Weeks is executive director of Austin Voices for Education and Youth, a non-profit organization dedicated to school reform. Before moving to Austin from the Washington, D.C., area, he taught high school for 15 years, so he knows something about the importance of quality education. His passion for saving Texas schools is consuming and, he hopes, contagious.

QUESTION: Who will be speaking at the Capitol when the Save Texas Schools March becomes the Rally at noon?

WEEKS: We’ve got an incredible main speaker — Diane Ravitch. She’s a professor at New York University and the top authority on education reform in the United States today. Teachers who are coming from all over the state are excited that she’s speaking. In the early ‘90s, she created the testing accountability movement at Department of Education, but looked at the data later and said it just doesn’t work. She’s the greatest critic nationally of what we’re doing in testing and accountability.

We also have former TEA Commissioner Robert Scott, who resigned last summer and is a critic of the testing system. And we’ll have some great superintendents, parents, teachers, students and business leaders.

QUESTION: Remind people, who may have forgotten, the consequences of the $5.4 billion cuts in the 2011 session.

WEEKS: First, it’s not that we don’t have good schools in Texas. We have good schools, but they’re dying. Texas is down at the bottom nationally in our support for public education.

People think if schools are still open, we must be OK, but statewide they’re not OK. Waco has closed nine schools, Dallas closed eleven, and there are brand new buildings sitting empty because districts can’t afford the staffs. We have huge class sizes, especially in middle and high schools. Teachers are leaving because they can’t handle the class load; they’re wearing out. We’ve had to cut a lot of our support for special needs kids, and some libraries are serving two and three campuses. It’s not what we should expect of the education system.

Governor Perry says we’ve doubled education funding, but that doesn’t take into account that we’ve added 80,000 kids and inflation has gone up. PolitiFact says we are actually funding 25 percent less and shrinking.

QUESTION: Perry and his Republican allies don’t seem to be interested in spending on education. They’re talking tax cuts! Is it too late for schools?

WEEKS: In 2011, we supposedly had a big emergency, so they cut the budget. But now we find out that the Comptroller got the numbers wrong, and we actually came out of the last biennium with an $8.8 billion surplus. And $5.4 billion of that came from education cuts, so it would be logical to give it back. As a state, we need to stand up for that.

In the last week some ideas have been floated, and one is to hold hostage any support for using the Rainy Day Fund for water and transportation. They will need some pro-schools votes for that to pass, and we want to see $2 billion — as a starting point — put back into education before that money is spent for anything else. That seems like our best strategy.

QUESTION: Judge Dietz recently ruled Texas school funding unconstitutional. Will that help push the legislature to restore funding?

WEEKS: I don’t think it changed the minds of Republicans who didn’t like public schools before the ruling. They don’t like the word “public” in anything. Their whole mission is to shrink government, and public schools in their minds are government. They’re going to put off spending any money on this as long as they can.

QUESTION: How can put pressure on the Legislature to do the right thing?

WEEKS: We need a momentum changer, a large enough event that it changes the conversation. In 2011, we had 13,000 people from all over the state participate in the rally. People seem confused now. They think everything will be OK because of the court case, but we won’t see a dime of that ruling for two years — and that’s if it’s successful on appeal.

We need 20,000 people to come, and we need lots of people from Travis County. People will be driving for seven hours in the middle of the night to get here. We just need people in Travis County to drive seven minutes. Get out of bed Saturday morning and bring some people. If Travis County Democrats each bring 10 people, we’ll get to 20,000, and that will be a momentum changer. This will be a case where people who care about their kids — or anybody’s kids — to say Perry really has gone too far, he doesn’t care about children.

(contact: diane@traviscountydemocrats.org)

Born in Kenya, she and her family moved from Nairobi to Botswana to the United States when she was 14. Her parents live in Denton now, and she has a brother and a sister. Ogenche’s extended family still lives in Kenya, and despite a slim chance that she could be related to President Obama’s father, she says (laughing) that she’s “pretty sure” she’s not.

“More than anything, my parents wanted me and my siblings to have much better opportunities than we had in Africa,” she says. “We had a wonderful life, but not the same as the extraordinary opportunities we have here.”

A public health and government major, Ogenche is actively involved with University Democrats (vice-president last spring) and hopes to go to UT Law after graduation and some real-life experiences. Even early in the morning, she’s cheerful and energetic. With the election coming February 27 and 28, good cheer and energy are great campaign tools.

QUESTION: Why are you running for Student Body President?

OGENCHE: I decided to run because I knew I could do it. So many people like me are not represented, and I thought that needed to change. It’s not just going to be me coming into that leadership position. There would be a diverse community coming with me that will bring a different perspective and background than the tradition we have in student government now.

QUESTION: What are the issues that your campaign is highlighting?

OGENCHE: The biggest thing is affordability, and that’s true for everybody, regardless of economics or race. It’s increasingly more expensive to attend a fist-class university. It’s a huge financial strain on me and my family. I want to work with the city of Austin on the cost of housing on West campus.

Almost a third of off-campus students — approximately 15,000 to 17,000 of the — live in the Riverside Drive area, and they should have access to the university resources you would have if you lived on campus or West campus. It’s a huge number, and we would like to have a student center. By showing the University and the city the problem, I think we can get the project started. That’s how we got the shuttle and the 24-hour library — by convincing the University that there’s a need.

QUESTION: In your opinion, what is the current state of race relations at UT? There have been some isolated but ugly incidents and accusations.

OGENCHE: Especially recently on campus, there have been tensions as far as race relations. But I also think in spite of some serious problems, we have lot of students trying to bridge those differences. It starts with integrating ourselves into the community, and I’m trying to do that. There’s still room for improvement, but the situation is getting better. I’m very optimistic about the direction UT is going.

QUESTION: Are you only Democrat running for Student Body President?

OGENCH: As far as I know, I’m running against one other person. (Tuesday is the filing deadline.) He’s a fraternity guy, well-off and well-connected. He’s typical of the people who usually win student government elections. He’s really nice and a friend of mine. We just have a different philosophy of leadership. He doesn’t necessarily see the problems we have on campus.

QUESTION: How did you first get interested in politics?

OGENCHE: When I was real young, my Dad was interested in American politics. We would watch CNN together. I was completely fascinated by American politics as I grew up. I remember watching the ’04 convention when then-Senator Barack Obama spoke. I was completely enthralled, and I was like 12. He was African-American and had a name like mine, so it was really inspiring. When we moved here, his election was the first campaign I worked on, making phone calls. When I saw him get elected, that definitely changed my perspective about what an ordinary person can do.

QUESTION: That’s a nice photo of the two of you. When did you meet him?

OGENCHE: I met him last July when he was here for a fundraiser. I was Vice President of UDems, so I got to meet him and have the picture taken. He’s a remarkable person … I definitely teared up.

QUESTION: Do you plan to stay involved, maybe run for office someday?

OGENCHE: I’m not an American, so I can’t go much further. I would really like to work in public policy. I’m really passionate about that. If I become American citizen, that would be wonderful, but I don’t really see that happening.

Now Davis is turning his activism to saving Texas’s breathtaking public beauty from a funding crisis that could devastate our state parks. As director of Keep Texas Parks Open, he is organizing a movement to restore funding from the disastrous budget cuts of the 2011 legislative session.

In real life, Davis is married to Amy Everhart (Mayor Leffingwell’s policy director), and the power couple rarely misses a political event. At our Inauguration Watch Party, Reed made the front page of the newspaper, gazing up at President Obama on the big-screen TV at Scholz Biergarten.

QUESTION: Talk about the legislative budget threat to our state parks.

DAVIS: It dates back to the 2011 legislative session, when agencies across the board had budget cuts. Texas Parks & Wildlife lost 100 employees and had its budget cut 17 percent. We’ve been cut to the bone, so in order to keep parks open, Parks & Wildlife put in a 2013 budget increase request (of about $18.9 million) to avoid the closure of as many as 20 state parks. The initial House and Senate budget proposals (with an increase of $6.9 million), unfortunately, fall far short and could result in seven or more park closures.

QUESTION: There’s a policy issue involved in this crisis, right?

DAVIS: The central policy issue is diversion of money from the sporting goods sales tax. The 1993 legislature dedicated a portion of that to fund state parks. It will generate $65 million over the next biennium, but three-fourths of that likely will be diverted. We want the funds that are dedicated to parks to go to parks. The sales tax is an adequate solution, but it needs to be used for what it was intended, instead of being diverted from its intended purpose.

QUESTION: Tell us about the Keep Texas Parks Open. What exactly is it and what are its goals?

DAVIS: It’s a non-profit grassroots movement. The main thing we’ll be doing this spring is organizing town halls across the state. We have a use and a need for regular volunteers to help spread the word. At this point, the budgets are only proposals, so there’s reason for optimism. The more people learn about the threat of state park closures, the more they get upset and want to do something. So we need to organize and educate people now.

QUESTION: Why is it so urgent?

DAVIS: It takes a decade to plan to open and maintain a park, so it would be hugely devastating to close a park. It takes a long time to get it back up and running. With Texas’ population booming and people moving to the urban core, state parks are even more valuable as a way to experience Texas. So much of Texas land is privately owned that keeping state parks is key.

QUESTION: Are any of our Central Texas parks at risk of closure?

DAVIS: There’s no indication at this point of which ones would be closed, but we do have state parks in Central Texas. We’re fortunate to have McKinney Falls close to downtown Austin, and that’s a great opportunity for people to escape the city hustle. And there’s Bastrop, of course, that still needs millions to recover from the wildfires.

QUESTION: What are your personal experiences with parks in Texas?

DAVIS: My Dad was an Eagle Scout, and my Mom went to state parks, too. Growing up, we went to over 30 state parks. We went back and counted. We could never afford to go to Disney World, but we could afford to go to state parks. It was a fun way for kids to just be kids. Particularly for me, Bastrop State Park, McKinney Falls and Stephen F. Austin were important because our family had our annual Thanksgiving dinners the parks. We still rotate among those three parks. On top of that, my cousin got married at Bastrop State Park. It would be a loss in the family if any of them closed.

QUESTION: Your group’s Facebook page urges supporters to write letters to the editor, attend the statewide town hall meetings (starting in Spring) and share updates on social media. Anything else?

DAVIS: We will need lots of volunteers as we gear up for the town halls, and we just need to get everybody educated and involved. You can tell people to contact me for more information — Ian@keeptexsparksopen.com.

So we asked him to send us his “State of the State,” which we are certain more accurately reflects reality than whatever Governor Rick Perry espouses in his address Tuesday.

From Senator Watson:

The folks in control of the Capitol talk a lot about Texas’ hot economy. And the fact that people are working and thriving here speaks very well of the workers and employers who are helping to fuel Texas’ prosperity.

But it’s a problem when politicians try to take credit for others’ success.

Worse still is when these so-called leaders cite the economy as they seek to undermine the very things that help Texans proceed down the path to prosperity.

Texas needs good schools, colleges and universities. We need reliable water supplies and transportation networks. We need efficient and effective hospitals, clinics and nursing homes. And we demand an open, honest budget that reflects our state’s real needs and the cost of meeting them.

In all of these areas, Texas can do much better than it’s been doing, and Texans deserve much better than they’ve been getting.

The legacy of the 2011 legislative session, as we now know, is one of mistakes. The first was the stunning revelation this month that two years ago, the Comptroller misjudged the state’s revenue collections by roughly $8.8 billion.

Had we known in 2011 what the Texas economy would truly produce, the legislature might have avoided its next great mistake: the effort by those in control to balance the budget on the backs of our state’s schools and its teachers. It’s unconscionable that more than half of Texas school districts are suing the state over a school finance system that’s inequitable for our people and inadequate for our needs and our economy.

A third error was one that those in control of the legislature have been perpetuating for more than a decade: the reliance on debt, diversions, deception and denial in the state budget. Years of tricks and gimmicks have created an honesty deficit in the state’s finances. Those were taken to new extremes in the current budget: roughly $5 billion that Texans paid the state to support specific priorities such as parks, clean air and hospital funding has been diverted to cover other needs.

Such actions have made it harder and harder for those in control to even acknowledge the challenges facing our state. Look no further than the rosy depictions of state education funding that have been demolished by fact checkers again and again.

Now, we’re hearing many of those who are responsible for so many of these issues bragging about an alleged budget surplus. Don’t believe it.

If your state isn’t paying its bills, you don’t have a surplus.

If your state ranks near the bottom in vital necessities like education funding and health care, you don’t have a surplus.

If most of your state’s school districts are suing you over an inadequate and inequitable school finance system, you don’t have a surplus.

And if there’s an honesty deficit in the way your state balances its books, you don’t have a surplus.

So this must not be the session where those in control double-down on past mistakes. Instead, it offers the opportunity to right the wrongs of the past and start making the investments that Texas businesses need us to make.

Let’s reform state government with honest accounting and greater transparency. Let’s make clear the challenges that Texas faces, so that no one can deny them, and let’s start addressing those challenges in an open, accountable way that Texans can trust.

Let’s also find a permanent solution that fairly funds our schools and prepares our kids — our future workers and employers — for the challenges and opportunities they’ll face in the 21st century. And let’s do it by taking basic steps like fixing the Margins Tax and assuring that businesses and special interests pay their fair share for the state’s schools.

And let’s protect the middle class by restoring basic necessities that have been stripped away from women, children and the elderly, and by accepting the billions of dollars that the Obama administration has made available to help us keep our friends, family members and neighbors healthy.

Finally, let’s create an opportunity agenda for the middle class that expands early childhood education, slows the runaway growth of college tuition, promotes the clean energy we’ll need in the 21st century, supports small businesses as much as big corporations and makes other low-risk, high-reward investments that will help ensure our state’s continued prosperity.

Because the simple truth is that we all love Texas. We want Texas to enjoy success in this century just as it did in the past one. And we know that in all of these areas, Texas can do better.

No more excuses — it’s time for Texas to do better.

VP Biden and Thompson

After graduating from Texas Christian University in ’04, Thompson worked for Austin City Council Member Sheryl Cole until he joined the Presidential campaign of then-Senator Barack Obama in ‘07. As a member of the Obama campaign’s advance team, he traveled to 41 states before parlaying that experience into a job at the White House.

Thompson’s roots in Austin run deep — his father, Kenneth Thompson, is the former President of the Board of Trustees for the Pflugerville Independent School District, a longtime advocate for children and education and a radio host at KAZI. Last week, Kenny took time from his busy pre-Inauguration schedule to talk with his hometown Democratic Party.

QUESTION: Tell us a little bit about what you’re doing now.

THOMPSON: I am currently Director of Message Planning for Vice President Biden. I design ideas for new events around a policy or message that the administration is working on. I engage stakeholders — like state and local government officials, companies and groups within the community — to figure out the best way to present to the public what we’re doing here at the White House. It requires me to collaborate closely with a lot of the departments in the OVP (Office of the Vice President) and across the White House, so it’s a role that really encompasses policy, public engagement and communications.

QUESTION: Let’s back up just a bit. How did you come to work for President Obama before you took your current job. I admit I’m impressed … and jealous.

THOMPSON: I worked on the ‘07-‘08 campaign in the advance department. After the election, I worked on the Presidential Inaugural Committee, where I planned several events that took place during the days leading up to the President’s swearing-in. Afterwards, I was fortunate enough to be offered a job in the White House as an Advance Lead for President Obama.

QUESTION: You kind of grew up in a family steeped in activism, but what drew you into political work on your own?

THOMPSON: I have always loved politics. I credit my Dad with giving me the political bug. He has always been active in politics and made sure I stayed up on current events. I vividly remember him taking me to vote with him in 1988. I was 8 years old, and he pulled the lever for Michael Dukakis. Four years later, I went with him again, and he let me pull the lever for Bill Clinton.

QUESTION: Many of us felt a combination of relief, pride and joy this past November when President Obama won reelection. Where were you on Election Night, and how were you feeling?

THOMPSON: I was in Chicago with my colleagues and thousands of supporters awaiting the results. When the election was called, I felt an overwhelming sense of gratification and pride. In 2008, I remember feeling excited, exhausted, and amazed by the history we had just made. But this time around, I was able to really take a breath and take in what we had just accomplished.

QUESTION: What will you be doing on Inauguration Day?

THOMPSON: I will be attending the swearing-in ceremony and a few of the balls around town. My parents are coming into town, so I’m very excited that I get to spend this special time with them. I’m really looking forward to the Black Tie and Boots Ball on Saturday. It will be nice to have a taste of Texas here in Washington, D.C.

QUESTION: The Obama White House has been historic in so many ways and surely has special meaning for you. What will you take away from your D.C. experience that you can share with us?

THOMPSON: The most important take away for me has been the people I have met throughout this experience — fantastic people in big cities and small towns all across this country. I have seen their amazing work, whether it’s at a factory in Ohio, a small farm in Iowa or a start-up company in Austin. The American people work hard, and they are proud of what they grow and make. This is the common thread that creates the fabric of this country, and it’s a privilege to serve it.

(contact: diane@traviscountydemocrats.org)

Now one week into the Session, with Republicans talking about tax cuts instead of using an existing surplus to restore the slashed budgets for education and other social services from 2011, we have the rest of our Democratic champions — Representative Mark Strama and Senators Kirk Watson and Judith Zaffirini. Travis County is proudly blue, and we know our legislative delegation is fighting for us. We thank them!

Representative Mark Strama (Dist. 50)
The power of redistricting resides with the Texas Legislature. Strama says the current redistricting process — conducted by politicians who have an inherent self-interest in the outcome — inevitably yields a contentious, partisan fight that takes up time that should be dedicated to the critical policy issues facing the people of Texas. Even worse, he says, protecting incumbents has led to the creation of districts that are stacked to favor one party or the other, resulting in an increasingly partisan Legislature that fails to represent the moderate beliefs held by most Texans. Strama says House Bill 145 and House Joint Resolution 38 would give voters the chance to take the power of redistricting out of the hands of the Legislature and give it to an independent, nonpartisan redistricting commission. Though no redistricting process is completely problem-free, an independent commission would allow voters to choose their political leaders, rather than allowing politicians to choose their voters.

Senator Kirk Watson (Dist. 14)
As he always says, Senator Watson loves Texas, but he also thinks that, in many ways, Texas can do better for its people and its future. One of those areas is how the state spends taxpayers’ money. Watson intends to build this session on past successes in making state government more honest, open and accountable. He will continue the work he has done through multiple sessions to stop wholesale diversions of dedicated state funds. The state continues to collect money that is meant for dedicated purposes, such as parks and trauma care, and then divert it to other things. The total for such diversions in the current budget is about $5 billion. While it’s been acknowledged that Watson has been right on this issue, some continue to fight the change he seeks. He promises to keep on working to ensure that ending diversions will be a top priority.

Senator Judith Zaffirini (Dist. 21)
Redistricting brought Zaffirini into a portion of Travis County. She may be new to Central Texas, but she’s not new to the Senate or to the fight for higher education. Her Senate Bill 26 would authorize universities to issue tuition revenue bonds (TRBs) to fund critical capital projects, such as libraries, student resource centers, classrooms and laboratories. Traditionally passed by the Legislature every four years, the last TRBs were authorized in 2006. The incredible growth in enrollment in the state’s higher education system has placed tremendous strains on existing infrastructure and now necessitates new and renovated facilities. Projects will be submitted to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board and scored on factors including need and benefit. The scores will be the basis for the bill to be debated.

(contact: diane@traviscountydemocrats.org)

The good news for Central Texas, is that we have an excellent delegation of strong Democrats in both the Texas House and the Texas Senate. As we did before the 2011 session, the TCDP has asked each of them to send us one example of their legislative priorities for the session. In alphabetical order, here are the responses from four of our House Representatives — Dawnna Dukes, Donna Howard, Elliott Naishtat and Eddie Rodriguez. Next week we will hear from Representative Mark Strama and Senators Kirk Watson and Judith Zaffirini.

We thank all of them for their hard work and dedication to the people of Texas. And we thank them for responding to us during the holidays!

Representative Dawnna Dukes (Dist. 46)
In her capacity as a member of the powerful Appropriations Committee and as the longest serving member of its Health and Human Services Subcommittee, Dukes is fighting Republican budget plans to limit or eliminate spending for vital services, such as women’s health care and the expansion of Medicaid to low income adults. When she refers to the proposed budget cuts as “life and death decisions,” she backs it up with statistics. Although Dukes also crusades for public education and equal rights, she is laser-focused this session on strengthening child protective services to ensure our most vulnerable children are a priority of the state of Texas.

Representative Donna Howard (Dist. 48)
In the 82nd Legislature, the Republican majority took dramatic steps to undermine women’s health. Moving into the 83rd Session, we are already seeing signs that women’s health will continue to be threatened by our state leadership. Governor Perry has voiced his support for a ban on abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy, and hinted that he is willing to scuttle plans for the soon-to-be-implemented Texas Women’s Health Program if courts rule that the program is unable to block Planned Parenthood from its funding streams. (Note: Another hearing is scheduled for Friday, Jan. 11.) As decision-makers gather at the Capitol, Howard, a strong advocate for women’s health in Texas, will fight to restore funds to family planning, oppose efforts to exclude qualified providers from the dispensation of these vital services and strive to keep lawmakers from inserting themselves between the doctor-patient relationship.

Representative Elliott Naishtat (Dist. 49)
Naishtat plans to file legislation that would require the state to participate in the federally authorized expansion of Medicaid. Texas has the highest rate (24 percent) of uninsured people in the nation. The Affordable Care Act allows states to expand their Medicaid programs to cover more low-income individuals. Governor Perry has informed the Federal government that Texas will not participate in expanding Medicaid. Naishtat’s bill would direct the Texas Health and Human Services Commission to expand Medicaid eligibility requirements in accordance with the ACA.  This would ensure that 1.5 million currently uninsured Texans would be eligible to receive comprehensive health coverage. If Texas does not participate, the state would forgo nearly $91 billion in federal matching funds for the decade.

Representative Eddie Rodriguez (Dist. 51)
Rodriguez feels strongly that our country faces an epidemic that we have allowed to continue too long. We are hearing of tragic events involving firearms far too often in the United States. He says we must do more to prevent them from happening, and Texas must be a leader in affecting this change. He recently announced that he is drafting legislation that would require training before the purchase certain types of firearms, a ban on high capacity clips and the institution of a corporate tax credit to fund a gun buyback program. He points out that he is not asking that Texans sacrifice their Second Amendment rights, but that they consider some precautionary steps to make communities safer. This legislation is aimed at preventing another tragedy from claiming more innocent lives.

(contact: diane@traviscountydemocrats.org)

I’ve been writing Q&A interviews with interesting Democrats for almost four years now, and it’s been more fun and inspiring than any job should ever be. Last year, thanks to the presidential election cycle, was particularly enjoyable.

Every person who agreed to be annoyed by my relentless phone calls and pesky questions was inspiring in some way — and I’m grateful to each and every one of them for their time. But I’m especially fond of the legends, the up-and-comers and elected officials who mostly work out of the limelight. Here’s a quick sample of my favorites from 2012.

Up-and-Comers:

Our future is secure with bright young Democrats on the horizon. We had a lot of them working on the Coordinated Campaign. Among the rising stars we talked with: Judge Ramey Ko, attorney James Nortey and newly-elected Representative Mary Gonzalez, 29, the first openly LGBT woman elected to the Texas Legislature. If you missed any of these “On the Record …” interviews, do yourself a favor and read them. You’ll feel very good about the future of the Texas Democratic Party.

Legends:

We have almost too many Democratic legends to count in Austin, from Ben Barnes to Babe Schwartz to Bertha Means to the late-great Bettie Naylor. Last year’s Trio of Stars Brunch gave me the opportunity to add three more greats to my list of greats: Former Representative Wilhelmina Delco, behind-the-scenes progressive warrior Carrin Patman and younger-but-still legendary organizer Celia Israel. Inspiration pours out of these legends.

Less Limelight, No Less Impact:

They work hard for the Democratic Party, doing whatever is asked of them and often more than they’ve ever  been asked. Fred Cantu has been Precinct Chair, Tejano Democrats President and tireless campaign worker for many years. County Commissioner Margaret Gomez has been in elected office (first as Constable) since 1980 and the first Mexican-American woman elected in both of those offices. And Bruce Elfant never misses an election, a parade or just about any community or charity event (including his own creation, The Ice Cream Social). After a long tenure as Constable, he has been elected Tax Assessor-Collector.

Can’t Help Adding Two More:

As a 30-year veteran of daily newspapers before joining the TCDP, I still gravitate to exceptionally smart media types. CNN’s Paul Begala, of course, is purely partisan thanks to his Clinton pedigree, but Evan Smith is a non-partisan, groundbreaking journalist (Texas Monthly, Texas Tribune) who is so wise and thoughtful you just know he votes Democratic. Blaming the media has become a national pastime, but good journalists speak truth to power and help bolster our democracy. Cheers to them!

(contact: diane@traviscountydemocrats.org)

We’ll see you next week!

A New Yorker-turned-Texan, Smith sprinted through editorial positions at a string of national magazines, including The New Republic, made a name for himself as a non-stop Austinite and editor of Texas Monthly from 1992 to 2009, and most recently helped launch the Texas Tribune — a non-profit, non-partisan public media group that has become the go-to site for political, government and public policy coverage.

In his spare time, he conducts razor-sharp interviews on PBS’s “Overheard” and online TribCasts, organizes the ambitious Tribune Festival and sits on the board of the Austin Film Society, the Headliners Club and the Texas Book Festival. There’s more, but in keeping with Smith’s customary preference, we’ll get to the point: The 2013 Legislature.

QUESTION: The Tribune was born November ’09, so the ’11 legislative session was the first one you covered. How well does the media cover government and politics?

SMITH: We have had success in flooding the zone — have as many people as possible covering as much as possible. The reality is in this state, we have not had nearly enough coverage of the big issues. The biggest ticket items are public and higher education, transportation and water. There should be reporters covering those issues every day every year. If there are, there are fewer of them now.

The challenges Texas faces are bigger than ever, and we have a lot of work to do. Whatever your definition of a better Texas is, we need a better Texas, and that means we need aggressive journalism and dynamic, thorough coverage of the Legislature. Our goal has always been to create more thoughtful and engaged citizens, and the best way to motivate them to be engaged is to keep them informed.

QUESTION: The U.S. Congress is notoriously gridlocked, but the Texas Legislature is lopsided enough to push Republican bills through fairly easily. Is there any chance we’ll see some energetic partisan fighting?

SMITH: The Texas Democratic Party is the third party in a two-party state. There’s the Tea Party and the “moderate” Republicans. There will be fighting in the Republican Party over big issues, and that’s where the real action is. It’s a 95-55 split in the House, so Democrats can’t really get anything done on their own, and they can’t stop anything on their own. It’s a little better for Democrats in the Senate, but Republicans will dominate the session again.

QUESTION: We’ve heard rumors that Governor Perry will be pushing for school vouchers and something called a “fetal pain” bill designed to practically eliminate abortions. Women are especially nervous about the ongoing assault on reproductive rights.

SMITH: Abortion is still legal, but there are people elected to preside over these issues. In Texas and some other states, the governor and others realize they can’t make it illegal at the federal level, so they want to make them as difficult as possible. For all practical purposes, it’s impossible if not illegal now to get an abortion. There are funding issues and prohibitions all along the spectrum. To women and others who are offended by this, they should remember that elections have consequences. The “fetal pain bill” probably has a better chance of passing than the voucher has.

QUESTION: Really? I keep reading that school vouchers will be the big push.

SMITH: The Governor, Lieutenant Governor and others are for school choice, or vouchers, in principle. But getting it through the House may be tricky because this is one of those issues where there’s not an even partisan split. Democrats and some rural Republicans are bound together in favor of public schools. Representative David Simpson is a conservative Republican, and he says he doesn’t support vouchers. There’s genuine concern about tax dollars going to private schools and the accountability of those dollars when they go to private schools.

QUESTION: Redistricting is a contentious partisan issue that just won’t go away. What do you see happening this session?

SMITH: We’re just going to have to wait and see. It’s still being decided in the courts. On both voter ID and redistricting, we’re going to have to wait to see if they’ll be addressed again in the legislature.

QUESTION: What about the Speaker race, with David Simpson planning to contest Speaker Joe Straus? Will that be a competitive race?

SMITH: It’s a big bluffing game right now, and nobody really knows the numbers, but you have to see the advantage is with the incumbent.

QUESTION: You’re a non-partisan journalist, so what do you objectively think is the future of the Texas Democratic Party?

SMITH: I think everybody ought to take a siesta until 2017 and then prepare for a run by Mayor Castro for Governor and Representative Castro for U.S. Senate. Democrats need a new team to take the field, but you cannot win if you do not play, and there’s a candidate deficit as well as a vote deficit with the Democrats right now. … It’s a fool’s errand for Democrats to just wait for the Hispanic majority to take place.

(contact: diane@traviscountydemocrats.org)