Sine Die and Frank Madla

It's Sine Die, the 140th day of the session, when the Lege adjourns indefinitely and rolls out of town. But not before some ceremony. Right now, the Senate is nominating Frank Madla to serve as president pro-temp of the Senate.

It's a mostly ceremonial post, though Madla will be third in-line should anything happen to the governor and lite gov. Madla, a San Antonio Democrat, has served in the Senate since 1993, after 20 years in the House. He's known for his quiet demeanor and for being the champion of the Texas wine industry. That's pretty much what most senators are saying in their nominating speeches. Unfortunately, Madla's most influential and lasting contribution this session was casting a largely decisive vote for the anti-gay marriage constitutional amendment.

There's been speculation around the Capitol that Madla would retire after this session (Rep. Pete Gallego and Rep. Carlos Uresti have been mentioned as possible successors). But now we have to wonder if good ol' Frank won't be coming back after all.

Ugly Ball

There is not a lot of trust between the Senate and the House as the final hours of the regular session wind down. Both sides feel bruised by the negotiations over school finance (if you can call them that). For a number of senators and their staff members, matters were made worse by what just happened over House Bill 2329. The bill authorized tuition revenue bonds for the universities in the state that are growing the fastest. After a tough discussion in conference, conferees from the two chambers worked out an acceptable deal.

Yesterday Higher Ed Chairwoman Geanie Morrison (R-Victoria) came by the Senate with five signatures from the House conferees. She wanted the Senate conferees to sign off. Three of the Senators on the conference committee reviewed the bill report and signed.

This morning, a House staffer came over to the Senate with the official, finalized bill. It was different than the one the Senators had signed. Money for Valley schools and for schools in Dallas Democratic Sen. Royce West's district had evaporated. "We lost hundreds of millions of dollars in six hours," said one Senate staffer. "We might as well have been in Vegas."

Morrison insists it was just "an unfortunate mistake" and not an attempt to put one over on the Senate. She now must get 100 votes in the House to go out of bounds to accept the agreed upon version of the bill.

Point of Order on Marriage

It appears the House is trying to tie up all loose ends before sine die. Rep. Peggy Hamric (R-Houston) offered a house resolution granting Rep. Mary Denny (R-Aubrey) the ability to use the House floor for her wedding ceremony. The odd thing about this motion is Denny already got married on the House floor... on May 6th.
Hamric offered the resolution to simply make her colleague's use of the floor legitimate.

"In the history of the Texas Legislature, only Ms. Denny has a point of order on
her marriage," said Hamric. "I move that only Ms. Denny can call the point of
order."

The resolution passed on a voice vote with no opposition, just a few chuckles.

Tom DeLay, a National Joke?

The Dallas Morning News this morning has a story about how U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Sugar Land) is mentioned in an episode of the television series Law and Order: Criminal Intent. In the show, police search for a killer of a judge and his family. "Maybe we should put out an APB for somebody in a Tom DeLay T-shirt," one of the cops says.

Last week Jay Leno on the Tonight Show also took a shot at DeLay.

Leno: "Wow. George Lukas made $58 million today with Star Wars. Nobody in this country makes that kind of money in an afternoon—except Tom Delay."

The Gipper Gets Snipped

Right before the House broke for the night yesterday, Rep. Bryan Hughes (R-Mineola) made a motion to accept the Senate version of HB 55. The bill names a portion of Highway 20 after Ronald Reagan. The Senate version confines the designation to the solidly Republican Arlington and Grand Prairie portion of the highway. As filed, HB 55 was much more ambitious. It included all of Dallas and Tarrant counties but it hit a roadblock named Sen. Royce West (D-Dallas). While Hughes made his motion, Sen. Chris Harris (R-Arlington) stood behind the Speaker on the dais complaining about his colleagues in his own chamber.

Budget Passes Senate

SB 1, the budget bill by Sen. Steve Ogden (R- Bryan), just passed the Senate this evening 30 to 1 after opposition to the bill was expressed by several senators. Senators Gonzalo Barrientos (D-Austin), Mario Gallegos Jr. (D-Houston), and Eliot Shapleigh (D-El Paso) were the most vocal about their reservations and disappointments with the budget, mostly concerning the limited funds for teachers and schools.

"I don't like this budget, it makes me anxious.... we need to do more for Texas," said Sen. Barrientos.

"Today if we don't do better...the next generation won't be as prosperous as this one...that's what we're telling [Texans] with this budget," said Sen. Shapleigh.

Even with the opposition, the bill overwhelmingly passed the Senate, but still faces what promises to be a lengthy debate tomorrow in the House. If SB 1 passes the House tomorrow it makes it way up to the governor's desk.

These Two Don't Look the Same...

"I haven't done that all session," said Lt. Governor David Dewhurst, with a rueful smile.

Dewhurst had tried to recognize Sen. Juan "Chuy" Hinojosa (D-McAllen) for a motion during the budget debate currently underway.

But instead of saying "Sen. Hinojosa for a motion," looking at Chuy he said, "Senator [Gonzalo] Barrientos [D-Austin] for a motion."

Twice.

Why Work When You Can Play Football

Priorities, priorities. Shortly before 1 pm today, after only being in session since 11 this morning, the House adjourned until 8 pm. Why did the House decide to take this seven hour recess just two short days before sine die? To play football of course! Apparently members need to take out some of the aggression that's been building up all session.

This afternoon there will be a Freshman football game, with a freshman representative as the
captain of each team. Each team is said to have around 20 players and the big game will supposedly be in Memorial Stadium.

While the House also adjourned to wait for more bills to come over from the Senate and attend committee meetings, it will be interesting to see how much work will actually get done. After their strenuous football game in the heat, members are sure to stumble back to the floor tonight (if they come back at all) dehydrated, injured, and possibly a bit inebriated. Tonight's session should be colorful. Don't you just love Texas politics!

Band-Aids When Intensive Care Is Needed

Before the 79th Legislature began, Gov. Rick Perry declared Child and Adult Protective Services an emergency issue. Today, with a little more than three days left in the session, the House and Senate have come to an agreement on SB 6, the bill that lays out how to fix a system that has spawned countless horror stories of abused children and elderly adults.

First the good:

More than 2,500 additional child protective service workers will be hired.

CPS caseloads will decrease 40 percent.

APS workers will see caseloads drop to an average of 28 per month.

Now the bad:

CPS will only get about a 12 percent increase in funding (combined state and federal).

Caseloads will remain among the highest in the nation.

National best practice standards call for investigative caseloads between 12 and 15 per caseworker.

The bill will phase in over 6 years a total privatization of all case management.

There are several reasons the conference committee has taken more than a month to fashion an agreement. Sen. Eliot Shapleigh (D-El Paso) lobbied hard for $9 million for a guardian ad litem system for APS, so that elderly who fell through the cracks would have someone who would advocate on their behalf. Shapleigh says that the governor's office nixed the program because they "don't want another entitlement program." Shapleigh did not sign the conference report.

The privatization proposal was also a sticking point. The conference committee appears to have gone with the more ambitious House proposal on this one. Rep. Elliot Naishtat (D-Austin) did manage to get an independent, but nonbinding evaluation, to study how the phased in privatization works so that if it turns into a disaster the Lege can come back and fix it.

Finally, Rep. Robert Talton (R-Pasadena) attached an amendment to the bill on the House side that would make it illegal for gay parents to adopt children from CPS. That amendment was stripped out of the final product. Rumor has it that when the bill comes back to the House for an up or down vote--likely on Sunday--Talton is going to raise a stink. He also apparently did not sign the conference report.

Senate Confirms Krugh

Earlier we wondered if Houston homebuilder (and GOP sugar-daddy) Bob Perry's right-hand man was a good choice to sit on the commission regulating homebuilders. A few minutes ago, the Senate gave its answer--a resounding "yes."

The Senate approved the nomination of John Krugh--Perry's corporate attorney--to the Texas Residential Construction Commission. Krugh's term runs until 2009. Here's our previous coverage of the homebuilder-run agency, and of Krugh's nomination.

The Senate took the unusual step of separating out Krugh for an individual confirmation vote. And Sens. Robert Duncan, Royce West, and Eliot Shapleigh all spoke against his confirmation, saying Krugh is biased toward the building industry (imagine that?).

"The Texas Association of Builders is a good organization," Duncan said, "but they don't run the Texas Senate." Uh, Senator, we beg to differ: The final vote was 24-7--four "no" votes short of blocking Krugh.

For Bob Perry, those millions in GOP donations continue to work wonders.

Krugh Nomination Up in the Senate

The Senate plans to vote this evening on John Krugh's controversial nomination to the builder-dominated Texas Residential Construction Commission. Krugh is the corporate counsel for Houston homebuilder and GOP money-man Bob Perry.

Is Bob Perry's right-hand man a good choice to regulate the building industry?

Sen. Robert Duncan seemingly doesn't think so. The Lubbock Republican created a stir when he berated Krugh during a Senate Nominations Committee hearing. The committee passed out Krugh and three other controversial TRCC nominees on Monday. All three will be up for final Senate confirmation in a short while.

Last Attempt At Parental Consent

With the death of both parental consent bills, SB 1150 and HB 1212, there is only one vehicle left to advance parental consent this session. Rep. Will Hartnett (R-Dallas) and Rep. Phil King (R-Weatherford) introduced a parental consent amendment to SB 419, (Texas State Board of Medical Examiners Sunset Bill) on the House floor. The amendment does not include language to alter judicial bypass that was part of the introduced version of the amendment.

The bill cleared both the House and the Senate and will now have to pass through the Senate conference committee by next Monday, May 30. Conference committee members have been named and include Nelson, Harris, Eltife, Deuell, and Zaffirini. House conferees have not yet been named.

Pro-choice groups say parental consent will remain part of SB 419, but they say that they will remain on the defense to try and prevent additional anti-abortion amendments from attaching to the bill.

The Poor Men Nameth

Rep. Sylvester Turner (D- Houston) wasn't joking when he said he would have admission certificates for his newly recruited 'poor man's caucus.' Today, shortly after House members adopted his amendment (98 to 39), earning them their 'poor man's caucus' status, Turner's staffers began drafting letters for those both accepted and denied. The acceptance letters offer gratitude and congratulations, while the denial letters offer another chance of acceptance in January 2007, at the beginning of the 80th Legislative Session.

The term 'poor man's caucus' was derived several weeks ago to describe the representatives (mostly Republican) who were opposing Turner's amendment to HB 3540 (a fiscal matters bill), which would have allowed internet lottery, on the basis that it would take advantage of the poor. While supporters of his amendment were interested in the additional revenue it would accumulate for the state (much needed for school finance, health care, etc), the opposition claimed it was simply bad for the poor (since every low-income Texan has a computer with internet access readily at hand). Upon hearing the opposition's concern for the poor, Rep. Turner jokingly raved about their shared concern, naming this group 'the poor man's caucus.'

It's good to know some light-heartedness surfaces during the slew of lengthy and serious debate.

The Poor Man Cometh

Immediately after Bonnen was humiliated, Rep. Sylvester Turner (D-Houston) put up an amendment to SB 712, the energy efficiency bill, that would increase access that the poor and elderly have to a service that helps reduce their energy bills. Representatives of utilities come to their homes and identify and correct inefficiencies (a large gap under a door, for example) that cause higher energy bills. Turner asked his colleagues to "stand in representing the poor man's caucus."

After the amendment passed, Turner returned to the mic and notified the members, "Your membership cards to the poor man's caucus will arrive by the end of the day." Curious, Rep. Glenn Hegar (R-Katy) asked whether or not this caucus will be having an end-of-the-session barbecue. "No," came the reply, "they can't afford it."

Liar Liar

There was an unusually ugly exchange this afternoon between Rep. Dennis Bonnen (R-Angleton) and Rep. Will Hartnett (R-Dallas). At the climax of an argument over Bonnen's amendment to SB 712 (on the lege's energy efficiency goals), Hartnett called Bonnen out for lying to the House members. "Rep. Bonnen has misrepresented [his amendment]," Hartnett said.

With the text of the amendment in hand, Hartnett was about to detail the extent of Bonnen's misdeeds by reading it aloud. Bonnen quickly put the kibosh on Hartnett by calling a point of order; Hartnett's time was up. Thoroughly upset, the two retired to a death match off to the side, complete with waving hands and pumping fists. To Bonnen's dismay, an amendment that neutered his amendment passed.

Voter ID Bill Surfaces in Senate...Briefly

A few minutes ago, Sen. Mike Jackson offered Rep. Mary Denny's voter ID bill as an amendment to House Bill 2339. The voter ID measure would require voters to present a government-issued picture ID at the polling station in addition to a voter registration card. Basically, it's your standard "make it harder for people to vote" bill. Democrats have argued that it would suppress minority and elderly voting.

Sen. Leticia Van De Putte (D-San Antonio) sniffed out the provision. When she questioned Jackson about it, he claimed he didn't know where the amendment came from (which at this frenzied point in the session might be true). He then withdrew it.

Denny (R-Aubrey) seems to be hedging her bets on this. Her voter ID provision is also attached to Senate Bill 89 that passed to third reading in the House yesterday.

Throw Down in the Senate

There are some raw nerves in the Senate tonight after debate of a $3.7 billion tax bill was cut short with a rarely used procedural maneuver. Senators had just started debating House Bill 3540, a huge revenue bill by Finance Chair Steve Ogden, when Sen. John Whitmire (D-Houston) called for the previous question, a rarely used procedural gambit that cuts off debate and moves immediately to a vote. That killed more than 50 pending amendments to HB 3540, including one that would have legalized video lottery terminals. Supporters believed they had the 16 votes needed to get VLTs into the bill--but the amendment perished with all the rest. Quorum Report has some more details.

After debate was cut off, senators had angry words for each other. Sen. Ken Armbrister (D-Victoria), who saw several of his amendments die, told his colleagues that the Senate was subjugating itself to the House on too many issues and that the upper chamber should have had a chance to debate HB 3540. "This is the biggest tax bill in the history of the state and [16] of us had little or no input," he said. It was a rare level of animosity in the normally staid Senate. In fact, it looked a lot like the raw debates we normally see in--and we know this is going to sting--the House.

Lowering Expectations

Senate Bill 1227, an expansive financial aid bill, sets uniform standards for students receiving financial aid under state grant programs. Currently, the TEXAS Grants program, which primarily provides assistance for low-income, minority and first generation students, is subject to a 2.5 GPA requirement. Another grant program called Texas Equalization Grants, which provides financial aid to cover the additional costs incurred by students who choose to go to private schools over public schools, is not subject to the same GPA requirements. The Senate voted in SB 1227 to change that by raising the requirements for the Texas Equalization Grants to match those of TEXAS Grants.

But, the House chose a different route when they heard SB 1227 on the floor tonight. Instead of raising the bar, the House voted in an overwhelming majority to lower the standards of TEXAS Grants to meet those of the private school grant program.

Rep. Sylvester Turner explained that raising the requiremtns for TEG students would kick off a good number of students who have GPAs lower than 2.5. The bill passed with his amendment, lowering the new GPA requirement for TEXAS Grants to 2.0.

House to cops: Get it in writing

The House had been primed; Sen. Juan "Chuy" Hinojosa (D-McAllen) was there even at night when the Senate wasn't in session, pushing his consent-search bill. Just before midnight, it passed the House 96-41. It means that when cops stop a car without probable cause, they must make a written or taped record of the driver's consent to search it. The bill had remarkable force behind it: The NRA supported it alongside the ACLU, and as Rep. Jim Jackson spoke weakly against it, some Republicans shouted "vote! vote!" During this heckling, Will Harrell, the Texas ACLU's director, stood in the gallery and waved his finger in an "aye" sign.

The Well Is About to Run Dry

At midnight tonight, Senate bills that have not been heard on second reading in the House will die. Among them will be SB 3, the Senate's omnibus water bill. It's so far down on the calendar that some 60 plus bills are listed before it. House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Robert Puente (D-San Antonio) estimated a little while ago that each bill would need to take about 4 minutes in order for the House to get to SB 3. Not likely. The bill's placement on the calendar is an indication of the low-regard the House leadership has for this legislation, which Lite Gov David Dewhurst called one of his major priorities of the session.

Denny's Damage

After 2 1/2 hours of a slightly surreal debate, an election bill carried by Rep. Mary Denny (R-Aubrey), SB 89, just passed on a partyline vote. Democrats would have continued tossing amendments at the bill had Houston Republican Rep. Joe Nixon not called the previous question, a legislative maneuver to end debate.

SB 89 is part of the GOP's onslaught this session to make it harder for low-income, minorities, and the elderly to vote. Of course, that's not the rationale of the author. Denny insists the provisions she has carried to force voters to present multiple forms of identification in order to be able to vote will stop rampant electoral fraud. She can't point to any specific examples of fraud but she knows it's out there.

SB 89 will require everybody to have at least a Texas drivers' license or in lieu of that two other pieces of identification as specified in the bill. If you don't have the identification, your vote will be cast as a provisional ballot. Then you have 5 days in which to present the proper ID.

There will be one exception, thanks to San Antonio Democrat David Leibowitz. With an emotional appeal that included the story of his elderly parents and much mention of the Greatest Generation that fought in World War II, Leibowitz got an amendment on the bill exempting anyone 85 and over from the new identification requirements. "Our parents deserve better," he said.

So does the state.

Good Bill Gone Bad, Moves On

The House is flying through bills in a rush to meet the midnight deadline of having all senate bills passed through second reading. One of the bills that was whisked through with no debate is Senate Bill 747.

This bill, authored by Dallas Republican John Corona, was a well-intentioned bill for women's health care . . . in the beginning. The bill broadens a Medicaid waiver program for low-income women to receive preventative health services. An astounding proposition.

But, alas, it was too good to be true. Sen. Robert Deuell (R-Greenville) amended the bill not only to require that no abortions are funded with tax dollars as federaly mandated, but also to bar the money from being used for any health care entity that provides or promotes abortions.

The bill's broad restrictions drastically reduces the number of providers that are eligible to be used under the bill. Planned Parenthood, although only a few of their numerous clinics statewide offer abortion services, would be excluded from offering services to the women falling under the Medicaid waiver program. More information on the bill can be found in the Bad Bills section of the latest issue of the Observer.

Rep. Warren Chisum amended the bill on the House floor to require that the program emphasize abstinence education for those who are not married.

What was he thinking?!?

Rep. Todd Smith presented Senate Bill 111 on the House floor today. The bill will require that state universities adopt a plan to offer college credit for high school students who participate in the IB program, a rigorous academic program offered in schools across the country.

What? IB? International Baccalereaute? Did you say International?!?

"Does this support any sort of internationalism?" a heated Rep. Robert Talton directed at Smith. Talton said the program is tied to that damned international group, the United Nations - you know, "the same U.N. that is now involved in the oil scandal in Iraq."

After a short break, Talton returned to the mike, even more heated. He took a look at the IB program website. Ohmygod! This program was started in . . . Switzerland!!!!

"Are you still telling me that this doesn't preach internationalism?" Talton shouted.

A frustrated Smith retorted, "I still don't understand why that's a problem."

The bill passed with an overwhelming majority. But, Talton, again, amazed.

Progressive Probation Reform Passes

And now for some uplifting news from the Lege: the Senate this afternoon passed a very progressive reform of the Texas probation system. House Bill 2193 sailed through the Senate--passing 25-5 on the key procedural vote.

The measure now moves to Gov. Rick Perry's desk. If he signs the bill, it would be a major victory for Sen. John Whitmire (D-Houston), Rep. Jerry Madden (R-Richardson), the ACLU of Texas, and other criminal justice reform advocates. Scott Henson is all over this issue at Grits for Breakfast. Here is Scott's in-depth report on the bill and last week's Senate committee hearing.

The problem: Texas has one of the harshest probation systems in the nation.
Last year, the state revoked probation for 25,000 convicts, sending them back to prison. Of those, 10,000 (or 41 percent) had their probation revoked simply for technical violations, meaning they didn't commit an additional crime. Those probationers return to prison for an average for 4.5 years each.

Whitmire and Madden's reform bill may keep many of those 10,000 technical violators out of the state's crowded prisons. It gives judges more discretion on when to end probation for people who have turned their lives around and to direct more attention to helping probationers headed for a technical violation. "This is the part of the criminal justice system that is most broken," Whitmire told the Senate. "We need to reward people for turning their lives around and are doing right." He said that getting reformed felons off probation will free up resources to aid those who need more attention. That, he said, would create a more focused and effective probation system and improve public safety.

And damn if that isn't the most sensible thing we've heard at the Lege in a while.

Bad Bill Survives

One of the bad bills mentioned in The Texas Observer, SB 481, survived the numerous pulls and probes of the legislative process and made its way into the hands of the Governor. And in his observant grasp, good ole' Perry signed this legislation, allowing it to become law beginning September 1, 2005.

The only good thing about this bad MPAA driven bill, is that the overly broad language, which included cell phone use in a movie theater as a possible felony offense, was amended by Rep. Terry Keel (R-Austin), the author of the bill's House companion- Keel apparently did listen to atleast part of the objections made about the bill during it's committee hearing.

SB 481, however, still makes the second offense for the unauthorized opertation of a recording device in a movie theater a felony- creating yet another felony offense for Texas (as if we don't have enough already).

Can't Keep a "Good" Consent Bill Down!

Last Sunday, SB 1150, the Parental Consent Bill, was killed by a point of order in the House due to a technical fault from the House State Affairs Committee. This is the second time a parental consent bill has died this session from errors out of the House State Affairs Committee.

As reported in a previous post, in one last attempt to pass consent legislation before session's end, Rep. Will Hartnett added a similar measure in the form of an amendment to SB 419, the Texas State Board of Medical Examiners Sunset Bill. The bill was sent back to the Senate and will likely end up in conference committee.

Robbing The Poor To Give To The Poor

We all know that "everything's bigger in Texas," except, it seems, the amount jurors get paid. Currently, Texas jurors get a paltry minimum wage of $6 per day, the lowest in the country according to SB 1704's House sponsor, Will Hartnett (R-Dallas). This bill, which was on the House floor this afternoon, would raise that to $40 per day, after the first day of jury duty.

The jurors' pay hike will come from the pockets of freshly convicted criminals. Under Hartnett's proposed amendment to the bill, that fee would be $11, with leftover cash after jurors are paid going to indigent defense.

That sounds fairly progressive for a Dallas republican, but Rep. Sylvester Turner (D-Houston) brought up a good point: the majority of convicted criminals in Texas are poor. Why should money for indigent defense come from the pockets of the poor? Why not just lower the fee so there is no leftover money? Hartnett snapped back at Turner, "If you get convicted of a crime, you have to pay."

Funny, but I always thought that such phrases referred to getting locked away, not an actual crime tax. It seems that Hartnett is all for indigent defense, so long as the indigent foot the bill.

Ok, Now let me see your face, please

Today the Senate passed HB 2337, the biometric boondoggle, which would require the DPS to take facial recognition information from people applying for or renewing their drivers’ licenses. With little drama, the bill passed 28-2.

When the bill first came up, though, Sen. Todd Staples, R-Palestine, who sponsored the bill in the Senate, did cast several frantic glances at his aide across the room. Apparently he was at a bit of a loss for the facts to answer the questions of a few legislators. After a few hours break and a couple of ammendments, the concerns were apparently quelled.

The amendments put a limitation on who has access to the information. Outside agencies are only allowed access with written permission from the individual. But, the bill still allows info sharing among law enforcement agencies. The second amendment requires annual reporting of any errors that occur in the recognition process and whether or not these errors are affecting a specific racial population.

Staples says the bill will be used to prevent identity theft and to identify victims of natural disasters. But, that's all. Shapleigh expressed concern that the legislation might be used for more than that.

"I’ll be the first one to join you if we do see abuses occurring," Staples said. With the way law enforcement has been "utilizing" their powers in the epic battle against terrorism, it seems that "when" we see abuses occurring may be the more accurate statement.

The Voucher Mutiny

Wow. Going into tonight's debate on the voucher bill, one anti-voucher legislator told the Observer that he had never received so much pressure on a bill. Not on redistricting. Not on this session's school finance bill. Pressure from lobbyists. Pressure from the leadership. And pressure from some of his fellow members.

The night's two key amendments came from Rep. Charlie Geren (R-Fort Worth). Geren's amendments came after passionate debate against vouchers by Rep. Carter Casteel (R-New Braunfels), Rep. Sylvester Turner (D-Houston), and Rep. Rafael Anchia (D-Dallas).

"Carter teed it up so good all I needed to do was swing," said Geren.

The first Geren amendment simply gave the Republican leadership some of its own medicine. If a voucher pilot program was so good for public schools in minority districts then it should also be acceptable to Republican suburban districts, such as the bill's sponsor Kent Grusendorf's Arlington district.

Geren's second amendment went right for the throat of the bill's voucher provision. The amendment shifted "school choice" funding from private schools to public schools, which isn't exactly what voucher proponents had in mind. Grusendorf's motion to table failed, and Geren's public school choice amendment was adopted by a vote of 74-70. That gutted the bill's private school voucher proposal.

After the Geren uprising succeeded, Speaker Craddick sustained a point of order from Rep. Jim Dunnam that vanquished the entire bill, and with it any likely chance for vouchers this session. Upon hearing the ruling, Rep. Paul Moreno (D-El Paso) sang out: "It's Miller Time."

Top Ten Resurrection

Sen. Education Committee Chair Florence Shapiro brought top ten legislation back from the dead today after declaring it caput over the weekend. A committee vote Saturday on HB 2330, which would cap top ten percent admissions at 50 percent, resulted in a deadlock with a 3-3 tie.

But, Shapiro may have sent the bill to an early grave. The legislation will go before the committee again Tuesday morning for another vote. Shapiro says she will continue to try to get the votes she needs to get the bill out of her committee. She says she hopes more committee members will be present for the vote this time.

Three members were absent from the meeting Saturday: Sen. Kip Averitt (R-McGreggor), Sen. Todd Staples (R-Palestine) and Sen. Tommy Williams (R-The Woodlands).

In a vote on the Senate's version of top ten percent, SB 333, which left the rule in tact, several admentments to cap or eliminate the bill were presented but defeated on the floor. Averitt and Staples voted against the ammendment to change top ten. Williams voted in favor. (SB 333 died in committe in the House.) Depending on who shows for the vote, the numbers could swing.

Sen Royce West (D-Houston), Sen. Leticia Van de Putte (D-San Antonio) and Sen. Steve Ogden (R-Bryan) voted no in committee Saturday.

West, the original author of the top ten percent rule, says he will not change his committee vote unless an agreement is reached between the House and Senate, as well as the administration of the University of Texas at Austin who say a cap is needed or else top ten will take over their entire admissions process.

Last session, West killed a bill to cap top ten percent through a fillibuster. He says he does not think he will have to do that this session. "I will continue to work with trying to come up with a solution to the UT problem, but the solution must not only deal with their part but maintain the integrity of top ten percent." West has proposed a seven percent cap, but it is unclear if this is a compromise that all parties agree on.

West has concerns with passing an ammended version of this bill out of committee because this would send it to a House controlled conference committee. "The Senate winds up losing the process at that point," he says. He says he wants the Senate to maintain their position of influence over the legislation until an agreement is reached.

Workers' Comp Wounds

After the Senate adjourned tonight, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and Sen. Todd Staples (R-Palestine) took a few pot shots at the House, in particular Rep. Burt Solomons, over the stalled workers' compensation reform. As Quorum Report noted, House members of the conference committee stood up their Senate colleagues this afternoon at a planned meeting behind the Senate floor. Staples said he planned another try at gathering the conferees tomorrow at 11 a.m. to reach a compromise between Senate Bill 5 and House Bill 7. To encourage the House members to attend, Staples and Dewhurst lobed some insults toward the lower chamber.

"This is what people hate about politics," Dewhurst said. "I mean, give me a break. We passed a bill out in March, and you've got people standing on ego for months."

Dewhurst continued referring to Solomons: "We've known there has been a problem of one House member who felt he should have his name on the bill but didn't get his act together before the Senate passed a bill first. Let's put the injured workers first."

In all fairness, Solomons has worked on workers' comp reform for several years. And it's not as if the Lite Gov. and Senator Statewide haven't been standing on ego too. We'll find out tomorrow if their salvos bring Solomons to the table in a deal-making mood.

Still Fluid?

The first vote that would have affected vouchers on SB 422 came on an amendment by Rep. Scott Hochberg (D-Houston). It would have removed the voucher provision in the bill along with a number of others. The bill's author Rep. Kent Grusendorf (R-Arlington) put up a motion to table the amendment. The vote was a squeaker, the amendment squashed only because Speaker Tom Craddick (R-Midland), who doesn't normally vote, voted to table it. What the tight vote indicated is that this is much closer than was initially thought earlier today.

After the vote, Hochberg said: "There is only one reason that this issue is before us when most members don't want to vote on it and that's because a major contributor is sitting in the back hall."

Let There Be Light

SB 1863, the appropriations Christmas tree, was adorned with several amendments today, including one by Rep. Sylvester Turner (D-Houston). His amendment re-designates the money in the system benefit fund (the pot comprising of 65 cents per kilowatt hour charge on every Texan's electric bill). Though the system benefit fund was created to give low-income Texans a discount on their electric bills, starting last session the money has instead been allocated towards general revenue, thereby acting as a tax. Turner's amendment, however, changes that by designating the money to where it was originally intended- to low-income Texans.
Turner's amendment, which was adopted after a point of order was withdrawn, will hold this money in a trust account beginning in the 2008-09 biennium. Why the delay? Turner understands the budget enough (he's on the House appropriations confernce committee) to know that the $200 million appropriated in this fund has already been allocated towards general revenue for the upcoming 2006-07 biennium; therefore, making it more feasible to begin the transition the next time (it also makes the House's other number crunchers a bit more likely to agree).
This amendment is very similar to Rep. Turner's HB 554, which simply keeps the original intentions for the system benefit fund in tact. HB 554 passed the House in March after Turner displayed his infamous ability for eloquent persuasion, describing his bill as "truth in financing...truth in appropriation...and truth in conservativism." During the floor debate, he also responded to comments about the state using general revenue money towards food stamps, a service already benefiting the same people who will benefit from the electric discounts. "We thank you for taking their light money and [allow them to] burn a candle as they eat with your food stamps," said Turner, "[Let them] eat in darkness."

Leininger cont...

In a previous post, I pointed out that Dr. Jim is not a registered lobbyist. An argument could be made that he doesn't have to register, that he is acting as a private citizen. But Dr. Jim also supports and is actively involved in charter schools and other organizations that push vouchers and could possibly benefit from them. If he was representing any of those groups, he would need to register.

The Last Payoff, Part I

Debate on today's main event in the House, the voucher bill, has begun. A voucher pilot program has been added to SB 422, the TEA reauthorization bill. There are 98 amendments to the bill and it promises to be a brutal fight, although it's expected to pass in the end. The first point of order of several was just called and the speaker is looking it over.

What's amazing about all this energy expended on pushing vouchers in Texas is that it's not something the public particularly wants. There is no groundswell for vouchers. Instead, there is one very wealthy Republican campaign contributor who over the past 10 years has spent millions in campaign contributions for this day. That man is a San Antonio doctor named James Leininger. He is the last of the big contributors from the 2002 GOP campaign to get what he wants.

Rumor has it that Leininger has been lurking around the Capitol since last week twisting arms with the help of Speaker Tom Craddick (R-Midland). Word is that they've been successful. It's likely we will see rural Republicans whose districts will be hurt by vouchers vote against their constituents on this one.

Ironically, outside the House chamber, the man who appears to be coordinating the pro-voucher lobbying push is Bill Ceverha. You might remember him; he's currently awaiting a verdict in the TRMPAC civil suit. Ceverha was treasurer of TRMPAC, one of the lead organizations in the 2002 campaign.

Oddly, Ceverha is not registered as a lobbyist. We've seen him going to committee hearings and talking with legislators all session long. When asked about this discrepancy today, Ceverha told the Observer that he had registered in January but for some reason his electronic application had not gone through. Lobbying without registering is a Class A misdemeanor, but only if the person intentionally or knowingly violates the provision. Funny that.

But Dr. Jim isn't a registered lobbyist either.

Welcome to Bush Country

If you aren't already proud that Texas is the home of President George W. Bush, tough cookies, because the State of Texas is going to proclaim your pride in President Bush to everyone who drives into the Lone State State.

A few minutes ago, the Senate (by a 30-1 count and without debate) passed House Bill 137. The bill requires the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) to adorn all its "Welcome to Texas" signs at the state's boundaries with an announcement that we're proud to be the home of "President George W. Bush." TxDOT must have all the signs changed by 2006. This will cost the state about $28,000. Here's the Observer's past coverage of this bill (see third item).

In other presidential adoration news, the Senate this afternoon apparently killed the effort to rename portions of IH-20 through Dallas-Fort Worth after Ronald Reagan. This bill--HB 55--led to some hilarity earlier this session (see second item).

So to sum up: Bush gets honored; Reagan goes in the Willie Nelson pile.

Influence Peddlers Get a Break

It's 11:25 p.m. and the House members are starting to get a little loopy. They are currently debating SB 1863 which is a supplemental tax bill. It's one of several that the leadership of the Senate has created to stash revenue in case the school finance legislation crashes and burns. Word on the floor is that there are more than 40 amendments ready to go as everybody tries to get their pet project on. It's going to be a long night.

The bill came over from the Senate with a $1000 lobby registration fee for lobbyists not working for nonprofits. Rep. Warren Chisum (R-Pampa) offered an amendment to lower that to $500. Always concerned about the wellbeing of the lobby, Rep. Phil King (R-Weatherford) offered an amendment to the amendment to lower that even more to $370. It appears that Chisum's amendment is what got on.

When the Elephants Dance in the Henyard...

...The Chickens Get Out of the Way.

The premier business fight of the session might have just ended. After debating the measure more than five hours and weathering four points of order, telecommunications deregulation passed on a voice vote tonight in the House. Rep. Phil King (R-Weatherford) carried SB 408. King had fumbled his telecomm ambitions originally and even had trouble getting a bill out of the committee of which he is chair, but tonight he delivered for SBC. The San Antonio-based phone company wants to sell cable television in Texas but first it needed to break the monopoly of the cable companies. While SBC will likely gain financially from what happened tonight, it remains to be seen whether consumers will benefit at all.

In the end the cable companies couldn't match the prowess of SBC. It was rumored that they had 10 lobbyists for each member of the House. According to the Texas Ethics Commission, SBC has at least 63 registered lobbyists this session. They also enlisted the AFL-CIO to lobby Democrats on their behalf. Cable, which according to one member is more accustomed to lobbying municipalities than the Legislature, enlisted the Texas Municipal League but most every amendment that would have removed SBC's language died overwhelmingly. After the bill's passage, a swarm of lobbyists descended from the House gallery enmass.

The only shot Cable has to get back in the fight is through the Senate in conference committee.

Madla Defends Vote for HJR 6

We caught up with Sen. Frank Madla (D-San Antonio) this afternoon after the Senate passed the constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. Madla was one of three Democrats--Victoria's Ken Armbrister and Brownsville's Eddie Lucio were the others--who joined 18 Republicans in voting for HJR 6.

On Thursday, it appeared Democrats had the votes to kill HJR 6. But on Friday, Madla removed his name from the list of Dems opposing the measure. Without Madla, Democrats lacked the 11 votes needed to prevent HJR 6 from reaching the Senate floor. So while critics will direct anger at Sen. Todd Staples for sponsoring the measure--and not taking amendments--and toward Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst for bringing it to the Senate floor, the measure likely wouldn't have passed without Madla's turnabout.

Asked why he supported the constitutional ban, Madla said he simply voted with his district: "Sixty-four percent of my communications [from the district] were for the resolution. If you're going to stay in this business, you've got to go the direction your constituents want you to take. I've never been too good at math, but I know 64 is a lot higher than 36."

Madla denied that he had changed his mind. He said he hadn't decided how to vote for sure until the Senate began debate on HJR 6 this afternoon. When the measure came up, Madla said, he called down to his office and was told that 64 percent of communications from his district supported the measure. Only then, Madla said, did he decide to vote for it. Did Dewhurst press him to vote for HJR 6? "No, he did not," Madla said.

Asked his personal views on the gay marriage amendment, Madla said, "I don't think it belongs in the constitution, but that's a decision for the people of Texas to make now." How will he vote on the measure in the November election? "I believe in the secret ballot," Madla said with a smile.

Big brother bill delayed

The biometrics bill, HB 2337, was scheduled for debate today in the Senate. It's now set for a Monday hearing on the Senate floor. We'll be watching.

Dark Day for Gay Rights in Texas

The Senate passed the constitutional amendment banning gay marriage earlier this afternoon. The final vote was 21-8, with two absent (Houston's Mario Gallegos was the lone missing Dem, though his presence wouldn't have changed the outcome.)

The amendment, HJR 6, will go before Texas voters on November 8, and will likely pass (voters have rarely, if ever, voted down proposed constitutional amendments, which is why the state constitution has more than 300 of them.)

The inclusion of civil unions or "any legal status identical or similar to marriage" was a particularly mean-spirited slap at the gay and lesbian community. Once this goes in the constitution, it may never come out. Today's vote may have finished the notion of civil unions in Texas for a very long time.

For this, we can thank Sen. Todd Staples (R-Palestine). HJR 6 languished in Senate committee for 20 days without a sponsor until Staples took up the anti-homosexual, er, we mean defense of marriage banner. The word around the Capitol is that Staples is looking to burnish his credentials with the right wing for a possible run for Agriculture Commissioner. In The Pink says Sen. Steve Ogden has taken to calling Staples "Senator Statewide."

As Off the Kuff points out, the constitution is supposed to limit government, not the rights of citizens. Whenever we've limited the rights of citizens in a constitution, we've usually later come to regret it. How long before those 21 senators regret the votes they took today?

Gay marraige in the Senate

Sen. Todd Staples is making a motion on the floor of the Senate to suspend rules of order and hear HJR6, the constitutional ammendment banning gay marriage. The ammendment would add language into the constitution that restricts marraige to that between one man and one woman as well as bars the state from recognizing any arrangement similar to marraige. This would constitutionally ban civil unions in Texas.
The ammendment is just changing the constitution to match current law, says Staples.
Staples says he will not allow for any compromise on HJR 6. "Any ammendment to this bill is nothing more than an attempt to defeat the measure," he says. "Any delays at this point in the session will result in a greater chance of non-passage of a piece of legislation."
(Sen. Rodney Ellis points out that the bill sat in Senate State Affairs for over 20 days without a hearing. )
In 2002, Alabama tried to remove segregation from the state constitution. The measure failed before voters. If this language is added to the constitution, it will prove very difficult to overturn when the tide of opinion swings in the future. It is a shame that Staples and other legislators are not more interested in trying to find a compromise on an issue that so drastically divides the country.

More Big Brother for Your Safety

Increasing the state's power to monitor its citizens is a bipartisan sport in the 79th Legislature.

Tonight, during an often testy debate on HB 2702, Sen. John Whitmire (D-Houston) and Sen. Florence Shapiro stopped an amendment offered by Sen. Mike Jackson (R-La Porte) that would prevent cities from placing cameras on traffic signals to catch motorists running red lights.

Today municipalities have that right. The police power expansion was snuck into law last session on a huge omnibus bill as an amendment after the House voted it down overwhelmingly as a bill. This session, once again, the House voted 130 to 14 on HB 1347 to remove the power. The bill died in a Senate committee.

Tonight, Jackson tried to put his amendment onto HB 2702, a transportation bill that has turned into a Christmas tree affair. (It hasn't passed yet. The Senate broke shortly before 10 p.m. after 30-odd amendments, and more to go.)

Sen. Jackson said about the cameras: "I think it's too much Big Brother."

He was strongly challenged by Sen. Whitmire, whose city of Houston wants to snap away. Whitmire returned again and again to the point that these cameras would only take photos of license plates not car interiors. And it appears some municipalities may have agreed to do this, but it is not state law. More voyeuristic cities can photograph anything.

Which brings us to the biometrics bill HB 2337 that was heard in Senate committee on Wednesday. Remember this one? It creates a DPS database of our appearance that they can dip into whenever they want.

How long will it be before they can match the cameras to the database?

The biometrics bill will be heard on the floor of the Senate on Saturday.

Water Bill Flowing Again

Just when you're ready to write off Sen. Ken Armbrister's omnibus water bill for this session, it springs back to life. The House Natural Resources Committee met on the floor a few minutes ago, after the House adjourned, and passed out an amended version of Senate Bill 3. We gather that the House version keeps many of the Senate bill's best environmental provisions, including those that would protect much of the state's in-stream river water. The biggest difference in the House's SB 3 relates to ground water. We won't, um, drown you in the details, but we're told the House version is much less restrictive on the use of ground water, which made some ground water districts a lot more comfortable.

With 11 days left in the session, is there enough time left in the session for SB 3 to get through the full House and a conference committee? Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst has said the water bill is a major priority for him (and hence the low bill number). SB 3 may give Speaker Tom Craddick one more bargaining chip to use against Lite Gov.

Hinojosa's Last Stand

Earlier today, Sen. Juan "Chuy" Hinojosa's office sent out a press release stating that he has a list of 11 senators who oppose HJR 6, which would allow a constitutional ammendment banning gay marriage to go onto the ballot in November. If the 11 senators form a block to vote against the resolution, the bill would fail to obtain the the two-thirds necessary to pass a constitutional ammendment off the Senate floor.

Hugs and Tears in State Affairs

Dozens of people have testified and are still in line to testify on the constitutional ammendment to ban gay marraige, HJR 6. The Senate State Affairs commitee has heard hours of emotional testimony and many more are lined up to testify. Both inside and outside the Senate Chamber there is a strong sense of solidarity as people testifying against the bill share hugs and tears on this most personally sensitive of issues.
Tracy and Steve Kriese have a 19-year-old son who is gay. He came out to them when he was 14. As a Morman family, they say, originally they had a very difficult time with it.
"It wasn't until two years later, after a lot of study and soul-searching that we realized we were wrong in our beliefs about homosexuality," Tracy Kriese says. "Do we believe what the church told us or do we believe our son who we have known his whole life, known that he is a good person, not evil."
After this realization, the Kriese's became politically active to stop the discrimination their son faces in his community and his church. "We have met so many gay people and they are all so wonderful," says Steve Kriese. "We feel very blessed. We wouldn't have been able to meet so many great people if we had not gotten involved."
During the Kriese's testimony before the committee, Steve choked back tears into the silence of the Senate Chamber. They asked only that their son be treated as an equal human being.

Stayin' alive?

The Lege may still have a chance to give a student a seat on the board of regents of state universities this session. Sen. Jeff Wentworth's SB 936 passed through the Senate Education Committee today and onto the Local and Uncontested Calendar, which could get it a speedy move off the Senate floor.
Students have been fighting for representation on the board of regents for years. Last week, the House killed Rep. Patrick Rose's student regent bill when it failed to recieve hearing by the House deadline.
Rep. Rose filed his legislation in the name of student interests, but then stripped the bill of its heart in committee when he removed the voting power of the student. This leaves the student as simply a figurehead and a way to acquiesce student demands for representation.
Wentworth's bill gives the Lege another chance to give students one vote out of nine in the decisions made by the powers that be at their universities. This legislation comes at a time when tuition rates are skyrocketing statewide in the hands of board of regents after the Lege passed tuition deregulation last session.

Too Little Too Late

Recently emerged from the woodwork, Williamson County District Attorney John Bradley provided heated testimony to the Senate Criminal Justice Committee against the probation reform bill, HB 2193. No one from the public testified against probation reform bills when they were initially heard in both House and Senate committees. In fact, a wide arrary of groups offered ample support for reform - from the ACLU to the conservative think-tank Texas Public Policy Foundation.
Publicly absent from these hearings, but privately active, Bradley has emerged along with a group of judges and prosecutors in late