April 11, 2018 2:04 PM Grusendorf: “We need more money,” the dilemma of school financeFormer House Public Ed Chair Grusendorf says there are no easy answers to funding the current school system and that it has “been structured to meet the needs of adults at the expense of students. That is not surprising since adults vote, and students do not.” Listening
to recent testimony before the new Commission on Public School Finance
you were assured of hearing one common theme –“ We Need
More Money.” Virtually every
education interest group testified to the fact. However,
no one could tell the Commission how much money is enough. This
is not new. In fact, if you were around in in 1984 when HB 72 (the bill by which
Texas moved from the Personnel Unit system to the current
weighted-student funding system) was passed into law, you would have heard the
same common theme: “We need more money.”
The
truth is, you can go back even further. By Kent Grusendorf The rest of the story, subscribers only |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
April 6, 2018 11:00 AM Smith: Sis Boom BahQR’s Liberal Columnist Glenn W. Smith writes that Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has finally earned his Trump Team letter sweater, but wonders what the future holds for moderate Texas Republicans. A
thin, scratchy voice crackles from the little speaker nailed high on the
classroom wall and protected against vandalism by a steel (not Chinese steel!)
screen. “Children, we are pleased to announce that Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has won his cheerleading
letter sweater at Donald Trump’s Very Best High School.” Patrick
had longed for the honor since he was an underclassman apparently ineligible
for Trump’s varsity squad or cabinet appointment. He cleared the last
cheerleading requirement with his response to Trump’s manly man dispatching of
2,000 to 4,000 National Guardsman to the Mexican border. By Glenn W. Smith The rest of the story, subscribers only |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
April 3, 2018 5:58 PM Grusendorf: Don’t Weaken the House?Former Texas House Public Ed Chairman and New Leadership PAC contributor Kent Grusendorf lays out the shift of power in the House over the decades as he sees it In the 1st
Legislative Session the Texas House had six different speakers. One speaker
served only six days. In the 21st
century we seem to be moving towards speakers serving six terms. Why and how has the house speakership in
Texas evolved from primarily a position of honor to a position of concentrated
political power? Some
argue that the shift over the past few decades of power from individual house
members to the house speaker was necessary to elevate the power of the house vis-à-vis the Senate. They argue that
returning house rules to their historical norm would weaken the house in
negotiations with the senate. Upon
analysis, this appears to be a flawed argument.
By Kent Grusendorf The rest of the story, subscribers only |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
March 28, 2018 11:48 AM Greenfield: We are halfway through FY18 and who could ask for any more gelt?Economist Dr. Stuart Greenfield adds up where we are with state revenue, noting that oil and gas severance taxes are far outpacing what the comptroller had estimated Before
offering my analysis of the state’s revenue situation through the first six
months of FY18, I would like to thank a reader for pointing out my lack of
attention and misstating the state’s revenue situation through January. I
originally wrote that the state’s General Revenue-Related (GRR) revenues were
almost collected by January which was a little outlandish. As was pointed out, through January the
expected increase ($2.3 billion) in GRR for FY18 had almost been received, not
the entire $54.6 billion. I
can now report
in Table
1 with certainty that the expected increase for FY18 in both GRR
tax collections ($2.50 billion) and GRR total revenue ($2.30 billion) has been
exceeded. GRR tax collections have increased by $2.55 billion through February,
and GRR total revenue has increased by $2.59 billion. By Dr. Stuart Greenfield The rest of the story, subscribers only |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
March 23, 2018 3:27 PM Smith: Empty thoughts, empty prayers On the eve of the international March for Our Lives, QR’s Liberal Columnist Glenn W. Smith turns to Austin songwriter Chip Dolan to ask why politicians offer only empty thoughts and empty prayers to victims of mass gun violence. Seventeen
dead and seventeen wounded in a Valentine’s Day mass shooting at Marjorie
Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. “We offer our
thoughts and prayers,” chants a chorus of elected officials who have little
intention of doing anything more than that. Their insincerity is enough to give
faith and piety bad reputations. Austin
musician and songwriter Chip Dolan,
watching the events unfold, had heard enough. He picked up his guitar. The
words and the melody came straight from his heart without much conscious
shaping. “Thoughts and Prayers,” he called the song: By Glenn W. Smith The rest of the story, subscribers only |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
March 9, 2018 2:13 PM Smith: Back from the GraveQR’s Liberal Columnist Glenn W. Smith argues that the Right’s fear tactics are now more motivating Democrats rather than intimidating them There’s
an old tale about a fellow stumbling toward home from the bar late one night,
walking through a graveyard. He doesn’t see an open grave and falls right into
it. He tries to claw his way out, screaming for help, but help never comes, so
he huddles up in dark corner to stay warm. Not
much later, another fellow from the same bar stumbles through the same
graveyard and tumbles into the same open grave. He tries to claw his way out,
screaming for help, when the first fellow, unseen there in his dark corner,
says in a scratchy voice, “It’s no use. You’ll never get out.” And with that,
the second fellow springs right out of the grave like a high jumper. The
story comes to mind while thinking of the Right’s use of fear to intimidate and
demoralize its political opponents, tactics at the very top of its
path-to-power playbook. “It’s no use, you’ll never get out” is a frequent
Republican’s message to Democrats. By Glenn W. Smith The rest of the story, subscribers only |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
March 5, 2018 3:05 PM Pauken: Why Gov. Abbott is intervening in GOP primaries Former Republican Party of Texas Chairman Tom Pauken says it’s simple: Abbott is trying to make examples of Lyle Larson, Sarah Davis, and Wayne Faircloth for trying to limit his ability to award his big donors Gov.
Greg Abbott has surprised many
observers of Texas politics by actively campaigning to defeat three incumbent
Republican members of the Texas House of Representatives in
their bids for re-election – Lyle Larson
from San Antonio, Sarah Davis from
Houston, and Wayne Faircloth from
Galveston. All
three members are known as Straus Republicans, strong supporters of the
outgoing Speaker of the Texas House. But, Joe
Straus is retiring and won’t be Speaker next session. There are plenty of
other Straus loyalists in the House who the Governor is not campaigning
against. In some cases, Abbott is even endorsing legislators who are known to
be aligned with Speaker Straus. By Tom Pauken The rest of the story, subscribers only |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
March 2, 2018 10:46 AM Smith: What are all those other people doing?From the Left: QR’s Liberal Columnist Glenn W. Smith writes that we know who Trump is, but asks, ‘Who are we?’ We
consider ourselves politically engaged. We pay attention, keep up with current
events, talk often with friends and colleagues about matters political. Still,
how often do we take refuge in the illusion that the troubles we see are all
caused by others? “What
could the voters be thinking?” we ask. “What are they doing?” Don’t they see
what we see, can’t they hear the emergency political sirens? If only all these
other people would get their heads screwed on straight, we say with some
exasperation. Yeah,
well, the decisions before us as citizens in a democracy are more about who we
are than who Donald Trump is. We
know Trump. Trump is the massively insecure sixth grader who failed nearly
every column of that “Traits, Attitudes, and Habits”
section of our elementary school report cards. By Glenn W. Smith The rest of the story, subscribers only |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
February 26, 2018 2:08 PM Grusendorf: Circle the Wagons – Or NotFrom the Right: Former Chairman Kent Grusendorf argues governor Abbott’s involvement in several House primaries is likely a stroke of genius Although
it has been widely reported that the Texas House Republican Caucus has
circled the wagons in response to Governor Greg
Abbott’s intervention into several legislative races, that is actually not the case. At
first glance it appeared that House Republicans had agreed to stand together in
support of their house colleagues whom the governor is campaigning against in
the primaries. Feedback from several
members indicates that the house Republican Caucus did not meet, nor was the
membership polled to take such a stance. By Kent Grusendorf The rest of the story, subscribers only |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
February 19, 2018 12:35 PM Coppedge: Appellate court races 2018, an overview Part one: Statewide Courts Another
political season is underway and in Texas this cycle there may not be any
surprises. It is hard to imagine that the Governor’s race will actually turn into a competitive contest, despite the
Democrats biannual "Rite of Optimism" where they conjure up all sorts
of things that will make it come up roses for them. (Memo: Greg
Abbott is not Roy Moore). And the U.S. Senate race will likely be the
same. There
will be some interest in the Appellate Judicial races but this time the focus
will not be on the Texas Supreme Court but on some of the Courts of Appeals. It
should be remembered that any contests that really matter for the two statewide
courts occur in the Republican Primary and there are only two of those in
March. By Dr. John Coppedge The rest of the story, subscribers only |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Copyright April 11, 2018, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved 