in the next legislative session.

"I thought the election for speaker last session was a farce … a sham," Berman told LSR, recounting that eleven House Republicans, whom he characterized as "liberal to moderate," decided on Straus and then brought his name to the House Democrats. In order to persuade the Democrats to go along with Straus, the Republicans promised that no pro-life, anti-illegal immigration, or voter ID bills would come to the House floor, Berman said.

"Rep. Berman's facts are inaccurate," said Straus spokesperson Tracy Young, Straus' press secretary. "The Speaker has made no deals with anyone." ...

Tomorrow the special election runoff for Senate District 22 will be held to finally decide who will represent the district that includes McLennan, Johnson, and Ellis counties among others for the remainder of now-retired Sen. Kip Averitt's (R-Waco) unexpired term. David Sibley, former Senator for SD 22, and retired Lt. Col. Brian Birdwell, both Republicans, are vying for the seat.

Eight-day contribution and expenditure reports were filed last week for the race. Here is a quick look.

In response to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality's announcement June 16 that they had approved new rules for flexible air permitting, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency spokesman Joe Hubbard sent the following statement to LSR today:

"On September 23, 2009, EPA proposed disapproval of the state's previous proposal for a flexible permit program and is on schedule to finalize its decision in less than two weeks - by June 30. Today's action by TCEQ will take many months for the state to complete. It may or may not establish new flexible permit program in Texas at a future date."

House Higher Education Committee Chairman Dan Branch (R-Dallas) has postponed the hearing on college athletics that had been scheduled for tomorrow -- since the Lone Star State's Big XII universities have recently been announcing that they will stay in the conference.

The potential defection of the University of Texas at Austin, Texas A&M, Texas Tech and Baylor from the Big XII Conference had gotten the attention of lawmakers on both sides of the political aisle, including Rep. Garnet Coleman (D-Houston), who has now called for the inclusion of Texas Christian University and the University of Houston in the Big XII.

Here’s Branch's statement on postponing the hearing:

Attorney General Greg Abbott today filed a legal challenge to the U.S Environmental Protection Agency's decision to disapprove the state's qualified facilities permitting program. The petition for reconsideration was filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in New Orleans.

Joseph Hubbard, public affairs specialist for EPA, said the EPA has not yet had a chance to review the petition from Abbott, and said the federal agency would comment once it had.

From the AG office's release (hyperlinks added):

In 1995, the Texas Legislature passed a law that was intended to streamline a time-consuming regulatory process by allowing certain qualifying facilities to implement physical and operational changes to their sites without having to undergo additional regulatory processes – provided the facilities’ changes neither increase emissions nor result in the release of new contaminants.

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) complied with the 1995 law by submitting revised qualified facilities rules to the EPA in 1996. Although the TCEQ has been regulating qualified facilities without interference from the federal government since the first term of the Clinton administration, the EPA rejected the rules and disapproved the Texas program on March 31, 2010. ...

PermaLink Read More »

Quick update to the Greens vs. D's battle over whether the Texas Green Party will ultimately get to have candidates listed on the November general election ballots in Texas.

The Texas Democratic Party on June 11 got a temporary restraining order to delay the certification of the Green Party candidates for at least 14 days according to News 8 Austin.

Meanwhile, Texas Green Party director Kat Swift issued LSR the following response to claims by TDP executive director Boyd Richie. Here it is:

"93,000 Texas voters legitimately expressed their wish to have the Green Party on the ballot, and we intend to make every legitimate effort to avoid disappointing them.

"The Democratic Party has been making incendiary statements in the media and robocalls around the state based on unsubstantiated conjecture. We do not now nor have we ever had any intention of acting in violation of the Texas Ethics Commission rules, which we lobbied for and helped establish.

"Their further allegation that we are controlled by the Republican Party is as ridiculous as asserting that Democratic candidates who regularly accept campaign contributions from Republicans are in fact controlled by the Republican Party. This suggests nothing more than fear of competition in the public debate during this Election cycle.

"The Democratic Party does not really want fair elections. Their leadership is perfectly content with rigged election systems and double standards regarding campaign contributions. The Republican Party is no different in these regards."

Swift also flatly denies Richie's claim that, among other things, the Green Party "acknowledged the likelihood that the funds originated from an illegal source."

**

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports that the Green and Libertarian Parties have both selected their gubernatorial nominees. For the Libertarians, Houston attorney Kathie Glass; for the Greens, retired Houston teacher Deb Shafto.

Both candidates have said that they want to be included in the governor's debates with the two major candidates, Gov. Rick Perry and Democratic challenger Bill White.

DALLAS -- The platform passed by the Republican Party of Texas’ platform committee last night was largely passed as is this evening at 7:45, and moments later the 2010 state convention adjourned sine die.

The minority report on illegal immigration was not debated on the floor of the RPT Convention. Instead it was registered as an opinion and printed in the platform as such. An amendment to require 12-year term limits for Republicans in Congress was defeated.

RPT delegates passed the platform only after the question was called and the congregation voted by voice to end debate on it and have an up-or-down vote on the whole thing. Debates had simmered on the floor for a couple of hours over particular issues including illegal immigration, term limits, election integrity, and even the platform itself. Some delegates expressed frustration over the printed version of the platform. At one point a motion was even made to replace the 2010 platform completely with the 2008 platform, and then add in the agreeable parts of the 2010 platform. That motion was ultimately defeated.

DALLAS -- “Washington Terrible, Texas Fantastic” continued to be the dominant theme as a slew of elected officials took the stage June 12, including: Congressmen Sam Johnson, Kevin Brady, and Louie Gohmert; and State Sen. Dan Patrick (Houston).

Johnson:
*said Democrats are “trampling” the Constitution, and it is getting “worse and worse”;
*observed federal government jobs have been increasing by 10,000 a month, while the country is in a recession;
*called for requiring a better accounting of debt and requiring the president to develop a plan to cut spending;
*slammed the “big brother government” in Washington, arguing that companies have no incentive to do right by their customers and shareholders if they believe the government will pick up the pieces in the end; and
*exhorted attendees to call their friends and tell them to get out the vote.

Brady:

DALLAS -- Another governor spoke at the Republican Party of Texas convention on June 12 -- who also espoused conservative principles, slammed Washington, and urged the convention attendees to vote for Rick Perry in November.

This was the Governor of Mississippi, Haley Barbour, one of the most popular Republican governors in the country.

He said:

DALLAS -- Illegal immigration proved by far the most contentious subject of the Republican Party of Texas Platform Committee meeting on the evening of June 11 at the party’s state convention.

A minority report was filed by the adjournment of the meeting at about 11 p.m. It got 11 signatures from platform committee members, possibly setting the stage for a floor fight later today over the party‘s stance on illegal immigration.

The minority report essentially softens the Republican Party of Texas’ historically tough stance on illegal immigration. It amends the party platform’s existing language to say that the Republican Party of Texas has never supported and opposes “mass deportation.”

Under the “Illegal immigration” plank, found on page 23 of the party’s current platform, the amendment would strike: “We oppose illegal immigration, amnesty in any form, or legal status for illegal immigrants.”

The amendment would then add the following:

“We have never supported and oppose a policy of mass deportation. We support a realistic solution which secures our borders, and humanely resolves the legal status of illegal immigrants. We further recognize that any illegal immigrants were brought to this country as minors.”

The amendment was drafted by Art Martinez de Vara of SD 19, which includes San Antonio. The amendment was proposed by Patrick Smith of SD 1, which includes Tyler. ...

DALLAS -- The following coverage of Atty. Gen. Greg Abbott’s speech to the Republican Party of Texas convention comes courtesy of LSR contributing editor William Murchison --

If an embattled President Obama ever feels short of adversaries, he might want to look up Atty. Gen. Greg Abbott.

Abbott Friday roused a vast roomful of Republican delegates to the state party convention with a slashing attack on an administration he accused of abridging Americans’ basic freedoms.

“We have lost liberty to a federal government takeover,” said Abbott, who has joined a dozen other state attorneys general in challenging the constitutionality of the health care reformed enacted earlier this year by Congress. “… To regain our liberty we must take back our country.”

DALLAS -- And here’s a quick look at the speeches delivered by Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, State Comptroller Susan Combs, and Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples.

They each in their own way repeated the general themes of Gov. Rick Perry and the convention as a whole: Washington terrible, Texas fantastic. ...

DALLAS -- Here’s a quick look at Gov. Rick Perry’s remarks at the Republican Party of Texas Convention earlier today. His gubernatorial opponent, Democrat Bill White, issued a response shortly after the speech, which is included below.

Perry
Texas cannot retreat from its traditional brand of leadership, like keeping government limited and taxes low, he said, despite the overreach of the federal government.

“Understand me clearly,” he said. “The federal government has a purpose.” But he criticized the government for taking aim at the state’s energy sector and forcing Texas to “purchase Washington‘s healthcare option,” saying Obamacare would do nothing more than drive doctors out of the practice of mediciane and reduce access across our state and nation.

If only Washington would “focus on its real responsibilities, like securing our borders,” Perry said. Standing ovation for that one.

He repeated his well-practiced fiscal principles of “not spending all the money,” low taxes, regulatory predictability, tort reform, etc.

He called for:

Texas Green Party leader Pat Swift could not immediately be reached for comment. Here's the statement from the Texas Democratic Party (TDP):
 

TDP SEEKS JUDICIAL DETERMINATION REGARDING LEGALITY OF SECRETLY FUNDED PETITIONS

(Austin, TX) – The Texas Democratic Party has asked a State District Judge to issue a temporary restraining order to prevent the certification of Green Party candidates pending a fast track discovery process to gather facts that will determine whether laws were broken by out-of-state Republican operatives. The Republicans secretly funded and organized a ballot petition operation that may have been funded by illegal, anonymous contributions, according to reports published this week by the Dallas Morning News. The TDP was forced to take legal action because those involved with this dubious secret Republican-Green Party scheme have refused to be upfront with Texans about the nature of this political contribution, and legal discovery would serve the public interest by shedding light on a murky transaction. As the Dallas Morning News stated in an editorial yesterday, “the legality of the money behind the Green petitions needs to be tested in court.”

After weeks upon weeks of waiting, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Bill White has finally released his tax returns -- going back to when he was mayor of Houston, anyway. He had earlier released his 2009 tax returns, but nothing prior.

Now, he's going on the offensive, saying it's time for Rick Perry to live up to his end of the bargain and agree to a debate with White. Perry had said he would debate White once White had released his income tax returns.

While Gov. Rick Perry is calling on President Barack Obama> to rein in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, environmental groups are looking to sue the agency for not cracking the whip on Texas hard enough.

Yesterday the Sierra Club and environmentalist legal group Earth Justice sent the EPA a notice of intent to sue the federal agency if it does not within 60 days take over Texas' efforts to meet the air quality standards set by the federal Clean Air Act.

The Sierra Club and Earth Justice want the EPA to tell Texas it cannot issue any air permits at all, and to completely take over that process in the form of a Federal Implementation Plan. The two groups argue that Texas has failed to meet the goals set by its own State Implementation Plan and that the EPA has failed to enforce it.

From the Sierra Club's release:

Gov. Rick Perry announced today that Texas would not be competing for the next round of Federal Race to the Top Funds.

Said Perry:
 

This administration’s attempt to bait states into adopting national standards is an effort to undermine states’ authority to determine how their students are educated, and is clearly aimed at circumventing laws prohibiting national standards. ...

Gov. Rick Perry and his Democratic gubernatorial challenger Bill White are continuing the chorus of verbal sniping -- Perry at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Washington (and therefore implicitly against White), and White against Perry himself.

The basic Perry line: EPA's excessive overreach, taking over Texas' air-permitting process, threatens tens of thousands of Texas jobs and will not do any better (perhaps worse) than Texas' existing plan which has helped the state improve air quality and kept the economy strong. The basic White line: the EPA is taking over Texas' permitting process because of Perry's "incompetence" over the years in making sure the state was in line with federal requirements for state air permitting processes.

In this week's issue we cover the Sunset staff recommendations that the Public Utility Commission exercise greater regulatory oversight of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas.

The Sunset Advisory Commission this week also looked at the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority and the Texas Department of Insurance, among others. We highlight those examinations below.

Senate Criminal Justice Committee Chairman John Whitmire (D-Houston) and Sen. Dan Patrick (R-Houston) are now looking at a new method to morally rehabilitate prinson inmates in Texas, modeled after a program used in Louisiana. It's not really new, though, except in a "New Testament" sort of way.

According to a statement today from Whitmire, he and Patrick recently returned to Texas from a three-day visit to the Louisiana State Penitentiary, also known as the Angola State Prison Farm, which has historically been the bloodiest prison in the country but has now seen a sharp turnaround.

What changed? A seminary was placed within in the fences of Angola, which trains men serving life sentences to become ordained ministers. They minister to non-violent offenders who will eventually be released back into civilian life. ...

It will save about $1.25 billion. Not the $15 billion to $18 billion expected budget gap by any stretch, but every little bit helps, right?

Gov. Rick Perry, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and House Speaker Joe Straus today announced the state budget cuts so far for the 2010-11 biennium, based on the five-percent cuts they called the individual state agencies to come up with back in January.

Had those five percent cuts been held across the board, it would have amounted to about $1.75 billion in savings, but the leadership gave hefty exemptions to several state agencies whose functions were considered particularly crucial, including:
*Texas Department of Public Safety Homeland Security and Border Security Funds;
*State Health Services to maintain hospital beds;
*Texas Department of Criminal Justice;
*Texas Workforce Commission to maintain job training and job creation programs;
*Higher Education Coordinating Board to maintain increases in student financial aid.

The House Businesses and Industry Committee met jointly this morning with the House Technology, Economic Development and Workforce Committee to take stock of the state's unemployment insurance trust fund.

Texas Workforce Commission Chairman Tom Pauken told the committee that as of April 7, the commission believed the unemployment insurance trust fund balance, at the current rate benefits are being paid out o unemployed workers, would hit zero in October.

At the House Appropriations Committee hearing this morning, Chairman Jim Pitts (R-Waxahachie) was not at all optimistic about the budgetary outlook of Texas preparing for the 2011 regular session. Whereas lawmakers have been told by John O'Brien at the Legislative Budget Board earlier this year that the shortfall should come in at somewhere between $10 billion and $15 billion, Pitts today estimated the shortfall could reach $18 billion or even $19 billion.

This despite news from the State Comptroller's Chief Revenue Estimator John Heleman that the country had the best jobs report in four years, including 290,000 jobs added. Heleman said that while Texas-speific figures would not be available for another two weeks, he expected Texas' outlook to be consistent with those numbers.

House Speaker Joe Straus gave a pep talk of sorts to the House Appropriations Committee this morning as they prepared to hear to from the Comptroller's Office on the state of Texas' economy and revenues. Here's the gist of Straus' remarks, which may set the tone for the budgetary process on the House side for the 82nd session.

He called the committee's task "very challenging" and said balancing the budget woudl require "some hard choices."

He said Texas has not been immune from the effects of the recession, although Texas has done better than most other, if not the best among all, the states, and some positive growth was seen in April. People will be facing higher tax burdens as well as "huge new mandates from Washington" on health care.

Because of these factors, Straus said, it is "even more imperative" that Texas balance its budget without a tax increase. That will require some tough choices, and significant cuts in some areas. Although he made clear he was not advocating any particular ideas, he threw out a few for doing balancing the budget, including:

Last week House Democratic Caucus leader Jim Dunnam of Waco sent a letter to Legislative Study Group leader Garnet Coleman (D-Houston), House Republican Caucus leader Larry Taylor of Friendswood, and Texas Conservative Coalition leader Wayne Christian (R-Center) inviting them to help him form an ad-hoc committee to study gambling as a possible option for generating revenue to address the state's looming budget problems.

Now, Taylor and Christian have both declined the offer.

UPDATE: Coleman told LSR moments ago that he is "inclined to move forward" with the study on gambling, saying that he considers it an "opportunity to gather information," on precisely what "expanding gambling" would entail (slot machines, casinos etc.) and what the effects would be for Texas.

Two quick corrections to our interview story with Rep. Wayne Christian (R-Center) this week:

In the story, we say that Christian is the Vice Chair of the House Business and Industry Committee. In actuality, he is the Vice Chair of the House Criminal Jurisprudence committee. (In addition, Christian is an Executive Board Member/Chair of Training for GOPAC TX.) Rep. Gary Elkins (R-Houston) vice-chairs Business and Industry. LSR regrets the error.

In part of the interview, Christian is quoted as implying that Texas will gain seven U.S. House seats. Christian later told LSR that the Texas is likely to gain three or four U.S. House seats. LSR regrets any confusion.

In this week's issue of the Lone Star Report, we interview House Criminal Jurisprudence Vice-Chairman, Republican Party of Texas platform committee chairman, Executive Board Member/Chair of Training of GOPAC TX, and Texas Conservative Coalition leader Rep. Wayne Christian (R-Center). Here are some additional excerpts not contained in today's issue.

LSR: What do you think about SB 1070 in Arizona? Would you support similar legislation in Texas?

The candidates in SD 22's special election race to complete the last half year of Sen. Kip Averitt's (R-Waco) term have filed their campaign finance reports for eight days before the election. The results are about what we expected.

David Sibley, considered in most circles to be the frontrunner in the four-way race featuring three Republicans and one Democrats, got a whopping $331,746.42 between March 30 and April 28 alone. He spent almost $357,000 and maintained $200,000 on hand. Sibley, a well-known Waco Republican, represented SD 22 from 1991 to 2003.

Attorney General Greg Abbott is not suing British Petroleum. Yet, anyway.

Abbott held a press conference this morning on Texas' legal response to the spill. He said that he wanted to complete the legal analysis before deciding whether or not to sue, particularly considering that Texas thus far has seen no direct impact from the spill and BP has promised to reimburse Texas and others for costs incurred.

Abbott met May 2 with the attorneys general from Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida, he said. They will monitor BP's practices to make sure they will pay all legitimate claims arising from the oil spill, Abbott said.

Some public school districts in Texas are suing to avoid having to accurately report the course averages that their students earn.

At a hearing in Austin today, Travis County District Court Judge Gisela Triana-Doyal heard arguments from both sides and set the trial date for June 28, in which some 11 school districts from around the state will try to stop Texas Education Commissioner Robert Scott from voiding their minimum-grading policies pursuant to a bill passed last session. Some school districts set minimum-grading policies requiring that students never receive grades of less than say 50, 60, or even 70 percent, regardless of the actual quality of their work.

The school districts are claiming the new law, SB 2033 (text and analysis) from Sen. Jane Nelson (R-Lewisville), requires only that students be graded accurately on individual assignments and exams, not on actual report card grades. The Houston Chronicle reports:

The staff of the Sunset Advisory Commission today released recommendations on a number of agencies, including the Texas Department of Insurance, and the Public Utility Commission.

TDI
Most of the TDI recommendations are holdovers from the 2008 sunset recommendations. The TDI sunset bill failed to pass the House last session, and a safety net bill had to be passed in a special session to extend the agency for two years and re-examine the appropriateness of the recommendations passed by the Sunset Advisory Commission in 2008.

This week's issue features an interview with Former Texas GOP Chairman Tom Pauken, to discuss his new book, Bringing America Home. It can be ordered from Chronicles Press by calling 800.383.0680. The book is also available on Amazon.com.

Here are some extra highlights from our 45-minute interview with Pauken, the current chairman of the Texas Workforce Commission.

On whether Gov. Rick Perry more resembles George W. Bush or Ronald Reagan
"I think philosophically in terms of his policies, he's closer to Reagan than Bush. I think Gov. Perry has been strong on the pro-life issues as Ronald Reagan was. And then Gov. Perry has been strong on the idea of fiscal responsibility and keeping taxes down. So overall I think that Gov. Perry's a more conservative governor than George W. Bush was when he was governor ...

Yesterday the Texas Ethics commission reported a last-minute $10,000 donation to the campaign for the Republican nomination in House District 66 for former Plano City Council member Mabrie Jackson, who is pitted in the GOP runoff against Van Taylor.

The money comes from Texans for Economic Development, a PAC that represents the interests of racetrack owners who favor the installation of video lottery terminals (industry speak for slot machines) at racetracks. The group has a history of running political attack ads against conservative, anti-gambling House members including Reps. Phil King (R-Weatherford), Betty Brown (R-Terrell), and Nathan Macias (R-Bulverde).

Kevin Brannon, a consultant for Jackson's runoff opponent Taylor, said, "I think Plano voters will be very troubled by this last-minute infusion of yet more liberal special interest money, this time from a casino gambling group that is funded heavily by liberal democrats."

The GOP runoff in State Board of Education District 10 has taken on a familiar feel.

Over the weekend the campaign for Dr. Marsha Farney, a Williamson County resident and educator, sent out two mailers to residents -- one comparing her opponent Brian Russell to Barack Obama, the other making myriad claims about Russell's background and record.

Russell is a Senate Republican Executive Committee member from Travis County. He is a lawyer who homeschools his children, with a long history in local and state-level Republican politics.

The mailers came after reports circulated that Farney's husband, Bryan Farney, gave money to then-Sen. Obama during the 2008 Democratic primary. Bryan Farney indeed did donate $2,300 on March 7, 2008, to Obama.

Why would he do such a thing? According to Marsha Farney's website (emphasis added):

Texas' senior U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison today announced that she intends to complete her term, which will end in 2012.

From her press release sent out today:
 

“For family reasons, I had planned to begin making a transition home to Texas this spring,” Hutchison said. “But it is clear to me that the stakes in our nation’s capitol have never been higher. President Obama’s victory on health care legislation has emboldened those who want an even bigger and more intrusive federal government.”

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.

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.

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:

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.

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.

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.

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.