Items of Interest Compiled by Arnold Public Affairs

• Only 21 days left before the start of the new 82nd Legislature…
• The Republicans now have what Governor Perry calls a mega-majority with 101…Dan Neil is challenging the results of the election between he and Donna Howard in Austin. If he is successful he’ll be the 102nd Republican.
• The judicial scorecard for the Obama Health Care Plan is now 2 federal judges upholding the law and 1 federal judge overturning the mandate to purchase insurance
• CBS’ “Sixty Minutes” ran a program last night about state budget shortfalls across the country and the potential for a million more unemployed people as a result of necessary cutbacks
• To date, 718 bills and resolutions have been filed.

We will resume these weekly reports the first week of January. Have a wonderful holiday season and we look forward to working with you in the New Year!

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Democrats Aaron Peña of Edinburg and Allan Ritter of Nederland defected to the Republican Party this afternoon
“After 22 new freshman Republicans are sworn in next month, the flips will give the GOP 100 votes in the Texas House; an election for an open seat is being held today in a district widely expected to elect a 101st Republican…”
(The original article comes from Texas Weekly).

Texas Attorney General Reacts to Health Care Reform Ruling
“A federal court’s ruling on Monday declaring parts of federal health care reform unconstitutional elicited plenty of reaction in Texas, which is part of a separate attempt to repeal the new law. Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott says it, along with a few cases still to be heard, will help repeal efforts. ‘As a result, these cases are going to work their way up through the appellate system…’”
(View complete article at Texas Tribune).

Texas Public Education System Gets a Solid “C”
“A national report card of state education systems that combines performance, standards and efficiency ranks Texas somewhere in the middle of the pack, behind states like Arizona, California and Colorado. Chairs Sen. Florence Shapiro (R-Plano) and Rep. Rob Eissler (R-The Woodlands) already have deemed “efficiency” the byword of the upcoming session…”
(View complete article at the Quorum Report).

Republicans Confident of Passing Texas Voter ID Bill
As politically emboldened Republicans predict almost certain enactment of a voter identification law in the 2011 Legislature, the House point man on the issue is pushing a measure patterned after one of the most stringent voter ID laws in the country. House Elections Committee Chairman Todd Smith of Euless, who was at the center of a partisan brawl over voter ID during the 2009 Legislature, has introduced legislation that would require voters to show a photo ID to cast ballots. HB401, modeled after a Georgia law, would also authorize creation of a voter identification card, which would be among the approved ID forms.
(View complete article at the Star Telegram).