Senator moves to delay confirmation of public insurance counsel ...

A state senator moved to delay the nomination of Public Insurance Counsel Deeia Beck on Monday, saying she failed to show up for a meeting earlier in the day with Sen. Kelly Hancock, R-North Richland Hills, who has filed a bill to abolish her office. Sen. Troy Fraser,R-Horseshoe Bay, asked the Senate Nominations Committee to hold off on Beck?s appointment until she meets with Hancock and resolves any difference they might have. But Beck told committee members she had no appointment with Hancock and offered to take a lie detector test to prove it.

?That is absolute nonsense. There was no appointment,? Beck said, after hearing Fraser tell the committee that Hancock reported he was ?stood up? by Beck at a scheduled meeting in his Capitol office. ?This just didn?t happen,? she said. ?Sen. Hancock walked by 15 minutes ago and he did not say a word to me. I had no idea he wanted to meet with me.? Senate Nominations Committee Chairman Glenn Hegar, R-Katy, said he had suggested the meeting between Hancock and Beck after Hancock last week filed a bill to abolish the Office of Public Insurance Counsel, saying he wanted to save the state money. But Hegar added he did not know if a meeting was ever scheduled.

Fraser started off his questioning by asking Beck about her agency?s expenditures, and then he asked whether she had endorsed any candidates in Fort Worth-area senate races last year. Beck is a former Fort Worth lawyer. She acknowledged that she backed former state Rep. Mark Shelton, R-Fort Worth, when it appeared he would run against Hancock in a newly configured Senate District 10. But the lines were redrawn after an adverse court ruling and Hancock and Shelton ended up running in different districts. Fraser also asked Beck whether she backed former Rep. Todd Smith of Euless, who did oppose Hancock in the Senate District 9 GOP primary last year. She said she did not. Fraser also questioned her involvement in GOP primaries as head of a state agency, but Beck defended her right to back candidates of her choice. Her nomination was still pending Monday afternoon.

?

This entry was posted in Legislature 2013, Republicans by Terrence Stutz/Reporter. Bookmark the permalink.

Source: http://trailblazersblog.dallasnews.com/2013/02/senator-moves-to-delay-confirmation-of-public-insurance-counsel.html/

Beady Eye Eric Idle rory mcilroy Fatboy Slim Rio de Janeiro Shark Week London 2012 closing ceremony