The Senate adjourned Sine Die moments ago without passing SB 1811, the fiscal matters bill that has become the vehicle for school finance.

Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst announced shortly before final adjournment that despite his best efforts, Senate members were unable to reach an agreement to suspend the rules. It would have taken 25 votes, meaning six out of the 12 Democrats plus all the Republicans.

Dewhurst announced that since a deal was not reached, the Senate (and by implication the Legislature) will return tomorrow, May 31 for a special session, starting at 8 a.m.

Senate Finance Chairman Steve Ogden (R-Bryan) told reporters shortly before adjournment that the budget could get smaller come special session. He expects SB 1811 will be an appropriations bill, which he said is already being drafted.

Ogden said he wants to see in the special session bill the language of SB 1811 plus an appropriation of approximately $34 billion. He called Wendy Davis (D-Fort Worth) “the largest budget-cutter in the history of Texas,” because by filibustering the budget she effectively ...

Gov. Rick Perry declined to go into specifics about which items he would place on the agenda if he called a special session. He merely indicated that he hopes the Senate gets the four-fifths vote necessary to suspend the rules on the last day of the session to pass SB 1811, the fiscal matters bill that has become the vehicle for school finance.

Perry observed that in the special session the rules are different, likely referring to the absence of the two-thirds rule to suspend the regular order of business in the special session. That means Republicans won’t need even two Democrats to sign on to a bill in order to bring it up on the Senate floor.

Perry said his goal at the start of the session was to balance the budget without raising taxes and without jeopardizing the job-friendly climate in the state.

“When the dust settles, we’ll have a no new taxes balanced budget,” he said. “You can bet on that. And we’ll be keeping appropriate dollars stored away for any additional emergencies that might face the state in the form of natural disasters over the next couple of years.”

Gov. Rick Perry today signed HB 274, the omnibus tort reform bill sometimes called “loser pays.” It takes effect Sept. 1 this year.

He cited a study from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showing that Texas is leading the nation in job creation over the last ten years – having created over 700,000, while no other state had created more than 100,000 in that time. He attributed that success to tort reform. But improvements can still be made to the system, he said.

Under HB 274 ...

The Texas House passed the major fiscal matters bill, SB 1811, which became a vehicle for crucial school finance legislation, after members spent 45 minutes total opposing it both from the left and the right.

Democratic opponents included Scott Hochberg (Houston), Mark Strama (Austin), Rafael Anchia (Dallas) and Sylvester Turner (Houston).

Democratic protests were familiar – that the bill would drastically ...

The Senate moments ago passed unanimously – yes, unanimously – what at the beginning of the session was Perry’s top tort reform priority. Texans for Lawsuit Reform and the Texas Trial Lawyer Association agreed to the language in the bill over the weekend. Now it may be headed to the governor’s desk, but the changes have to be okayed by the House first.

HB 274, authored by Brandon Creighton (R-Conroe) in the House and sponsored by Joan Huffman (R-Houston) in the Senate, currently would require the loser to pay only in a limited set of circumstances. If a motion to dismiss is brought early in a case, the loser of that motion would have to pay the attorney fees that the prevailing party had accumulated up to that point in the suit.

Attorney fees could also be awarded in certain circumstances where ...

Senate Education Chairwoman Florence Shapiro (R-Plano) wants to hold a meeting with House and Senate colleagues, and the Legislative Budget Board and the Texas Education Agency, to educate anyone in need of deeper understanding of the state’s highly complex school finance system.

Last night SB 1851, the Senate’s vehicle for school finance, was killed on a point of order. The only real option now is to put school finance onto SB 1811, the fiscal matters bill currently in conference committee.

“I got the impression from everything I heard that they [in the House] were confused, that they had several options and they couldn’t distinguish between them and they couldn’t get a consensus on any one of the options,” Shapiro told reporters this morning.

Some legislators may not understand all the options, including pro-ration, Shapiro said.

Shapiro wants to have the meeting sometime today, and would aim to ...

The Senate last night passed the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association reform bill, HB 272. Several members brought floor amendments that in many cases were crucial for Senate sponsor John Carona (R-Dallas) to secure their votes. All amendments brought on the floor were vetted by Carona before floor deliberations, and all were acceptable to him.

A couple of amendments to the bill were agreed to by Texans for Lawsuit Reform and the Texas Trial Lawyers Association.

Ellis asked for an assurance that the bill would not get changed in conference, and that the TDI sunset bill would not become a vehicle for TWIA provisions that could not make it into HB 272. Carona assure he would not be a party to any such maneuvers.

Eddie Lucio (D-Brownsville) called the current version a “good document,” and expressed the hope that the House would simply concur in the Senate’s amendments.

But that is by no means a foregone conclusion.

House author John Smithee (R-Amarillo) said that his goal throughout the process has been ...

Dog jokes abounded as the dog and cat breeder bill, HB 1451, also known as the “puppy mill bill,” passed the Senate May 23. This was the bill from Rep. Senfronia Thompson (D-Houston), that Rep. David Simpson (R-Longview) knocked off the local and consent calendar a few weeks ago.

The bill essentially makes dog and cat breeding a regulated industry. The Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR) would have to establish requirements for obtaining a license. TDLR would have to inspect a facility before awarding a license and at least once every 18 months thereafter.

The aim of the bill is to prevent exploitation of animals forced to live in inhumane conditions to be sold for profit.

The bill also creates a new fee. “The bill would ...

The Texas Senate today approved rule changes for the payday loan industry in Texas. Critics of the industry have said that payday lending preys on low-income borrowers, trapping them in a “cycle of debt.”

One bill, HB 2592, passed by the Senate would increase the disclosure requirements for payday loan companies, requiring them to make clear to potential consumers that payday loans are intended to meet short-term rather than long-term financial needs. It would also require companies to make clear the fees and interest the consumer would be expected to pay back. The companies would also have to post the contact information for the state consumer credit commissioner.

The other bill, HB 2594, would require payday lenders to ...

Both chambers took major steps toward avoiding a special session today.

Almost simultaneously, the House passed the map that redraws Senate District lines, and the Senate passed the map that redraws the House District lines. The House approved Senate redistricting 96-47, and the Senate approved House redistricting 25-6.

Moments later, the House finally passed SB 1811, the fiscal matters bill that was crucial to make the budget agreement work. Many amendments were offered to the bill, but few managed to attach. At any rate, Pitts will have the opportunity to remove amendments he considers extraneous once the bill goes to conference.

The last major hurdle is for the House to pass a school finance bill, which was popped on a point of order May 19 and then sent back to the Senate yesterday, May 20. By the end of the day yesterday, the bill was reported out of the House Public Education Committee. The Senate removed language that allowed for the carry of concealed firearms in university buildings before sending it back to the House.

The Texas Senate today voted to spend about $800 million more from the Economic Stabilization ("Rainy Day") Fund for the current biennium than the House authorized.

The Senate passed the committee substitute to HB 275 today by a vote of 30-1. It spends $3.97 billion from the Rainy Day, plugging the revised revenue hole projected by Comptroller Susan Combs.

Originally the comptroller had estimated the state was about $4.3 billion short of what it would need to fund state programs through the end of the current biennium. Recently she revised that number down $3.97 billion.

The House earlier this session authorized the appropriation of $3.1 billion from the Rainy Day Fund for the current biennium.

Sen. Rodney Ellis (D-Houston) offered an amendment to ...

Senate Redistricting Chairman Kel Seliger (R-Amarillo) has unveiled his new Texas Senate District Map. The Senate Redistricting Committee will hold a hearing on the map tomorrow at 9.

You can view it here, by clicking on the "Select Plans" menu, then clicking "Base Plan," then selecting "PLANS107."

More on the new map to come in this week's issue of The Lone Star Report.

Retired Lt. Gen. Ric Sanchez today filed paperwork to begin his run for the U.S. Senate as a Democrat.

The Republican primary field is crowded, but Sanchez is the first major Democratic figure to take steps to enter the race. He said he will make a formal announcement "in the coming weeks."

Here is his statement: ...

The House moments ago finally passed House Bill 12, a bill that prohibits “sanctuary city” policies. The bill will head for the Senate where, considering its unanimous Democratic opposition in the House, may have a hard time getting two-thirds support to suspend.

It concluded debate on the bill that began on Friday, when the House deliberated on five amendments, each debated on for lengthy periods of time, before the bill was at last popped on a point of order. It was reheard in committee that night and passed back out. It then came back up on the floor yesterday.

At that point, the bill passed second reading. Debate was allowed and amendments were offered for a couple of hours. But ultimately the previous question was called and the bill passed. [...]

Democrats today offered over a dozen amendments to the bill on third reading, each of which ...

The House last night passed the governor's omnibus tort reform bill , HB 274 by Rep. Brandon Creighton (R-Conroe). The bill has been nicknamed “loser pays” because one of its provisions would require in certain cases that the loser of the lawsuit pay the victor’s attorney’s fees, though the bill does a lot more than just that provision. Basically, the bill expands and builds upon the concepts first passed into Texas law in 2003 in that year's omnibus tort reform bill, House Bill 4.

Well, after a long, long night of debating and amending and point-of-ordering and waiting around, the Texas House last night adjourned without passing either of the major bills they were debating. Other major bills went unaddressed completely.

One bill is HB 12, Burt Solomons’ (R-Carrollton) bill to outlaw sanctuary city policies in Texas. Solomons insists that the bill is about uniformity of standards for all local law enforcement in the state. It is a prohibition of a prohibition. It prohibits municipalities from adopting policies that prohibit commissioner peace officers from inquiring into the immigration status of a person lawfully detained. It was popped on a point of order.

The other is HB 400, a bill from Rob Eissler (R-The Woodlands). Speaker Joe Straus sustained a point of order against it this morning. HB 400 aims to reduce teacher layoffs by allowing schools to, among other things, ...

The House chair sustained a point of order against HB 12 moments ago, sending the bill back to committee. This likely means a delay of couple of days before the bill returns to the floor. Trey Martinez-Fischer (D-San Antonio) raised it around 6 p.m. About two hours later it was sustained.

The bill came up at about 3 p.m.. From that moment Democrats began what could be called a new form of “chubbing.” They asked questions at the back mike and spent the maximum allowable time durations talking about proposed amendments. The point of order was called during discussion of the fifth offered amendment. It was the third point of order raised. Before it was sustained, it appeared as though Democrats might spend the entire night conversing for the maximum allowable time on the 59 filed amendments.

Bill author Burt Solomons (R-Carrollton) said at the introduction of the bill to the floor that several amendments would be acceptable to him. These include exempting schools and hospitals, and clarifying that the bill does not allow racial profiling (although supporters of the bill have denied that the bill does that anyway).

The committee on State Affairs is set to meet at 9 p.m. to vote HB 12 back out.

Well, at the end of yesterday it looked like the Senate Republicans would stick to the regular order of business to take up the Committee Substitute to House Bill 1 – the Senate’s markup of the budget – without needing any Democratic votes.

Today, precisely that happened.

Senate Finance Chairman and bill sponsor Steve Ogden (R-Bryan) called the budget a “bridge to the future” that does not harm the Texas economy as it continues to recover.

Sen. Leticia Van de Putte (D-San Antonio) told reporters afterward that there was “no way” Democratic senators could go home and tell their constituents that $11 billion in cuts (compared to last biennium’s budget) “would have no effect.”

Today’s vote was unusual for several reasons, including ...

The refusal of Democratic Senators to allow the budget to come to the floor – and there be stripped of contingency funds – means Republicans may use a rare calendar maneuver to avoid needing two-thirds support to bring it up.

The rare calendar maneuver? Sticking with the regular order of business instead of voting to suspend it. Conveniently for the Republicans, the very first bill on the regular order of business tomorrow is none other than the Senate’s markup of the budget, House Bill 1.

That means no vote to suspend. All Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst would need to do is recognize Senate Finance Chairman Steve Ogden (R-Bryan) to bring the bill up and all that is needed is 16 votes. Ogden has all 19 Republicans.

Today Ogden brought the committee substitute to HB 1 to the Senate for a vote.

In order to secure all Republican votes, Ogden promised to bring a floor amendment to remove ...

Today the Texas Senate again preliminarily passed legislation requiring that the doctor who would abort a woman's unborn child meet with her at least 24 hours in advance. At that meeting, under Patrick's bill, the aborting doctor must give the woman the option of viewing an ultrasound image of that baby at least 24 hours in advance.

House Bill 15 will require all women, however, to hear an explanation from the abortion provider of the size and dimensions of the fetus, the fact that it has a heartbeat, etc.

Exemptions from the bill's requirements that the aborting doctor inform the woman of her option to view the sonogram, and that she hear an explanation on the unborn child's development, include circumstances where the pregnancy was caused by rape or incest, and when the woman can document that she lives 100 or more miles away from any abortion provider. ...

The Texas House today passed the Texas Youth Commission sunset bill.

The House made a few amendments to SB 653, but the heart of it remains: abolish the Texas Youth Commission and the Juvenile Probation Commission, and combine their functions under the single Texas Juvenile Justice Department.

Ruth Jones McClendon (D-San Antonio), a former juvenile probation officer and administrator, supported the bill, even though in previous sessions she has advocated maintaining TYC and TJPC as separate agencies.

Today the House passed on second reading HB 1451, a bill that would create more regulation of "puppy mills" in the state. It had some 44 no votes, which was more opposition than appeared to exist last week, when one representative took to the back mike to delay the bill's passage. ...

A bill that could come on the House floor Tuesday would save teachers’ jobs across the state, according to the bill’s author Education Chairman Rob Eissler (R-The Woodlands). Teacher unions, however, are saying that the bill will cost teacher jobs.

HB 400, among other things, repeals mandated teacher pay increases. Under current law in Texas, Eissler told LSR at a press conference for his bill this morning, teacher salaries cannot be lowered. Either school districts must follow the state mandated teacher salary schedule, or they must lay off the teacher. Eissler’s bill allows for something in between, as he sees it.

The bill allows for teacher furloughs – maintaining the 180 instructional day requirement for students but allowing reduction of staff development days. It also allows districts to increase the district-wide class size average in kindergarten-4th grade to 25. But Eissler plans to amend the bill to maintain the class size limit and instead direct the education commissioner to grant exceptions from the limit under certain circumstances.

It tries to save school districts money by ...

We may be in for a showdown between the Texas Senate and the Texas House on the budget.

Dewhurst today announced that the Senate subcommittee charged with finding non-tax revenue to help close the state's budget hole will meet tomorrow to discuss about $10 billion worth of ideas, including $2.5 billion to $3 billion whose support is growing among the Senators.

He said he does not want to dip any deeper into the state's Fiscal Stabilization ("Rainy Day") Fund. If no more is taken out, the balance should be a little over $6 billion at the end of the budget deliberations. With a billion or so being added per year, he suspects about $8.5 billion in the fund come 2013, when the Legislature will write its next budget.

Dewhurst bragged that the Senate budget puts almost $6 billion of new money into public education spending.

On healthcare ...

The Texas Senate today passed the Texas Department of Transportation sunset bill, which required TxDOT to take steps to be more transparent in its road construction contracting process and granted more flexibility to pursue those projects.

In the process, Ogden attached to the bill an amendment on a 22-6 vote which the Senate had previously passed, to streamline the environmental review process.

The amendment was opposed by a couple of Republicans, including Sen. Glenn Hegar (R-Katy). Hegar told LSR that although he believed the amendment was good policy that had been vetted, he voted no to attach it because the bill being amended was a sunset bill that he wanted to keep clean. He said he did not want a “trend to develop” in which every sunset bill became a vehicle for other legislation – good or bad.

Hegar observed Ogden’s amendment had already been passed out on another bill (Nichols’ SB 548, which passed unanimously). The amendment was originally a stand-alone bill filed by Kirk Watson. ...

Sen. Rodney Ellis (D-Houston) today tried to amend the Sunset Scheduling bill SB 652 to place the State Board of Education under the review of the Sunset Commission starting in 2013 and every 12 years thereafter. Although the amendment was ultimately struck down 19-12, it made for one of the more lively discussions of the day.

The amendment was "not about politics," or curriculum standards regarding sex education, or American exceptionalism, Ellis insisted, but rather "about efficiency, transparency and good government." He said that under his amendment the "Sunset Advisory Commission will not review the members … Just the procedures under which they operate can be reviewed."

The Sunset review process already occurs for agencies that have statewide elected officials, including the Texas Department of Agriculture and the Railroad Commission – the latter of which the Senate has recently voted to substantially change.

SBOE's authority over curriculum content is explicitly given to it by the Legislature, Ellis argued. He said it is "absolutely critical" that the Legislature review how those powers are exercised. Only the authority to manage the Permanent School Fund and provide free textbooks to Texas students is afforded to the SBOE under the Texas constitution, he said.

Of course, Republican Senators disagreed. ...

The House Insurance Committee today passed Texas Windstorm Insurance Association reform, and sunset bills for the Texas Department of Insurance and the Office of Public Insurance Council.

Those last two have gotten through committee with relatively few fireworks, and so have seen few permutations. No big fights on credit scoring or prior approval versus file-and-use have broken out.

But TWIA reform has been contentious. The committee substitute brought by Chairman John Smithee (R-Amarillo) sports a few changes from the originally filed HB 272. He said it is “still a bit of a work in progress.”

The new version tries to strike a balance in the tort wars by allowing litigation of TWIA claims disputes, but only after a series of alternative dispute resolution processes are exhausted. ...

“It does not expand gambling in this state,” said Rep. Rafael Anchia (D-Dallas), about the bill he carried this morning to continue the Texas Racing Commission for six years. By the time nearly two dozen amendments had been heard, the legislation indeed did not.

The Racing Commission sunset bill, and for that matter any Racing Commission bill, has historically been watched closely for attempts to sneak amendments on that would expand the footprint of gambling in the state.

So what did it do? It addresses problems of “perpetual” licenses. Some of the state's licensed race tracks have not held races in years or even decades, yet the Racing Commission has not had the authority to revoke those licenses. ...

This morning House Appropriations Chairman Jim Pitts (R-Waxahachie) laid out the House’s version of the budget. He fielded questions from House colleagues of both parties for over an hour before the first amendment was offered. It is going to be a long day.

"Today we take up House Bill 1, the state budget for 2012-2013,” Pitts said. “This budget does not raise taxes. It does not rely on any spending and any new tax revenue to pay for programs or services. This budget does not spend any federal stimulus money. This budget does not spend any of the rainy day fund on any ongoing programs or services in the next biennium. Finally, this budget does not grow government."

"This budget reflects the economic realities facing our state, and it only spends available revenue. This bill, combined with the votes we took yesterday on HB 4 and HB 275, fulfills our constitutional responsibility to have a balanced budget. The budget we drafted would also reflect not only the spending cuts taken in 2010-11, it also reflects the 10 percent reductions we required in 12-13 and much more." ...

The budget currently includes ...

This morning the long back and forth over the House version of the budget began more or less as can be predicted, except for one amendment brought by David Simpson (R-Longview).

His amendment sought to zero out the general revenue funding for the Texas Commission on the Arts for the next two years, about $3.5 million, and move it into the Department of Aging and Disability Services. It would leave untouched about $1 million of GR-dedicated funding for the Commission. The amendment proved very controversial and led to a record vote that did not break along party lines. Some Republicans voted yes, others no. Some Democrats voted yes, others no.

It passed 67 to 61, with some 17 present not voting.

The amendment had some Democrats in the chamber sounding curiously like Republicans sounded all day yesterday, saying that they are very supportive of services for the elderly and disabled of Texas, BUT …

Sen. Royce West's (D-Dallas) Committee on Intergovernmental Relations has passed out a bill by Dan Patrick (R-Houston) that would prohibit the City of Houston from forcing churches, schools and other non-profits to pay a drainage fee as part of a project passed by Houston voters (some say unwittingly) in November.

SB 714, reported to the full Senate today, also restricts the city from transferring the load of drainage fees to homeowners and business owners to make up the difference. Patrick will have the full support of the Houston delegation on the Senate floor, he reported. Rep. Harold Dutton (D-Houston) is slated to carry the bill in the House.

"This is not a partisan issue," Patrick said in a statement today. "Republicans and Democrats agree that these unprecedented fees on schools and churches in Houston violate important financial and moral principles … I applaud those on the Houston City Council like C.O. "Brad" Bradford who are pushing the Council and Mayor to do the right thing." ...

Note: This blog post has been updated to include comments from Chairman Rob Eissler in response to criticism of his HB 500

A group of education and business policy experts held a press conference today to urge that the Legislature forge ahead with full implementation of the end-of-course exams passed in the 2009 legislative session. Delaying it, as would some legislation filed this session, would amount to lowering the state’s graduation standards, said members of the coalition, which included the Texas Institute for Education Reform (TIER), the Governor’s Business Council, and the Texas Association of Business, were on hand.

Those end-of-course exams, intended at the time to be phased in starting this coming school year, are meant to replaces the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) Test.

Several bills would delay the full implementation of the end-of-course exam system, including HB 500 from House Education Chairman Rob Eissler (R-The Woodlands), according to the coalition. HB 500 bill would require students to pass a mere four out of 12 end-of-course exams in order to graduate, the coalition members lamented. Students would have to pass English III, Algebra II, one social studies course and one science. Each student could – theoretically, anyway – fail everything else.

Eissler, of course, does not see it that way. He told LSR that current law already requires only that students pass four of the 12 exams. What his bill would strike, he said, is simply the requirement that the end-of-course exams be worth 15 percent of a student's final grade. The state already holds those school districts accountable for student performance on those exams, he said. The bill simply gives "local control" to the school districts to determine how much they want to make the test worth.

Currently there is no minimum amount in his bill. It can be less than 15 or more than 15. But however much it is worth, Eissler emphasized, "they still have to pass the course."

As of March 31, Eissler had gathered the signatures of more than 100 House members to sign on as co-authors.

Hammond argued ...

Gov. Rick Perry yesterday appointed Elsa Alcala of Houston as judge of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, the highest criminal court in the state. Her term expires at the next general election.

Alcala replaces Charles Holcomb, who hit the age limit. She is a justice on the first court of appeals in Harris County, amd former judge of the 338th District Court in Harris County.

She is a member of the State Bar of Texas, Houston Bar Association Appellate Section, Fort Bend County Bar Association, and Mexican American Bar Association of Houston, and a fellow of the College of the State Bar of Texas. She is also vice chair of the State Bar of Texas Criminal Pattern Jury Charge Committee, board secretary of the Reed Elementary School Parent-Teacher Organization, and a troop leader for the San Jacinto Council Girl Scouts.

She received a bachelor's degree from Texas A&M University at Kingsville and her law degree from the University of Texas School of Law, board certified in criminal law.

This is the first new judge on the court of criminal appeals since Nov. 5, 2002.

Today the Senate Finance Committee heard two bills that would lower appraisal caps and another that would lower revenue caps. Suffice to say government-funded lobby groups are big fans of neither cap, and have claimed for years that both such caps would severely restrict the ability of local governments to provide services to their local citizenry. (Many fiscal conservatives believe the only thing it would make it more difficult for local governments to do is raise taxes on their local constituencies.)

An appraisal cap is basically a limit on how much the appraised value of a property can be raised by an appraisal board for taxing purposes in a given year. A revenue cap is a limit on how much revenue can be amassed by a local government without opening the door for a local election.

Lobbyists representing local governments, as well as local government employees, and elected officials, came before the committee to oppose the bills, arguing (in not so many words) that if the any one of them were to pass, the sky would proverbially fall. The two bills that would lower the appraisal cap for local governments are ...

Yesterday we reported that the committee substitute HB 12, the bill by Burt Solomons (R-Carrollton) prohibiting sanctuary city policies, passed out of the House State Affairs Committee. Today we caught up with Solomons on the House floor and chatted with him briefly about how the bill has changed since it was originally filed.

“It would clarify the unlawful detention to be in connection with the investigation for a criminal offense,” Solomons said. “That was the first. Our last change we made was that we listened to the school districts’ concern about some federal law and concern about some other issues that they feel is an issue for them. But we maintain still the issue about he commissioned peace officers.”

The bill includes an exemption for school districts, which applies to non-commissioned peace officers who work for the school district. In other words,

Two bills backed by major conservative constituencies – gun rights groups and proponents of illegal immigration crackdowns – got passed out of committee in the House today.

The State Affairs Committee today passed out a committee substitute to HB 12 from Burt Solomons (R-Carrollton). The bill, among other things, prohibits municipalities or any agents or agencies thereof from adopting a policy that prohibits inquiry into the immigration status of a "person lawfully detained," i.e. a suspect. The bill has been called the "anti-sanctuary city bill." ...

Today about three dozen Republican elected officials, including Gov. Rick Perry and Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, heralded the resolutions recently filed in the House and Senate affirming the Texas’ sovereignty under the Tenth Amendment to the United States Constitution and, in the words of the bill’s caption, “serving notice to the federal government to cease and desist from certain mandates, and providing that certain federal legislation be prohibited or repealed.” Rep. Brandon Creighton (R-Conroe) brought the resolution first in April 2009. It passed the House but not the Senate. He carries it again this year, with the same number -- HCR 50. Sen. Dan Patrick (R-Houston) is carrying the companion resolution, SCR 14, in the Senate.

UPDATE: Rep. Garnet Coleman (D-Houston) criticized the resolution, calling it "divisive states' rights rhetoric" and saying it "stirs up reminders" of Jim Crow policies, slavery and other evils.

Here are some highlights from the presser. ...

Today House Corrections Chairman Jerry Madden (R-Richardson) and Senate Criminal Justice Chairman John Whitmire (D-Houston) held a press briefing on the Sunset bill that will, if it becomes law, merge the two major state agencies dealing with juvenile justice – the Texas Juvenile Probation Commission and the Texas Youth Commission. The bill would combine TYC and TJPC into a single Texas Juvenile Justice Department, which Madden said would be a smaller state agency, with less centralized administration in Austin and a more regionalized focus.

The idea is to continue the reforms initiated when SB 103, the omnibus TYC reform bill, was passed in 2007. Among its goals was to lower the incarcerated youth offender population at TYC and enhance community-based diversionary and rehabilitative services for youth offenders. TYC's prison facility population has shrunken considerably since that legislation was passed and today stands at about 1,400. Experts say that full-on incarceration has been shown more costly and less effective at lowering the chances of re-offense than diversions like probation and community supervision and rehabilitation. ...

Following the meeting of the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association governing board this evening, a few things are clear. First, Jim Oliver will not be the TWIA general manager much longer, but he is apparently not being fired. A transition team will work with him to find a replacement. Second, no more vehicles will be awarded in severance packages to employees who are leaving TWIA. Third, TWIA staff must cooperate with TDI and its staff in their investigations into how TWIA handles the claims process.

After more than three hours in closed session this afternoong, the TWIA board of directors tonight passed three resolutions. Here they are, in a nutshell. ...

A letter today addressed from Insurance Commissioner Mike Geeslin to Texas Windstorm Insurance Association General Manager Jim Oliver places the state’s windstorm insurer under administrative oversight.

The letter reads: “This opinion is based, in part, upon information gathered by or submitted to staff of the Texas Department of Insurance (the “Department”), including that: (a) in multiple instances, an outside claims adjuster was paid for adjusting work that appears not to have been performed and that TWIA paid claims based on that outside adjuster’s recommendation; (b) TWIA management was aware of this and failed to report it in writing to the Department’s insurance fraud unit not later than the 30th day after the date of making the determination or reasonably suspecting that a fraudulent insurance act had been committed; and (c) TWIA has failed to adequately address issues identified through the recent financial examination and subsequent financial analysis indicating a lack of adequate controls over accounting, personnel, and material decisions affecting day-to-day operations, as well as communications with staff, the board of directors, and the Department.”

While under oversight, the Texas Department of Insurance’s director of Rehabilitation and Liquidation Oversight, Angel Garrett, will serve as the insurance commissioner’s representative.

Under the administrative oversight, TWIA management will have to: ...

The House Insurance Committee started off with a bang yesterday, pressing Texas Windstorm Insurance Association general manager Jim Oliver with questions regarding management of the quasi-governmental windstorm coverage provider.

The questioning of Oliver covered over two hours and covered a myriad of both ongoing and recent developments that give lawmakers reservations about the management of the what is intended to be the insurer of last resort in Texas, but is considered by some to be more like the insurer of only resort.

Issues covered included ...

An emergency item that has not been passed out of the Senate is Gov. Rick Perry's call that the Legislature do something about "sanctuary cities." Yesterday SB 11, authored by Tommy Williams (R-the Woodlands), was referred to the Senate Transportation and Homeland Security Committee he now chairs.

The companion legislation HB 12 was filed in the House Feb. 16 by Redistricting Chairman Burt Solomons (R-Carrollton). The two appear to be exactly the same. You can view the text of SB 11 is here. It's nice and short.

In a joint statement by Williams and Solomons, the legislators said: "The purpose of this legislation is to establish a uniform and consistent standard for all Texas law enforcement when it comes to enforcing federal immigration laws."

The bill basically says ...

Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst released this statement today in response to the joint Senate hearings: "We need to determine what measures we can take in a deregulated market to ensure that our plants are adequately prepared for extreme cold weather conditions and that we have sufficient natural gas to provide additional generation if plants trip and go offline. My preference is always to find a free market solution; nevertheless, we must ensure this does not happen again."

The possible policy initiative that Natural Resources Chairman Troy Fraser (R-Horseshoe Bay) and others repeated throughout the day was to require natural gas suppliers to maintain a backup supply for extreme weather situations like the one February 2 that resulted in rolling blackouts. ...

The Senate Committee on Natural Resources and the Senate Committee on Business and Commerce jointly convened this morning for a (mostly) friendly chat with leaders of some major state agencies on what the blazes happened February 2 that led to the rolling blackouts leaving many Texans in the cold.

The committees have recessed for the morning but will reconvene after the Senate floor session adjourns.

Big names on the docket this morning included Chairman Barry Smitherman of the Public Utility Commission, Railroad Commissioner Michael Williams, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality Chairman Bryan Shaw, Electric Reliability Council of Texas President and CEO Trip Doggett, and Office of Public Utility Council Public Counsel Sheri Givens.

Here are some quick highlights.

The Texas Senate today passed SB 18 from Craig Estes (R-Wichita Falls), the bill that looks to enhance protections for landowners in eminent domain cases.

Although Sen. Leticia van de Putte (D-San Antonio) expressed concerns that a particular provision of the bill may put too much burden on landowners in litigation, the bill passed with no nay votes and no amendments offered.

Likely a big reason the bill passed unchanged is because it already contained provisions to mollify the concerns of Senators including John Whitmire (D-Houston), who said last session that provisions in the bill would make it impossible for the port authorities like the one in Houston to engage in the long-term planning necessary to develop infrastructure crucial for economic development. ...

The Texas House’s new rules passed moments ago will make it impossible for any member to use the local and consent calendar to stall bills to death, as well as grant seniority to any incumbent member whose re-election is being contested.

The new House rules, HR 4 presented by House State Affairs Chairman Burt Solomons (R-Carrollton), make a few changes to the committee structures. For starters, it creates the Government Efficiency and Reform Committee.

The new rules regarding the Local and Consent calendar will basically cap the amount of time lawmakers can waste time on that calendar to midnight of the day that the stalling (or “chubbing”) begins. No Democrats (or Republicans) brought amendments to this new part of the rules.

Here’s how it would work. ...

Today the conservative Texas Public Policy Foundation bid farewell to Justin Keener, promoted David Guenthner, and hired Joshua Treviño.

Justin Keener, TPPF's vice president of policy and communications, is leaving to start a public affairs practice with Kris Heckmann. TPPF president Brooke Rollins congratulated Keener and thanked him for helping expand the Foundation's ability to influence the public policy debate.

Guenthner, TPPF's director of media and government relations—and former managing editor of The Lone Star Report—has been promoted to senior communications director. He will now manage the Foundation's communications initiatives, reporting to TPPF executive director Arlene Wohlgemuth. Rollins commended his efforts to expand TPPF's social media and traditional media outreach.

The Texas Senate today passed rules that will govern its business for the 82nd session, without changing the "two-thirds" rule to a simple majority or a three-fifths rule, as was the hope of Sen. Dan Patrick (R-Houston). The Senate also made changes that will affect the way the budget is deliberated down the stetch.

The two-thirds rule requires the consent of two-thirds of the Senators to consent to suspend the necessary rules to take up and consider a bill on the Senate floor – even though only a simple majority is needed to pass the bill.

However, the rules do include a special order from last session exempting voter ID legislation from the two-thirds rule – meaning the Senate will be able to pass legislation requiring a photo ID to vote in Texas. ...

Gov. Rick Perry and Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst both lambasted the overreach of the Obama Administration and extolled the virtues of Texas' business-friendly regulatory and tax climate in their inauguration speeches.

Both said that the state must and will balance the budget without raising taxes, echoing the proposals released earlier today by the Texas Conservative Coalition Research Institute.

Highlights from Perry's speech:
*He touched on federal issues including the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
*"Washington has America on a collision course with bankruptcy."
*He said the state must cut spending to keep its economic engine on track. Government will have to "prioritize" and "justify every penny."
*He praised state programs like the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas, whose authority to issue bonds for cancer research was approved by voters in 2007.
*He said drug-related border violence has "arrived at our doorstep," and while it is a federal issue, state leaders can't stand idly by while citizens are threatened.
*He said the state must continue to invest in education.
*He said that he believes Texas will lead the way out of the country's present "turmoil." He said Texas is the best hope for entrepreneurs and small businesses. He called this Texas' time in history. "We must seize the day."

Highlights from Dewhurst's speech: ...

The Texas Conservative Coalition Research Institute today released a general proposal outlining cuts it says the state can make to close its considerable projected shortfall – without raising taxes. Among their suggestions: cutting public employees.

The release comes just hours before House Appropriations Chairman Jim Pitts is expected to release his budget, which TCCRI president and budget task force co-chair Rep. Warren Chisum (R-Pampa) said will contain about $15 billion in reductions.

The report focuses entirely on cost containment opportunities. It does not contain proposals to reform any of the state’s sales, property or other tax laws

“After months of careful review and hard work, we can confidently claim that, even if the shortfall is as high as some estimate, the budget can be balanced without increasing the burden on Texas families and businesses,” Chisum said. The left-leaning Center for Public Policy Priorities on Jan. 10 estimated the revenue shortfall at $26.8 billion. “Our budget report provides legislators with a principled blueprint to overcome the defining challenge of the 82nd Texas Legislature: balancing the budget without raising taxes.”

The report calls for: a broad range of possible General Revenue reductions, totaling nearly $18 billion, plus additional policy reforms which total an estimated $3.5 billion; a “broad range of recommendations to reform and reduce bureaucracy.”

Chisum cited high costs in the state’s public sector workforce “at all levels of government, especially when compared to other states.” “Reducing and reforming our public sector workforce is our first priority in addressing the revenue shortfall,” he said.

Currently the state has ...