Texas Democrats See Future in Mobilizing Latino Turnout

May 17, 2013 No Comments ›› tmf

No one doubts the growth of the Latino electorate in Texas. But its turnout at the polls is lower than in the rest of the country, leading some to question how to change that. Especially Democrats who say this is how to turn Texas blue. State Rep. Trey Martinez-Fischer, D-San Antonio, and State Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Fort …

Continue Reading
MALC 40th Anniversary

MALC celebrates 40th birthday as poll shows importance of Hispanic voters

May 17, 2013 No Comments ›› tmf

Texas Democrats have been trying to figure out how to win a statewide election for almost 20 years. Now, as the population grows and the demographics change, that goal may be attainable. “Latino voters are the key to transform red Texas into blue Texas,” pollster Julie Martinez Ortega said. Ortega, along with Democratic senators Wendy …

Continue Reading
ZStrausGavelTT_jpg_800x1000_q100

Agenda Texas: What’s a Point of Order?

May 2, 2013 No Comments ›› tmf

By Ben Philpott, KUT News Quiz time. True or false: If legislation is brought up for debate in the Texas House and a majority of lawmakers support the bill, nothing can defeat it. Answer: false. A bill can be stopped in the House by what’s called a point of order. That’s what happened Monday night during debate on …

Continue Reading

Texas House passes Domestic Violence Registry legislation

May 2, 2013 No Comments ›› tmf

AUSTIN – The Texas House of Representatives on Tuesday debated and passed House Bill 21, creating a domestic violence registry, similar to the current Texas Sex Offender Registration Program maintained by the Texas Department of Public Safety. State Representative Villalba (R- Dallas) joint authored House Bill 21 with Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer (D-San Antonio). Once …

Continue Reading

Bill would list family violence offenders in public database

Apr 30, 2013 No Comments ›› tmf

A bill that would require repeat family violence offenders to register on an online database, similar to the Texas Department of Public Safety’s list of sex offenders, passed on second reading in the Texas House Tuesday. HB 21, authored by Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer, D-San Antonio, is awaiting a third and final vote. Triggered by a domestic …

Continue Reading

Líderes democraticos de Texas se unen para apoyar Medicaid

Apr 2, 2013 No Comments ›› tmf

Líderes democraticos de Texas se unen para apoyar Medicaid Expansión

Continue Reading

Texas is the Poster Child for Section 5

Mar 30, 2013 No Comments ›› tmf

The right to vote is not a racial entitlement. It is sacred. In fact, it is the right from which all other rights and privileges flow. Many fought, bled, and died to protect our vote. For years, the victories won by voting rights advocates were continually eroded. That ended in many communities when Congress enacted …

Continue Reading

As GOP ponders Medicaid expansion, Hispanic support hangs in the balance

Mar 11, 2013 No Comments ›› tmf

For Republicans nationally, the big takeaway from the 2012 presidential election was that, as a party, they have to get right — or at least do better — with Hispanic voters. With the opening of the 83rd legislative session, the lessons of the 2012 election seemed to have taken here as well. No provocative emergency items like …

Continue Reading
TMF Voting Rights Act

Texas Lawmaker Says Voter Discrimination Still Happens

Feb 27, 2013 No Comments ›› tmf

  The Supreme Court is set to consider the constitutionality of part of the landmark Voting Rights Act of 1965 that the federal government says is still needed to prevent racial discrimination in voting. Section 5 of the law requires nine full states and parts of seven others to get approval from either the Department …

Continue Reading
Voter ID

Why Texas still needs the Voting Rights Act

Feb 27, 2013 No Comments ›› tmf

Ninety-eight to nothing, and 390-33. With margins like these, you’d think they were naming a post office. But instead Congress was reaffirming one of the country’s most important civil rights laws. In 2006, the House and Senate, by a landslide, reauthorized the seminal Voting Rights Act (VRA) for another 25 years, and President George W. …

Continue Reading