Results tagged “texashouse”

State Senate starts off the session with a tense closed-door discussion on the two-thirds rule. It's official: Straus is now Speaker of the Texas House after a unanimous vote. Because of confusion re: the permitting process, City Council mulling over a temporary hold on outdoor music permits. The helicopter crash yesterday on the A&M campus killed a Lufkin soldier. Meals on Wheels and More accepting converter box coupons to pass on to their homebound clients. T. Boone Pickens hopes that some stimulus funds will go towards converting commercial trucks to natural gas. 1978 Dallas rape/homicide case overturned by an appeals court, meaning a man who's been on death row for 30 years could soon be freed.

Photo of Caritas by Beard Papa on flickr
• APD successfully halted a home burglary in-progress this morning.
• Plane crash this afternoon in Fort Worth.
• Yesterday the United Way Capital Area announced that it is cutting funding to 21 area non-profits; Brewster McCracken says that the city may step in with an emergency appropriation to help.

About a month ago, we reported that Rep. Warren Chisum was pushing another weird bill through the Texas House, this time one that would force all Texans to either take a State-approved marriage counseling course or pay an increased marriage fee in order to be married in this state. This bill eventually passed the House, but minus a lot of Chisum's heavy-handed language, thanks to the alert efforts of House members from both parties. Job well done.

The Texas House of Representatives voted 118-16 for a bill amendment that would suspend the $0.20 per gallon gas tax for three months. This would cost the state $500 million to $700 million, which would come funds earmarked for transportation and public education. The amendment has not yet passed in the Senate.

This week we'd like to congratulate the -ist network's Mother Hen, Gothamist's Jen Chung, who found herself a recipient of Wired Magazine's Wired Rave Award. If that doesn't sound terribly exciting, keep in mind another recipient was J.K. Rowling. Yep, that's right, the -ist network and Harry Potter now have something in common. Go us. Austinist has a chat with the ever-fashionable Golden Girl Rue McClanahan, and managed to catch some local fashionistas making...

“Currently, students' voluntary religious expression is being treated as second-class speech, and sometimes worse, in public schools. School children are being censored and reprimanded at school, leaving them in fear of punishment for their religious beliefs. Due to hostility toward religious expression, children are being forced to defend their First Amendment rights in courtrooms all across Texas, and throughout the nation. “School districts' practices and policies continue to violate the free speech rights of students,...

Yesterday, on the floor of the Texas House of Representatives, Rep. Warren Chisum (R-Pampa) raised House Bill 2685, a bill that seeks to encourage couples to undertake "education courses" that would provide them with "the skills necessary to resolve marital conflicts, which will make for stronger marriages that are less likely to end in failure." Under this bill, Texans will be faced with an ultimatum under the law: take a State-designed marriage counseling course, or...

Governor Rick Perry's much-harangued executive order of mandatory HPV vaccines for Texas schoolgirls has drawn the ire of Attorney General Greg Abbott, who yesterday declared that the order was merely "advisory" in nature, and devoid of legal substance.

The Grand Old Party nearly swept the statewide race yesterday, led by Governor Rick Perry, who after beating Democratic nominee Chris Bell and independent candidates Kinky Friedman and Carole Keeton Strayhorn may very well become the longest-serving Governor in Texas. In a press conference this morning, Perry was vague when addressing rumors of a possible vice presidential bid, merely saying it was "up to the good Lord." Bell, who posted yesterday in his blog...

Moneyed interests from across the state of Texas are donating huge sums of cash to the renovation of House Speaker Tom Craddick’s capitol apartment.

Continue reading "Austin, By the Numbers"

The results are in from the Democratic and Republican primary runoffs.

The Hill Country Alliance, along with the Oak Hill Association of Neighborhoods, is hosting a debate with all of the candidates running for Texas House of Representatives, District 47. The region included in District 47 is under a tremendous amount of pressure from growth and development pushing out of Austin. We need to make sure we find a candidate who will protect the natural resources, scenic beauty and camp grounds for all the hippies.

The Republicans aren't the only lying liars in town. And while that is not news to us, we were still a little shocked to hear the news about longtime Democratic political aide Kristi Willis and her "liberation" of $166,000 from Congressman Lloyd Doggett's coffers, along with more than $25,000 from other Democratic candidates and causes.

In the race to represent House District 48, Democrat Donna Howard and Republican Ben Bentzin made it through Round One on Tuesday and will meet in a runoff election to see who will replace Todd Baxter in the Texas House. Democrat Kathy Rider and Libertarian Ben Easton finished third and fourth and are now free to vote for Donna Howard. She received 49.5% of the vote, against Bentzin's 37.8 % which might shock some...

Scoop Jackson was kind enough to point this out to us: for those of you residing in House District 48, today's your chance to vote for Todd Baxter's replacement in the Texas House. Baxter resigned last Fall, leaving his seat open to four contenders: Republican Ben Bentzin, Libertarian Ben Easton and Democrats Donna Howard and Kathy Rider. A run-off election will be held later if no one candidate receives a strong majority; the winner...

This Tuesday, the Texas House will vote on HB 1212 (written by Rep. Phil King). Texas currently has a law in place a law which requires parental notification but HB 1212 will require parental consent for teens seeking an abortion. Austinist wonders what this means for victims of incest who become pregnant as a result.

The Texas House has just passed a bill outlawing "overtly sexually suggestive" cheerleading. Highschool cheerleaders will now be limited to jazz hands, standing on tip-toes, and smiling.

The Texas House voted 83-63 yesterday to approve a bill that would require voters to show up to three forms of identification before being allowed to vote. In addition to the standard voter registration card, a person would need a photo ID card or two other documents without a photo. Currently, only five states require photo identification in order to vote. Some members of the House (cough*Republicans*cough) are behind the bill, claiming that it would...

The Texas House and Senate may be arguing over the best way to offset revenue shortfalls due to property tax relief, but they do agree on one thing: Boozers and Smokers need to pay higher taxes!

While we're on the subject of gay marriage and pop idols this week, international diva Elton "That's Sir to You" John was in town yesterday showing his support for Andy Roddick's Foundation to harvest black market organs save the children. This came only a day after announcing plans to wed longtime partner David Furnish, which we're guessing won't take place anywhere near here.

In an incredibly dissapointing vote of 101 to 29, Texas House lawmakers have passed a constitutional ammendment to ban gay marriage. HJR 6, the Defence of Marriage Act, basically states the following: Sec. 32. (a) Marriage in this state shall consist only of the union of one man and one woman. (b) This state or a political subdivision of this state may not create or recognize any legal status identical or similar to marriage. So,...