Chisum: Legislators aren’t state employees; will ask Ethics Commission about disclosure
By Jennifer Peebles | Tuesday, January 6th, 2009
State House Appropriations Committee Chairman Warren Chisum says he didn’t list his $600-a-month legislative salary on his 2007 personal financial disclosure form because he doesn’t believe “in the truest sense of the word” that he’s an employee of the state.
But he also said he’d call the state Ethics Commission and ask for clarification on it. [...]
Interactive map profiles candidates for Texas House speaker
By Jennifer Peebles | Friday, January 2nd, 2009
Confused by the race for House speaker? Our map lifts the veil on the candidates jostling for the job as well as other key players. We highlight one of those players — Appropriations Chairman Warren Chisum — who failed to disclose salary information, according to the documents we showcase via our map.
Big Oil, groceries and country music give big bucks to rebuild governor’s mansion
By Jennifer Peebles | Monday, December 22nd, 2008
Several of the largest donors to the efforts to rebuild the burned structure also have business before the state government and its regulatory arms, a Texas Watchdog analysis has found. Others giving big bucks include the CEO of H.E.B., and music stars George Strait and LeAnn Rimes are contributing their star power.
Top state worker pay last year: $530,595
By Jennifer Peebles | Tuesday, December 16th, 2008
More than 1,700 state workers made six figures or more in total pay in 2007, according to a new Texas Watchdog analysis of state records. Search our database of workers making $100,000 or more. We found that nearly 1,000 state workers make more than the governor and we found five state workers who climbed onto the list by raking in tens-of-thousands of dollars in overtime.
Senate District 17: Chris Bell, Joan Huffman in their own words
By Trent Seibert & Jennifer Peebles | Wednesday, December 10th, 2008
Texas Watchdog has original mp3 audio clips of candidates Bell and Huffman on some of the key issues and what’s important to them in the Dec. 16 election. Listen and see what they they have to say on campaign finance, education, transportation and other topics.
State secrets? Names of people in death chamber, Beaumont helicopter logs, pollution informer, AG says
By Jennifer Peebles | Wednesday, November 26th, 2008
Here at Thanksgiving, we’re certainly thankful for Texas’ open records law. But many of the exemptions to the law are real turkeys, including one that allows records to be held if they’re deemed “intimate or embarrassing” to the people involved. Texas Watchdog takes a look at some of the public records people have asked to see in Texas lately and what the state attorney general’s office has said about whether they can see them — and we’ve plotted them on a map.
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Chisum: Craddick ‘a realist,’ Straus ‘a very decent guy’
1:21 pm January 6, 2009
Warren Chisum has been a busy man the past few days. So when he called us this morning to respond to our Friday story about an omission on his 2007 ethics form, we couldn’t help but ask about the most pressing issue in state politics. “Well, you know, as ...Support for Straus solidifies, and our interactive map is updated
9:42 pm January 5, 2009
The list of people who were running for Tom Craddick's job as speaker seemed like it was a mile long just the other day. Now, it's dwindling as more and more candidates get behind relative newcomer Joe Straus, a Republican from San Antonio. We're continuing to update our ...Houston Bloggers: Texas Watchdog wants to meetup with you — on Jan. 17
3:18 pm January 5, 2009
Calling all bloggers in Houston and the surrounding area: Do you ever blog about local politics? How about your kid's school? Or new roads that you think need to be built to your town? Or a pollution problem in your neighborhood? Texas Watchdog wants to help you. We want to put on ...Bush library donors can remain anonymous, but click here for foundation’s 990s
2:40 pm January 5, 2009
The Bush library foundation says it won't disclose its donors --- but for a peek at what the group has to disclose, here are the foundation's tax forms for 2007 and 2006.
The Dallas Morning ... Craddick drops out of speaker’s race
8:44 pm January 4, 2009
Looks like Texas will have a new state House speaker soon. Incumbent Speaker Tom Craddick is dropping his bid for re-election to the speaker's post. More at Dallas Morning News, El Paso Times, Star-Telegram. And don't forget to keep checking our (ever-updating) Google Map for ...McCall, Smithee, Geren latest additions to Texas Watchdog’s speaker’s race map
7:09 pm January 4, 2009
One of the many Texas political blogs we read -- can't remember which one (e-mail me if you do) -- recently observed that it would just be easier to list the state House members who AREN'T running for House speaker, rather than list the ones who ARE running. The same ...Texas Watchdog’s interactive map spotlighting the players in the race for Texas House Speaker is updated to include Joe Straus
12:18 am January 4, 2009
We've added Rep. Joe Straus to our interactive map of the "who's who" in the race for Texas Speaker of the House. We'll be adding to the map about the race for Texas House Speaker as the weekend continues. The map is chock-full of information about ...Geren, ‘ABC Repubs’ take center stage in House speaker’s race
6:55 pm January 2, 2009
State Rep. Charlie Geren is supposed to be meeting sometime -- maybe even right about now -- with his "ABC" Republicans in the state as they try to craft their strategy for the House speaker's race, the Star-Telegram's Dave Montgomery reports: Geren, R-Fort Worth, is one of the leaders ...AG says Katy schools can withhold police reports in cheerleader hazing case
6:12 pm January 2, 2009
InstantNewsKaty.com is reporting today that the state attorney general's office has sided with the Katy Independent School District in allowing the school system to keep private police reports in the cheerleader hazing case that made national news last fall. InstantNewsKaty had filed an open records request to review ...Texas Watchdog’s top 10 posts for 2008
6:34 pm December 30, 2008
With the year coming to a close, it's time to get all misty-eyed about all things 2008. So here's a wrapup of our most popular stories from this year, in case you missed any: + Ballots cast in Houston using dead voters' names (Posted Oct. 9) + Public can take ...
Bush fundraiser busted in sting
Video: Texas Watchdog’s inaugural investigative piece detailed top Bush money-man Stephen Payne’s close relationship with the White House — a relationship the White House took pains to distance itself from. Here is the video of The Times of London sting, featuring Stephen Payne.
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