Political scientists have long used roll call votes cast by members of the U.S. Congress to plot the legislators on the Liberal-Conservative dimension along which most legislative politics in our nation’s capitol (as well as in Austin) now takes place.… Continue Reading
The Texas Legislature did not pass legislation to ban and prevent the existence of “sanctuary cities” for undocumented immigrants in Texas during the May-June special session which ended yesterday, just as it did not pass the legislation during the January-May… Continue Reading
Over the past month, the prospect of Texas Governor Rick Perry running for president has appeared more likely with each passing day. As the governor has evaluated the current field of Republican presidential candidates (both announced and flirting with the… Continue Reading
This week, House Bill 12, the “Sanctuary Cities” bill, passed away in the Texas Senate’s Transportation and Homeland Security Committee. HB 12 would have effectively banned so-called sanctuary cities, which critics say provide a safe haven to illegal immigrants in… Continue Reading
Two years ago, despite being the “minority” party, Democrats in the Texas House of Representatives had a profound impact on the legislative process due to their informal power-sharing agreement with Republican Speaker Joe Straus. Reflective of the high degree of… Continue Reading
The Texas House has now been in session for 90 days, with a total of 266 roll call votes that were at least minimally contested taking place during this period. Here I utilize these votes to provide an update of… Continue Reading
This past Friday marked the 60th day of the 2011 Regular Session of the Texas House of Representatives. During this period the House held roll call votes on several procedural and internal housekeeping matters as well as on HB 15… Continue Reading