Just when you thought it was safe to watch prime-time television again, more ads in the governor's race appear. And this time -- as Emeril Lagasse would say -- they're kicked up a notch.

Gov. Rick Perry often closes his campaigns by trying to connect the opponent with slain law enforcement officers (like the infamous "suitcases" ad on Tony Sanchez in 2002 which tried to connect unproven allegations of money laudering in Sanchez's bank with the death of federal agents inside Mexico). This time, Perry is closing out the campiagn talking about Houston's so-called sanctuary city policy. His ad features the widow of a fallen Houston Police Officer saying she trusts Rick Perry and criticizing White's policies as mayor. 

Gov. Rick Perry and Democratic challenger Bill White have both issued press releases announcing their 8-day fund-raising totals. Perry announced $8.4 million raised Sept. 24- Oct. 23, with $2 million on hand. The White campaign said it raised $3.6 million during the same period. The ethics reports are not yet posted to the Texas Ethics Commission website.

Today, Rep. Larry Taylor filed another writ of mandamus application, this time with the Houston Courts of Appeal. Taylor is co-chairman of a legislative committee examining the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA) and is seeking information about the financial aspects of a recent TWIA lawsuit settlement. A Galveston District Judge issued a temporary injunction blocking TWIA from complying with Taylor’s request.

Many of us in the Capitol Community walk by the many, myriad monuments on the Capitol grounds without ever stopping to notice to whom that monument exists. We know the monuments are there but go on our way without noticing.

TEXPAC -- the political action committee of the Texas Medical Association -- announced its endorsements for the 2010 General Elections. For Congress, the PAC endorsed incumbents Chet Edwards (D-Waco), Michael McCaul (R-Austin), and Michael Burgess MD (R-Lewisville). For state legislators, TEXPAC's endorsements consist largely of incumbents or, for open seats, the party nominee of the party that is heavily favored in a given district (this is the friendly-incumbent rule commonly followed by industry PACs). In other words, few surprises on this endorsement list. Click here to download the TEXPAC endorsement list.

WFAA's Inside Texas Politics this week featured an exchange between U.S. Rep. Chet Edwards (D-Waco) and challenger Bill Flores. Edwards explains his votes for the federal bailouts and stimulus packages, while Flores answers tough questions about his business record and federal entitlements. Inside Texas Politics airs every Sunday at 9 on WFAA, Channel 8 in North Texas.

Rep. Larry Taylor (R-Friendswood) asked a Travis County District Court Oct. 10 to issue a writ of mandamus ordering the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA) to release documents he requested under the Texas Public Information Act. Taylor is seeking information about how much a recent lawsuit settlement cost and what the attorneys fees were for each attorney. A Galveston District Judge ordered TWIA not to release the document. Taylor's motion argued that the Galveston Judge's order violates the act. Click here to read Taylor's motion. Plaintiff's attorneys have argued the information is proprietary.

Taylor is co-chairman of a legislative committee that oversees TWIA -- a state-created insurance company financed in part by mandatory assessments to Texas private insurance companies. The Attorney General has deemed TWIA subject to the Public Information Act. Taylor's committee has to send a report to the Legislature on TWIA by Nov. 15.

Last Sunday, LSR Managing Editor William Lutz appeared on Inside Texas Politics. He notes that Hope and Change have not ended the current recession, and that this year, policy makers should grow the economy instead of growing government. Inside Texas Politics airs every Sunday morning at 9 am on WFAA, Channel 8 in North Texas. We embed last week's show below. Lutz's commentary starts with about 9 minutes to go in the program (about 12 minutes in). Immediately preceding Lutz's commentary is a lively debate between former Democratic Congressman Martin Frost and Texas GOP Chairman Steve Munisteri. Munisteri bets a steak dinner that Republicans will gain at least five seats.

LSR Managing Editor William Lutz was interviewed by News 8 Austin this week on whether the federal government's decision to deny Texas aid was political. Click here to view the story on News 8 Austin's website.  Since that story was broadcast, the governor's office appealed the federal government's decision. Click here to read Gov. Rick Perry's appeal letter.

The Back to the Basics PAC -- funded largely by plaintiff's attorney Steve Mostyn -- is now questioning Perry's anti-Obama credentials. The PAC is running an ad critical of Perry for taking stimulus money to balance the 2010-11 budget. We post the ad below. Enjoy.

The Capitol Press Corps seems to have universally missed the significance of Gov. Rick Perry's announcement that he will make abolishing sanctuary cities an emergency item in the 2011 Legislative session. After years of stonewalling, the state's highest elected official has finally listened to Texas voters and recognized the need to do something about illegal immigration.

Much of today's announcement is a result of years of hard work by Rep. Leo Berman (R-Tyler). He was going to run for governor but pulled out after Perry promised to do somehting about illegal immigration. Back in 2007, Berman tried to address the illegal immigration issue but was blocked from doing so by the House leadership. On May 7, 2007 Berman expressed his frustration with the lack of action on illegal immigration in a personal privilege speech. We reprint his speech below from the House Journal ...

Some long-time followers of Texas politics may remember when Democrat Tony Sanchez spent $500 on confetti and reported campaign expenditures at Hooters. Well $500 on confetti, meet $5 million on donuts. Congrats to the astute Statesman Reporter Miguel Liscano for discovering $5 million on donuts and $9 million on Applebees on the Williamson County GOP's ethics report. Oh, and for the record, officials with the Williamson County GOP told Liscano this was an accounting error and they'll send a corrected report to the Texas Ethics Commission shortly.

I’m focusing my energies mainly on the state legislative races, but I feel obliged to post the totals at least from the governor’s race 30-day reports (due Mon. Oct. 4 – covers donations and expenditures July 1 - Sept.23):

For those who are gluttons for punishment, click here to read the White fundraising report and click here to read the Perry fundraising report.

The Texas Windstorm Insurance Association has requested an Attorney General's opinion on whether it may disclose documents about a recent lawsuit settlement requested by Rep. Larry Taylor (R-Friendswood).

Taylor is co-chairman of a legislative oversight committee examining the funding of TWIA and is interested in why it took two years and a lawsuit to get homeowners whose dwellings were reduced to slabs repaid. He's also interested in how much overall attorneys fees were paid out and the effect the settlement has on TWIA -- a state-created insurance company that has the power to assess other insurance companies and grant tax credits (which affect state general revenue) to cover its losses.

The rub is with Taylor's request for attorneys fees. Some of the plaintiffs' lawyers who represent the homeowners (including major Democratic donor Steve Mostyn) do not want to disclose the fees they are making -- arguing that is proprietary information. They've convinced Galveston County District Judge Susan Criss to grant a temporary restraining order until Oct. 11 prohibiting TWIA from releasing any information named in Taylor's request. There's one major problem -- the open records act expressly prohibits courts from sealing certain types of information about the expenditure of public funds.

Texans for Lawsuit Reform filed a request for Public Information on the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA) yesterday. This is the dust-up between Rep. Larry Taylor (R-Friendswood) and Democratic megadonor Steve Mostyn.

TLR obviously spent a significant amount of time and legal talent on this release, as it is drafted in a very detailed and precise form. Click here to read the TLR request in full.

It's worth noting that several of the items are directed specifically toward TWIA's expenditure of funds. That's because Texas open records law has categories of information that are expressly exempted from the exceptions to the Public Information Act, and most records in that category involve expenditures of public funds. (See Govt Code, Section 552.022). TWIA is a government-created insurance carrier that offers windstorm insurance policies along the Texas coast funded by mandatory participation by Texas property and casulty insurers.

File this under most outrageous claim made by a city councilor this year. Arlington city council member Gene Patrick was quoted in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram as follows:

At-large Councilman Gene Patrick defended the lobbyist expense, saying that it helps protect Arlington taxpayers from unfunded mandates and new taxes. "I am a staunch believer in the principle of home rule. I don't like them telling us what we can and can not charge our own citizens," Patrick said.

You have got to be kidding me. Everyone knows taxpayer funded lobbying is about raising taxes, not lowering them.

The Young Conservatives of Texas expressed relief that no one other than the shooter was hurt on the University of Texas campus today, but stated that today's incident is another reason why the Legislature should pass the concealed carry on campus bill. “The event today proves that so-called ‘gun free zones’ don’t protect people,” said Tony McDonald, YCT’s Senior Vice Chairman. “Crazed gunmen don’t follow firearms regulations; victims do. Students should not be stripped of their rights and forced to rely on the protection of police or the mercy of a killer."

Sunday, the El Paso Times published a poll showing Republican Dee Margo leading Rep. Joe Moody (D-El Paso) 42.5 percent to 37.4 percent with a surprising 20.1 percent undecided. The margin of error for the poll is 4.4 percent, meaning that there is a 95 percent probability that the actual number is within 4.4 percent of that measured in the poll.

What this poll tells us is this race is clearly in play. (The district used to be represented by Republican Pat Haggerty.) The high undecided total makes it clear, however, that either candidate can win. In any case, this race is worth watching.

One more caveat: most people who know me realize I am very hesitant to write "poll stories." Here's why I made an exception here:

A few items of note this afternoon:

* The two main candidates for Railroad Commission, Democrat Jeff Weems and Republican David Porter traded barbs Sept. 20. Weems called on Porter to debate. When asked, a Porter camapign spokesman told LSR that Porter has accepted all editorial board invitations and has appeared at multiple forms with Weems. Porter responded by blasting Weems for statements in the Nacogdoches newspaper praising the Railroad Commission’s authority to shut down or jail oil and gas well producers who violate environmental laws. Weems responded by noting that the provisions allowing the Railroad Commission to shut down wells and jail bad producers are current law. ...

Click here to read my entire opinion piece.

Thank you Fred Hill! The former Republican state representative from Richardson helped organize other GOP legislators to kill a 2005 bill that would have given greater rights to taxpayers to roll back excessive property tax increases at the ballot box. Many of the Republicans who opposed expanded taxpayer protections came from North Texas legislative districts.

Rep. Larry Taylor (R-League City) sent a formal request to the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA) today. Click here to read a copy of Taylor's clarified request.

Taylor had sent an earlier request to TWIA -- a state-created company that provides windstorm insurance in coastal counties -- for information about a recent lawsuit settlement regarding Hurricane Ike. One of the attorneys for the plaintiffs -- Texas Trial Lawyers Association President-elect Steve Mostyn -- objected to release of the information on the grounds that some of it is confidential. Taylor clarified his request today to make it crystal clear he is not seeking personal information about policy holders.

While many of us were on vacation, LSR Managing Editor William Lutz made an appearence on WFAA's Inside Texas Politics Sept. 5. Lutz slammed seven of the 15 Dallas City Council members for trying to renew on a no-bid basis concession contracts at Love Field Airport. He also praised the mayor and council majority for insisting on competitive bidding. These contracts are currently held by an ownership group that includes several prominent South Dallas camapign donors and politicians. Basically, the point he made is that any time someone proposes clean government for Dallas, out comes the race card. But civil rights groups used to support competitive bidding because it proves everyone got fair treatment.

We post the entire program below. Lutz's commentary begins with about 7:30 remining in the program.

First, in this week’s issue we publish a story about the state being denied $830 million in federal education funds because Gov. Rick Perry wouldn’t violate the state constitution just to make Congressman Lloyd Doggett feel warm and fuzzy and won’t commit the state to unsustainable spending increases for public school districts.

We have one question for the Back to the Basics PAC's funder and plaintiff's lawyer Steve Mostyn: what took you so long?

Today the Back to the Basics PAC released a new television ad taking aim at the plaintiffs' bar's favorite target -- the insurance industry. The ad blames Gov. Rick Perry for insurance rate increases. It notes that the insurance bill passed in 2003 allows insurance carriers to raise rates without first receiving approval of the Texas Department of Insurance.

Long-time Capitol reporter and PR consultant Rich Parsons is leaving the lieutenant governor's press office. He is moving to Hahn Texas where he will be a vice president for public affairs. Parsons worked at Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst's press secretary. Prior to working for Dewhurst, Parsons was an Austin television reporter focusing on public affairs journalism.

Former McLennan County Democratic Chairman John Cullar has withdrawn his candidacy for the Texas Senate in the wake of a Fifth Court of Appeals ruling that refused to kick his opponent Sen. Brian Birdwell (R-Granbury) off the ballot. The result of Cullar's action is that Birdwell is almost certain to win a full two-year term in the Texas Senate. The Waco Tribune-Herald has more details on Cullar's decision.

Some interpreted Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst's committee reshuffle as the death-knell for the Texas Local Option Transportation Act -- a bill that allows local governments to raise taxes with over approval for commuter rail and other transportation projects. That's a fair interpretation of the new order in the Texas Senate.

But this week's activity in the governor's race virtually guarantees that TLOTA will not see the light of day in 2011. Democratic candidate Bill White gave an interview to the Associated Press where he said he wouldn't rule out higher debt, or local tax hikes, to finance additional roads. Within hours of the White interview getting published, I was deluged with statements from just about every conservative group out there and the Perry campaign condemning White for endorsing a "tax hike."

In the previous entry on this blog, we highlighted a Dallas Morning News story about a study on college administrative costs. That study was a product of the Goldwater Institute and theGeorge W. Bush Institute. The study's primary author is Jay P. Greene, head of the Department of Education Reform at the University of Arkansas. His coauthors are Brian Kisida and Jonathan Mills. Click here to read an executive summary or download the full study.

The study concludes that -- despite increasing subsidies from government -- college administrative costs have exploded. It also states that the solutions advocated by college administrators (and their taxpayer-funded lobbyists and government relations professionals) won't solve the problem. Click here to read the study.

This morning's Dallas Morning News contains an article chronicling a study by Arkansas professor Jay Greene showing that administrative employment has grown faster than instructional employment at state universities -- especially in Texas. Click here to read the article in full. In 2003, the Legislature surrendered tuition-setting authority to appointed boards of regents. At the time, critics predicted that both tuition and administrative spending would go through the roof. Both critiques have now been borne out.

This Sunday, LSR Managing Editor William Lutz blasted Texas's school accountability ratings on WFAA's Inside Texas Politics. Lutz's objections include low passing standards for the test and the fact that students can score a zero on the test and still be credited with passing for accountability purposes. He suggests ignoring state accountability ratings and using college entrance exams and national exams instead. Lutz's commentary follows a lively discussion between Farmers Branch Mayor Tim O'Hare and Domingo Garcia on illegal immigration. Lutz's commentary starts 9 minutes into the program (about 8 minutes left in the program). Inside Texas Politics airs every Sunday at 9 am on Channel 8 in North Texas. We post a clip of the program below:

In writing up the reaction of state officials to passage of the Doggett amendment last night, we accidentally neglected to post the statement of Commissioner of Education Robert Scott. His statement is posted below:

 “Congress has crafted legislation that will exclusively harm Texas public schools and our teachers.  Every member of the Texas congressional delegation who supported this measure owes Texas voters an explanation as to why they are in favor of imposing punitive measures on our schools.”

The Back-To-Basics PAC, funded by plaintiff's attorney Steve Mostyn, has released another attack ad blasting Gov. Rick Perry for his veto of a property rights bill in 2007 and for his advocacy for the privatized Trans-Texas Corridor. The group has also set up a website Hands Off Our Land, to highlight problems with Perry's property rights record. We post the ad below:

House Speaker Joe Straus (R-San Antonio) blasted Congressional Democrats for trying to hamstring the state budget by singling out Texas in education jobs bill.

“I am very concerned about the flawed legislation passed in the United States Senate that unfairly targets Texas, punishes our kids and teachers, and attempts to micro-manage Texas schools from Washington, D.C.," Straus said. "I call on members of the Texas congressional delegation to work to protect Texas, and especially our school children, by removing this provision and refraining from imposing Washington mandates on Texas schools.”

Sen. Brian Birdwell's (R-Granbury) campaign office got back to us a few minutes ago with a statement on the lawsuit filed by the Texas Democratic Party questioning his eligibility to serve in the Texas Senate. Birdwell's statement reads as follows:

Lone Star Report Managing Editor William Lutz will appear on WFAA's Inside Texas Politics Sunday morning at 9 am. Inside Texas Politics airs at 9 am on Sundays on Channel 8 in North Texas. Lutz will be discussing his concerns about low standards in the Texas public school accountability system.

There's a lot of spin going back and forth on exactly what the Doggett amendment to the federal stimulus bill does. Democratic political consultant Philip Martin -- as usual -- posted partisan talking points to the Burnt Orange Report that, at best, constitutes political spin and, at worst, misrepresents the Republican objections to the Doggett amendment.

The Doggett amendment does not merely require the state to spend the same dollar amount that it currently spends on education. It requires the state to spend the same percentage of state general revenue on education than what it current spends. (Here is the exact text of the amendment from the Congressional Record -- section 11 is the Doggett amendment).

The Texas Democratic Party and its nominee in Senate District 22, John Cullar, are challenging Sen. Brian Birdwell's (R-Granbury) eligibility to serve in the Texas Senate. The Texas Constitution requires Senators to be residents of the state for five years prior to their election, and Birdwell voted in Virginia 2004-2006. The Democrats' filed their request for a writ of mandamus in the Fort Worth Court of Appeals.

Texas Democrats have nominated John Cullar for the Texas Senate in District 22. The seat was formerly held by Kip Averitt (R-Waco) and is currently held by the recently-sworn-in Sen. Brian Birdwell (R-Granbury). The nomination was made by Democratic county chairmen in the district. Cullar is former chairman of the McLennan County Democratic Party.

The Waco Tribune-Herald reported today that Cullar opposes Republican efforts to fight voter fraud by requiring voters to present photo id prior to voting.

Below is a bio of Cullar distributed by the Texas Democratic Party:

Gov. Rick Perry Aug. 5 received the American Legislative Council’s (ALEC) Thomas Jefferson Freedom Award at the group’s 37th annual meeting in San Diego, Calif.

ALEC is a conservative non-partisan membership association for state lawmakers, which espouses belief in limited government, free markets, federalism and individual liberty.

The award is ALEC’s highest honor, given annually to a current or former public official for advancing the Jeffersonian principles ALEC espouses. Reagan received the inaugural award in 1990. Former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Miss. Gov. Haley Barbour are also past recipients.

Democrat Bill White unveiled a new positive TV ad yesterday.

For the past month, the candidates for governor have bickered over each other's business dealings, with each side questioning the integrity of the others' business deals. The latest in that skirmish involves an Associated Press story raising questions about whether Democrat Bill White interceded to resolve a dispute involving a company he later invested in.

Several Texas Congressional Democrats have filed a resolution attacking the conservative State Board of Education’s new patriotic social studies standards.

In May, the State Board of Education adopted new social studies standards that focus on teaching patriotism to children and the fact that America is unique, and while not perfect, positive. The standards also comply with Texas state laws that require instruction with “emphasis on the free enterprise system and its benefits.” The standards require that Celebrate Freedom Week be taught in every grade.

Dr. Steven Hotze, president of the Conservative Republicans of Texas, announced an online matching program for competitive house races statewide.

“This morning, CRT sent individualized emails into 18 House Districts, nearly 60,000 in all. We are encouraging voters to visit their candidate’s website and make an on-line contribution with the additional incentive that their on-line contribution will be matched.  We are sending a strong signal to the Conservative grassroots movement in Texas. We believe in these candidates.  These races are winnable, and CRT will work towards Republic victory in Texas by doubling the contributions of voters.” Hotze said.