TX Progessives get you past a sine die: Abbott's signature awaited on many bills

The Texas Progressive Alliance thinks pardoning war criminals, or fighting dumb wars, was a lousy way to celebrate Memorial Day, and that the Texas Legislature having a banana republic every other year legislature that ends on Memorial Day, is also a bad idea, as it brings you this week's roundup.

With that, dig in!

The Lege and Texas politics

The Trib has a list of winners and losers from the session, omitting that the average Texans, whether he or she knows it or not, is the biggest loser, screwed by our banana republic Lege.

Better Texas Blog has another roundup and importantly notes that the Lege's buy-down of local property taxes offers no sustainable funding mechanism in the future. And, since the state Supremes said four years ago that our current school funding system is constitutional, we'll be at hell in a handbasket space again in a few years.

Off the Kuff calls legislation that would greatly ease third party ballot access an "odd bill." Yours truly has a detailed rundown of HB 2554 and its benefits as well as its faults, in what is definitely not an "odd bill" from this perspective. Brains calls his take "elitist (from a) Democratic party suck-up."

David Bruce Collins reports a second Green Party unit has formed in Harris County. Stay tuned, with the state convention being June 8-9.

The Texas Observer called Speaker Dennis Bonnen a big fat hypocrite on school finance over the Chapter 313 program.

Better Texas Blog explains its opposition to SB2.

Texas Vox decries the Lege's inaction on preventing chemical fires.

The Observer says that open-government advocates await Gov. Greg Abbott’s signing HB 943, which would close some loopholes in open records law. 

Dallas and environs

SocraticGadfly looked at the latest woes of the Dallas Morning News.

Stephen Young reports Dallas suburbs continue to boom.

The City of Dallas, with restrictions, has put the old Bobby Lee statute up for sale. (Short of using the power of a building permit or zoning regs, I don't think any of the restrictions are legally enforceable on First Amendment grounds.)

Houston and other cities

The Texas Observer also profiles Tony Buzbee, potentially Sylvester Turner’s top challenger as Houston mayor.


Other Texas

The Lunch Tray gives context to a recent "lunch shaming" story.

Kam Franklin begs you to help keep stage musicians safe from audience members.

Harry Hamid talks of fighting lymphoma.

A fire that began in Mexico jumped the border and hit Big Bend, damaging the Castolon Visitor Center and other old buildings.

Your newest cellphone's connectivity could interfere with how much it can tell you about a potential next Hurricane Harvey.

National and beyond

The Dallas Observer reports on striking McDonald’s workers protesting their shareholders’ meeting.

Jim Schutze says that Millennials are looking deeper into politics, and for more meaning, than previous generations. He spoils the piece, though, by using as his 2020 focal points Biden and Beto, and seeming to have an almost hard-on bromance for Beto, ignoring the likes of Bernie Sanders within Dems and ignoring kids' interest in the non-duopoly entirely.