TSCPA Governmental Affairs

TSCPA recognized by the legislature

Upwards of 200 TSCPA members were on hand at the Capitol yesterday to hear the House and Senate to declare it TSCPA Day.

Read all about it.

Ice cream (you scream) at the Capitol

It’s not all work and no play at the Capitol: Rep. Joe Pickett (D-El Paso) serves ice cream in his office.  I’ll be you didn’t expect to find a Capitol office that looks like an ice cream parlor.

Check out the fun story in the Austin American-Statesman.

Silver-Haired Legislature

Their votes don’t make law, but a group of citizens aged 60 and older elect representatives from 117 districts across the state to come to Austin and articulate the issues they want the official legislature to address.  Legislators know that senior citizens vote, and they courteously listen to the silver-hairs' concerns about health care, property taxes and transportation. The seniors are also concerned about electric utility regulation and eminent domain issues.

Check out the full story as reported in the San Antonio Express-News.

CPA Senator Tommy Williams leads fight for voter ID

The Texas House of Representatives opened in peaceful harmony with the unanimous election of Joe Straus (R-San Antonio) as the new Speaker. By contrast, the normally collegial Senate opened with a partisan fight over Senate rules and voter ID legislation.

In an evening session the Senate voted to exempt voter ID legislation from the long-standing two-thirds rule, which would have required agreement by two-thirds of the chamber to bring a bill to the floor. Senator Tommy Williams (R-Woodlands), a TSCPA member, led the effort to exempt the voter ID bill from this requirement.

Read more about it in today's Austin-American Statesman.

Findings of the Business Tax Advisory Committee

Included in the legislation making technical corrections to the margin tax in the 2007 session was formation of the Business Tax Advisory Committee. The group is charged with studying the impact of the margin tax on state businesses every biennium.

Five TSCPA members serve on the Business Tax Advisory Committee.

The BTAC's first review of the margin tax has just been published; read the report and TSCPA's analysis here.

Combs release revenue estimate

Comptroller Susan Combs has released her revenue estimate, i.e., the numbers legislators will be working with when session convenes tomorrow.

Read the revenue report here.

Combs estimates $77 billion available for general spending, which amounts to a 10.5% decrease from the last biennium.

89% of expected revenue will be derived from taxes. Of those taxes, sales tax accounts for 65% of the total.

DIGEST: Joe Straus as new Speaker of the Texas House

Austin American-Statesman: The Joe Straus era begins

Dallas Morning News: New Texas speaker to shift House dynamic toward middle

Fort Worth Star-Telegram: Straus' Texas House speaker rivals withdraw bids

Houston Chronicle: Straus' victory appears certain as speaker foe bails

San Antonio Express-News: Speaker contest a one-man race

The end of an era

By now you've likely heard that Rep. Tom Craddick (R-Midland) has dropped out of the Speaker's race.

Today's Austin American-Statesman offers a good digest of the story here.

Will today be the day?

Will today be the day THE opposition Speaker candidate is selected? Eleven ABC (Anybody But Craddick) Republican legislators are meeting in an undisclosed location to select their consensus candidate to run against Speaker Craddick for the Speaker of the House on Jan. 13, 2009. Pundits have speculated that Craddick’s biggest advantage is that his opponents cannot agree on a single candidate. Will that change by the end of the day?

Read more about it in this story from today's Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

Speaker’s race blankets the news

Amidst the stories of bowl games and New Year’s resolutions, newspapers across the state are enamored with the upcoming election of the Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives. With more challengers announcing every day, speculation is rife in Austin and evidently everywhere else.

If your home town paper is not mentioned, look for an article any day now.

Houston Chronicle: ANOTHER REPUBLICAN CHALLENGES CRADDICK

El Paso Times:  EL PASO LEGISLATORS VOW TO NOT VOTE FOR CRADDICK

KWTX: HOUSE SPEAKER RACE HEATING UP

Fort Worth Star-Telegram: THE SPEAKER

WFAA: DEBATE QUESTIONS CRADDICK'S HOLD ON SPEAKER POSITION

Dallas Morning News: CRADDICK'S GRIP ON POWER AS TEXAS HOUSE SPEAKER TO BE TESTED AGAIN

Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: AMARILLO LAWMAKER LOOKS AT CHALLENGING CRADDICK

Austin American-Statesman: CRADDICK FOES CLAIM NUMBERS THAT WOULD END HIS REIGN AS TEXAS SPEAKER