#TXLEGE: Troxclair would be, easily, strongest GOP candidate for SD-14 special election (aka. #TroxStillRox)

"When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice;
But when a wicked man rules, the people groan."
Proverbs 29:2

With Kirk Watson having now had a day to bask in his semi-deserved accolades, attention now turns to the special election.  The Statesman's roundup about Democrats is good.  But it begs a natural follow-up question.  Who will Republicans run?!?

The answer is completely obvious: Ellen Troxclair.

She's already been elected within the district.  She attracted crossover votes in that election.  Furthermore, her record in office was spectacular.

The question, of course, is whether she'll actually do it.

When Ellen Troxclair first ran for council, she and Caleb had zero kids.  Now they have three.  That changes priorities.  If she decided against seeking a second council term when she had two kids, it's hard to ask her to run for another office when she has three.

But none of that changes the fact that she's, easily, the strongest potential candidate.

Bottom Line: We doubt she'll do it, but it's an easy call if she will.

#TXLEGE: Watson's gets a fascinating new gig

"To everything there is a season,
A time for every purpose under heaven:"
Ecclesiastes 3:1

Wasn't expecting this:

State Sen. Kirk Watson, an Austin Democrat, is retiring from the Texas Senate.

His resignation is effective at midnight on April 30, the Austin American-Statesman first reported Tuesday. Watson is leaving office to become the first dean of the University of Houston's Hobby School of Public Affairs.

"This is a chance to build a world-class public affairs and policy school essentially from the ground up," Watson said in a statement. "It is transformative work at a creative and ambitious university, located in one of the country's largest and most diverse cities. ... Only a unique opportunity to serve this state — and a compelling platform for that service — would cause me to leave."

Watson, an attorney and former mayor of the city of Austin, represents Senate District 14, a historically Democratic seat. It covers Bastrop County and parts of Travis County. He was first elected to the seat in 2006, taking office in early 2007.

Watson's early departure will set off a special election to serve the rest of the term, which will end in 2023. Watson delivered his resignation letter this morning to Gov. Greg Abbott, who will later set the date for a special election.

Wow.

In terms of politics, and public policy, there's a lot to say.

Before we get to that, however, allow us this: Kirk Watson is one of the genuinely nicest people you will ever meet in politics.  That's not to say we've agreed with him or supported the same policies.  But in an industry where so many are cowards and liars, Kirk Watson has always been an honest sort of scoundrel who was never afraid of a public discussion.

To his tremendous credit, Kirk Watson was also an unsung hero on a certain topic.

That being said, about the other stuff:

• Kirk Watson WILL get PAID!!!  Whatever his other virtues (at least in comparison to most politicians), he's always been comfortable funneling taxpayer subsidies to the very well-heeled.  It was probably inevitable that he would eventually cash in himself.  Expect him to receive a salary in the mid six figures.

• Watson was typically one of the great defenders of the higher ed. establishment; while those sorts still exist in the Texas Senate, to have one fewer veteran on that topic around could make things interesting. 

• Still, it's odd that U of H chose someone from Austin.  There are plenty of ex-politicos in Houston who could do this job.  There's probably something else at play, although we have no idea what it could be.  Keep that in the back of your mind over time.

• As for the special election: Yes, the GOP could.  They probably won't.  But they could.  They should certainly try.
  
  There's a good chance that the special election comes down to a runoff between a Republican and someone closely aligned with Greg Casar.
  
  If that circumstance were to materialize, we could see those central Austin precincts that typically run up the scoreboard for Democrats being...unenthusiastic.  These are the neighborhoods that have been hit hardest by the city of Austin's new homelessness policies.  It doesn't take a genius to see how a critical mass might stay home.
  
  The special election would likely come down to Westlake.  And, to put it mildly, a Greg Casar type ain't gonna play well in Westlake.  Go Chaps.

Bottom Line: What an odd, unexpected, development.

#TXLEGE: Watson hijacks Sec'y of State confirmation hearing (to lay foundation for future litigation)

"Do not remove the ancient landmark,
Nor enter the fields of the fatherless;"
Proverbs 23:10

[Note: You can view the committee hearing here; this author's testimony is at the 3:55:30 mark.]

We attended this morning's confirmation hearing for the Secretary of State.  One conclusion is obvious: The Democrats are dead set against this nomination.  And there's litigation coming.

Kirk Watson lead the attack.

Watson subjected Secretary of State Whitley to a barrage of hair-splittingly petty questions about his office's recent efforts to ensure the integrity of Texas' voter rolls.  Whether it was data point "x," data point "y," or data point "z," Watson was on a mission to extract a 'confession' he could exploit for political purposes.  While Watson's strategy is politically obnoxious, it might be very effective legally (especially with a friendly judge).

Every question Watson asked created a new legal "i" to be dotted, or a legal "t" to be crossed.

As for our personal testimony: We discussed how, even if one were to interpret the Secretary of State's numbers in the most unfriendly way possible, there are still enough questionable registrations to matter.  Elections in Travis County are routinely decided by fewer than 5000 votes.  We also noted, tongue somewhat in cheek, that we agreed with Senator Watson's assessment that Texas had serious issues with minority voting rights during the century of Democrat control.

That being said, this nomination's in trouble.  The Texas constitution requires a two thirds vote to confirm gubernatorial appointees.  That means 21 votes.  There are only 19 Republicans.  That means, even if you hold Seliger, you still need two Democrats.  Unfortunately, we think its a lot easier to find 12 votes "against" than it is to find 21 votes "for."  We hope there's a backup plan.

Bottom Line: There's a lot more to come on this issue, but the opening fireworks were nevertheless revealing.... 

#TXLEGE: Campbrell and Watson outline the 86th

"A wicked messenger falls into trouble,
But a faithful ambassador brings health."
Proverbs 13:17

We attended this afternoon's Trib event with Donna Campbell and Kirk Watson.

The TL,DR version is that untying the school finance/property tax knot is going to be the primary focus this next session.

Watson correctly pointed out that state formulas have pushed education funding down the local level in recent years, while Campbell correctly pointed out that any increase in state funding needs to be tied to performance metrics.

The recent election and health care were also discussed.



Highlights:

• Bonnen's a St. Ed's alum.

• High Turnout Election:
• Campbell correctly explains Trump factor.
• Campbell also correctly explains bad economic messaging.

• Watson cites school finance and infrastructure as longstanding challenges.
• Public wants "better priorities."
• Note: Kirk Watson isn't wrong that these are longstanding challenges the public wants addressed, but Kirk Watson's preferred solution (pouring more money into the status quo) won't fix them,

• Watson: More "early childhood translation education in traditional public schools."
• Cynical interpretation: Brainwashing them younger and younger
• Non-cyncial interpretation: Misguided idea that history has shown to be ineffective at promoting lasting academic gains.

• Campbell: "Depends what we're going to do with it" re: More state-level education funding.
• Have a conversation about "funding good performance."

• 30 minutes in before Evan brings up rollback.

Bottom Line: School finance needs to be dealt with eventually.  Now is as good a time as any.  It'll be interesting to see how conservatives approach what is shaping up to be a "must pass" bill....

#TXLEGE: Kolkhorst belatedly makes vague, open-ended, promise re: Senate Sexual Misconduct policy

"It is an abomination for kings to commit wickedness,
For a throne is established by righteousness."
Proverbs 16:12

[Note: You can read what we said last December about the house's new policy here, and the Senate's lack of interest here.]

Via The Texas Observer:

In the weeks after multiple allegations of sexual misconduct were made against two Texas senators last year, their colleagues called for “zero tolerance” and said changes “must happen now.” Five months later, lawmakers still haven’t updated the Senate’s 23-year-old, one-page policy, which doesn’t establish a formal process for investigating complaints.

“For months, there have been rumors that a revised policy will be released for the Senate to review, but it hasn’t happened,” Senator Kirk Watson, D-Austin, wrote in an email. “We haven’t received any word about next steps, if there will be future public hearings, or how the Senate will adopt changes to our policy.” Asked when an updated policy is expected, Watson wrote, “At this time, I have no expectations.”

Shortly after the Daily Beast published the allegations against Democratic state Senators Carlos Uresti and Borris Miles in early December, Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick tasked Senator Lois Kolkhorst, R-Brenham, with reviewing and updating the Senate’s policy on sexual misconduct. “I understand there are rumors, innuendos and allegations in both the House and Senate about both members and staff having inappropriate behavior. Sexual harassment should not and will not be tolerated in the Texas Senate,” Kolkhorst told the Observer at the time.

Still, at a December 14 meeting of the Senate Administration Committee, which Kolkhorst chairs, senators heard only from the Secretary of the Senate and the head of human resources. Not once were senators Miles and Uresti mentioned by name during the hearing.

“It was surprising to me that … no time was given to the public for testimony,” Senator Sylvia Garcia said of the hearing in an email to the Observer. “We should allow the public to be heard in a meaningful way and that must be in an additional public hearing.”

Since then, Kolkhorst has met with staff from every senator’s office to discuss the issue and performed “an exhaustive review” of policies from other states and state agencies, she told the Observer this month. “A revised Senate policy will be reviewed and released in the near future,” she wrote in an email. Asked for a more specific timeline, her office did not respond.

To which we will add: In our conversations with Senate sources, we've been appalled at the...lack of a sense of urgency...this topic generates (and we're putting it very politely).

Furthermore, while Uresti has become persona-non-grata since his criminal conviction, Miles has suffered no consequences.

Of course, that's the reason why we're carrying our sexual misconduct convention resolution.

Bottom Line: See no evil....

Speaking about Texas' TOOTHLESS Open Records Laws....

"He who covers his sins will not prosper,
But whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy."
Proverbs 28:13

Obviously, this author just filed an official complaint with the Attorney General's office against the University of Houston over their stonewalling related to their football program.  We will confess that we used this afternoon's TPPF/Texas Tribune event "Open Government, Engaged Citizens: A Conversation on Texas' Public Information Act," as a deadline to get the complaint filed.  That's now happened.

Texas' public information laws, while they look good on the surface, have more holes than Swiss cheese.  One tactic that has recently gained in popularity is to launder governmental funds through shell "non-profits" or allegedly "private" entities.  Austin's ongoing Amazon fiasco, the recent troubles with the Alamo, and a 2015 Texas Supreme Court decision related to the "Greater Houston Partnership" are recent examples of this phenomenon.

Senator Kirk Watson discussed several bills he carried this past session to close various loopholes in the Public Information Act.  All of Watson's bills passed the Senate with overwhelming majorities.  Unfortunately, they all died in the house [Note: What else is new?!?].

Todd Hunter gave a "woe is me" speech about how he totally supports Open Government, but it just got lost in the shuffle of a busy end-of-session period in the house.  Of course, Hunter neglected the fact that he's the chair of the Calendars committee, which might give him leverage over a recalcitrant committee chairman.  Hunter made a bunch of vague promises as it relates to transparency issues next session.  That being said, Hunter did make an interesting point about many of the 'recovery' related contracts from Hurricane Harvey having major disclosure issues.

Watson and Hunter both plugged a Joint Interim committee that was created this past session to study the issue.  Unfortunately, neither chamber has appointed any members.  Isn't that revealing....

James Quintero of TPPF spoke of the need for the Attorney General to have greater enforcement powers.  He also explained the need to repeal certain provisions that have been interpreted to allow "economic development" discussions to occur in secret.  He also discussed his frustrations trying to get information out of the City of Austin related to the Amazon 'negotiations,' a frustration we share.

Bottom Line: Texas' Public Information laws are a joke.  But we know how to fix them.  Whether or not the political will to do so exists in the Texas house remains an open question....

#TXLEGE Sexual Abuse: The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly from Yesterday's Austin Chronicle Article (WARNING: Graphic)

"It is an abomination for kings to commit wickedness,
For a throne is established by righteousness.
Proverbs 16:12

[Note: As a friendly trigger warning for some of you Baptist types, you should know the original Austin Chronicle article contained swear words that we are going to quote (and address) without sugarcoating; if that's something your snowflake Baptist eyes can't handle stop reading.]

[Note II: Did we mention that this blog post will be quoting swear words verbatum?!?  If you find a couple of swear words overwhelming, you are free to look elsewhere.  This author is not interested in receiving your Facebook messages.]

[Note III:  Swear words ahead; seriously, no Facebook messages.]

Yesterday, the Austin Chronicle published another chilling account about the culture of chronic sexual abuse in the Texas Legislature.  No new names dropped.  We will address topics thematically rather than chronologically.

-------

The house's new policy being a joke:

The House Administration Committee, which is led by Rep. Charlie Geren, R-Ft. Worth, approved new rules that clearly define sexual harassment – including sexual jokes, gifts, and "intentionally brushing up against a person" – and offer ways for victims to seek recourse through a complaint process. Complaints about staffers can be sent to Geren or the House personnel department; complaints about members can be sent to Geren or committee vice chair Gary VanDeaver. All complaints will be "investigated by impartial individuals." If necessary, external resources (such as an outside attorney or investigator) can be used to ensure impartiality. Identities of victims and witnesses will be protected from disclosure to the "greatest extent allowed by law," the five-page policy reads.

....

[W]omen filing complaints would be better served by a third-party, neutral arbiter than legislators. "You don't want the fox guarding the hen house," she said. "Lawmakers who depend on their relationships with other lawmakers to get things done can't oversee the process in a fair way." The third party should also be a constant presence at the Capitol, she suggested, tackling the culture of inequality and misogyny.

Also under the new policy, all House members and staff are required to attend sexual harassment training by the end of January, and every two years afterward. There won't be much enforcement of that, although records of who attended the trainings will be made public, leaving citizens the opportunity to pressure those who fail to take the course.

The good: The Chronicle points out that the new policy is an unenforceable farce, leadership's self congratulatory absurdities notwithstanding.

The bad: The Chronicle fails to point out that the Chairman responsible for overseeing the new policy has been engaged in a sexual relationship with a lobbyist for many years.  We understand that some people disagree with us about the degree to which this represents a conflict of interest.  But, at a minimum, one would think it's a relevant detail that should be reported upon and left to the reader to decide it's importance.

The ugly: The Chronicle fails to mention that Geren has already been caught lying about this topic.

-------

"Worshiping the Capitol":

The Chronicle details the story of Taylor Holden, a left-leaning activist who worked as an intern several sessions ago:

She never reported the incident to her boss because she felt that she had "no power" as an intern. "I worshipped the Cap­it­ol and always wanted to work in politics, but after that experience I felt betrayed," said Holden. She now works for a progressive organization in Colorado.

There's an obvious spiritual component to what she said that might be worth addressing in the future, but for the moment we'll focus on something more immediate.

To say that one "worships" a government building illustrates an unhealthy lack of perspective.  Whatever you hope to accomplish, ultimately politics is just politics.  It's not THAT important.

We don't want to belittle Ms. Holden's experience in any way, shape, or form, but if she's coming from the perspective of "worshiping" the political process, some modest disillusionment might be in order.

-------

"Everybody Fucks Everybody":

Also from Holden:

While touring her around, she says, an aide commented that the Capitol was a "non-stop party" where "everybody fucks everybody" and proceeded to make a sexist remark about a fellow female staffer.

Annnnd, THIS is where we take exception.

With all due respect to every other faction at the Capitol, "everybody" at the Capitol does not "fuck everybody" at the Capitol.  That, straight up, DOES NOT HAPPEN among conservatives.  Furthermore, if such behavior were discovered in our ranks, it would NOT be tolerated.

To clarify:

• Have conservatives who've met at the Capitol dated?!? Yes.

• Have conservatives who've met at the Capitol gotten married?!? Yes.

• Has a conservative ever had a one-off sexual encounter with someone they met at the Capitol?!?  Not to this author's knowledge, but the law of averages suggests that it must have happened at some point.

But the lecherous meat market that seems to exist everywhere else at the Capitol does not exist in our faction.  And, if it were to emerge, it would be dealt with.  Thus, we take exception to that remark.

For the record: This author has NEVER had a sexual encounter with someone we met at the Capitol; we find the thought BILIOUS.

-------

Hinojosa misses point:

From Gina Hinojosa:

"I believe the biggest contributing factor to an environment where there's a problem with sexual harassment is not enough women in power," Hinojosa remarked.

On the one hand, we don't disagree with Rep. Hinojosa that having more women among the elected officials could help.

On the other hand, who is she kidding?!?

As the legislature currently stands, there are 27 women serving in the house and 8 in the Senate.  That's 35 total.  And of the 35 women currently serving, at best, 6 have stepped up to challenge this garbage. (And, at least a few of the men are ahead of the overwhelming majority of the women)

Make no mistake: Rep. Hinojosa is one of those 6, and we applaud her for doing so, but consider us skeptical of her underlying claim as long as 82% of the women currently in office at the Capitol are saying nothing.

[Note: Then, of course, there's the fact that Rep. Hinojosa's own father did this the day before.]

-------

Going surprisingly easy on the Senate:

Moving onto the Senate:

Meanwhile, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has asked Senate Administration Com­mit­tee Chairwoman Sen. Lois Kolk­horst, R-Bren­­ham, to review the Senate's sexual harassment policies, while Sens. Sylvia Gar­cia, D-Houston, and Kirk Watson, D-Aus­­tin, called on Kolkhorst to hold a public hearing. "The Legislature has clearly failed to create a safe environment for women in the Capitol. That must change," said Watson. Kolkhorst heeded their calls on Dec. 14, letting senators voice concerns in a public forum about the lack of accountability and reporting procedures for how offices handle sexual harassment. But the upper chamber has yet to issue any updated policies.

We've spoken previously about how the Senate's response to what we already know has been woefully inadequate; we're surprised the Austin Chronicle (of all places) didn't let them have it a lot stronger than that.

------

Bottom Line: It's good that a clearer picture of this garbage is beginning to emerge, but yesterday's article makes equally clear how much distance remains to be traveled before anything will change.

#atxcouncil: Special treatment for Greg Abbott (higher electric bills for the rest of us)

"Dishonest scales are an abomination to the Lord,
But a just weight is His delight."
Proverbs 11:1

We testified against a couple of items at last Thursday's council meeting:

• Item 90: "Approve an ordinance waiving fees in an amount not to exceed $6,800,000 and requirements related to the vacation of right-of-way, associated with the development of Phase One of the 2016 Texas Capitol Complex Master Plan."
  
  We first discussed the "Capitol Complex" office plan back in June.  This is a project that illustrates the phoniness of so much of the highly theatrical conflict between the City of Austin and the State of Texas.  And, when push came to shove, the city gave the state everything it asked for.
  
  At issue is the absurdly lavish renovations for state office buildings immediately north of the Capitol.  The state of Texas is sought (and received) a $6.8 million fee waiver.  Because it's better to give special treatment to politically favored entities than to create low/simple, fees for everyone.
  
  But where this issue really chaps our hide is all of the highly sensationalized 'conflict' that we so frequently see between the city and the state.  It's not a secret that this website believes the unchecked growth of government at the local level is the biggest macroeconomic threat Texas faces, and that the state is well within it's rights to to rein it in.
  
  It's difficult to know whose cronies are getting paid on this project, although if history is any guide then Greg Abbott and Kirk Watson are the two likeliest suspects.
  
  Ora Houston voted against.  Leslie Pool abstained.  Each of the other nine voted "aye."
  
  

• Item 3: "Authorize negotiation and execution of a 15-year power purchase agreement with a subsidiary of INTERSECT POWER for the full output of electricity from a utility-scale solar generation facility with capacity of 150 to 180 megawatts, in an estimated amount of $10,000,000 to $12,000,000 per year, and a total estimated amount of $150,000,000 to $180,000,000."
  
  Mayor Adler can claim can claim this mandate will save consumers money all he wants, but this municipal government doesn't have the credibility to make "we have to spend money to make money" type assertions [Note: A cynic might accuse them of gaslighting].  We didn't believe them when they made similar claims about the new development services office building.  We don't believe them now.
  
  Our biggest issue is that this mandate will drive up electric bills.  Austin energy isn't going to absorb this cost.  They'll pass it along to ratepayers.
  
  But the other fascinating aspect of this contract is the "climate change" hypocrisy.  Whatever one feels about the underlying veracity of global warming, it doesn't change the fact that the same streamlining of residential construction in the urban core that would lower housing costs and shorten commutes would also reduce carbon emissions.  And this solar energy mandate is nothing more than a wildly expensive political workaround (with other people's money) to make up for the fact that council lacks the political will to fix the housing issue through CodeNext.
  
  Finally, it's absurd to make a ten year commitment.  If this were a 2 to 3 year contract, we'd probably overlook it.  But to commit ourselves for a decade bears an eerie resemblance to the biomass plant debacle.
  
  Ellen Troxclair voted against; the other 10 voted "Aye."
  
  

Central Health (AGAIN) siphoning money away from indigent health care....

"Defend the poor and fatherless;
Do justice to the afflicted and needy."
Psalm 82:3

Any time Central Health makes the news, it's never good.  Yesterday, we attended an event where a broad ideological cross section of Austinites highlighted their failure to provide services in Del Valle while continuing to subsidize the UT medical school and building lavish buildings for themselves.  Keep in mind, the alleged purpose of this entity is to provide "indigent health care."



Highlights:

• Central Health has been stonewalling activists for 9 months.

• Del Valle has paid for facilities that have never been built.

• CH has a $200 million budget this year.

• CH building expensive office buildings instead of Health Care facilities.

• CH gets federal $$$, but Lloyd Doggett isn't doing anything.
• Ditto Kirk Watson...and central health is his baby.

• According to several people at the event, the current CH board is stacked with Kirk Watson cronies.

• The homeless are getting a few crumbs tossed their way for political purposes.

• CH is involved in all sorts of things outside their charter.

• "We break the rules all the time in Travis County."

• Accountability, accessibility, transparency.

#TXLEGE: Senate hears bill protecting free speech on College Campuses....

"When they heard this, they were furious and plotted to kill them."
Acts 5:33

[Note: The hearing can be viewed here.  The consideration of the free speech bill begins at the 1:35 mark.  Our testimony can be found about ten minutes later.]

As national headlines can attest, the assault on free speech on college campuses has gotten significantly worse in recent years.  In response, several states have passed bills to protect speech on campus.  This morning, we attended a hearing for, and testified in favor of, Texas' equivalent attempt to do so.

SB 1511 (Buckingham) would prohibit "free speech zones" on campuses.  It would prohibit universities from punishing students based on political ideas.  It would also prohibit public universities from disinviting speakers based on the political content of their ideas.

TPPF's Tom Lindsay testified in favor of the bill and recited a litany of abuses against students holding views contrary to the bureaucracies that run these institution.  We largely echoed Dr. Lindsay's views, while also highlighting the mess that occurred with YCT's affirmative action bake sale at UT last year.  To be honest, we think the national headlines speak for themselves.

But there's one point we made in testimony about which we want to elaborate here: The biggest problem is that the Boards of Regents aren't doing their jobs to protect students.  If the legislature wants free speech on campus protected, they've got to stop rubber stamping Regent appointments, otherwise they're going to gut this law the same way they gutted campus carry.  It's not a coincidence that we made this exact point during our testimony for the last round of UT regents.

During dais discussion, Chairman Seliger tried to claim that the first amendment renders this bill superfluous.  Kirk Watson came up with a serious of cute lawyer distinctions designed to show that the bill was unnecessary. Seliger and Watson both chimed in to claim that the bill is toothless and thus unnecessary.

Unfortunately, according to a Senate source, Senator Buckingham had to remove most of the teeth from the bill to get it a hearing in the first place; thus Seliger is talking out of both sides of his mouth on this issue.

Bottom Line: This bill won't get to the Governor's desk this session, but we commend the Senate for starting the conversation because we have a feeling political correctness in public universities is going to get a lot worse.

-----

Texas Senate hears ban on Dismemberment Abortions

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you;
Before you were born I sanctified you;
I ordained you a prophet to the nations.”
Jeremiah 1:5

Update: Texas Right to Life has an update on how the hearing went:



-----

Kudos to Chairman Charles Schwertner for not wasting time:

A separate bill by Sen. Charles Perry, R-Lubbock, would ban “dismemberment” abortions performed in the second trimester. Senate Bill 415 requires that there be no fetal heartbeat before a “dilation and evacuation,” or D&E, abortion can be performed, he said.

“You are required to terminate the life of a child before you tear it apart piece by piece,” Perry said. “We are not outlawing D&Es,” which he said account for 96 percent of second-trimester abortions.

Watson asked what about the bill would enhance the health and safety of women.

“If you are going to allow abortions, then (the Supreme Court has said ) the state has a vested interest in doing it as humanely and civilly as possible,” Perry said. “The health and safety of a woman is not the target, not the intent of SB 415.”

While Senator Schwertner's bill (SB 8) that was heard today is also a worthwhile effort, as Texas Right to Life pointed out last month not all allegedly 'pro-life' bills are created equal:

These policies, while well-intended, only take effect after an abortion. Although these policies reflect the values of Texans — ensuring dignity is afforded to all innocent humans when they die, regardless of circumstance — the proposals do not stop abortion, nor do they offer protection to pregnant women.

The 85th Texas Legislature includes 98 Representatives in the 150-member Texas House, who can be relied upon to publicly oppose abortion. Similarly, the 31-member Senate opened with 21 members professing to want to protect the unborn and abortion-vulnerable pregnant women.

With overwhelming pro-life majorities in both chambers, the passage of nominal or symbolic pro-life bills that do not protect life before abortion would be embarrassing. In other words, this session will be a dismal failure if the Legislature fails to stop any of the 55,000 abortions occurring within Texas each year. Merely regulating what happens after a baby is killed by abortion is not enough.

Bottom Line: While other efforts have merit, SB 415 (the dismemberment abortion ban) is the strongest pro-life bill with a realistic chance of getting through the legislature this session.

UT Regent confirmation hearing tests the Texas Senate's capacity for willful self-delusion....

"And this is the inscription that was written:
MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN."
Daniel 5:25

The good news is that they haven't voted yet.  The bad news is that the fix remains as in as it's been and that vote will be a formality when the committee meets next week.  Yesterday, we called this fiasco dirty politics worthy of House of Cards and nothing that occurred in today's confirmation hearing changes that.

Everything you need to know about this process can be summed up in the fact that Kirk Watson said that he was "very pleased" and "looking forward to swift confirmation."  That being said, Watson did ask each of the nominees to define how they see their role as individual regents.  Ironically, it was in response to a question from Kirk Watson that all three nominees admitted they see the the role of an individual regent to be a yes man for the chancellor.

We will confess to being pleasantly surprised by Kevin Eltife's testimony.  He spoke of the need to end "smoke and mirrors" budgeting while committing to ending the practice of building new buildings without sufficient funds raised for ongoing maintenance and operations.  That's a pretty meaningful cost driver and if a potential Regent Eltife can make progress in that area so much the better.

Janiece Longoria was a talking points repository.  She was the president-elect of Texas Exes prior to being nominated by Governor FoxNews Abbott and was previously on the Board of UTIMCO.  Honestly, that's all you need to know, although she also gave winking approval to the admissions scandal.

Rad Weaver is, straight up, not qualified for this position.  We're doing our best to be polite, but it's impossible to be truthful without saying that the word bimbo comes to mind.  His response to every single question from Senators was some variation of the phrase "I don't know."  Well, if you don't know the answer to basic questions about how the system is governed, you shouldn't be serving on the Board of Regents!  If these Senators had any self respect, they would have been offended at how many times they were told "I don't know."

Senator Birdwell sounded like a cuck asked a milquetoast question about whether the new Board will respect the chain of command as it relates to the relationship between the UT system and the legislature, which Birdwell deemed "unsatisfactory" currently.  All three nominees mouthed the platitudes you would expect them to mouth in response to such a question.  But actions speak louder than words and everything you need to know about how these new Regents will view the legislature can be summed up by the fact that Rad Weaver failed to do basic preparation for his confirmation hearing.

In response to various questions from Senators Kel Seliger and Borris Miles, Eltife and Longoria spoke unfavorably about the UT system's Houston land grab.  Meanwhile, Chancellor McRaven was chided for the Houston project in a separate hearing.  But that doesn't change the reality that, even if you take Eltife and Longoria at their word, McRaven has a 7-2 majority on the Board to push Houston forward and the legislature isn't going to do a damn thing to stop him.

To his credit, Senator Van Taylor told a fantastic Aggie joke.

The only Senator who demonstrated a basic grasp of reality during this hearing was Dawn Buckingham.  She asked pointed questions about admissions and tuition and disdainfully left it at "we will see" when she received buzzwords and truisms in return.  But Senator Buckingham did everything we asked her to do when we discussed this issue on the campaign trail.

We are working on technical issues related to the video of our personal testimony and will share it in a separate post; the indefatigable Jon Cassidy has more here, the Statesman has more here.

#TAXINKIRK Strikes Again

"But the former governors who were before me laid burdens on the people, and took from them bread and wine, besides forty shekels of silver. Yes, even their servants bore rule over the people, but I did not do so, because of the fear of God."
Nehemiah 5:15

A source e-mails: "Kirk Watson has an inexhaustible supply of ideas that involve spending large amounts of taxpayer money in convoluted arrangements that benefit a well-heeled institution."

State Sen. Kirk Watson, D-Austin, wants to save the Central Austin campus and remake the hospital into a cutting-edge facility for research and treatment of mental illness. He plans to ask lawmakers to approve funding to replace the facility with an institution he’s calling the “MD Anderson of the brain,” referring to the renowned cancer research and treatment center in Houston.

No longer would the state be alone in running the hospital, but rather, organizations like Travis County Central Health, Austin Travis County Integral Care and University of Texas Dell Medical School would serve as partners, according to Watson’s vision. The latter would train health care professionals to meet the community’s demand.

“This isn’t just about building another building. This is about taking an opportunity,” Watson told the American-Statesman. “We have an energized mental health community and I think if we spend some time planning, yes, we end up with a model that can be replicated nationally.”

Because, clearly, a public university with a $24 billion endowment and a publicly traded corporation with a market cap of $25 billion need a new round of taxpayer subsidies....

Watson lays foundation for ANOTHER Tax Hike....

"But the former governors who were before me laid burdens on the people, and took from them bread and wine, besides forty shekels of silver. Yes, even their servants bore rule over the people, but I did not do so, because of the fear of God."
Nehemiah 5:15

The phrase "HELL No" comes to mind:

State Sen. Kirk Watson, D-Austin, on Thursday proposed creating an "MD Anderson of the brain" on the site of the troubled Austin State Hospital, a psychiatric facility that has been plagued with staff shortages, crumbling facilities and a failure to meet federal health standards.

“The state must do something about the Austin State Hospital,” Watson told a crowd of higher education leaders and health care advocates at a downtown Austin hotel. "I call being worst an opportunity."

....

The commission estimated the cost of building a freestanding state mental health hospital ranges from $300 million to $400 million, but Watson said he hopes state and local governments can work together to shoulder the costs and, in the long run, “make Austin the place where we model mental health care.”

[Author's Note: Emphasis added.]

Read the whole thing here.

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There is a lot we could say on this topic, but 2014 #ATXCouncil candidate Ed English (District 7) says it best:

Delightfully good time had at Trib Higher Ed. Funding Event

"Children, obey your parents in all things, for this is well pleasing to the Lord. "
Colossians 3:20

Lt. Governor Patrick's shadow loomed large over this morning's Trib event on Higher Ed. funding; as such it could not have been more enjoyable for this author to attend.



Chairman Seliger desperately clung to relevance discussed the practical aspects of implementing the Lt. Governor's agenda.  He was visibly caught between the rock of his longstanding history of gutting accountability in Higher education and the hard place of political reality in Dan Patrick's Senate.  To his credit, Chairman Seliger didn't seem to have much use for the lackadaisical financial management we've seen at public universities the past few years.

Senator Watson was full of excuses provided a contrarian, if logically questionable, perspective.  Watson mentioned his dissatisfaction with focusing on tuition as "a single tree as opposed to the whole forest" of higher ed. funding.  We're not sure what that means, but we're sure it involves spending a lot of money.  Watson also tried to hang his hat on the irrelevant claim that UT has the lowest tuition of the 15 largest flagship universities in the country.  Watson's overhyped statement reminded us of Michael Quinn Sullivan's longstanding observation that just because Texas is the least drunk state at the bar doesn't mean we should get behind the wheel.

Neither Senator brought up administrative expenses on their own.  To his credit, Evan Smith went there.  Discussing exploding administrative costs at a time when universities are raising tuition, Smith noted: "the optics are crap."  Seliger didn't argue.  Even Kirk Watson was forced, kicking and screaming though he might have been on the inside, to admit that looking at administrative costs is "appropriate."

Smith also asked whether higher education costs were the result of market forces creating an equilibrium along the supply and demand curves.  While neither Senator responded, we will point out that there is nothing even remotely resembling a free market in higher education.  While distortions in higher ed. market are primarily caused by the feds, it should still be the task of the Texas legislature to not create more distortions.

There was one topic that wasn't brought up that we wish had been: Endowments.  UT has the second largest endowment of any university in the country, A&M's isn't far behind, and no public university in Texas is exactly hurting in that department.  At some point we're going to have to ask if it's appropriate to have the universities sit on billions of dollars while they're raising tuition on students.

Bottom Line: When the biggest defenders of the status quo squirm visibly at a public event, that's a very good sign.

Bill for UT Medical School keeps growing....

"There is desirable treasure,
And oil in the dwelling of the wise,
But a foolish man squanders it."
Proverbs 21:20

SIGH, and we just got through saying something nice about the Board of Regents:

UT medical school’s cost hits $436 million, a $100 million increase

The price tag for building the Dell Medical School at the University of Texas has gone up by more than $100 million — in large part because the original figure didn’t include completing much of the interior of a building that will house various clinical areas and a same-day surgery center.

The UT System Board of Regents is expected to approve a $436.4 million budget for the Dell school Thursday, nearly all of that sum underwritten by bonds. That is $101.9 million, or 30 percent, more than the $334.5 million cost originally approved by the board in May 2013. Since then, senior UT System officials approved three separate increases that stepped up the price to $367.4 million, thus putting Thursday’s expected increase at $69 million.

The regents’ Facilities Planning and Construction Committee approved the plan unanimously Wednesday, but not before Regent Alex Cranberg questioned the increases. Michael O’Donnell, associate vice chancellor for facilities planning and construction, said the increases weren’t cost overruns but anticipated expenses because some interior spaces were left as shells until the medical school dean was hired to guide decision-making.

Read the whole thing here.

Transportation Forum doesn't reveal much....

Sen. Kirk Watson (l) and Councilmember Ann Kitchen (r)

"But shun profane and idle babblings, for they will increase to more ungodliness."
2 Timothy 2:16

Last night's Austin Monitor transportation forum was heavy on platitudes and light on substance; considering who was involved, that's probably a good thing.

Senator Kirk Watson and Councilmember Ann Kitchen (a last minute substitute for Mayor Adler) spoke in generalities about Austin's transportation challenges.  They mostly made bland, non-controversial, statements with which no one would disagree.  At least they weren't promoting something bad.

The biggest takeaway was that the odds of a major transportation bond in 2016 are diminishing by the week.  Watson spoke of balancing the desire to place a bond before a presidential year electorate with the need to have significant public buy-in BEFORE coming to voters.  Watson stated bonds "need to address specific needs" and acknowledged the perils of pushing bonds without public input.  While Watson will defer to council's decision, with the November election already less than 8 months away his warning was impossible to miss.  Kitchen explicitly stated "there's been no decision" on a transportation bond.

On the plus side, Watson spoke favorably about widening 183.  This was originally Michael Cargill's idea during the 2014 election.  We've believed for some time that widening and removing traffic lights on 183 (and 360) is the low hanging fruit of Austin's transportation challenges.

Kitchen spoke mainly in cliches.  We were amused by her call for a "comprehensive, strategic mobility plan," considering that 'comprehensive' and 'strategic' are go-to platitudes for government bureaucrats who don't have anything interesting to say.  More alarmingly, Kitchen referred multiple times to "looking at land use" and "nitty, gritty land use" issues as areas where she intends to focus.  It's not difficult to envision such a focus turning into an assault on private property rights.  But that's not a new threat and Kitchen didn't reveal any immediate plans.

Both officials spoke favorably of rail in the abstract, but neither seemed to think anything major was going to happen anytime soon.  Watson admitted that Lone Star Rail was probably dead "in its current form" and Kitchen (who is on both of the relevant boards) didn't contradict him.  Ending Lone Star rail would be a win for taxpayers.

As Senator Watson stated, Austin needs an open and transparent planning process.  That need would seem to argue against trying to force through a poorly conceived plan in 2016.  We will close with a warning that, if necessary, a bond opposition campaign only needs about six weeks to be successful.

What do PAUL WORKMAN and DONALD TRUMP have in common?!?

"Dishonest scales are an abomination to the Lord,
But a just weight is His delight."
Proverbs 11:1

Apparently, they both give money to Democrats to "get things done" for their businesses:

DID YOU KNOW: Paul Workman has supported Democrats for years. From Politifact: "The Texas Ethics Commission's campaign...
Posted by Jay Wiley on Monday, January 18, 2016

Watchdog Blows Lid Off of U.T. Admissions (all over again)....

"He who is often rebuked, and hardens his neck,
Will suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy."
Proverbs 29:1

Once again, Jon Cassidy demonstrates that we've only scratched the surface when it comes to U.T. admissions:

UT admissions abuse is 10 times bigger than Kroll’s depiction

At least 764 applicants initially denied admission to the University of Texas enrolled, thanks to a backdoor program for the wealthy and politically connected administered by former president Bill Powers.

More than 200 of those applicants were admitted despite having their applications cancelled by the Admissions Office.

The total is more than 10 times the 73 applicants widely reported from an investigation paid for by the university and conducted by Kroll Associates. Kroll withheld the full findings from its 107-page final report.

....

Watchdog.org produced the final number by reassembling a key Kroll database tracking “holds,” or applicants rejected by the admissions office but granted favored status by Powers’ office from 2009 to 2014.

Kroll arrived at its published tally by establishing an arbitrary cutoff point for grades and SAT scores that had nothing to do with finding the total number of admissions rejections Powers overrode, which was the original purpose of the investigation.

The university kept the numbers in the database secret from the public and from regents who have asked to review the Kroll investigation records.

....

The records analyzed by Watchdog show Powers rarely let his favorites be turned away.

Kroll examined the admissions trajectory of 2,085 applicants on hold from 2009 to 2014. Investigators tracked each case and each stage of the admissions review process. For our tally, we simply compared the first impression to the final decision.

Of those 2,085 applications, 834 were put in the “deny” pile and another 249 were cancelled without further processing. By the end of the process, only 84 of those applications were ultimately denied and just 33 remained cancelled.

Of the cancelled applications, 220 gained admission without going through the process.

The Kroll report makes no mention of how anybody got admitted without going through the applications process.

Kroll found 729 applicants initially deemed worthy and 271 who were to be offered one of UT’s conditional transfer programs by the admissions office. But by the end of the process, 1,492 of the applicants were admitted and 474 offered a transfer program.

....

The Kroll investigation confirmed what had been common knowledge in the wealthy Dallas-area community of Highland Park, which includes UT Regent Wallace Hall and House Education Committee chair Dan Branch: students were getting into UT at extraordinary rates, despite bad grades.

UT admitted seven Highland Park students with grade point averages below 2.0 and SAT scores below 800.

Bill Shain, who now runs a college admissions consultancy, dealt with many “university interest” special cases during a career in admissions at small private universities, but rarely saw that sort of “disastrously unqualified” applicant admitted.

“I can think of three cases (at two schools where I worked) where the student could not possibly succeed, and none of the three did,” Shain said. “That was something I always opposed.”

The very worst of the students UT admitted, the investigation showed, were clustered in the districts of Branch, House Speaker Joe Straus (R-San Antonio), and Sen. Kirk Watson, (D-Austin).

Straus has gone to even greater lengths than UT to cover up the abuses. He authorized a special committee operating behind the scenes in an effort to impeach Hall for asking too many questions about the admissions process.

....

UT is trying to protect Highland Park and other communities with potential big dollar donors. In records provided to Watchdog, UT blacked out applicants’ names, as they should, but also their high schools. Plus it redacted GPAs, SAT and ACT scores, and even majors on the documents the school provided to Watchdog.

The university knows this information is not confidential once names have been redacted. It recently released hundreds of pages with those same categories unredacted in response to a public records request related to an affirmative action lawsuit.

There is more to be learned from the Kroll papers.

Many of the applications being held for Powers’ review were tagged with another unknown code that apparently specified what sort of special case they were.

The database also includes a column for the date of action taken on a hold, many of them in the fall and winter, calling into question Powers’ contention that “no spots at the university were saved for any of these students,” that they were all added after the class was otherwise set.

....

The massive gulf between what Kroll discovered and what it reported helps to explain that press conference – and why Chancellor Bill McRaven has refused to let Hall see the unedited Kroll papers, in defiance of Attorney General Ken Paxton and in apparent violation of the law.

Kroll started off looking for the number Watchdog found at the request of then Chancellor Francisco Cigarroa. By the time its investigation was over, Cigarroa had been replaced by Bill McRaven.

McRaven is responsible for Powers’ final group of special admissions into UT, the class coming this fall. Allowing Hall to look at the Kroll investigation papers wouldn’t have just reopened some “adjudicated” affair; it would prove that nothing has changed. UT’s leadership is still dirty and can’t be trusted to investigate itself.

Read the whole thing here

Senate defangs Travis County DA; House dithers on "Pre-K"

"When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice;
But when a wicked man rules, the people groan."
Proverbs 29:2

Yesterday was another revealing day in the Texas Legislature.  The Texas Senate passed another meaningful reform that serves the people of Texas.  The House, meanwhile, did what the House has done all session.

We arrived at the Capitol shortly before 11AM.  After running a few errands in the building, we entered the Senate gallery.  They were discussing Senator Huffman's bill to transfer "public corruption" away from the Travis County DA.  Kirk Watson was having a conniption fit.  He took several puerile shots at Michael Quinn Sullivan and Ken Paxton.  Senator Huffman addressed Watson's gibberish with ease.  The Senate passed the bill before 1PM.

The House, meanwhile, was emerging from slumber.  They had begun to consider HB 4, Governor Abbott's strange attempt to separate young children from their mama under the guise of "high-quality pre-K."  Jonathan Stickland called three separate points of order to whittle the bill into something manageable.  Unfortunately, Joe Straus overruled each of them.  We left while Dan Huberty was presenting his unconvincing argument for the bill.

Following the U.T. regents meeting, we received this press release from the Lt. Governor's office:

PR 04 08 2015 Lt. Gov. Patrick on Public Integrity Unit Legislation

Meanwhile, the farce on the House side continued:

STATUS UPDATE: We are on the House floor debating HB 4. I've done extensive research on pre-K programs. Some studies...
Posted by Fallon For Texas on Wednesday, April 8, 2015

STATUS UPDATE: The debate on HB 4 (The Pre-K Bill)....we are negotiating to essentially fund a pilot program rather...
Posted by Fallon For Texas on Wednesday, April 8, 2015

We are in the thick of our debate on HB 4. Here are some things I have learned:- I have been assured that this is not...
Posted by Matt Krause on Wednesday, April 8, 2015

Well now I've seen it all. Rep Laubenberg had an excellent amendment to put a hard cap of $65 million/year of spending...
Posted by Fallon For Texas on Wednesday, April 8, 2015

I voted "no" on HB4 (the pre-K bill) today after Rep. Laubenberg's amendment to cap spending on the program at the...

Posted by Matt Rinaldi on Wednesday, April 8, 2015

Unfortunately, sanity failed to prevail and the measure passed.

Over the past five years, Texas voters have been clear about what they expect from their legislature.  Slowly but surely, we've replaced legislators who refused to listen.  While they haven't been perfect, the new Senate has been responsive.  The House, meanwhile, sinks deeper into the abyss of bad governance and cronyism.  More ammunition for the bloodbath of a primary season that cannot come quickly enough.