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John Whitmire

The latest John Whitmire news from The Texas Tribune.

  • Senators Take Up Bullying Bills

    By Morgan Smith

    At Tuesday's Senate Education Committee hearing on a trio of anti-bullying bills, the parents of children who committed suicide after being picked on by classmates asked lawmakers to fix a system they say failed their families. Full Story 

    Asher Brown took his own life on Sept. 23, 2010 after bullies at school tormented him. He was 13 years old.
    Credit: Courtesy of Equality Texas

  • Shay Bilchik: The TT Interview

    By Brandi Grissom

    The director of the Center for Juvenile Justice Reform at Georgetown Public Policy Institute on the factors Texas lawmakers should consider as they seek to make budget cuts while continuing the reforms they started in 2007. Full Story 

    Shay Bilchik, director of the Center for Juvenile Justice Reform at Georgetown University Public Policy Institute
    Credit: Justin Dehn

  • Lawmakers Propose Raiding Auto Theft Fund

    By Brandi Grissom

    House and Senate budget writers have proposed closing a little-known state agency that helps prevent and solve automobile theft and burglary. The catch? While they’re planning to kill the agency, they're not planning to stop collecting the fee you pay to keep it going. Full Story 

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    Credit: Graphic by Todd Wiseman

  • Why Is Voter ID an Emergency?

    By Justin Dehn

    State Sens. John Whitmire, D-Houston, and Robert Duncan, R-Lubbock, debate the importance of voter ID, which Gov. Rick Perry has declared a legislative emergency. Perry's designation allows lawmakers to consider the measure during the first 60 days of the session. Full Story 

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  • ICYMI: The Senate Two-Thirds Debate

    By Elise Hu

    In case you missed it, we mashed up Wednesday's speeches for and against the Texas Senate's hallowed "two-thirds rule," which senators ultimately preserved. Members voted to keep an exception to the rules that allows a simple majority to consider changes to voter identification laws. Full Story 

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  • TribBlog: The Two-Thirds Discussion

    By Reeve Hamilton

    In a party-line vote, the Texas Senate adopted its rules today without making any changes to the rule that requires the consent of two-thirds of the body to bring an issue to the floor. Of course, no change means that controversial legislation on voter ID — as it was last session — is exempt. Full Story 

    State Sen. Dan Patrick, R-Houston, speaking with Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst on the floor of the Texas Senate.
    Credit: Texas Senate

  • TribBlog: Youth Justice Merger?

    By Aziza Musa

    The Sunset Advisory Commission today unanimously recommended consolidating the Texas Youth Commission and the Texas Juvenile Probation Commission into one single youth justice division. Full Story 

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    Credit: Jacob Villanueva

  • Equal, But Not the Same

    By Ross Ramsey

    Lawmakers will spend the next six months drawing political maps for Texas, doing their decennial readjustment to make sure each district has the same number of people. But when they’re done, some parts of the state will still get more political attention than others, and the voters have only themselves to blame. Full Story 

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    Credit: Illustration by Todd Wiseman

  • Achieving Closure

    By Brandi Grissom

    Lawmakers, bureaucrats and criminal justice advocates all agree that the state’s trouble-ridden Texas Youth Commission ought to close down two of its correctional facilities. Like other state agencies, TYC has been asked to cut its budget for the next biennium by 10 percent, or $40 million. But no one at TYC is saying which lockups should get shuttered. “They don’t want to bite that bullet and show leadership,” says state Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston. Full Story 

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