Vaqueros & Wonkeros

Perry appoints new SBOE leader

Gov. Rick Perry appointed a new leader of the State Board of Education today. Board member Gail Lowe, from Lampasas, will take over as chairwoman of the board after the Texas Senate earlier this year rejected Perry appointee Don McLeroy.
Lawmakers said McLeroy injected his own conservative religious views into education decisions, especially on issues like evolution and the environment.
McLeroy, who was elected to the board, remains a member but will not be the chairman.
State Sen. Eliot Shapleigh, D-El Paso, a member of the Senate Nominations Committee, took McLeroy to task about his role on the divided state school board during the public hearing on his confirmation.
In a press release announcing Lowe would be the new board leader, Perry said she had shown exemplary leadership and commitment to education.
"I am confident that through her leadership, we will continue to ensure that Texans receive the educational foundation necessary to be successful in college, the workplace and beyond,” Perry said.
Perry's appointment, though, didn't seem to please critics of the school board.
Kathy Miller, president of the Texas Freedom Network, said Lowe represented more of the same kind of leadership McLeroy provided for the board. The Freedom Network is a nonpartisan group that promotes religious freedom in education.
"Ms. Lowe has marched in lockstep with a faction of board members who believe that their personal beliefs are more important than the experience and expertise of teachers and academics who have dedicated their careers to educating our children and helping them succeed," Miller said.

Perry announces fundraising haul

Gov. Rick Perry's re-election campaign announced today that fundraising reports due out next week will show he has $9.3 million in the bank for his 2010 Republican primary throwdown with U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison.
About $4.2 million of that total, the campaign said, was raised in just nine days after the regular legislative session and veto period ended, from June 22 to June 30.
“This is a remarkable accomplishment and a ringing endorsement of Governor Perry,” one of Perry’s state finance chairs, Jim Lee, said in a prepared statement.
Hutchison hasn't released her numbers yet, but she's been hinting around at how big they're going to be in videos like this one and this one.
UPDATE: Hutchison campaign spokesman Hans Klingler released this statement this afternoon:
"Kay Bailey Hutchison is proud of her strong statewide support, which is both broad and deep."

Campaign report excitement building, but no hints yet from EP legislators

U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison put out videos bragging about the contributions rolling into her gubernatorial campaign.
Gov. Rick Perry sent out a list of his big donors last week.
And yesterday, potential attorney general candidates Ted Cruz and state Rep. Dan Branch each announced they had garnered $1 million for a statewide run.
The deadline for the July semi-annual campaign finance reports isn't until the 15th, but already the speculation and anticipation has begun, especially in the Hutchison-Perry brewing brawl.
I checked the Texas Ethics Commission just in case any of the legislators in El Paso decided to file their reports early. Nope.
No exciting announcements either about loads of cash they're piling up for the campaign next year.
But state Rep. Marisa Marquez, D-El Paso, had this interesting Twitter update yesterday: "2 parades and the street fest. It was great to be back in El Paso. Fundraiser scheduled in Austin on Wednesday, gearing up for a campaign."
Looks like she's getting a head start on the next campaign reporting period.

More of the Bulldogs at the Capitol

It was a long day for the baseball champs from Socorro High School at the Texas Capitol today. Here are a few more shots from their adventures.

Head baseball coach Chris Forbes tells Gov. Rick Perry about all the teams the Bulldogs had to beat to make it to the championship. "They were good," Forbes said of their competitors. "But we were better."

Some of the players used the time to rest as they waited for Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst to arrive for a few photos. It's been a hectic couple of weeks for the Bulldogs since they won the championship, and today started before sunrise. "I just want to see my bed," Bobby Mares said before Dewhurst finally appeared.

Dewhurst shakes hands with Eric Herrera, whom he later complimented for his brightly colored shirt. "You've got to be a real man to wear a pink shirt," Dewhurst said.

CDA bill is dead, lawmakers getting ready to go home

Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, in an impromptu press conference with Sens. Steve Ogden and John Carona, said legislators have abandoned efforts to approve the third item on the special session agenda Gov. Rick Perry gave them.
The measure would have extended the deadline for the Texas Department of Transportation or local mobility authorities to sign contracts with private companies for the development of toll road projects.
"We didn't see the urgency," Dewhurst said, adding that failure to approve the measure would not stop or delay any current transportation projects.
Lawmakers were leery of the contracts measure, worried that it would allow private companies to make huge profits off of public roads and own them for many decades.
Since the contracts measure is dead, the only items left to consider during the special session are the one that keeps state agencies like TxDOT from shutting down and the one that authorizes $2 billion in bonds for transportation projects.
The so-called sunset safety net bill that will keep the agencies running is already on its way to Perry's desk after passing in both chambers.
The bill with the bond money in it has passed the House and is pending approval in the Senate later today.
After that, the special session should be over, in Perry's words, "Badda bing, badda boom."

Socorro Bulldogs baseball champs honored in the House

Here's some video from this morning. State Rep. Chente Quintanilla, D-El Paso, introduces the Socorro High School state baseball champs to the Texas House.

Bulldogs set for VIP treatment in Austin

The state baseball champs from Socorro have two full days of VIP treatment scheduled in Austin. A draft copy of their itinerary shows the players will be plenty busy on Thursday and Friday.
I'm planning to tag along with them at the Capitol to see how their visits go and let you know what they think of the statehouse.
Tomorrow, the Bulldogs' day starts with a bright-and-early flight to the Capitol city followed by meetings with Gov. Rick Perry and Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and a special tour of the pink dome.
On Friday, both the House and Senate will read resolutions honoring the team that accomplished a feat no El Paso County team has in 60 years.
Take a look at the resolution here.

El Pasoans on Perry's finance team

Gov. Rick Perry today released the names of more than 500 Texans on his campaign fundraising team. Among the names listed are several well-known and influential El Paso business leaders.
Ted Houghton, a Perry appointed to the Texas Transportation Commission, was named to lead fundraising in West Texas. 

 

(Houghton is at the podium in this El Paso Times file photo)

Other El Pasoans on Perry's fundraising team are:

Paul Foster - Perry appointee to many boards, including currently the University of Texas System Board of Regents.

Rick Francis (on the left above) - Perry appointee, former chairman and current member of the Texas Tech University System Board of Regents

Woody Hunt - Perry appointee to many boards and commissions, including formerly the UT System Board of Regents
Harold Hahn - Perry appointee to lead the Camino Real Regional Mobility Authority
Maria Teran - Perry appointee to the Texas State Board of Examiners of Professional Counselors and a current member of the Public Service Board
Jon Abrams - Civil construction contractor whose company is building Spur 601
Fred Loya - Fred Loya Insurance
Charles F. 'Paco' Jordan, III - Chairman of the board and founder of Jordan Construction

You can check out the entire list here: Download 06-29-09 GRP-Finance Team

Money-making starts

Now that the regular legislative session is all done with, lawmakers can get back to raising campaign money.
I called around to most of the El Paso lawmakers this week to see if they're worried about opponents in the 2010 election cycle and if they have any fundraisers coming up soon.
All five House members and state Sen. Eliot Shapleigh are up for re-election this time around.
Rookie state Rep. Marisa Marquez said she was trying to plan her fundraiser around the upcoming special session, which Gov. Rick Perry announced will start Wednesday.
She said she's not aware of anyone who has said they would challenge her, but Marquez said she has heard rumors that indicate someone might run. She wants to be ready just in case.
"We’re not going to take it for granted," Marquez said. "If there is an opponent, we’ll be well prepared."
State Rep. Joe Moody, the other El Paso rookie, said he's got a fundraiser in Austin scheduled for Tuesday.
Moody said he expects to have an opponent, but no one has committed publicly to the race.
"That’s nothing I have control over," he said. "What I have control over is the work I did during session, work we’ll continue to do during the interim."
Michael Moore, chairman of the El Paso County Republican Party, said someone would likely run against Moody. The GOP lost that seat in 2008 when businessman Dee Margo defeated longtime Republican state Rep. Pat Haggerty in the party's primary election and then lost to Moody in the general election.
"I am sure we’re going to have someone running in district 78,"Moore said. "I just don’t know who that is going to be at this point."
Shapleigh is planning a fundraiser for July 4. I guess he's pretty confident Perry's three-day session plan is going to work out.
Shapleigh last faced re-election in 2006, when he also went up against Margo.
The senator said he's prepared for another opponent.
"We view anyone who wants to run as a worthy opponent, and I hope really that good people do run," he said. "El Paso needs many more good people to run for office."
Just to get an idea of what kind of money local lawmakers already have in the bank, here's a list of what they reported in cash on hand in their January campaign finance reports:

State Rep. Norma Chavez - $43,308.00
State Rep. Marisa Marquez - $38,221.86
State Rep. Joe Moody - $27,463.46
State Rep. Joe Pickett - $98,726.83
State Rep. Chente Quintanilla - $39,672.55
State Sen. Eliot Shapleigh - $98,020.71

EP state lawmakers in DC this week

State Rep. Norma Chavez and state Sen. Eliot Shapleigh were in Washington, D.C., this week to support President Barack Obama's plans to reform health care, including the public health insurance option.
Chavez went to D.C. with a delegation that included state Rep. Elliott Naishtat, D-Austin, Joe Arabie of the Texas AFL-CIO and Sergio Esquivel of ACORN, among others.
The group planned to meet today with Texas Reps. Henry Cuellar, Silvestre Reyes, Lloyd Doggett, Chet Edwards, Charlie Gonzalez and Ruben Hinojosa.
“Health care affects us all and is at the very core of our well being," Chavez said in a prepared statement. "In the last nine years, the cost of health insurance has risen 120% while wages in Texas have only increased 29%. Texas leads the country in the number of uninsured and this is not acceptable."
Shapleigh said he attended a border health conference Thursday with Reyes.
"The border will be the region in America that is most benefited from health care reform," he said.
Shapleigh said he didn't see Chavez while they were in D.C.