State board votes to tap Texas' public education fund to help build charter schools

Stutz reports:

AUSTIN – A sharply divided State Board of Education opened the door today to tapping the state's education trust fund for charter school facilities, despite warnings that the action could harm the fund. Pushed by the board's social conservative bloc, the decision could allow up to $100 million of the Permanent School Fund to be used to construct or purchase buildings that would be leased to some of the state's 460 independent charter schools.
http://dallasne.ws/b1giNx

Video: Rep. Joe Barton apologizes to BP, accuses White House of "shakedown"

Gillman:

Texas Rep. Joe Barton's apology this morning to the BP CEO, Tony Hayward, for the "political pressure" his company has faced after the Gulf oil spill has caused a ruckus.
http://tinyurl.com/27bjegf

Top GOP lawyer to represent Texas Green Party in Democrats' lawsuit

Slater reports:
http://tinyurl.com/233p3zu
A top Republican lawyer has been hired to represent the Green Party in a lawsuit in which Democrats want to know who bankrolled a petition drive to put the party on the ballot.

Wayne broke it earlier in our Trail Blazers blog -- interesting to see the rewrite process:
http://tinyurl.com/233p3zu

AUSTIN — A top Republican lawyer has been hired to represent the Texas Green Party against efforts to identify a mystery donor who paid to put the party on the fall ballot.




 

Contractor dropped appliance rebate calls from Texas consumers, comptroller says

Stutz reports:
AUSTIN – More than three-fourths of Texans who called seeking appliance rebates from the state this month had their calls dropped by the contractor who handled the program, according to the state comptroller.

In response to an open records request from The Dallas Morning News, Comptroller Susan Combs reported Thursday that nearly 78 percent of calls from people trying to reserve rebates for energy-efficient appliances were dropped with no courtesy message or other acknowledgement.
http://tinyurl.com/2afa83g

Texas has lots of reasons not to follow in Arizona's footsteps

Hoppe looks at the practical politics:

AUSTIN – Rick Perry wants an Arizona-style immigration bill here like a hole in his cabeza.

The Arizona law is serving as a rallying point for Republicans and others fed up with illegal immigration, but it also could provoke a surge of Hispanic voters.

Perry already has hard-line Republicans in his corner. And he would prefer that Democrat Bill White, who speaks fluent Spanish and has campaigned hard in South Texas, not have a potent racial issue for their fall battle.
http://tinyurl.com/29o6pp5

State legislators told of HOA fines, foreclosure threats

Garrett reports:

AUSTIN – Lawmakers say they have tried to write laws in recent years to prevent homeowners associations from gouging and abusing property owners, but more might need to be done.

On Monday, outraged homeowners told a Texas House panel they've been threatened with huge fines and possible foreclosure for what they described as minor infractions of association rules.
http://tinyurl.com/y6rez3q

Lines are drawn over plans for Battleship Texas at San Jacinto state historic park

Tom Benning reports:

An enormous dreadnought battleship sits near the spot where some of Sam Houston's troops camped at San Jacinto Battleground before the stunning upset that secured Texas' independence 174 years ago.

Disorienting from a purely historical perspective, the famous Battleship Texas is nonetheless a welcome sight to a broad coalition of state officials, local leaders and history buffs. In the more than 60 years since the battleship retired to a slip at San Jacinto Battleground State Historic Site, the two pieces of Texas lore have together become an integral part of the local fabric at the park and along the Houston Ship Channel.
http://tinyurl.com/y69ckc3