Breaux seeking official guidance on eligibility
By MICHELLE MILLHOLLON, Baton Rouge
Advocate
Former U.S. Sen. John Breaux is relying on a third party to
seek official legal advice on his eligibility to run for
governor. “Other folks in the state are pursuing” a legal
opinion from the Louisiana Attorney General’s Office, Breaux’s
spokesman, Brian Hale, said Friday. Hale said he does know
exactly who will ask the office to research the issue. Jennifer
Cluck with the Attorney General’s Office said no one had
requested an opinion on Breaux’s eligibility as of 1:50 p.m.
Friday.
Vote on 4th Utah seat is derailed
By Suzanne Struglinski, Deseret
Morning News
Advocates for a bill giving Utah a fourth House seat and
giving the District of Columbia a vote were ready to celebrate
Thursday before Republicans tossed gun rights into the mix and
forced supporters to keep the champagne on ice. A Republican
procedural during a House debate tacked anti-gun control
language onto the bill and made the Democrats postpone a
scheduled floor vote on the bill to an unspecified date.
Perry's aide received detailed reports alleging
sex scandal
Governor says he found out about the Youth Commission
allegations last month
By Mike Ward, Austin
American-Statesman
An aide to the governor received detailed investigative
reports alleging a sex scandal at a West Texas youth lockup days
before the November election, documents show, but Gov. Rick
Perry has said he learned only last month, from news reports,
about the abuse at the Texas Youth Commission facility.
Interviews and documents confirm that one of Perry's aides,
Alfonso Royal, was forwarded graphic investigative reports about
sexual abuse at the West Texas State School from Texas Ranger
Sgt. Brian Burzynski on Oct. 30 or 31, 2006. The documents also
indicate that Royal knew in October, just days before Perry was
re-elected, about a West Texas district attorney's lack of
action in the case. Perry's press secretaries had previously
denied that Royal — a budget and policy analyst who oversees the
Youth Commission among other agencies — had a copy of the
reports.
Perry trip to Middle East poses boon for economy,
aides say
He huddled with a Muslim leader whose group is building an
Ismaeli center in Houston
By W. Gardner Selby, Austin
American-Statesman
Perry learned that one company is open to building a "pentominium"
in the United States, perhaps in Houston. That would be a
skyscraper in which each floor consists of a penthouselike
living space. The Governor took in a dozen events that included
one-on-one visits with business executives and sometimes lengthy
meals with high-powered officials. He scooted on a boat to peer
at a artificial island project. He huddled with a Muslim leader
whose group is building an Ismaeli center in Houston, with hopes
of also establishing an exhibit showing Muslim contributions to
world culture, education and architecture. Perry closed the trip
by dedicating a Texas A&M engineering facility in Doha, Qatar.
Streamlined Sales Tax Project
Gregoire signs Internet sales tax bill into law
By Jennifer Byrd, Seattle Times
Saying it will level the playing field between in-state and
out-of-state businesses, Gov. Chris Gregoire has signed a
measure that encourages Internet and catalog companies to
collect and send the state sales taxes on purchases made by
Washington residents. "This is absolutely about tax fairness to
the businesses of the state of Washington," Gregoire said as she
signed the bill into law. Washington will join 21 other states
that have passed legislation to become members of the
Streamlined Sales Tax Project. More than 1,000 companies that
sell products in multiple states have voluntarily agreed to
begin collecting and distributing sales taxes to any state that
agrees to become a member of the project.
Richardson says he'd tear down border wall
"The wall should be torn
down"
New
Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, left, received honors at the
Capitol on Monday from the Texas House of Representatives as
Speaker Tom Craddick, right, and Rep. Harold Dutton Jr. watched.
By W. Gardner Selby, Austin
American-Statesman
New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, a
Democratic aspirant for president in 2008, said Monday that the
wall being erected on the U.S.-Mexico border needs to go. "It's
bad policy. It was done to get election votes," Richardson said,
referring to congressional action last year authorizing
construction of a wall along parts of the border. "And the next
president should not build it. I wouldn't build it." Richardson,
59, a former U.S. House member, energy secretary and ambassador
to the United Nations, instead favors doubling the size of the
U.S. Border Patrol and investing in technology to detect illegal
immigrants. He would also commit to supporting economic
development throughout Latin America and urge Mexico's
president, Felipe Calderon, to consider joint border patrols.
House nixes Perry vaccine order
By KAREN BROOKS, Dallas Morning
News
The House voted Tuesday to unravel Gov. Rick Perry's order
that all sixth-grade girls be inoculated against the virus that
can cause cervical cancer, giving overwhelming support to a bill
that only allows the Legislature to mandate the vaccine in the
future. After an emotional and confrontational three-hour fight
over the issue, House members voted, 119-21, to endorse the bill
by Rep. Dennis Bonnen, R-Angleton, that says the vaccine for
human papillomavirus cannot be required by the state as a
condition for school entry. Once it's finally approved, which is
expected Wednesday, the bill goes to the Senate, where it has
strong support. It is still vulnerable to a gubernatorial veto,
though Mr. Perry has not said if he'll do that.
Opinion trims Perry's power
AG tells lawmaker that HPV shots can be
suggested, not ordered
By CHRISTY HOPPE, Dallas
Morning News
The power of a governor's executive order was reduced to an
executive suggestion in an informal attorney general's opinion,
revealed Monday, that Gov. Rick Perry doesn't have the legal
authority to order sixth-grade girls vaccinated for a sexually
transmitted virus. The decision did not surprise key legislators
and policy opponents who have chafed under Mr. Perry's expansive
use of executive orders. Some legislators said Mr. Perry
overstepped his authority and asked Greg Abbott for an attorney
general's opinion on how a governor can wield an executive
order.
