BRANCH SEEKS REELECTION TO TEXAS HOUSE
Campaign will focus on creating jobs and a 21st century Texas Workforce

DALLAS—Representative Dan Branch (R-Dallas) announced today that he will seek reelection to the Texas House of Representatives for the heart of Dallas, District 108.

"This is a critical time for the Texas economy. The decisions we make in Austin today, will affect Texans for decades to come," Branch said. "I'm running for reelection because I want to provide thoughtful, conservative leadership for North Texas, the major economic engine of a state leading the way in job creation."

August 14, 2011

Andy Staples

The problem with the speed at which information travels in this era is that everything has to mean something immediately. In the Twitter age, we must be able to consume information, process it and explain what it means in the grand scheme of things within seconds. In the world of Internet journalism, it also helps if we can just as quickly declare each event to be either the best or worst thing that has ever happened.

Unfortunately, the world doesn't always hand us news in byte-sized chunks. Sometimes, an issue requires more time to resolve itself than our social media-addled attention spans are willing to give. Case in point: Sunday's press release from Florida president Bernie Machen on behalf of the SEC. Here is what it said.

"The SEC Presidents and Chancellors met today and reaffirmed our satisfaction with the present 12 institutional alignment. We recognize, however, that future conditions may make it advantageous to expand the number of institutions in the league. We discussed criteria and process associated with expansion. No action was taken with respect to any institution including Texas A&M."

August 4, 2011

Ross Ramsey and Ryan Murphy

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott has been at the top of the cash list in Texas politics for so long that it's not really that newsy any more. The incumbent Republican, who's got a run for governor in his sights if Rick Perry moves along, got to the end of June with $10.4 million in the bank.

He had more money than any other candidate — or any of the state's big political action committees. Among the candidates, Comptroller Susan Combs reached mid-year with $5.4 million in her accounts, followed by Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston, at $4.8 million; House Speaker Joe Straus, R-San Antonio, $2.6 million; and Perry, $2.1 million. Another 13 politicians — all but one of them (former state Rep. Steve Wolens, D-Dallas) still in office — had at least $1 million on hand as of June 30. In all, 18 candidates had at least $1 million cash on hand.

The Republican Party of Texas would like to extend our sincere thanks to State Representative Dan Branch (R-Dallas), for his generous donation of $10,000 to the RPT! Representative Branch made the gift to the RPT in honor of the Hispanic Republican Conference in the Texas House - a group formed earlier this year to broaden the perspective of the GOP supermajority on key issues considered in that chamber. Branch is a member of the caucus by virtue of representing a district where at least 30 percent of the residents are Hispanic.

Said Chairman Munisteri, "Representative Branch has long demonstrated his commitment to thoughtful conservatism and the Republican Party. His latest donation is just another example of his ongoing dedication to the Republican Party of Texas. His generosity is very much appreciated, and his leadership is helping the party expand the outreach of our conservative ideals as we enter the 2012 elections. I greatly appreciate the leadership that Dan and other members of the conference have put forth this year, and was honored to recently host several of the members here at the RPT headquarters. Our party continues to grow in both influence and numbers across Texas and much of this success is due to the partnerships we are forming in the Hispanic community."

July 2011

Nate Blakeslee and Paul Burka

When former governor Bill Clements died in the fi­nal week of the Eighty-second Legislature—a session dominated by a $27 billion budget shortfall—there was one story that found its way into almost every obituary of the irascible, archconservative oilman. In 1987, faced with a budget shortfall of his own, he had insisted on the leanest budget the state could manage, only to finally sign off on a $5.8 billion tax increase to fund public education. As Clements understood, in a state that already budgets lean (Texas currently spends the least per capita in the nation), you cannot cut your way out of every shortfall—no matter what you promised on the campaign trail.

Veteran budget writer Steve Ogden summoned some of Clements's courage in a bracingly candid address to his fellow senators at the beginning of this session. On a day normally reserved for pomp and self-congratulation, Ogden delivered the news that nobody wanted to hear: The shortfall wasn't caused solely by the recession. It was an inevitable result of the state's rickety tax system, especially the underperforming business tax known as the margins tax, which was bringing in billions less than anticipated. "None of us are elected to go out and raise taxes on anybody . . . but if the margins tax is not fixed, [property] taxes will go up," he warned. The solution was not complex—a few tweaks to the way the tax is assessed in a bill no more than three pages long would do the trick. The challenge was entirely political. "Check your political considerations and your political ambitions at the door," Ogden said. "Let's roll up our sleeves and get to work."

June 16, 2011

Robert Wilonsky

Blog

Pardon me as we take a brief detour from the parade route for just a moment, but Texas Monthly's just posted its latest list of the best and worst state legislators -- and Leo Berman made worst? No way. Anyway. The preview'shere, sans further categories awaiting their print and online debut next week. Let's run down a few of the locals, shall we? First, a few bests' excerpts:

Dan Branch (R-Dallas)
"After his childhood friend Joe Straus became Speaker, in 2009, Dan Branch could have had any assignment he wanted. Most members would have wanted a chairmanship of one of the power committees -- Appropriations, Ways and Means, or Calendars. Branch chose Higher Education. That's the essence of Branch -- he doesn't care about status; he cares about making a difference. He believes that Tier I research universities are the future of the state, and he wants to be in a position where he can help more institutions achieve this status."

July 17, 2009

By Mike Hailey

Capitol Inside Editor

The GOP's 76 Texas House members raised three times more money than their 74 Democratic colleagues after the regular session ended last month and have three times more cash on hand for re-election bids in 2010 as well.

A Capitol Inside analysis of the campaign finance reports filed with the Texas Ethics Commission this week by all 150 House members shows that Republican state representatives have $14.4 million combined socked away in the bank for their campaigns next year compared to $4.8 million for the Democrats.

May 6, 2011

Reeve Hamilton

Speaker Joe Straus and Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst have created a new Joint Oversight Committee on Higher Education Governance, Excellence, and Transparency. It will be chaired by Senate Higher Education Chairwoman Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo, and House Higher Education Chairman Dan Branch, R-Dallas.

The members from the Senate will include Dallas Republican John Carona, Lubbock Republican Robert Duncan, Amarillo Republican Kel Seliger, Houston DemocratRodney Ellis and Austin Democrat Kirk Watson.