Politex

Fort Worth JFK Tribute near goal

FORT WORTH -- The campaign to build a JFK Tribute statue and plaza in downtown Fort Worth is near its $1.5 million goal, co-chair Taylor Gandy said Thursday.

At a lunch meeting of Downtown Fort Worth Inc., Gandy said the campaign has raised $1.2 million toward a park for Lawrence Ludtke's 8-foot-tall statue of Kennedy.

The park would be at General Worth Square on the block where Kennedy spoke on the morning of Nov. 22, 1963, before leaving for Dallas.

--Bud Kennedy

Legislature budget talks

Members of the Texas House of Representatives have kicked off what is expected to be a several-day event of wading through their proposed budget. Hundreds of amendments loom.

The first bill up, House Bill 4, includes about $1 billion in spending cuts to the current budget -- an amount proposed to be made up, along with the rest of the deficit, by tapping the state's Rainy Day fund. But only if three-fifths of the House members agree.

In the first hour of debate, members have already gone through about five amendments to the bill.

-- Anna M. Tinsley

Predictions of Voter ID cost vary widely

As the Texas Legislature inches closer to implementing a Voter ID program in time for the 2012 elections, the cost of the measure remains a guessing game if other states are a guide.

A new report from electionline.org, a project of the Pew Center on the States, looked at 14 states, including Texas, that are currently considering legislation requiring voters to show photo identification at the polls. The cost estimates, outlined in fiscal notes for proposed bills in each state, ranges from "negligible" to close to $10 million in Minnesota, according to the report.

The two major costs of a Voter ID program are the campaign to inform voters of the new requirement and the financial hit due to providing free IDs to some voters.

According to Texas' fiscal note for Senate Bill 14, $2 million will be needed for outreach, with $500,000 going to research and develop a public campaign and $1.5 million for media advertisements.

Several smaller states expect that properly promoting the change in voting law will cost nearly as much or more than Texas plans to spend. Minnesota plans to need $2.7 million for its voter education program. Indiana, which already requires voters to show photo identification, reported spending $2.2 million in federal funding in recent years to spread the word of its Voter ID program.

To avoid allegations that the program is tantamount to a poll tax, Texas is expected to provide free photo IDs to those who say they need them in order to vote. The bill's fiscal note does not estimate how much that will cost but critics warned during last week's House debate that millions of Texans could take advantage of the giveaway.

New Hampshire guesses free IDs could mean a loss of $240,830 a year. Wisconsin expects a $2.7 million hit. An Indiana official said free IDs cost the state $10 million over four years, according to the report.

You can read the whole electionline.org report here. 

-Aman Batheja

Texas House passes Voter ID

After more than 11 hours of debate, the House voted on a voter ID measure at 11:07 p.m. The bill passed 101 to 48. 

State Rep. Jose Aliseda, R-Beeville, was a strong proponent of the bill all day. He repeatedly noted that Mexico requires voters present a government ID that features biometric data before casting a ballot.

"I’ve had many people tell me that they don’t believe their vote will count because of the fraud that exists in South Texas," Aliseda said in closing remarks while surrounded by Republicans backing the measure.

Aliseda's remarks were followed by a speech from state Rep. Marc Veasey, D-Fort Worth, surrounded by a smaller group of Democrats. Veasey compared the bill to what Texas lawmakers did to discriminate against minorities 50 and 100 years ago.

"I think it's horrible." Veasey said. “I think it discriminates against people. I think we'll look back in shame."

Members of the House and Senate will now need to work out the differences between the versions passed by the two chambers.

-Aman Batheja 

Voter ID appears likely to pass in Texas House tonight

It's looking more and more likely that most Texas voters will have to show some form of photo identification when casting a ballot in 2012, as the Texas House appears to be just hours away from passing a Voter ID bill.

Early in the day, Democrats spent more than two hours trying for a repeat of Monday’s proceedings, in which they successfully used a parliamentary maneuver called a "point of order" to force the bill back to committee and further delay the vote.

"Point of order is respectfully overruled," Straus said several times Wednesday.

By 3 p.m., Democrats acknowledged they were out of procedural options and would likely have to accept a vote on the bill. It's still making for a long night as the House is now slogging through more than 40 amendments. In nearly every case, the muscular Republican majority in the House is effectively deciding whether the amendment passes.

The Senate passed a similar bill in January. Gov. Rick Perry had declared the bill was one of his few emergency items for the legislative session.

Republicans say their constituents are demanding the bill to ensure election integrity but Democrats contend that it would disenfranchise poor and minority voters and is targeting a problem - in-person voter fraud - that doesn't exist.

State Rep. Dennis Bonnen, R-Angleton, successfully amended the bill to remove an exemption from the ID requirement for voters 70 years and older. Bonnen said it wasn’t necessary to single out the elderly as a “special class” of voters.

-Aman Batheja

Foreman from Yates trial backs rewriting legal definition of "insanity"

A bill that would rewrite the legal definition of insanity in Texas had a supporter Tuesday with hands-on experience working with the current definition: the jury foreman from Andrea Yates' retrial.

Houston resident Todd Frank served as foreman of the 2006 jury that found Yates not guilty by reason of insanity for drowning her five children. He testified in favor of a bill filed by state Rep. Garnett Coleman, D-Houston, that would change the legal definition of "insanity" that juries apply to such cases. Coleman described the the bill as "something that brings the reality of the world that we're in in-line with how we judge people based on their actions."

Hearing on pet theft bill draws dogged testimony

Talk at the House Criminal Jurisprudence meeting turned to dogs, cats and goldfish this afternoon, as lawmakers heard testimony on a bill aimed at increasing the penalty for theft of a pet.

House bill 1102 from state Rep. Eddie Lucio III, D-Brownsville, would make stealing a pet a state jail felony. (A recent dog theft case that drew national attention, the former mayor of Alice who admitted to taking her neighbor’s Shih Tzu, did not come up in the hearing.)

Committee Chairman Pete Gallego, an Alpine Democrat, expressed concern that the bill didn't differentiate between kinds of pets, making him wonder if someone could get as harsh a penalty for stealing a dog as they would for stealing a goldfish. Lucio agreed to work on revising the bill's language.

Austin resident Trey Baker brought his dog, Dioji, with him to convey to lawmakers the way pets are like members of a family.

“My dog is an intelligent, intuitive…living being that is capable of feeling love…so we need to define pets as something completely different than property,” Baker said. "Yes, even goldfish."

Baker asked the committee members to experience Dioji’s humanity by taking a moment to spend some time with the dog.

When Gallego declined, Baker said, “When he becomes the biggest celebrity dog since Benji, you’re going to be kicking yourself.”

(For those wondering about the photo, yes, Baker had dyed his hair green. When I asked him, "Why green?" he said, "Because you need to get over your fear of clowns.")

-Aman Batheja

 

Burnam/Berman on the same side?

Normally, state Reps. Lon Burnam, D-Fort Worth, and Leo Berman, R-Tyler, are on opposite ends of the political spectrum.

But on Tuesday, they joined together -- along with other lawmakers -- to call for an end to the Driver Responsibility Program, created in 2003 to levy surcharges for traffic violations in order to raise funds for highways and trauma care.

More than 1.2 million Texans have had their licenses suspended because they haven't paid those charges and lawmakers say it's time to put this program to bed.

"These surcharges are double jeopardy and more and must be eliminated," said Berman, former mayor pro tem in Arlington.

"It's a rare day when Rep. Berman and I agree on something," Burnam said. "This program is a severe and unjust blow to Texans already struggling to keep their heads above water."

-- Anna M. Tinsley

Granger: Making Panama safe

U.S. Rep. Kay Granger, R-Fort Worth, is in the midst of leading a congressional delegation to Columbia, Panama, Guatemala and Mexico -- to see the impact of U.S. security help in those areas.

She most recently met with Panamanian President Martinelli and Public Security Minister Mulino in Panama City, and visited the Panama Canal.

“U.S. - Panama security efforts will work to ensure that criminal organizations no longer have the ability to destabilize or threaten regional security," she said in a recent statement. "The Panamanian Government has stepped up their efforts and together we will continue working to prevent drugs and violence from plaguing the region.

“Panama is also a key economic partner. The delegation was briefed on the expansion of the Panama Canal and was impressed with the efforts planned over the next few years. This is critical for commerce and trade in the U.S. and will benefit the state of Texas more than any other state.”

-- Anna M. Tinsley

Resident questions Price about county job

A resident of the Bomber Heights neighborhood asked Betsy Price, the Tarrant County tax assessor-collector, pointedly whether she was using her county e-mail address, phone or even her office to campaign for mayor.

Price automatically resigned her position when she filed to run for mayor last month, but the law mandates that she stay on as a “holdover” until the Tarrant County Commissioners Court appoints another tax assessor.

“The tax assessor has the unique distinction of being personally liable, the reason you make the checks out to me, is because I have a personal liability for $3 billion in taxpayer money," said Price at a mayoral forum Monday at Agape Baptist Church. "That’s the way the law reads, and I work everyday.

“They might appoint tomorrow or they might not appoint until the May election.

“But no, I don’t use my county computer or phone. I use my cell phone and my iPad.”

-- John Henry