Perry: Special session possible this summer
AUSTIN -- As lawmakers discuss changes to the way the state pays for public schools, Gov. Rick Perry said today there is still a chance for another special session on the issue this summer."I think there's still a good possibility. The Legislature is making good progress," Perry said. "Unless something gets stuck in the machinery to stop it, I see us continuing to move forward."
Lawmakers ended a special legislative session last month without passing a school funding plan to replace the current system that relies heavily on local property taxes and requires property-rich districts to send money to property-poor ones.
Perry has said he would call as many special sessions as necessary to get a plan approved but he has not said when the next session would start.
Sen. Steve Ogden, a Republican from Bryan who heads the Senate Finance Committee, said this week that for an overhaul to work the Legislature would need to approve amendments to the Texas Constitution. Constitutional amendments require support from two-thirds of the members in both chambers.
Some of the measures Ogden mentioned that would require a constitutional amendment include capping property and business taxes and legalizing video gambling. The Legislature would need to approve the proposals by late August to get the issue on the November general election ballot.
Rep. Talmadge Heflin, a Houston Republican who is chair of the House Appropriations Committee, said there was not support in the House to pass any constitutional amendments and Ogden said he was unsure if enough senators would agree.
Same bull, different day. I am just amazed at how much of a clown our governor is. It's like he expects this to happen by magic, because he sure isn't contributing to the solution. I cannot wait for 2006.
The legendary Ray Charles has passed away at the age of 73.
Ray Charles, the Grammy-winning crooner who blended gospel and blues in such crowd-pleasers as "What'd I Say" and ballads like "Georgia on My Mind," died Thursday, a spokesman said. He was 73.Charles died at his Beverly Hills home surrounded by family and friends, said spokesman Jerry Digney.
Charles last public appearance was alongside Clint Eastwood on April 30, when the city of Los Angeles designated the singer's studios, built 40 years ago in central Los Angeles, as a historic landmark.
Blind by age 7 and an orphan at 15, Charles spent his life shattering any notion of musical boundaries and defying easy definition. A gifted pianist and saxophonist, he dabbled in country, jazz, big band and blues, and put his stamp on it all with a deep, warm voice roughened by heartbreak from a hardscrabble childhood in the segregated South.
"His sound was stunning - it was the blues, it was R&B;, it was gospel, it was swing - it was all the stuff I was listening to before that but rolled into one amazing, soulful thing," singer Van Morrison told Rolling Stone magazine in April.
Charles won nine of his 12 Grammy Awards between 1960 and 1966, including the best R&B; recording three consecutive years ("Hit the Road Jack," "I Can't Stop Loving You" and "Busted").
His versions of other songs are also well known, including "Makin' Whoopee" and a stirring "America the Beautiful." Hoagy Carmichael and Stuart Gorrell wrote "Georgia on My Mind" in 1931 but it didn't become Georgia's official state song until 1979, long after Charles turned it into an American standard.
"I was born with music inside me. That's the only explanation I know of," Charles said in his 1978 autobiography, "Brother Ray." "Music was one of my parts ... Like my blood. It was a force already with me when I arrived on the scene. It was a necessity for me, like food or water."
As far as I'm concerned, if we replaced the "Star Spangled Banner" and any lingering seventh-inning-stretch versions of "God Bless America" at all sporting events with Ray Charles' version of "America the Beautiful", the world would be a better place. Rest in peace, Ray Charles.
(Via Lean Left.)
UPDATE: Two things I could have mentioned earlier about Ray Charles but forgot:
1. Flip Wilson as Queen Isabella talking about how Christopher Columbus is gonna discover Ray Charles. Avedon remembers.
2. Dave Barry once wrote that "Hit The Road, Jack" is a quick and easy way to test if you have any rhythm. If you can figure out where to clap in HTRJ, you have basic rhythm.
Nice article by Farhad Manjoo in Salon on the BlogAds experience. He touches on all of the things that I think need to be said when discussing candidates buying ad space on blogs - bloggers and blog readers don't like to be seen as just money machines (though they don't object to the idea of being pandered to, as well they shouldn't), the 40-fold return that Ben Chandler got on his investment (and the lesser but still great return Stephanie Herseth got) involved a lot of special and non-repeatable circumstances, and the long-term model for success involves real interaction with the world of blogging, as Jim Newberry is cited for. I touched on many of these points myself back in February.
There are a fair number of campaign weblogs out there now (including four that I know of in Texas). I've been pondering what will happen to them after the election. In my opinion, win or lose, they ought to be continued. Winners can use them to maintain a connection to the people who supported them through the campaign. As I've said before, among the things that blogs provide a candidate is direct exposure unfiltered by some newspaper's city desk. The same is true for an officeholder. It's your words, your way, to your supporters, and it's postage-free.
Losing candidates, whether they intend to run again later or were just running this time to "get their ideas out there", can similarly maintain a microphone and an audience. They may not get a paid pundit deal like Howard Dean has done, but continued blogging will enable them to test, refine, and repeat their message for as long as they want to broadcast it. Once again, it's a very cheap form of networking and public relations.
To be honest, I'll be surprised if any candidates, successful or not, maintains their blogs after November. It's still too new, too out there, and for a losing candidate it will likely have a whiff of let-go-already to it. But it will happen sooner or later.
Steve Gilliard also makes a good point:
What I think the article is missing is that blogads clients will shift after the election. Bloggers are going to have to offer more information on their users and seek demographic friendly advertisers beyond politics. The lack of tech ads is noticible. Blogs are attracting an audience way beyond the techies we had on NetSlaves. But once numbers become clear, and bloggers start forming networks, it will be far easier for ads to be sold on them. The technology works, it's not obtrusive and it is flexible. It would be perfect for sporting events, anything which requires quick updating and timeliness. The problem with blogs is that they don 't stress the regional nature of their publications and will miss out on the bonanza of local ads.
I do think blogger networks are inevitable, and will have some potency when they form. To a certain extent, that's what Texas Tuesdays (and hopefully maybe similar organizations in other states) are all about. I'd like nothing more than to get some kind of organization around the Texas progressive bloggers - consider it a long-term project, with an eye on 2006. Several of my Texas colleagues will be in town next weekend for the state Democratic convention, and there's talk of a get-together which (time permitting) I hope to attend. Gotta start somewhere, after all.
Governor Rick Perry says he knows how the State Supreme Court justices are going to vote on a school finance reform lawsuit. One of those justices says oh, no, you don't.
If Gov. Rick Perry thinks he knows how the Texas Supreme Court will rule on a school finance lawsuit, he didn't pick up any insider information from court members, Justice Wallace Jefferson said Wednesday.Jefferson, one of three Perry appointees on the high court, said he has never discussed school finance or any other issue with the governor. He said he doubted that any justice had, although people often try to guess how the court will rule on pending litigation.
"This court is independent, vigorously independent. We consider the facts and the law when they're presented," Jefferson said in an interview.
A lawsuit brought by a number of school districts, rich and poor alike, seeking to overturn the current school law is scheduled to go to trial Aug. 9 in state district court in Austin. Among other issues, the plaintiffs are seeking more state funding for public education.
A likely appeal of the district court's ruling will be decided by the nine-member Supreme Court, perhaps as early as next year.
Perry, in a private meeting in Dallas on May 13, predicted the lawsuit will fail because his appointees to the high court won't force the Legislature to make changes in the school law, one participant in the meeting said this week.
The governor said he knew where his appointees "stand on this," recalled John Carpenter, who then was president of the Highland Park school board. Highland Park, one of the state's wealthiest districts, is a plaintiff in the lawsuit.
Perry spokeswoman Kathy Walt said he has not discussed the school lawsuit with the justices but does believe the state ultimately will win the case.
"I've had no conversations with the governor on this issue, either while I was being considered for this appointment or since," Jefferson said.
"I don't think the governor is saying otherwise," he said.
Jefferson, a lawyer from San Antonio, was Perry's first appointee to a high-court vacancy in 2001. He kept his seat by winning election in 2002.
You know, it's not inconceivable to me that Perry may have reverse-psychologied himself here. If these justices really want you to believe they're independent, bending over backwards to seek equity in this lawsuit would surely do it.
I'm more in link mode than analysis mode right now, but I trust that this article doesn't need a whole lot of comment.
Gov. Rick Perry recently predicted, in a private meeting in Dallas, that a lawsuit challenging the state's school finance law will fail because his appointees to the Texas Supreme Court won't force changes on the Legislature.Perry said he knew where his appointees "stand on this" and was confident they wouldn't attempt to rewrite the school law, one participant in the meeting recalled Tuesday. As many as five of the nine court members could be Perry appointees by the time an appeal of the case reaches the panel.
"He didn't say he had spoken to them (the justices), but I just couldn't believe it, and a lot of other people couldn't believe it either. They were stunned that a governor would say something like that," said John Carpenter, who on Tuesday ended a term as president of the Highland Park school board.
Perry spokeswoman Kathy Walt did not dispute Carpenter's account of the meeting, but said Carpenter had "totally misconstrued" the governor's remarks.
Walt said the governor hasn't discussed the school finance lawsuit, which is scheduled to go to trial in state district court in Austin on Aug. 9, or any other case with Supreme Court members. Such discussions could result in disciplinary actions against the judges.
"The makeup of the court is substantially different than it was previously, and the governor believes the state will win the lawsuit," Walt said.
Texas has a "fair and very independent judiciary," she added. But the governor appoints judges "who do not legislate from the bench."
Carpenter said about 25 to 30 Highland Park school officials and residents of the heavily Republican district, one of the state's wealthiest, attended the meeting with Perry at a private home in Dallas on May 13.
That was only a few days before a special session on school finance ended in failure because lawmakers and Perry couldn't agree on how to replace revenue lost from a proposed cut in local school property taxes. Legislators rejected Perry's plan to legalize video slot machines at racetracks, and the governor turned down lawmakers' proposals for expanded business taxes.
Perry proposed some funding increases for the public schools, mostly tied to improved student performance and other incentives.
He has indicated he may call another special session later this summer on school finance.
Plaintiffs in the school finance lawsuit include about 300 school districts, both rich and poor. Despite other differences, all agree that the state, which now pays for less than 40 percent of school operating costs, must increase its share, Carpenter said. Highland Park is a plaintiff.
Carpenter said the governor told the Dallas group that Democratic legislators were being encouraged not to vote for a new school bill now because they believed the courts were likely to rule in favor of the school districts and order a plan that would increase state funding for public schools.
But Perry said the plaintiffs don't stand a chance with the Texas Supreme Court, which ultimately will decide any appeal of the case, Carpenter said.
"He said he's talked to his attorney and that the attorney general said the state is in good shape," Carpenter recalled.
Carpenter said the governor also commented to him and one or two other people, as Perry was leaving, that he and state Education Commissioner Shirley Neeley "could cut 20 percent out of the school district budgets of the state."
"I think his perception is -- and I think it's wrong -- is that school districts across the state are inefficient and spending too much money," Carpenter added. "I've supported him (Perry) in the past. But he doesn't have a clue about what's going on in school finance."
Walt, who was at the meeting, said she didn't hear the governor's parting remarks.
You may recall that Highland Park is the ritzy Dallas suburb whose hometown paper pined for Kay Bailey Hutchison last summer. This story was apparently broken by the Quorum Report and also picked up by the Express-News, which contained this odd bit:
Sen. Florence Shapiro, R-Plano, Senate Education Committee chairwoman, said of Perry's reported forecast: "I'm shocked. I would never preclude what the Supreme Court would do."
I presume she said or meant "predict", though I suppose strictly speaking what she was quoted as saying is true.
The Schlitterbahn and the city of Galveston have signed the deal to bring the water park there, though at the last minute it was revealed that there was another partner involved.
The city had originally planned to sign an agreement with the owners of Schlitterbahn Waterpark Resort in New Braunfels. Officials learned recently that the deal, signed Friday, would include American National Insurance Co., headed by Robert L. Moody.Schlitterbahn formed a limited partnership known as Galveston Island Water with two American National subsidiaries.
Sherrie Brammall, Schlitterbahn spokeswoman, declined to say how much of the $30 million cost of the park would be covered by American National.
The Henry family, which owns Schlitterbahn, has looked for ways to finance the park since talks of bringing it to Galveston began, Brammall said. The family settled on American National because it is a publicly traded lender in Galveston.
But the deal with American National took former Mayor Roger Quiroga by surprise.
"We had a suspicion that either Moody Gardens or one of the subsidiaries was involved in this in some sort of way," said Quiroga, who was mayor when the deal was approved. "We originally thought American National would be a lender."
I'm no expert on Galveston's politics, but it sure seems to me like there's more to this story than what we're reading here. This Galveston News article gives a little taste of it:
Originally city officials thought Schlitterbahn, a New Braunfels-based water park giant, was going into the deal alone.“This is taking me by total surprise,” said Roger “Bo” Quiroga, who was mayor when the deal was approved by city council. “What it tells me is that the Henrys are not as financially strong as they led us to believe.”
Schlitterbahn is headed by brothers Jeff and Gary Henry.
[...]
Although the park will be next to Moody Gardens, a nonprofit attraction subsidized by the billion-dollar Moody Foundation and controlled by the Moody family, [ Moody representative Irwin “Buddy”] Herz said there will be no relationship between the two attractions.
The partnership papers for Galveston Island Water Park were signed on Friday. That afternoon, Hertz and Jeff Henry, a Schlitterbahn principal who has been negotiating the deal, signed the lease for airport land. City Manager Steve LeBlanc and City Attorney Susie Green left a retreat with the new city council to finalize the deal.
Herz said the Moody family kept their negotiations with the Henrys a secret out of fear that some council members, including Quiroga, would try to kill the deal if they knew about the partnership.
“We were told there were four votes to kill it if there was any Moody money in it. That’s why the negotiations were extremely private,” he said.
Quiroga called this statement “asinine.” He said he only would have had reservations with the partnership if Schlitterbahn property was taken off the tax rolls.
“Just as long as they are paying taxes they can build whatever they want to build,” he said.
Moody Gardens, as a nonprofit entity, does not pay taxes.
All very strange to me. Galvestonian Jim D noted the GalvNews story - can you fill us in here, Jim?
Kos, writing for The Gadflyer, argues that the recent special-election wins by Stephanie Herseth and Ben Chandler in reliably red districts is a portent that 2004 will be an abnormal election, one that may disproportinately favor Democratic Congressional candidates. He strikes a very optimistic tone, but here's a piece of evidence that he's on to something. Via Archpundit, here's the story of Rep. Phil Crane, an 18-term incumbent and one-time Presidential primary challenger to Ronald Reagan who is now needing some help raising money.
Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) is asking Illinois Republicans to do everything possible to help Rep. Phil Crane (R-Ill.) beat back a strong challenge from Democrat Melissa Bean, Rep. Ray LaHood (R-Ill.) said late last week.Crane is seeking an 18th term representing the suburban Chicago 8th District.
“It’s a race to watch,” LaHood said. “Every year there’s the November surprise, and a lot of people are worried that the November surprise could be Phil Crane. The problem is he just has not really worked [his district] that well, and he hasn’t paid attention to it.”
Bean, a business consultant who unsuccessfully challenged Crane in 2002, said she would not be outspent 3 to 1 in 2004, as she was last time. She estimated that her campaign cash on hand is within $130,000 to $150,000 of Crane’s.
Crane’s campaign spokeswoman, Tami Stough, said: “We have an opponent this year … and the Speaker is just trying to do all he can.” Hastert is scheduled to appear at a June 27 fundraiser with Crane, Stough said. Other members, she said, are helping to raise money.
Every dollar spent protecting a fossil like Phil Crane is a dollar not spent on races that are more attractive to the GOP. This is a good thing.
State Rep. Rick Noriega of Houston is being deployed to Afghanistan.
Noriega, a major in the Army National Guard, now is making plans to head off to a war zone. From a camp near Kabul, Afghanistan, he will train Afghans in basic Army skills.The Democrat from Houston, who is in his third term, is scheduled to report to Camp Mabry in Austin on June 16. After weeks of training, he expects to be deployed to Afghanistan in August.
Sitting in the living room of his home in the Eastwood area Monday, Noriega, 46, talked about his assignment and joked about capturing terrorist leader Osama bin Laden.
The fourth-generation Houstonian chose to keep some subjects private, however, including the tears he and his family have shed. He shrugged off his situation, saying he is just another soldier serving his country.
"I'm fortunate I have a lot of support. Some of these kids don't have what we have," said Noriega, who works as a manager in CenterPoint Energy's economic development department.
"I don't want to trivialize where I'm going," he added. "Being in the military is serious business. That is what you accept as part of the contract. I signed up to serve the people of Texas and this country."
In the short time he has before leaving, Noriega and his wife, Melissa, have some decisions to make: arranging insurance coverage, making sure the mortgage is covered, finding time to put up a security fence, and selling his 2000 Chevrolet Suburban to avoid carrying a note and insurance on it.
"It's impacting everyone," he said. "We've got a lot of men and women being called up. It's my obligation. I've been training for 22 years and it's my turn."
Noriega, who represents District 145 on Houston's east and southeast sides, isn't the only member of the Texas House in active military service.
Rep. Carl Isett, R-Lubbock, is a lieutenant commander in the Naval Reserve who has not been called to active duty. Rep. Frank Corte Jr., R- San Antonio, a lieutenant colonel in the Marine Corps Reserve, also is awaiting possible activation.
Corte spent 40 days on active duty in Egypt after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. He recently finished six months of active service in South Korea.
During World War II, 13 state legislators from Texas were called to active military service; eight were called during the Korean War.
"There's been people before us," said Corte. "I think Rick, Carl and myself are ready to do what needs to be done."
A state constitutional amendment approved last November allows Noriega to appoint someone to his seat, pending approval from the House, if he is absent.
Noriega suggested that his wife of 13 years would make a good replacement.
"My plan is to cross that bridge when we get to it," he said. "And if we get to that point, I'll say I think my wife would do a great job."
Melissa Noriega, a project coordinator for the Houston Independent School District, said she would do whatever she could for the district.
"Women have been picking up plows and hammers to cover the home front," she said. "I don't see this as much different. I would do whatever I need to do to bridge the gap."
Noriega's one of the good guys in the Lege. I wish him and his family well while he's overseas serving his country. Byron also noted this story.
I must have missed the op-ed in the April 21 Chron in which Tom DeLay boasted of the construction of the Oaks at Rio Bend, which is a residential campus for foster children and their families. According to this Press story, it's been under construction since September and doesn't appear to have made much progress. Check it out, there's a lot of good background on all the other DeLay stuff as well. Via The Stakeholder.
UPDATE: The subpoenas are coming for DeLay cronies Mike Scanlon and Jack Abroamoff. See the extended entry for the story. Via AJ Garcia.
Someone once said that true fame is to be the answer to 8 Down or 14 Across in the Sunday crossword puzzle. Given a choice, I'll take being the subject of a Norbizness captionapalooza. I may have to print that out and frame it.
All members of the household are home. Harry has been introduced to Olivia, but was more interested in seeing Tiffany again. He wasn't quite sure what to make of it when she cried. I think they will do fine, though holding the baby with one hand and petting the dog with the other presents some odd challenges.
On the plus side, I have determined that I can blog one-handed - this entire post was done without my left arm, in which Olivia is currently cradled. My typing is slower and less accurate, and the shift key is not my friend, but I can do it. This opens up all kinds of possibilities.
I doubt this will be any kind of portent for the upcoming Jackson v. Perry case, as the issue had turned on the Colorado state constitution, but SCOTUS has denied cert to the GOP in their attempt to get a last-minute redraw of Congressional lines through their legislature. Byron and Luis have more.
Neither rain, nor snow, nor sleet, nor sleep deprivation caused by new babies can stop us from bringing you another Texas Tuesday, with this week's feature being Rep. Martin Frost. We've also got a reposting of the interviews that Byron and I did awhile back. Check it out and lend a hand if you can.
Former HPD Captain Mark Aguirre, fired for his role in the K-Mart Kiddie Roundup fiasco, has filed an appeal with an arbitrator to get his old job back. He claims that his firing was personally motivated.
Houston police officials on Monday defended their investigation of a 2002 raid that became a legal fiasco for the department, denying that then-Police Chief C.O. Bradford influenced the probe.Attorneys for former Capt. Mark Aguirre, who was fired in January 2003 for his handling of the botched raid at a west Houston parking lot, argued that long-standing hard feelings between Aguirre and Bradford may have motivated Aguirre's downfall.
In a hearing before an independent arbitrator, Aguirre's attorneys tried to spotlight a feud between him and Bradford that worsened significantly in the months before the captain's termination.
But Assistant Police Chief Vickie King, who led the investigation while she was a lieutenant in the Internal Affairs Division, said Bradford did not influence the investigation.
"Anyone who tried to manipulate something of this magnitude, there's no way. We had over 500 people giving statements," King said during a hearing before an independent arbitrator, who will decide whether Aguirre should be reinstated. "You'd have to be an incredible puppet master."
King made her comments while being questioned by Aguirre's attorneys. The Aguirre team has promised to unveil some "surprises" about HPD's command staff when the hearing resumes next Monday.
This could be a lot of fun. Stay tuned.
Thank you all very much for the kind words and thoughts on Olivia's arrival. They really mean a lot. The last couple of days have been pretty overwhelming (in a good way, of course), and all the good will Tiffany and I have received has been wonderful. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Everyone should be coming home today. I got the baby seat installed yesterday, so at the very least I won't be turned away at the door. A neighbor who's also a fairly new dad helped me out. You know how they say that you can go to any fire station and get help installing a child safety seat? The one he went to after his son was born had never heard of that. Fortunately, one of the firefighters helped him anyway.
I'm already learning new skills with Olivia. The one I'm proudest of so far is the ability to use my Blackberry one-handed. I figure that's a warmup for learing to use the computer one-handed, something for which I already have a certain amount of skill because of Harry's penchant for demanding to be petted while I'm surfing.
Speaking of Harry, he's back home from our next-door neighbor's house. I've strewn some of the clothes and blankets that Olivia has used around the place to acclimate him to her scent. The sooner he realizes there's a new sherriff in town, the better.
I can't wait to bring her home. I'm so excited.
It is with great joy, excitement, and relief that Tiffany and I announce the arrival of Olivia Rose Kuffner, who made her debut yesterday, June 6, at 5:58 PM, weighing in at 7 pounds 15.5 ounces (3.615 kg for the metric fans among us). Mother and daughter are dong beautifully and will be home tomorrow. I don't expect to post a whole lot of pictures here, but here's one for you:
Yes, I'm wearing a Yankees shirt in that picture. Gotta start 'em out right.
Needless to say, blogging will be very sporadic this week. Thanks for understanding.
Never been lonely
Never been lied to
Never had to scuffle and fear
Nothing denied to
Born at the instant
The church bells chimed
Whole world whispering
You're born at the right time
-- Paul Simon
The Morris Meyer campaign blog appears to be up and running. Note that by having an RSS feed, I discovered its activity sooner rather than later. Yes, I'm going to preach the RSS gospel until I've converted everyone. What's the point of being a convert oneself if one can't be obnoxiously zealous about it?
Jim D brings us (via Kos) the Rasmussen poll numbers for Texas:
May 1 - May 31
(Purported Margin of Error: +/- 3%)Bush 55%
Kerry 38%
Other 3%
Not Sure 4%
Both Jim and Rasmussen note that Bush carried Texas by a 59-38 margin in 2000, though while Rasmussen calls this an "expected" result, Jim thinks Bush will hold at about 55% and predicts a 55-43 split this November.
I'm going to make a prediction of my own. If Jim is right and Bush beats Kerry here by 55-43, then I believe the Democrats will keep most, maybe even all, of their endangered incumbent Congressmen. If on the other hand it's more like 59-38 again, they'll be lucky to keep any one of them. Until I see some reliable polling on these individual races, I'm going to consider the statewide Presidential poll numbers as a proxy for them as a whole. Let's keep an eye on this.
Well, we may not get Wi-Fi parks, but according to Dwight Silverman, the city of Houston is looking at Wi-Fi everywhere.
While it's still at the "what if we did this" stage, the plan under consideration borrows from a successful system that's more than 30 years old.Richard Lewis, the city's chief technology officer, says he is looking a system that would break Houston into about 100 six-square-mile "hot zones," each controlled by a wireless Internet provider that's won a bid for exclusive rights to control that territory.
[...]
The network would be built first in the parts of town with the densest populations, such as downtown or the Galleria area, then expanded, even into residential areas. It would give residential users another choice for high-speed broadband access in the home.
The cost for setting up the network would be borne by private companies that would get a part of the fees paid by subscribers to use the network. The service providers would also get a cut.
Billing issues still have to be worked out, but the service would not be free. Lewis said the city is looking at using the same type of billing arrangement planned for WiFi access now being set up at Houston's two big airports. There, users will be billed through their existing Internet service providers, thanks to a consortium of providers, Lewis said. Airport WiFi access should be available by the end of this year.
The city already is experimenting with the benefits of WiFi access for its workers and the public. Lewis said building inspectors no longer report to a central office, but get their assignments wirelessly in the morning and go directly to work. He estimated it saves two hours of travel time and provides a 15 percent boost in productivity.
The city's library is installing WiFi access at its branches, while all the Harris County Public Library's branches already have it.
Very cool. I'm hoping it'll have a salutary effect on high-speed Internet access prices for home users as well. Looks like it may be time to start spec'ing out that new laptop.
The Stakeholder has a report from a rally in South Dakota honoring their new Congressperson Stephanie Herseth, and a guest post from Rep. Herseth and many of the volunteers who helped get her into the House. Two down, eleven more to go.
According to the Star-Telegram, legislation is in place to allow residents of states with no state income tax to deduct sales taxes from their federal income tax.
[Tom] DeLay, R-Sugar Land, said in an interview with the Star-Telegram that the breakthrough in long-running negotiations will be announced today as a provision in a major corporate tax bill.DeLay said he had been trying to restore the sales tax deduction in states that have no state income tax since Congress eliminated the deduction in the sweeping 1986 tax overhaul. The other states with no state income tax are Tennessee, South Dakota, Nevada, Florida, Washington and Wyoming. Residents of other states can deduct their state income tax on their federal returns; they would be able to choose to deduct sales taxes instead.
"It's a matter of fairness," DeLay said.
The deductibility provision would be retroactive to Jan. 1, meaning it would take effect for this tax year.
"It's pretty assured it's going to happen," said DeLay. "This is a major piece of legislation that happens to include sales tax deductibility."
There is no major opposition yet to the tax deduction provision, but supporters expect some resistance from lawmakers who are concerned about the estimated $21.6 billion it would cost over the next 10 years.
The House Ways and Means Committee is expected to approve the corporate tax bill next week, and DeLay expects it to clear the full House by mid-June. He is confident the Senate will accept the sales-tax provision.
The prospect of restoring the deduction has gained momentum from the combined push of DeLay and other key lawmakers in both parties from other states without income taxes, most notably Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist of Tennessee, Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota and Senate Democratic Whip Harry Reid of Nevada.
Moreover, President Bush is a former Texas governor, and DeLay said the White House is "all for it."
Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, also has been working on the issue. Last year she introduced a separate bill to restore the deduction.
The provision would allow U.S. taxpayers who itemize deductions on their federal returns to deduct state and local sales taxes. Taxpayers who pay state income tax could choose to deduct that instead.
Before 1986, all taxpayers who itemized could deduct state income taxes and sales taxes.
Texans pay $14 billion a year in the 6.25 percent state sales tax and up to an additional 2 percent local sales tax. The deduction would save Texans an estimated $921 million a year in federal taxes, according to the Congressional Research Service.
The deductibility provision will cost the Treasury $21.6 billion over 10 years, according to the Joint Committee on Taxation.
The Internal Revenue Service would develop a chart with estimates of sales taxes paid by taxpayers in different income brackets. Before 1986, the IRS developed those charts and taxpayers could use them or save all their sales-tax receipts.
Obviously, this is going to benefit me. Unfortunately, I don't think it'll do much for lower-income folks, for whom the sales tax is their greatest tax burden. How many households near the poverty line itemize their taxes? I also fear that with this law on the books, there'll be even more incentive to push sales taxes for state funds instead of less regressive measures.
I should note that this is something Rep. Martin Frost has been pushing, though of course since this story was primarily based on an interview with DeLay he doesn't get mentioned here. Frost has been bashing Pete Sessions for not supporting the measure even though he's listed as a cosponsor. The political gain for Frost is undeniable, but you can count me among those who are "concerned" about the cost. $21 billion over ten years is fairly small potatoes all things considered, but I'd much rather defer adding to our already insane deficits until we can get a government in place that has a modicum of fiscal responsibility about it. And you know, with a war going on and all, I just feel there are higher priorities than handing out more tax breaks to people who don't necessarily need them.
And of course, as this involves Tom DeLay, those three little Latin words must make an appearance:
DeLay said he has coordinated with Texas Gov. Rick Perry and Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, both Republicans. "The governor calls me once every two weeks," DeLay said. "Every time I was down in Texas during redistricting I would hear about the sales tax deduction. I wanted to talk about redistricting, and they wanted to talk about the sales tax."DeLay made clear that there was "no quid pro quo" between last year's redistricting battle and the sales-tax issue but said he also felt strongly that the deduction had to be restored.
As I recall, when questioned about his involvement in redistricting last year, DeLay claimed to be just another concerned citizen who wanted to make sure his viewpoint was being heard by the Legislature. I suppose that's not really operational any more. Via Lasso.
The legal battle between Starbucks and a Galveston brewpub over its "StarBock" beer, first noted here, will enter mediation shortly.
U.S. Judge Samuel Kent ordered the parties to mediate the case and set it for trial in 2005. Kent wants a report by July 30 on efforts to settle the case."That is the next step in the long process of getting through this agonizing ordeal," said John Egbert, the Houston attorney who represents bar owner, Rex Bell.
Bell operates the Old Quarter Acoustic Cafe. He sells the beer from one of bar's taps.
"That is pretty much all he does with it," Egbert said of the beer Bell has sold for about a year. Egbert told the Galveston Daily News in Thursday's editions that Bell obtained U.S. Trademark Office approval for his beer's name.
Bell came up with the name after he combined Lone Star beer and Shiner Bock beer into a glass for a customer, suggesting he try a "Starbock." Egbert said Bell's beer is brewed in Texas from a "special recipe."
"The name just stuck in my head, and I knew I was onto something," Bell said.
Seattle-based Starbucks claims Bell's beer has infringed on its brand. Starbucks appealed the trademark office ruling in February.
A month later, Egbert filed a complaint in federal court, pushing the coffee company to prove its case in court.
Starbucks filed a counterclaim alleging Bell chose the beer name "which he knew would be associated by consumers with Starbucks and its products."
Unless Starbucks is willing to let Bell keep the name, "I really don't see where we would go from there," Egbert told the newspaper.
Michael, who may or may not be able to find Shiner Bock beer in his new Jersey digs, tells us a little bit more about Rex Bell.
The next stage of the legal dispute between Rep. Ciro Rodriguez and Henry Cuellar over the primary result will take place on June 24.
A three-judge panel of the 4th Court of Appeals will hear oral arguments on June 24 in the election lawsuit of U.S. Rep. Ciro Rodriguez, who is trying to overturn his Democratic primary loss to Henry Cuellar.Earlier this week, the appellate court randomly selected three judges to hear the case. They are Chief Justice Alma Lopez, Judge Catherine M. Stone and Judge Paul W. Green.
Oral arguments are expected to take about one hour. The judges will prepare and issue an opinion in the case at a later date, according to a court official.
Cuellar has been certified as the winner by the Secretary of State, though of course that can be changed by the court.
Gov. Rick Perry assured Republican Party activists on Thursday that he is a conservative after their own hearts and, in a campaign-style speech kicking off the GOP state convention, he sidestepped a controversy over gambling that could become an issue against him in the 2006 primary.[...]
"I make no apologies for being an optimistic conservative who is pro-jobs, pro-growth, pro-family and pro-life," Perry said to applause from several thousand delegates and alternates.
"I will pursue the conservative mandate voters entrusted to me. I know who elected me, and I know why they elected me. And I will always stand my ground," he added.
Translation: "It's not important that I support state-sponsored gambling. What's important is that I'm not the kind of politician who would support state-sponsored gambling." Apparently, Rob Corddry has joined Perry's speechwriting team.
More here.
Thank heaven for the Internet and its ability to reach an elusive demographic.
Young people – those in their teens to 30s – have so many ways to communicate that reaching them has become a guessing game for marketers.That's why 7-Eleven Inc. is taking its No. 1 brand, Slurpee, to the Internet.
The Dallas-based convenience store chain on Tuesday launched www.slurpee.com and a summertime Slurpee promotion with partners Nokia, Musicmatch and Coca-Cola.
Customers can buy Slurpee apparel on the site and access downloadable songs and wireless phone rings.
7-Eleven came up with the multichannel promotion after it discovered in focus groups that there's a huge "Slurpee generation" out there that's been difficult to reach, said John Ryckevic, 7-Eleven category manager for Slurpee and fountain drinks.
"We know they love music and spend a lot of time on the Internet, and they all have cellphones and they all tell us they love Slurpees," he said.
"Communication methods are constantly changing. It's a challenge to reach our youngest customers, who are the first to try something new."
I resolve that from here on out, I will always collectively refer to those younger than me as the "Slurpee Generation". This is a meme that needs to be spread, don't you think?
