January 24, 2019

House Speaker shakes up committee assignments with new leaders, extends olive branch to Democrats

AUSTIN -- House Speaker Dennis Bonnen on Wednesday announced his committee assignments for this year's legislative session, retaining several high-ranking Republicans to lead important committees while also trying to strike a bipartisan tone with Democrats.

"I want every member to know, every member was considered thoughtfully in these assignments," Bonnen told his fellow lawmakers. "I don't want a single member to not feel a part of this house."

In an olive branch to colleagues across the aisle, Bonnen named El Paso Democrat Joe Moody speaker pro tem and appointed several Democrats to committee chairmanships. House Democratic Caucus leader Chris Turner of Grand Prairie was named chairman of the higher education committee.

In all, Bonnen appointed 12 Democrats and 22 Republicans to lead committees. He decreased the number of committees from 38 to 34 to try to increase efficiency.

Read more: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/texas-legislature/2019/01/23/bonnen-announces-house-committee-assignments

January 24, 2019

Texas teen arrested again after Fort Worth officer hears new school shooting plans while playing

Texas teen arrested again after Fort Worth officer hears new school shooting plans while playing video game


A Central Texas teenager was arrested Wednesday after an off-duty Fort Worth officer reported hearing the teen threaten to shoot up his former high school while playing a video game.

Devant Y'Shaun Davis-Brooks, 17, was also accused five months ago of planning a shooting at the same school.

Police in Taylor, about 25 miles northeast of Austin, received a tip about the threat early Wednesday. The Fort Worth officer, who was playing a video game online after a night shift, reportedly heard Davis-Brooks say that he planned "to shoot up Taylor High School tomorrow," KVUE-TV reported.

Officers arrested Davis-Brooks a short time later at his home on one count of making a terroristic threat, a third-degree felony. He remains in the Williamson County jail, with bail set at $25,000.

Read more: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/crime/2019/01/23/texas-teen-arrested-again-after-fort-worth-officer-hears-new-school-shooting-plans-playing-video-game

January 24, 2019

Rep. Cedric Richmond raises antitrust specter in seeking answers from Roger Goodell

With New Orleans Saints' fans still apoplectic over the team being deprived of a Super Bowl appearance, U.S. Rep. Cedric Richmond on Wednesday (Jan. 23) raised the specter of summoning NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell to discuss the league’s lucrative antitrust exemption. The New Orleans Democrat issued his statement three days after referees in the NFC Championship Game failed to flag a Los Angeles Rams cornerback for what the player admits was pass interference on a Saints wide receiver with 1:45 left in the fourth quarter and the game tied 20-20, leading to the Rams' 26-23 overtime victory.

“What the entire nation witnessed during this past weekend’s NFC Championship Game was an upset ..., and I join Saints players, coaches and fans far and wide over this disappointment," Richmond said. “The Saints should be on their way to Atlanta to play in the Super Bowl. Instead, they are left with the memory of officials who failed to create an equal playing field and deprived them of that opportunity. Officials should not have the ability to determine the fate of a team [that] rightfully earned [its] place in NFL championship history.”

Congress exempted the National Football League in 1961 from some antitrust law so that its teams could negotiate television contracts as a monopoly, instead of competing among themselves, and lawmakers expanded the exemption in 1966 for the NFL’s merger with the American Football League. The breaks have helped make the NFL the multi-billion-dollar enterprise it is today, and the league has worked hard to keep them.

Richmond did not outright threaten congressional hearings on the exemptions. But his statement made clear that lawmakers hold that authority.

Read more: https://www.nola.com/national_politics/2019/01/cedric-richmond-raises-antitrust-specter-in-seeking-answers-from-roger-goodell.html

January 24, 2019

Gov. John Bel Edwards makes it official with roll out of re-election campaign pitch video

Gov. John Bel Edwards has made his re-election campaign official with the release of a three-minute ad making his case for a second term and unveiling a new campaign website less than nine months out from Election Day.

“Louisiana is moving in the right direction, but we’ve still got lots of work to do,” Edwards says in the video that rolled out Tuesday morning. “Serving as your governor has been one of the greatest honors of my life and, with your support, I look forward to four more years of even greater prosperity and opportunities.”

The ad doesn’t identify Edwards, the only Democratic governor in the Deep South, as a Democrat. Its timing coincides with the launch of Edwards’ new campaign website JohnBelForLouisiana.com.

“I realize this campaign won’t be easy,” Edwards says the ad, predicting that “out-of-state interest groups” supporting his opponents will spend “millions” attacking him.

Read more: https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/politics/article_18812cd4-1dfd-11e9-8cb0-93437b3ff6fe.html

January 24, 2019

What's in Gov. Edwards' $350 million coastal plan? Protecting LaPlace, levee repairs, more

Gov. John Bel Edwards announced plans Wednesday for spending about $350 million in coastal dollars, including money to accelerate a nearly half-century-old project to protect LaPlace and nearby areas.

Most of the money – nearly $300 million – is from a federal revenue source of offshore oil and gas money called the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act, or GOMESA.

The other $55 million, including dollars for the long-delayed $760 million West Shore Lake Pontchartrain hurricane protection project, is state surplus money that requires legislative approval. Local and federal officials announced in August that they hope to finish that levee system by 2023, with federal funds accounting for 65 percent of the pricetag.

Edwards said that, in the next 12 months, $120 million in federal dollars will be spent to protect lives in south Louisiana. "This is a threat to two million people who live and work along the coast," he said.

Read more: https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/politics/article_283f8976-1f34-11e9-88ab-93c5baa9021e.html

January 24, 2019

Governor's son fighting DWI conviction

Gov. Asa Hutchinson's son pleaded guilty to driving while intoxicated in December.

Now, he's appealing that conviction.

William Asa Hutchinson III's attorney, Bill Horton, filed a notice of appeal Jan. 11 in Washington County Circuit Court. Hutchinson, 43, entered the guilty plea Dec. 13 in West Fork District Court.

Jury trials aren't allowed in Arkansas district courts, so people sometimes plead guilty there so they can appeal the case to circuit court, said Clinton "Casey" Jones, the judge who presided over Hutchinson's case in West Fork District Court.

Read more: https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2019/jan/24/governor-s-son-fighting-dwi-conviction-/?news-arkansas

After reading the remainder of the article which mention other incidents where he was driving while intoxicated late at night, they should suspend his license because he is a danger to the public.

January 24, 2019

Legislation threatens to strip striking teachers of their licenses

Rep. Todd Russ, R-Cordell, has taken the wrong lesson from last year’s statewide teacher strike.

Russ’ House Bill 2214 would make similar strikes illegal. Teachers and superintendents who took part in any future “strike, shutdown or related activities” would lose their pay and have their teaching certificates “permanently revoked,” under Russ’ proposal.

Current law makes teacher strikes against their local school districts illegal, but Russ’ proposal would add bans “as a means of resolving differences with ... the Legislature or any other public official or public body.”

So, regardless of how schools are funded, teachers would be required to report to work every day or risk losing their professional credentials.

Read more: https://www.tulsaworld.com/opinion/editorials/tulsa-world-editorial-legislation-threatens-to-strip-striking-teachers-of/article_2a239ed2-d709-5037-aa8b-d08c68763dc1.html

January 24, 2019

Kentucky GOP lawmakers order recount in House election

FRANKFORT, Ky. -- A former Republican lawmaker in Kentucky who lost his state House seat by one vote in November could get a second chance thanks to the state's GOP majority.

A board of nine state lawmakers voted 6-3 Wednesday to recount the votes in Kentucky House District 13. All six Republicans on the panel voted for the recount, while three Democrats voted "no."

Johnson got 6,318 votes on Election Day, but Democrat Jim Glenn got 6,319 votes. In some states, an outcome that close would trigger an automatic recount. But in Kentucky, a state law says candidates in state legislative races can appeal to the House of Representatives. That means a Republican-dominated chamber could decide if a Democrat can keep his seat.

"The full House is the final arbiter of who wins an election in the House and who is a member of the House," said Republican state Rep. Jason Petrie, the chairman of the legislative panel that ordered the recount.

Read more here: https://www.thestate.com/news/nation-world/national/article224978910.html

January 24, 2019

Medical cannabis producer sues state over gross receipts taxes

New Mexico’s largest medical cannabis producer is suing the state Taxation and Revenue Department in an effort to recover more than $1.5 million in gross receipts taxes the company says it shouldn’t have had to pay because its products are medicine.

State law exempts prescription drugs from gross receipts taxes. The lawsuit, filed last week in state District Court in Santa Fe by Sandoval County-based nonprofit Ultra Health, argues medical cannabis should be treated the same.

Duke Rodriguez, CEO and president of Ultra Health, says that if the suit is successful, it will help patients in the state’s Medical Cannabis Program because gross receipts taxes are passed on to consumers.

“Affordability is an issue for all New Mexicans, and even a more significant burden to the severe qualifying conditions suffered by medical cannabis patients,” Rodriguez said in a statement provided by his lawyer, Kate Ferlic.

Read more: http://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/medical-cannabis-producer-sues-state-over-gross-receipts-taxes/article_24924701-e368-5de2-9af8-21169dbddd75.html

January 24, 2019

Iowa Sen. Ernst denies allegation of affair with soldier

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa (AP) — Sen. Joni Ernst on Wednesday denied allegations leveled by her ex-husband that she had an affair with a subordinate while she served in the military.

The Iowa Republican answered questions from reporters about that and other allegations at a town hall event on the University of Northern Iowa campus in Cedar Falls, the Des Moines Register reported .

In the court documents, Ernst’s ex-husband, Gail Ernst, accused her of having an affair with one of her soldiers while she was deployed as a company commander. She said Wednesday that she cares “about all of my soldiers” that the allegation was not true.

Ernst also accused her ex-husband in divorce documents of having an affair and physically assaulting her during an argument before she was elected to the Senate.

Read more: https://www.apnews.com/70b1fdfbe0454ac9b15146013fbbe413