I caught up with Rep. Rodriguez at the Austin Environmental Democrats meeting about his 83rd session.

A couple of this session’s major issues came to ahead last week, can you explain?

The main two issues right now are the water bill which was killed on a point of order and the second issue is public education funding. We’re trying to fund education at the level it was before the cuts in 2011 and that’s a very high, if not the highest priority for Democrats in the House and the Senate as well.

The Democratic Caucus met and talked about the water bill which we all liked. We thought it was a good idea and it is definitely worth opening up the Rainy Day Fund and trying to fund that with $2 billion. We have $12 Billion in the Rainy Day Fund so $2 Billion is a small amount relatively speaking, and that would really go a long way to addressing some of our water needs in the future.

Every Democrat in the House supports that, but our thinking was if we are going to open up the RDF for water which is very important, $2 Billion for public education to get us back to where we were 2 years ago is not unreasonable. So the debate for us was not about HB 11, which was the water bill, but how can we get more money for public education. Our plan was $2 Billion for water, $2 Billion for public education and $2 Billion for transportation and infrastructure. (more…)

This interview will start my series with the Travis County House delegation and their experience of, and/or, reflection on the 83rd legislative session which will end May 27th.

You have formally announced that this will be your last session, how have things changed since you first took office in 2005?

We had kind of a mini-reunion of my freshmen class today for a few minutes at the mic. There aren’t many of us left, but there weren’t many of us to begin with compared to this year’s freshmen class where there are over 40 new members.  There were 17 of us when I came in and we’re half that, so a lot has changed.

We had been steadily losing seats for about 40 years and the year I was elected, 2004 was the first year in decades that Democrats had a net gain of seats in the Texas House. We gained one in 2004, and in 2006 we picked up several seats and in 2008 we picked up several more such that when I got here it was a 88-62 Republican majority and by the 2009 session it was a 76-74, Republican majority and we were one seat from parity. Then in 2010 there was a tidal wave and we went from a nearly 1 to 1 ratio with Republicans to a 2 to 1 ratio.

They had a 101 vote majority last session and they have a 95 vote majority this session and it has changed the experience of being here. Even when we were in the minority before we felt like we were coming on strong and felt like we had the wind at our backs, but since the 2010 election it seems we’re fighting to stave off total catastrophe.

Last session the budget cuts enacted were so painful to so many people in the state and we were all but helpless to do anything about it because we were so badly outnumbered. We will come back and regain some seats in the next election and we will keep gaining throughout this decade. The demographics of this state are such that we will be in the majority. We need to do everything we can as a party to make that day come sooner but the last couple of sessions have been difficult. (more…)

On Friday the Burnt Orange Report celebrated its 10th anniversary. I started writing for the blog myself last summer joining a distinguished alumni of over 40 writers. I caught up with Publisher KT Musselman and Editor-in-Chief Katherine Haenschen to talk about the blog’s success having logged over 13,000 posts and 12 million page views.

What is the mission of Burnt Orange Report?

KH: We are a progressive Democratic blog covering politics here in Texas. We cover state politics but also national issues that can have a major impact and that our Texas Democratic readers want to know about. Our audience is not just in Texas, but also progressive Texans who have left the Lone Star State but still care about what is going on back home.

What has helped BOR last so long while other state blogs disappear?

KH: It takes a team effort, lots of people contributing ideas and well as our community of readers who post guest diaries and comments to help keep the conversation going. There is a big audience of readers and a lot of Democrats in Texas, and a lot of people who have strong interest in what we are doing. There is a lot of malfeasance on the part of the Republicans in texas that gives us a lot to cover. Also, our state has many major metro areas where we cover high profile local contested races, so there has been no shortage of content over the years. (more…)

I spoke with Megan Klein, Battleground Texas’ lead organizer for Central Texas, about the groups first major project since their launch tour — training Deputy Voter Registrars.

What is Battleground Texas’ Deputy Voter Registrar project?

Our first big project in general before we get a ton of new staff is to get thousands of people deputized to register voters. A lot of our new staff will be coming on in June and this is a way for us to get started as we develop our field plan. Since the deputations all ran out in December we are literally starting from zero, but so far in Austin we have gotten 100 people deputized, and our goal statewide for April and May is 1,200.

How are you identifying and reaching out to potential deputy registrars?

In many cases we are partnering with the county party to say that the deputations are joint events between Battleground and the county party. That way we are both growing our infrastructure. Battleground gets those volunteers and the county party can engage them as well, which is how we plan to continue to work going forward.

Travis County’s Tax Assessor/Collector Bruce Elfant wants to get the county to as near 100% registration as possible,  so he is pushing for ways to recognize deputy registrars for hitting certain goals, is that something Battleground is thinking about?

I would imagine that we will, but I don’t think we have any formal plans to do that right now. There will be a website, it should be up this week, where Deputy Voter Registrars around the state can sign up to receive their sticker or button that will identify them as a Deputy.  We have goals for each of the 5 regions in Texas, but there is definitely a friendly competition amongst organizers around the state to register the most voters.  I’m paying close attention to what the North Texas/ Dallas region is doing and I like to keep up with their numbers regardless of what our goals are, because we can generally keep up with them if not surpass them.

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Diane Holloway is a former Austin American Statesman reporter, who has spent the last four years volunteering at the Trinity Center on behalf of the homeless and working poor, but she may be best known for her progressive activism with the Travis County Democratic Party. The opportunity for me to write this newsletter opened when Diane accepted her calling to work fulltime with the Trinity Center. The Trinity Center will be holding their annual fundraiser this week so I thought it was a great time to catch up with her.

What is the Trinity Center and what is your role there?

We are a non-profit organization, founded in 2000, that serves Austin’s downtown homeless and those experiencing extreme poverty. After several years of volunteering, I am now the Communications & Volunteer Coordinator.

What services does the organization provide?

We provide a lot of basic services from a daily breakfast to computers and counseling to the downtown homeless population; we refer to them as our “neighbors”. There are about 100 people who pass through our doors every day, and about 200 who do not have a home address that receive their mail here, including benefits like Social Security checks.

We try to provide services that aren’t offered by other organizations in the area like ARCH and Salvation Army. For instance, we don’t provide housing but we will work with individuals to help them find a more permanent residence. (more…)

Last Saturday a few hundred Texans gathered at the front of the Capitol to show support for sensable gun laws, particularly universal background checks. I spoke with one of the lead organizers John Woods about his group Texas Gun Sense and current state of the movement.

What is Texas Gun Sense?

In 2009 I started a Texas Chapter of Students for Gun Free Schools and have talked about putting this organization together for a while. Students for Gun Free Schools was founded by a Virginia Tech survivor, and I didn’t know it at the time but there were a couple of Virginia Tech survivors at UT that I met during the hearings on campus carry.

I personally became involved after lawmakers said they wanted to force colleges and universities to have guns in classrooms in order to quote unquote ‘prevent another attack’. Having spoken to a lot of survivors I knew that wasn’t something that survivors supported, and that the memory of these victims was just being used to accomplish an ideological agenda that had nothing to do with safety. Part of that ideological agenda you can see in their resistance to background checks. So, our goal in setting up Texas Gun Sense, was not to just address the campus carry issue, but issues of broader public safety.

Who helped organize Saturday’s rally?

We worked with the Texas Chapters of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, and Mom’s Demand Action for Gun Sense. Mom’s Demand Action used to be called One Million Moms for Gun Control but they liked the term “gun sense” so much that they adopted it into their own name. It’s interesting to hear it pop up around the country, people like this term ‘gun sense’.

What is Texas Gun Sense asking for?

The number one issue is universal background checks, we want for every firearms transfer to go through a background check. If it doesn’t, the person who sells the gun to a person who does some harm with it, then has to bear some portion of the responsibility of that crime.

We support people’s right to have guns but also be responsible and include background checks. The most frustrating thing is that the media narrative right now only has 2 sides. I often get calls from reporters that say ‘well we’ve got someone from the pro-gun side, now we need someone on the anti-gun side, and I say ‘that’s not me, that’s not our organization we’re in the middle’. It would be just as valid to say they had someone on the anti-gun side and they wanted to talk to us. Most of things we are proposing the vast majority of Texans’ support. Universal background checks is a no-brainer, 80% of Texans support it.

The 2nd Amendment says, “well regulated”, is this a narrative Gun Sense uses?

The 2nd Amendment is something that has been reinterpreted to death and some people believe if you own a gun there should be no restrictions on where you can have it, but the more relevant document here is the Texas Constitution. It says the legislature has the authority to regulate the wear of arms for the purpose of public safety. That clause was accepted when Texas was re-admitted into the union. So, just like you can’t yell fire in a crowded theater, its important to understand that we do have limitations on certain rights.

What actions are you looking for from Congress and the state legislature?

Our number one issue is background checks, there are federal bills in the Senate and we have got bills filed in both the state House and Senate for universal background checks. Number 2 is fight back against these bills that would allow guns into the classroom. We feel it would be much better to take a look at something a vast majority supports like background checks before moving to more controversial issues like campus carry legislation.

In your speech at the Capitol you mentioned electoral consequences for Ted Cruz or others who oppose popular measures, will Texas Gun Sense be involved in campaigns?

No, that was merely speculation. Texas Gun Sense is not a PAC we are a 501 C3 and we will not be getting involved in campaigning. Our goal is to educate people about policies that will save lives.

What’s next, and how do supporters get involved?

We have phone banks every week, but the next big thing is this Thursday because Ted Cruz has threatened to filibuster the background check legislation. We plan to filibuster the filibuster by reading the names of people who have died since Newtown while Congress has failed to act, for as long as Ted Cruz and the other gun manufacturer cronies are doing that.

If people want to get involved they should first go and like us on Facebook and then look for events coming up to help out at, hopefully we will have a website up soon where people can put in their contact information.

If folks would like to volunteer or join our phone bank they can email Kristen Katz at Katz@GunFreeSchools.org

Follow me on Twitter at @Joethepleb.

David Weinberg is the Executive Director of the Texas League of Conservation Voters and Thursday they will hold their 3rd “Green Tie Benefit” to raise the funds needed to both protect our natural resources and develop the green economy in Texas. This year they will honor Congress Lloyd Doggett for what David called his “sterling voting record over the years” and for “always being a friend and champion of green jobs.” He said this year Doggett’s work was especially important because part of the fiscal cliff deal reauthorized the production tax credit for wind.

Past honorees include Sen. Kirk Watson, Rep. Eddie Rodriguez, and Rep. Mark Strama.

What is the Texas League of Conservation Voters?

There are a lot of definitions but one of the things I say is we are the political arm of the environmental movement. We are the Texas chapter of a national organization called the League of Conservation Voters which was founded in the late 60s and they are based out of Washington D.C. So the playbook is, they do federal elections and federal policy and there are 35 state chapters that do state policy and state elections. The Texas league interestingly was founded all the way in 1970 by a gentleman named Ned Fritz from Dallas. So technically we’re one of the earliest Leagues formed, however it did sort of fall out of existence for a while and was revived by some folks in the mid 90s.

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Over the weekend I interviewed University of Texas “U Dems” President Nathaniel Norris about this year’s 60th anniversary fundraiser held last week. The event also honored 3 current or former Texas State Representatives from Austin.

Last week was a big anniversary for U Dems, how did you celebrate?

This year the University Democrats turns 60 and every year we try and throw a fundraiser to support the organization and our activities. This year’s theme was a birthday party. There was a gospel choir from UT that sang the Eyes of Texas, the National Anthem and the Happy Birthday song. We played a video montage of last years’ activities that also included our plans for this year and our vision for the organization’s future. There were a lot of members from the community that came out and a lot of students, it was a good showing. We raised over $4,000 and it was the biggest showing I’ve ever seen at a U Dems fundraiser.

We honored two current Austin state reps Donna Howard and Mark Strama, as student advocates. We gave them student advocate awards on behalf of the University Democrats for the work that they do for college students and public education, not just in Austin but across the state of Texas. We felt like they had done a lot recently for students. We know that Strama is retiring his seat and wanted him to know how much we appreciate all the work that he has done.

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April, 9th Is Blue Ribbon Lobby Day at the Capitol and I spoke with one of the organizers, President of the Capitol Area Democratic Women’s club Lize Burr about what to expect.

What is Blue Ribbon Lobby Day?

Blue Ribbon Lobby Day is a day of legislative action for Democratic and progressive women (and men) to stand up for Texas women. What we are doing is putting the focus on 1 of the 4 key voting blocs that got President Obama elected: young people, African Americans, Latinos and women.  We have one of the lowest rates of women voter participation in the country. Our organizing during the legislative session happens with those great issue organizations that do the advocacy and policy work, but it means that we don’t work on our Democratic Party activity, organizing and network during the session. So what we thought was we really need to maintain our organizing as Democrats during the legislative session and this is a great opportunity for us to do that.

How did Blue Ribbon Lobby Day come about?

Like most ideas it started over dinner, actually a series of dinners. We were talking to women in Houston about the work we did last fall, but also what we needed to do going forward. Then, just before session started, I got a phone call from Diane Mosier, she said we needed to have a women’s lobby day. She said I think we’re going to call it “Blue Ribbon Lobby Day” and we’re going to wear blue ribbons to show that we’re true blue Democrats, and i said, “yes”. And, walking through the capitol on the 1st day of session 2 or 3 other women approached me and said, we need to do a women’s lobby day – it was obvious that the time was right.

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Senator Judith Zaffirini (D-Laredo) is the newest member of the Travis County Senate Delegation and 1 of 4 recipients of the University of Texas’ Presidential Citation, the university’s highest honor, for her work on higher education. Four UT students will receive scholarships in the honoree’s names. Named a Distinguished Alumni in 2003, Sen. Zaffirini herself holds B.S., M.A. and PhD degrees from UT.

“This award is especially meaningful because it comes from my alma mater and because higher education is my passion,” said Senator Zaffirini. “It is an incredible honor to join the ranks of past Presidential Citation honorees, including Texas icons such as Lady Bird Johnson and Joe and Dr. Teresa Lozano Long.”

Redistricting has her new district stretching into Austin from the border, touching San Antonio and Corpus Christi, but does not include UT. Sen. Kirk Watson (D-Austin) believes the new district is, “probably one of the more diverse districts in Texas…But I can’t think of anyone better equipped to do that than Senator Zaffarini”. When the Senator herself was asked about the challenges of such a diverse district she said, “It’s an exciting district, and I’m looking forward to representing it…My goal is to work so hard as to warrant their trust and confidence.”

She may be unfamiliar to many of her new constituents but in Austin she is known as a champion of the University of Texas and higher education in general.  For the first time since 2006 she will not be Chair of the Higher Education Committee in the Senate but will still remain on that committee and active in higher education issues this session. As the new Chair of Senate Committee on Government Organization she will oversee the sunset review of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. She is also a co-chair the Joint Oversight Committee on Higher Education Governance, Excellence and Transparency. (more…)