Lege Lines: Elsewhere Under the Dome

Photo by Jana Birchum

July 10: That's the date set by the Western District Court of Texas for a new trial on fixing the state's illegal House and congressional district maps. The court has previously ruled that the GOP-dominated Legislature violated both the U.S. Constitution and the Voting Rights Act in the 2011 redistricting, and now the clock is ticking to draw new lines before filing begins for the 2018 primaries… The Texas Motion Picture Alliance puts on a last push for the Texas Moving Image Industry Incentive Program with their lobby day, scheduled for May 4. The film industry body fears major job losses if the Legislature goes ahead with its plan to defund the program… Wonder what happened to local Rep. Dawnna Dukes? Chito Vela, one of the Democratic House hopefuls left high and dry when Dukes reneged on her pledge to resign when the session started, hammered the embattled absentee lawmaker this week for missing 75% of her assigned committee meetings, and 60% of all floor days… The offices of Rep. Richard Peña Raymond, D-Laredo, were among those searched during a statewide FBI raid last week. Raymond told Quorum Report that investigators took nothing, and it is unclear whether Raymond was part of the investigation, or law enforcement searched his office just because it's in Laredo City Hall with other targeted offices… Lawmakers of both parties paid their respects this week to Charlie How­ard. The former Republican representative for Sugar Land passed away on May 2, at age 74.