As of right now, there are 61 days left in the 81st legislative session. Not much time to get our act together to defeat bad legislation, and in particular, the monstrous local option tax bill known by it's more apt name in some quarters as the "Transportaxation bill."

A bill preventing appraisers from skipping over foreclosed property passed the House this week (CSHB 1038 by Paxton). This is a great move, as it helps ensure that all available information is being used in appraisals. From the committee analysis:

Quorum Report is reporting that the Anybody-But-Craddick legislators (corrected to say "Republicans") have their consensus candidate for speaker of the Texas House, and it's Rep. Joe Straus (R-San Antonio).

QR is also reporting that 11 of the candidates who have filed have pulled out, except for current Speaker Craddick and Rep. Dan Gattis (R-Georgetown).  All this happened just after Rep. Brian McCall (R-Plano) got in the mix earlier this evening.

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and that plans to celebrate the New Year are well under way. While we were all catching up on sleep (well, I was!) and eagerly celebrating Christmas last week, it seems the Texas House of Representatives was silently brewing new surprises for us all.  Of course, like most such gifts, it wasn't really a surprise so much as a confirmation of reality; the Democrats despise Speaker Tom Craddick, a bunch of Republicans don't know what to make of him, and January 13 will be a long day for political junkies, House staffers, and political media.  

Cook, Craddick, Gallego, Hochberg, Jones, Keffer, Kuempel, Merritt, Ritter, Solomons, Thompson and Turner. Everything but the partridge in the pear tree, it seems.  These are the twelve declared candidates for Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives.  Seven Republicans, five Democrats.  

Nearly a month after the election, officials in State House District 105 are conducting a vote recount for the HD 105 race.  Currently held by State Rep. Linda Harper-Brown (R), this Dallas-area seat is being watched carefully, as the possible fate of the Texas House rests in the outcome.