CAPITOL DIGEST
Dewhurst forms blind trust; Senate OKs top-tier college fund plan
COMPILED FROM STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS
Friday, May 01, 2009
Dewhurst creates a blind trust
Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, the subject of an investigation into whether he has revealed enough information about his wealth, has put some of his holdings into a blind trust while finally disclosing his stake in a Houston investment company.
 Harry Cabluck/ASSOCIATED PRESS Rep. Charlie Geren, R-Fort Worth, left, talks Thursday with another lawmaker next to a small plastic dinosaur in the state House. Geren was pushing the dinosaur name change. |
Most of Dewhurst's wealth has been contained in a trust whose major assets are not disclosed. But it wasn't a blind trust — an investment tool designed to create a legal firewall between public service and personal business dealings. Dewhurst previously told The Associated Press he had decided against forming a blind trust because he would take a big tax hit. He reversed course Thursday and created the David Dewhurst Blind Trust, installing his brother Eugene and longtime business associate Martin Young as trustees.
Both signed a sworn affidavit saying they would not reveal detailed information about the blind trust to Dewhurst.
Dewhurst also said Thursday that he holds a major stake in Falcon Seaboard Diversified Inc. and that one of the major assets of the company is an airplane. The AP has previously reported that Dewhurst frequently uses the company's executive jet.
Senate OKs plan for top college fund
The Senate approved legislation that spells out benchmarks that so-called emerging research universities would have to reach to qualify for extra funding.
Senate Bill 1560 is intended to help the seven emerging institutions be recognized as among the nation's leading research campuses.
The bill lists various criteria — including size of endowment, number of doctorate degrees awarded each year and research spending — that schools would have to meet to qualify for distributions from a proposed national research university fund. Schools would have to meet most, but not all, of the criteria to qualify.
Senate backs child booster seats
The Senate voted to require children who are younger than 8 years old to use "booster" seats when riding in cars to help them fit properly in their seat belts. Kids 4-foot-9 or taller would be exempted. Current law requires only children under 5 and less than 36 inches tall to use a child safety seat. The bill now goes to the House, which is considering a similar bill.
House corrects state dinosaur name
The Texas House approved a resolution to replace the state dinosaur of Texas on Thursday — but not before finding an excuse for dress-up and toys. The new state dinosaur would be Paluxysaurus (pal-ux-ee-SORE-us) jonesi, named after the Paluxy River where the dinosaur's fossils were found and Texas' fossil-rich Jones Ranch.
When representatives arrived Thursday morning, they found their desks graced by small plastic dinosaurs handed out by Rep. Charlie Geren, R-Fort Worth.
Not to be outdone, Mauriceville Republican Rep. Mike Hamilton later dressed up in a purple-spotted dinosaur costume and was joined by a second green dinosaur, identified as Rep. Mark Homer, D-Paris. The two flanked Geren as House members quizzed him.
Geren has been pushing the measure through the House, even facing down a fifth-grader from Irving who objected to Geren's choice for the new dinosaur.
The current state dinosaur — the 60-foot-long herbivore pleurocoelus (PLOOR-uh-SEEL-us) crowned according to fossils found in Texas — was exposed as an impostor in 2007. A Southern Methodist University graduate student discovered that the fossils long believed to be pleurocoelus were actually part of another, more uniquely Texan dinosaur.
Geren's resolution would honor the correct dinosaur, paluxysaurus.
Senators support passenger rail study
The Senate voted Thursday to create a long-term plan for developing a statewide passenger rail system.
Senate Bill 1382 would put the Texas Department of Transportation in charge of studying passenger rail development. The bill, passed on a voice vote over objections that it would take away from TxDOT's primary focus on building roads, and perhaps its funding for those roads.
