By William Lutz on
7/15/2009 4:01 PM
The elected members of the State Board of Education today had choice words for House Bill 4294 – the electronic computerized textbook bill pushed by laptop manufacturers. No elected board member even tried to defend the bill. They questioned both the premise of the bill and how would be interpreted. Here are a few of the major flash-points from today’s board meeting:
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By William Lutz on
7/15/2009 1:52 PM
LSR Managing Editor William Lutz was a guest on WFAA's Inside Texas Politics with Brad Watson July 15. Lutz discussed the recently concluded special session, and questioned its limited agenda. Lutz noted that the agenda did not allow the Legislature to complete the unfinished business of the recently-concluded special session.
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By William Lutz on
7/10/2009 10:32 AM
LSR Managing Editor William Lutz will appear this sunday on Inside Texas Politics with Brad Watson. For our North Texas readers this airs Sunday at 9 am on Channel 8 -- WFAA. Lutz will be giving a commentary questioning the narrow agenda and missed opportunities of the recently concluded special session.
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By William Lutz on
7/10/2009 10:16 AM
 Gov. Rick Perry has named Gail Lowe (R-Lampasas) as the new chairman of the State Board of Education. Lowe is a newspaper publisher who has served on the board since 2003.
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By William Lutz on
7/9/2009 12:12 PM
 Uncle Sam is passing out gifts, including some that could come to Texas. Commissioner of Agriculture Todd Staples wants to make sure that Texas is prepared to take advantage of federal plans to improve broadband telecommunications service to rural Texas. Staples announced yesterday the creation of the Texas Broadband Task Force, which will meet and report back to Staples and the Public Utility Commission. The task force has membership from all parts of the telecommunications industry as well as representation from effected governmental units such as the commission and the Texas Municipal League as well as from the governor’s office and Legislature. Read More »
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By William Lutz on
7/8/2009 2:30 PM
It looks like the upper administration of the University of Texas at Austin is even more hostile to Western civilization and American values than it was when I was a student there. Thanks to Elizabeth Young with the Texas Public Policy Foundation for passing along this gem of an article from Minding the Campus. The article details how Rob Koons, professor of philosophy at the University, helped build a program to study Western civilization and then got knifed by the administration at every turn.
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By William Lutz on
7/7/2009 4:03 PM
Congratulations, Rick Perry for signing the centerpiece of the Tony Sanchez’s education platform into law. Too bad Perry didn’t invite Sanchez to a signing ceremony.
Remember the Tony Sanchez campaign?
Ok. It was a long time ago (2002), and Sanchez’s election day performance was certainly forgettable.
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By William Lutz on
7/2/2009 11:23 AM
The Texas House of Representatives has finally passed SB 2 -- the sunset scheduling bill -- with little debate and no amenmdents. The bill continues five agencies, including the Texas Department of Transportation and the Texas Department of Insurnace, whose sunset bills did not pass. It also moves most of the energy and environmental agencies for sunset review in 2011 and the health and human services agencies in 2013. Once the printing and signing formalities are complete, the bill heads to the governor's desk.
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By William Lutz on
7/2/2009 11:15 AM
The Texas House of Representatives passed on second and third readings HB 1. The bill provides legislative authorization to issue $2 billion in bonds authorized by the Texas Constitution to build roads. The House made major changes to the bill that left committee.
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By William Lutz on
7/1/2009 3:19 PM
Since our last post, the Legislature has taken several additional actions. Here are the major ones:
* The Texas Senate Finance Committee passed SB 2 (the sunset scheduling bill that extends the life of five agencies set to expire).
* The full Senate passed SB 2 this afternoon.
* HB 3 (Comprehensive Development Agreements) was left pending before the House Transportation Committee.
* The House set a calendar for tomorrow containing House Bill 1 (Proposition 12 road bonds) and House Bill 2 (Sunset Safety Net Bill).
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