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Cornyn formally elected Senate GOP whip; Cruz enthusiastic …about GOP majority

From left, Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Ky., Senate Minority Whip John Cornyn of Texas., and Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., leave a closed-door meeting of Senate Republicans at the Capitol on Thursday. (AP/Susan Walsh)

updated 12:20 with comments from Sens. Cruz and Thune.

WASHINGTON — Senate Republicans formally reelected Texas Sen. John Cornyn as GOP whip. In the new Senate that makes him deputy majority leader.

The vote was by acclamation. Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania,  a conservative, nominated Cornyn. Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, a moderate, seconded the nomination, and both delivered speeches for him in the closed door meeting of Senate Republicans.

“I’m humbled to have been chosen by my colleagues to help lead the new majority in the U.S. Senate, and I pledge that those fundamental Texas values of personal liberty and limited government will continue to be my guide,” Cornyn said in a statement.

“After years of gridlock and dysfunction in the Senate the work before us is considerable, but Republicans approach this opportunity with determination, with humility, and above all with a firm commitment to address the top priorities of the American people.”

Sen. Mitch McConnell was elected unanimously,  as well. He will serve as majority leader in the new Senate.

Sen. Ted Cruz, the Texas tea partier who has tangled with GOP leaders, went with the flow at Thursday’s meeting, which lasted nearly three hours.

“The new leadership team is essentially the same as the old leadership team. The results were unsurprising. The top leadership positions were all uncontested and elected by acclamation,” Cruz said as he left the meeting.

Asked if he’s enthusiastic to see McConnell and Cornyn continue leading the Senate GOP, Cruz responded: “I am enthusiastic about Republicans being in the majority and now having the opportunity to lead.

“And if we simply do what we said we would do and lead with a bold positive agenda – pro-jobs, pro-growth, defending the constitutional rights of the citizenry – it will make a serious and a real difference for the country. And I am optimistic and hopeful that Republicans will do just that,” he said.

Sen. John Thune of South Dakota– reelected to his post as GOP conference chairman – said all the elections went “fairly smoothly.” Downplaying the idea that Cruz or others might continue to give headaches to leadership, he said he doesn’t sense much tension among Senate Republicans.

“We’re still new to this. We’re going to be a majority. We know that in order for us to succeed we’re going to have to function as a team and I think that gives you a renewed sense of purpose. Those things tend to be more evident in the minority, but in the majority – for sure we’re going to have disagreements. We have different folks who come from different places and have different views on issues,” he told reporters. “But when it comes to being successful in terms of trying to move an agenda I think we all recognize we have to work together as a team.”

Sen. Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire nominated McConnell. Sen.-elect Tom Cotton of Arkansas gave a seconding speech. Thune was nominated by Sen. Johnny Isakson of Georgia and seconded by Sen.-elect Cory Gardner of Colorado.

In the only contested GOP race, Mississippi Sen. Roger Wicker beat Nevada Sen. Dean Heller to become the new chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee. Cornyn held that job for four years. Wicker’s challenge will be to defend the new 54-seat majority, in a year in which far more GOP-held seats are on the line.

As a challenge looms, Straus confident that he will remain Speaker

Texas Speaker of the House Joe Straus is confident that he will remain Speaker for the 84th legislature.

WASHINGTON — Despite potential opposition from conservative groups, Texas House Speaker Joe Straus, R-San Antonio, is confident that he will be reelected to the speakership when the 84th Texas Legislature convenes in January.

Speaking in Washington after a breakfast with the Texas State Society, a group for Texans in the capital, Straus said he feels state House members are pleased with his leadership.

“I have a hand in setting priorities and making appointments, but it’s really a House run by the members. And I think they like it that way,” Straus said. “I feel very confident in their support.”

In his bid for a fourth term as Speaker, Straus could face opposition from Republican factions that view him as too moderate.

Backed by conservative groups like Empower Texans, Rep. Scott Turner, R-Frisco, is expected to challenge Straus for the House’s top spot.

The threat has Straus playing offense. Over the next month, he will send out mailers to Republican districts that tout the House’s conservative victories under his watch, according to the Houston Chronicle.

If elected, Straus sees getting the different voices within the GOP to harmonize as a major hurdle.

“The challenge is to keep reinforcing that every member’s ideas and opinions are important and considered, within the Republican party and within the House as a whole,” he said.

As for the legislature’s top priorities, Straus named education, water issues, and transportation. He’s optimistic about making progress on them, given the House’s recent record.

“I’ve been very proud of the way the House has come together in the last few sessions on important issues. More often than not you see the most promising legislation passing with large bipartisan majorities,” he said.

Former President George W. Bush signs copies of “41: A Portrait of My Father” at Dallas Barnes & Noble store

More than 1,000 people were expected to pass through security Tuesday morning at a Dallas Barnes & Noble store to have former President George W. Bush sign copies of 41: A Portrait of My Father, which gets its official release today.

Former President George W. Bush signs copies of "41: A Portrait of My Father" Thursday morning at the Barnes & Noble store on Northwest Highway in Dallas.

Former President George W. Bush signs copies of 41: A Portrait of My Father. (David Woo/Staff Photographer)

The book, a biography of former President George H.W. Bush, is “a love story,” the younger Bush told our Tom Benning in an interview earlier this week.

The book gets its title from common shorthand of “41″ and “43″ used to distinguish between W. and H.W. when talking about the former presidents named George Bush. H.W. was the 41st person to hold the office, W. the 43rd.

George W. Bush also appeared on NBC’s Today show Monday to discuss the book:

Texas manufacturers oppose gutting franchise tax

At Weir SPM in White Settlement, machinist Martin Ramos in 2011 worked to manufacture one of the powerful pumps used in the hydraulic fracturing process of gas and oil wells. (Tom Fox/Staff photographer)

Jockeying over tax cuts intensified Wednesday when the Texas Association of Manufacturers came out against repealing the state’s franchise tax on businesses.

In its top 10 priorities list, the group said lawmakers instead should concentrate on property tax relief and spending more on infrastructure, such as roads and water supplies.

“TAM believes the Texas Franchise Tax is a fair system that provides necessary revenue while allowing all businesses to share in the cost of running our state,” the group said in a separate position paper on the franchise tax.

As I reported in this story in Wednesday’s paper, Gov.-elect Greg Abbott is interested in trimming, and perhaps eliminating, the franchise or “margins tax.”

Tony Bennett, president of the Texas Association of Manufacturers (2013 courtesy photo)

Lt. Gov.-elect Dan Patrick has stressed reducing property taxes, though in the past he has championed measures that exempt a lot of small businesses from having to pay franchise tax.

As the manufacturers group pointed out, the small businesses paid six percent of all franchise taxes collected before 2006, when a massive tax swap was passed to allow the state to escape a school finance lawsuit. Today, the smallest businesses are off the hook. And there has been other relief granted, the manufacturers group noted.

But it warns that increasing property tax bills “will soon scare away future business and industry growth.” That is in its position paper on property tax.

The old franchise tax zapped manufacturers and refineries because it taxed assets. They have lots of assets. The 2006 changes, by contrast, not only reached out to bring under the tax limited partnerships and professional associations, it shifted some of the burden away from capital-intensive industries. Some of that fell on the retail and service sectors of the Texas economy. So the manufacturers association is quite happy, thank you. Please, refrain from further nibbling around the edges of the margins tax, it all but said Wednesday.

For those following the early tax-cut posturing, there are two lessons here: 1) It’s not about personality. While at first blush the manufacturers might appear to favor Patrick’s emphasis over Abbott’s, they actually don’t like some of Patrick’s ideas, either. For instance, their paper warned of a “split tax roll,” where either homeowners or businesses are treated differently. Patrick has strongly backed tighter caps on growth in home appraisals, which industry fears would shift more of the local property tax burden on it. 2) It’s about the bottom line. That varies by sector and by individual company. Which is what makes tax fights so much fun.

“Texas is the No. 1 state to do business,” said association president Tony Bennett. “We look forward to working with Texas lawmakers to keep Texas on top.”

Of course, everyone has a different prescription on how to do that.

Senator again proposes limiting regents’ power

Sen. Kel Seliger, R-Amarillo, Chairman of the Senate Redistricting committee leads a hearing, Thursday, May 30, 2013, in Austin, Texas. Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott wants lawmakers to adopt the court's maps as a bid to pre-empt yet another set of maps that could further hurt Republican candidates. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

AUSTIN—Republican Sen. Kel Seliger filed on Wednesday a bill that limits regents’ authority to fire a university president, requires more rigorous training for regents and clarifies a university’s autonomy in certain management areas.

Gov. Rick Perry vetoed a similar bill in 2013.

Bills filed now could be considered in the upcoming session, which convenes in January.

The proposed legislation comes after years of dust-ups between some members of the governor-appointed University of Texas System Board of Regents and UT-Austin President Bill Powers.

For more than a year, a House panel conducted an investigation into the actions of UT Regent Wallace Hall. Hall had been waging a personal investigation of Powers and lawmaker influence in the admissions process at the flagship. The UT system commissioned an outside investigation into admissions practices following Hall’s accusations. That inquiry is ongoing.

In August, the House committee voted to censure Hall for misconduct, leaving impeachment on the table depending on the result of a criminal investigation into Hall’s behavior.

Critics, including many lawmakers, have called Hall’s efforts a “witch-hunt” to oust Powers, who has clashed with some regents on higher education issues such as research and tuition.

Hall has said his actions were within the bounds of his role as a regent.

The Amarillo Republican’s bill makes clear the autonomy granted to university campuses and administrators. Regents must “defend each institution’s right to manage its own affairs through its chosen administrators,” it says. Additionally, it says that regents must “ensure that the powers and duties of the board are not controlled by a minority of its members or by organizations or interests that are separate from the board.”

The bill says regents cannot fire a university president without a recommendation from the chancellor.

Seliger co-sponsored a similar bill last session, which passed with bipartisan support in both the House and Senate. Perry vetoed that bill. Perry said then that a “lack of board oversight…diminishes accountability and provides fertile ground for organizational malfeasance.”

Top leaders endorse streamlining of Texas social services

Kyle Janek, Texas health and human services executive commissioner, speaks at Oct. 17 news conference to discuss Texas’ Ebola prevention efforts, as Gov. Rick Perry listens. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

A key lawmaker and a top appointee of Gov. Rick Perry agree with an efficiency review recommending that Texas’ five existing social services agencies should be merged into one.

Senate Finance Committee Chairwoman Jane Nelson, who also is chairwoman of the Sunset Advisory Commission, and social services czar Kyle Janek said Wednesday that they see merit in the argument of commission staff that currently, there is too much fragmentation in programs such as Medicaid, mental health and women’s health.

Nelson appointed a work group to fine-tune the proposal to consolidate the five agencies. The sunset commission, which periodically looks at whether state agencies deserve to be continued, won’t vote on a final recommendation until Dec. 10.

Still, Nelson and Janek’s comments were a boost for the plan. As I reported in this story last month, when sunset recommendations on the Health and Human Services Commission were released, a veteran Democratic lawmaker said the streamlining proposal “lends itself to more political decisions,” because it would consolidate more power under the governor.

On Wednesday, though, Janek said the proposal would clarify lines of authority and make it easier for Texas families to find the services they need without having to approach multiple departments.

“We can move some of the barriers out of the way,” he said.

Nelson, a Flower Mound Republican, also was supportive.

“Overall, sunset [staff] has made a very good case for consolidation,” she said.

Rep. Richard Peña Raymond, D-Brownsville, asked Janek if he would be around to make things go smoothly, if lawmakers buy into the consolidation plan. As Raymond noted, that depends on Gov.-elect Greg Abbott’s keeping Janek as executive commissioner of the Health and Human Services Commission.

Janek said he hasn’t “had a conversation with Gov.-elect Abbott on this subject so far.”

But he added, “If so honored, yes, I’ll stick around in this job.”

Raymond later asked a similar question of Family and Protective Services Commissioner John Specia, whose department would be downgraded to a division if the consolidation plan is embraced.

Specia, a former Bexar County family court judge, said consolidation would reduce fragmentation — and wouldn’t run him off.

“It doesn’t matter what you call me, I’m still just called judge,” he joked.

Flores vies for Republican Study Committee chair; Gohmert lags in 3-way race

Rep. Louie Gohmert is one of three candidates for chairman of the Republican Study Committee. (Alex Wong/Getty)

WASHINGTON – The race to chair the Republican Study Committee for the 114th Congress is down to three candidates, including two Texans.

Bill Flores of Bryan, Louie Gohmert of Tyler, and Mick Mulvaney of South Carolina are running for chairman of the influential conservative bloc, according to an RSC aide.

The Hill reports today that Flores and Mulvaney are the two main contenders, with Mulvaney leading, and Gohmert a distant third.

The RSC chairman is not an official member of House Republican leadership. But more than two-thirds of House Republicans are members, including every Texan.

Gohmert, who is known for his outspoken and sometimes outlandish style, announced his candidacy in June.

The same month, Flores told The News that “Louie has said a lot of things publicly that I think could cause him some heartburn with the Republican Study Committee as a whole.”

Previous RSC chairmen have risen to other leadership positions.

Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana gave up the chairmanship this summer to become Majority Whip, the No. 3 spot in the House. The position became open after former House Majority Leader Eric Cantor lost a primary in Virginia and resigned.

Rep. Jeb Hensarling of Dallas chaired the RSC from 2007 through 2008. He went on to chair the House Republican Conference from 2011 to 2013 –the No. 4 post — and now chairs the House Financial Services Committee.

Hensarling is backing Mulvaney in the RSC election, according to The Hill. The election will be held on Tuesday, Nov. 18.

The group favors a conservative agenda. Its main policy initiatives include a simplified tax code, repealing the Affordable Care Act, and increasing defense spending.

Cornyn welcomes GOP reinforcements to Senate

Sen. John Cornyn meets Wednesday with newly elected senators. (Office of John Cornyn)

WASHINGTON — Lots of new faces today at the Capitol, and many of them are beaming. Senators-elect met with Texas Sen. John Cornyn today — the reinforcements needed to change his title from minority whip to majority whip.

They also met with soon-to-be Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.

Orientation for newcomers to the House and Senate begins today. They get sworn in just after New Year’s. Three new Texas Republicans are joining the House: John Ratcliffe of Heath, Will Hurd of San Antonio, and Brian Babin of Woodville. Ratcliffe ousted GOP Rep. Ralph Hall of Rockwall in the primary. Hurd unseated freshman Democratic Rep. Pete Gallego of Alpine last week. And Babin will replace Rep. Steve Stockman, who gave up his Houston-area seat to challenge Cornyn in the primary.

 

 

For the new first couple of Texas, Thursday is doubly special

IMG_0964.JPG

Gov.-elect Greg Abbott turns 57 on Thursday.

It’s also the birthday of his wife, Cecilia, the lady in the white jacket in the photo above. She turns 55.

When a reporter on Tuesday yelled to ask Greg Abbott what he planned to do on his birthday this week, Cecilia, who was standing behind him, quipped, “I’d like to know.”

Having the same birthday as his wife does put pressure on him to make it special, Greg Abbott acknowledged.

Presumably, it’s even more pressure now, as she prepares for life in the fishbowl as Texas’ soon-to-be first lady.

“I will spend my birthday taking my wife out to some place where I will not see any of you all,” he told reporters gathered in the historic Texas Supreme Court chambers in the state Capitol.

At his just-concluded news conference in that grand room, Abbott repeated his campaign vow that he will unite a geographically and ethnically diverse state.

As governor-elect, he noted, his first huddle with lawmakers was with the legislative black caucus (on Sunday). His first trip was to the Rio Grande Valley (on Tuesday). And his first nomination was Cameron County Judge Carlos Cascos as Texas secretary of state (also Tuesday). Cascos came to this country from Mexico at age 7. He became a U.S. citizen as an adolescent and went on to a successful career as a certified public accountant and rising South Texas politico.

Abbott also fielded a reporter’s question on immigration, warning President Barack Obama not to assume “dictatorial powers” with an overreaching executive order in coming weeks. Perhaps Abbott’s most interesting comments, though, came in response to a query about whether he favors repeal or changes to the state franchise or “margins tax.”

The short answer: He’d sure like to. But the nuances are important, especially in light of Lt. Gov.-elect Dan Patrick’s apparent determination to make property tax relief his top priority.

In Wednesday’s paper, I had this story about Abbott’s tax-cut comments.

Despite losing big in the Lone Star State, Battleground Texas says it will be back in 2016

The head of Battleground Texas is telling supporters that despite an Election Day-shellacking, the group plans to stay put for the next round of elections in 2016. In a memo posted on the group’s website, executive director Jenn Brown says Battleground Texas is analyzing what went wrong.  “I know that the losses last week were tough, and there has been a lot of negativity in the aftermath of the election. But I want you to look forward with me. Because we have work to do,” said Brown.

Jenn Brown, executive director of Battleground Texas

Battleground Texas was the creation of Obama campaign operatives who pledged to turn red-state Texas blue by identifying, registering and turning out Democratic voters. The group said it would use techniques learned in President’s Obama’s successful campaign efforts, especially in Ohio, and apply them to Texas. There’s little evidence any of that worked. The group promised to boost turnout among Hispanics. Turnout actually dropped. The group acted as the field operation for Democratic gubernatorial hopeful Wendy Davis and targeted women voters .  Republican Greg Abbott beat Davis among women by nine points. Davis ended up winning only 16 of the state’s 254 counties – and lost big counties like Bexar and Harris where Davis campaign allies said Battleground Texas said it had an active voter-turnout program. Davis lost to Abbott by 20 percentage points – the worst showing by a Democrat governor candidate in 16 years.

“Republicans (and even some Democrats) are calling Battleground Texas a ‘failure,’” Brown wrote. She said volunteers have been sent a survey for feedback. She said the organization will run a computer program to determine who didn’t vote and will call many of them to ask why.

“We’ll develop a plan that ensures we are as effective as possible in the years to come,” she said. “Many of you have already shared your great ideas with us. I’ve heard from people who completed just one volunteer shift, and I’ve heard from our biggest donors, and they all want this to continue.”

A top Texas Democrat says “there might be some accommodation” for Battleground Texas to assist in the 2016 presidential race, “but they will not run the grassroots program in Texas.” The group’s biggest financial donors – Houston trial lawyers Steve and Amber Mostyn – are founders of the Ready for Hillary super-PAC anticipating a 2016 presidential bid by Hillary Clinton. If Clinton does run and the Mostyns continue to bankroll Battleground Texas, the effort could operate alongside a program administrated by Democratic veterans who know the state.

According to another top Democratic organizer, Battleground Texas failed so completely to organize in the state’s two most populous counties – Dallas and Harris – with its volunteer corps that the Wendy Davis camp had to step in in the final weeks. One person close to Battleground Texas said it’s untrue that the Davis camp had to step in to bolster field operations in Dallas and Harris counties in the final couple of weeks.  According to Davis campaign insiders, Battleground Texas relied on unpaid volunteers rather than augmenting the effort with paid workers. The model, which worked in Ohio, didn’t work in working-class areas like South Texas and urban strongholds. Davis raised money for her campaign field operation and Battleground Texas spent it. According to campaign finance reports, nearly $400,000 went to a Chicago consulting firm, 270 Strategies, headed by Jeremy Bird, who helped create Battleground Texas. The Austin American-Statesman reported that $1 million went to consultants. In her memo, Brown said Texas Democrats, like counterparts across the country, fell victim to a GOP wave that toppled Democratic candidates in many states.