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Just as we all suspected, House Appropriations Chairman Warren Chisum has filed another motion to suspend the 60-day rule and will take up the fight tomorrow.
Just as none of us suspected, there's reportedly a deal in the works that could spell compromise between him and Rep. Jim Dunnam, who has the votes he needs to kill the suspension anytime someone brings it up.
Watch the House floor Thursday for an amendment with the names of some strange bedfellows at the top.
My former City Hall colleague Dave Levinthal and I went on a safari of sorts last night.
The exotic locale? The breathtaking 20th floor condo of State Rep. Tony Goolsby (R-Dallas), in Austin's Westgate Tower, which, with its endless supply of taxidermied zoo animals and meat-on-a-stick appetizers, was an herbivore's nightmare. (Mr. Goolsby kept with the theme, wearing an elephant and palm tree-printed tie).
The prey? A crowd of small-talking lawmakers, city council members, lobbyists and Dallas-area movers and shakers, who gave wide, welcoming smiles of recognition -- until they realized we were with the media, and not the children of someone important (Sorry, Dad).
Here's how we fared:
What we caught:
1) Rep. Brian McCall being referred to, more than once, as the "coulda-been speaker."
2) Rep. Terri Hodge awkwardly attacking Dallas Council Member Maxine Thornton-Reese over the city's effort to increase penalties for burglary of a motor vehicle to a state jail felony.
3) Rep. Allen Vaught pulling a ziplock bag of baby pictures (his son is a giant 7-month-old) out of his briefcase.
4) Sen. Royce West asking City Manager Mary Suhm how to get rid of a sexually oriented business located near his Dallas district office.
5) Rep. Goolsby pointing out the sharp teeth ("real!") of an enormous stuffed lion, shot and killed by his wife's father on a safari in "Botswanaland." ("They also got an elephant -- they made a coffee table out of one of its ears, and stools out of its feet. You know it's illegal now.")
For the record, Mr. Goolsby's condo -- which I quietly perused "in search of the coat room" -- is home to a number of other formerly-breathing, formerly African animals, most of which appear to be gazelles. But I could've sworn one of them was a giraffe.
Also Spotted: Rep. Rafael Anchia, Rep. Helen Giddings, Sen. Chris Harris, Sen. Craig Estes, Sen. Kip Averitt, Sen. Florence Shapiro, Council Member Ron Natinsky, mayoral candidate and Council Member Gary Griffith, Glenn White with the Dallas Police Association, former County Judge Margaret Keliher, Dallas' chief lobbyist Larry Casto.
The debate on the suspension of the rules today in the House brought to mind the Senate's now-famous "Rule of 21."
First made popular, of course, when Lt. Gov. Dewhurst revoked it during the Congressional redistricting fight and Dem senators' flight to Albuquerque.
Came to us next via Sen. Dan Patrick, a conservative R from Houston who ran - in part - on how much he hates the rule that lets the minority have some swat in the Senate.
He tried to revoke it a few weeks ago but got voted down 30-1.
The House vote that happened today, using only 34 votes to kill a routine motion to suspend the constution, gives the minority a little sway for a little while. So people were kind of buzzing about the Senate deal when someone noticed Sen. Dan Patrick on the House floor. Near the front. Shaking someone's hand, I forget who.
I didn't ask him what he was doing there, but could it really be a coincendence?
I mean ... really?
Nobody can get under the skin of the state GOP faster and better than Rep. Jim Dunnam, D-Waco.
He is to the Republicans what Tom Craddick is to the Democrats.
Calling him "Do-Nothing Dunnam" in a news release, GOP spokeswoman Hans Klingler said his actions against suspension of the rules this morning on the House floor were "reprehensible."
See? I told you they were mad.
This is the second press release the state GOP party has put out about Dunnam (just Dunnam) in, like, one week. One more and he could open a gallery.
"The taxpayers of this state want action on important items such as property tax relief, education funding and health care. Jim Dunnam obstructed the process when he went to Oklahoma and again today. Unfortunately, Dunnam’s “take my ball and go home” obstructionism is a victory for partisanship over leadership."
For the record, the gov wouldn't comment on this mess. But I'm guessing that if Jimmy Dunnam and his fellow Ds are managing to use THIS particular maneuver to block property tax relief .... yeah, the gov would step in and declare it emergency legislation.
I mean, I'm just guessing.
Tempers seriously flared on the House floor today. A couple of exchanges:
Chisum vs. Burnam
Rep. Lon Burnam, D-Fort Worth: "The reason we have such conflict is … the minority part has been totally disrespected for four years. The minority party has an opportunity to, all of us, join temporarily the Calendars Committee."
Rep. Warren Chisum, R-Pampa: "You bring up the issue of the minority party being mistreated somehow by the majority party. My feeling is, I generally served on the minority party. It is the purpose of the minority party to engage in the process and make it happen in a bipartisan manner. It is not the majority party....
"You’ve cut yourself off if you kill this deal here. In the minority party, you cut yourself out of being able to get your bills passed, and I encourage you not to do that."
Coleman vs. Branch
- Rep. Garnet Coleman, D-Houston stopped in front of the press table on the House floor today, fuming at a GOP chairman's on-mic threat that "minority party" members who voted against suspending the constitutional order of business were going to be cut out of the legislative process entirely.
Rep. Dan Branch, R-Dallas: "He's just acknowledging the reality."
Coleman: "Well then we can just keep beating ya'll at the polls, Mr. Branch."
Branch points toward Mr. Coleman and looks around at people standing nearby: "Now, THAT was being threatening."
Coleman and Craddick
Coleman: "Is it appropriate for a member of the House to threaten people on a vote based on the party that they may happen to be a part of, from the front mic?"
Craddick: "I wouldn't think so, Mr. Coleman."
Try as they might - and man, did they try - House leaders could not corral 120 of their members into blocking a procedural uprising that was hugely symbolic but in reality doesn't do much.
You coulda heard a pin drop in the House after that 108-34 vote. For about three beats, there was a shocked silence.
(Austin-centric koan for you: What's the sound of 108 jaws hitting the floor?)
The vote was about whether to suspend parts of the state constitution to let the House start debating bills on the House floor and in committee earlier than the constitution says. (March for bills on the floor and next week for House committees)
So unless they can turn the tide and vote again, any member who wants to bring a bill to the floor before March has to either get the governor's office to declare it an emergency or they've got to sweet talk a few people (mainly Dems).
It's that second part that's really REALLY got some of them p.o.'ed. What they'll tell you is that they're mad because the group of 34 is slowing down the process and will end up killing bills that are important to some districts.
That may be partly true, but I'm here to tell you that these guys don't do much on the House floor until March anyway - so it's not going to be a huge shift from the previous four sessions I've witnessed. They don't even start meeting full weeks until around April. They don't even meet on weekends until May.
I don't know - maybe they're not remembering that.
Tell you one thing, though: I haven't seen some of them this mad since Ardmore.
It's the national motto of the U.S., appears on all the nation's currency and soon it will be displayed prominently in the Texas Senate chamber. Senators unanimously adopted a resolution Tuesday to place the words "In God We Trust" on the message board at the front of the Senate chamber.
Sen. Dan Patrick, R-Houston, said the motto "sends a message to everyone who comes in this chamber." He also noted that senators may appreciate the words in the "long days ahead" in the current session, which ends in late May. Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston, a co-sponsor of the resolution, asked senators to remember the phrase as they vote on important issues affecting all Texans this year. "We don't want to get too caught up in symbolic issues," he said.
After the session, the four words will be etched in gold letters on the frieze above the Senate rostrum. House members approved a similar resolution for placement of the motto in their chamber last week.
One of the state's Young Republican Power Couples (the up-and-coming YRPC arm of the GOP) has figured out a way to grow their base by up to at least two.
Dierdre Delisi - Gov. Rick Perry's chief of staff - and her husband, Ted, a Republican consultant, are expecting twins.
Grandmom Dianne White Delisi says the twins are due in August and that Ted, her son, "is already shopping for double-strollers."
There's a cute joke in there somewhere, but it's cocktail time and I'm being summoned.
Meh. Depends on who you ask.
Some expected House Speaker Tom Craddick to be MUCH more punitive in his committee assignments than he was - although he did bust five chairmen who voted against him for speaker, but that wasn't a surprise.
But the committees still were unfairly stacked to railroad or kill legislation, a key Dem says.
With a weekend to mull over the new list, House Dem Caucus Chairman Jim Dunnam released his analysis today - and noted that the list of 40 chairmen includes fewer women and minorities than in past sessions.
Dunnam points out that Democrats, who picked up six seats last year, made no gains in chairmanships - they have 45 percent of the House but only 25 percent of the chairs. Republicans have solid (and sometimes super) majorities on the key committees; there are only five panels with D majorities, and some of the most critical committees - like Regulated Industries and Transportation - have only one or two Ds on them (out of nine members each).
Rural districts were largely left off the Public Ed committee, and border districts were largely left off the Border and International Affairs Committee. In fact, only one member of the Border committee is from the border - Rep. Tracy O. King, a Craddick Dem who was named chair of that panel.
Dunnam also says immigration issues are expected to go through the State Affairs committee - a panel that, he points out, lost two Hispanic members and now has only two minority members.
The Senate's two top budget writers sparred good-naturedly today over the $147.6 billion, two-year budget bill that was introduced by legislative leaders last week.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Steve Ogden, R-Bryan, said the "base bill" is only a starting point but is a pretty fair effort. Referring to Finance Committee Vice Chairwoman Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo, he said it's "what Senator Zaffirini referred to the other day in a press conference as probably the best base bill that we've ever had."
Just minutes earlier, Sen. Zaffirini had complained the bill doesn't fund the next step in a promise made last session to eliminate over 20 years the big waiting lists Texas has for in-home care of the mentally retarded and disabled.
The Democrat confirmed she had praised the bill. She then elaborated on what she meant: "We're starting the fight at a higher level."
Committee assignments are out.
Jim Pitts lost his chairmanship of Appropriations but stayed on Ways and Means, his seniority pick - despite, he says, efforts by the speaker's office to get him off that panel.
No word yet from speaker's office if that's true.
The House's Mexican-American Legislative Caucus sent Gov. Perry a letter on Friday demanding that he apologize for the “unfortunate” performance by Ted Nugent at his inaugural ball last week that reportedly included racially insensitive comments.
He was also wearing a confederate-flag shirt and reportedly had fake machine guns onstage. Just like he's always done. (Except in the '05 tour the guns were real.)
He's denied making the comments. No audio has been released – which is disappointing because there just aren’t enough live bootleg recordings of “Cat Scratch Fever” and I was sure I’d be able to get the cassette in the alley after the show.
Missed. Opportunity.
“We ask for an immediate and unequivocal apology directly from you for the
inappropriate conduct, offensive words, and indefensible actions exhibited by your
invited guest,” says the letter, signed by 23 House reps, all members of the Mexican-American Legislative Caucus.
Perry’s office answered back with a resounding, “Yeah, whatever,” and then added, “Bring it.”
Spokesman Robert Black said the confederate flag still flies over the airport in Laredo, smack in the middle of Rep. Richard Raymond’s district – but where’s the flap over that? Or, more importantly, the legislation banning it?
Raymond’s a MALC member, but it’s hard to tell if he signed the letter because I can’t read half the signatures. He couldn’t be reached Friday.
“The governor … is going to always come down on the side of freedom of expression” with regard to the confederate flag T-shirt, Black said.
In case you missed it, here's a little context from the Nuge.
We had lunch with the Lt. Gov. today. And when I say we, I mean myself, the News' illustrious Terry Stutz and the rest of the Capitol Press Corps, including several bouncy blond reporters ogling Mr. Dewhurst. And his tan. (And just for the record, there's no way he's that tan naturally. Have you all forgotten that we just emerged from an arctic ice age here in Austin, Texas?). A few thoughts on the luncheon, and Mr. Dewhurst's ex-wife, after the jump:
The best part was the meal -- a step up from hotel wedding food. Salad, and this fun chicken with an olive pesto rub, and asparagus and some fun couscous stuff. I sat two seats away from the Lt. Gov., close enough to eavesdrop and watch him eat (and absorb some of his glow) but not really close enough for a legitimate professional or political conversation. Not sure what got him on the subject of his ex-wife; must've been the budget surplus. The greatest line of the day: "She thought as long as there were checks in the checkbook there was still money in the bank."
The Lt. Gov. must not like iced tea, because he was the only person in the room who got served soda instead. He passed on bread (a low-carb diet?) and dessert, but the dessert (yum...strawberry shortcake) may have been because he had to get up and speak to us.
And speak he did. About sex offenders (lock 'em up). About prisons (we may need more space -- but we also need better rehab). About steroid use in high schools (we need a major deterrent.) I tuned out on some of the others because, as I said, the shortcake was delish.
But I did walk away with one tidbit of important information: Dude's observant -- and holds a grudge. He must've razzed Terry 15 times about a press conference he didn't report on earlier this week.
I'm hearing on good authority from three reliable sources that Rep. Leo Berman, R-Tyler, has been tapped to lead the House Elections Committee.
Berman won't comment on whether he asked for that post or whether he's been tapped for it.
And I still haven't heard from the Republican rep who has taken bullets for Speaker Craddick in the past and, reportedly, thought he was getting that post.
Why is this interesting?
Berman, if you'll recall, is the legislator who wants Texas to take "birthright citizenship" to court with the goal of stripping away the right to automatic citizenship for children born to illegal immigrants.
One piece of legislation that goes through Elections, formerly headed by Rep. Mary Denny, is the one requiring a picture ID to vote. Advocates for immigrants, the elderly and the poor don't like this because they say it preys on those populations - making it more difficult to exercise their rights to vote.
Berman's proposed legislation got a chilly reception from the guv, who found it "divisive," sparking a war of words between Perry and Berman. If Berman gets put in this spot - where he can mess with leadership favorites like February presidential primaries, just to name an example - that would be a thorn in some people's sides.
Nobody's saying he will, of course, or that they need Leo Berman to pass a Voter ID bill - since they did that last time (and it died in Senate). And since House members are getting bolder and bolder about throwing out legislation in amendments on the floor and bypassing committee altogether in recent years.
But if it's true, it'll be great fun to watch.
To keep leading the House, Speaker Tom Craddick had to make sure at least 75 House members were happy - he surpassed it and got 80.
But now, three weeks later, he's going to need the votes of 120 members to be able to start bringing bills to the floor for debate before the beginning of March (it's in the constitution and usually suspended). If 31 members say no, then any legislation will that’s not labeled an emergency by the governor will have to get the approval of 120 members before it can be voted on.
What does this have to do with committee assignments? It's all about timing.
The vote on the constitution takes place on Tuesday.
If they vote it down, legislation gets slowed waaaay down. The first week in March, that goes away. But then deadlines start looming – and the minority position (whether it’s by party or by loyalty) in the House has begun to get very good at gumming up the works. Session ends in May, whether anything gets done or not.
The timing of committee assignments, then, is interesting. Rep. Robert Talton, the Republican House chairman who defected from Craddick's camp during the speaker race, says Craddick opponents (and some supporters who feel slighted) are in a good bargaining position to avoid retailation.
It could also delay the committee assignments until after the vote, he said. For the record, Talton has no problem voting down the suspension on Tuesday. He’s expected to get busted from his chairman position.
“If the assignments have already been done (on Tuesday), then he has nothing to bargain with,” Talton said. “There’s nothing you can do, you’ve already done it to whoever you could. And now you want us to do what?!”
Talton said he had heard that Craddick supporters were already “unhappy” with some of their assignments – which have yet to officially come out.
“If it doesn’t come out the way they think, you’ll have more members that are dissatisfied, and dissatisfaction leads to them going and talking to others,” he said. “All of us have different parameters for getting dissatisfied. This is going to be step (toward that) for some members.”
House Speaker Tom Craddick isn't going to assign House committees this afternoon, as expected, because he's still meeting with members, his spokeswoman Alexis DeLee said this morning.
The highly anticipated assignments typically come out around this time in the session, and were expected at noon today. But the ice storm and other delays have made the process more time-consuming than expected, Ms. DeLee said.
She said her office doesn't know if they'll be released tomorrow, or if members will have to wait until next week to start meeting in their committees.
"We're working to get it done as quickly as possible and we'll get those out as soon as we can," Ms. DeLee said.
There was a minor flare-up from Ted Nugent’s appearance at Gov. Rick Perry’s inaugural ball last week, because that rock-and-roll maniac wore a confederate-flag T-shirt and had fake weapons on stage.
Right or wrong? Not our call.
But surprised? Not us.
I found an old interview with him - largely unpublished, for some insane reason - in my many thousands of bandwidth-(or something)-hogging files. A victory for pack rats everywhere. I'm lookin at you, Choppe. There's a method to the madness.
Lemmetellya. The phone interview was like drinking out of a fire hydrant.
(and actually, the reason is probably that it wasn't as relevant two years ago. Just guessing.)
More below:
Ted Nugent is and always has been over-the-top rabble-rouser who delights in shocking people. And he told reporters he was restraining himself this time.
His 2005 tour set featured a bunker, air horns, automatic weapons on stage, and the Nuge himself screaming out the Pledge of Allegiance, and then shooting a 12-foot Saddam Hussein (rising up behind the amps) through the heart with a crossbow.
I interviewed him on the phone in January 2005 for a story about how he was playing a benefit in Crawford, where he lives, to help pay for the high school students there to go to Gov. Bush’s ' inauguration that month.
The Motor City Madman was going to play Gov. Rick Perry’s party there, along with ZZ Top, but cancelled at the last minute for health reasons. Even in 2005 he was vowing to get Perry re-elected. It’s on the transcript.
Choice cuts from the transcript, which I dug up today for nostalgia’s sake:
Describing his 2005 stage show (in a cackling, growling, laughing voice):
- He says that the introduction to the stage show, featuring Ray Charles’ recording of “America the Beautiful” is so powerful, that anyone who isn’t truly moved by its performance should "go back to Guatemala and re-learn to wipe your a** with your hand.”
- As Ray’s voice is slowly “decaying” in the last stanza, he comes “exploding” onto the stage with his Gibson guitar, howling, screaming “like an angry pterydactyl flying up the *** of some gay picnickers.”
- “We’re only five seconds into the show. I’m screaming the Pledge of Allegiance, challenging people to take off their hats, take the **** out of their lips and say it with me like they mean it. The stage is aglow with machine guns and bows and arrows and elk skulls and buffalo skulls, the air-raid sirens are going berserk.”
- “Our stage set is all sandbags, two dozens machine guns on stage … it’s a wonderful set but particularly in New York and Chicago, where my stage is a felony.”
On politics:
- “We’ll sell it out and raise the money they need, and they can go to Washington and say, ‘Hey, we’re the president’s neighbors and we’re putting our heart and soul into music. There’s a number of statements being made here… Number one, we have great local pride _ contrary to the hippie statement of the iconoclast editor and local (liberals) who wish that Japan would have taken over the world. … They’re one-flew-over-the-Michael-Moore-is-Cuckoo’s-Nest rejects. War isn’t the answer?! Yeah maybe we can tell the Jews that. Do you realize how retarded that is? So I’m here to say, pay close attention, it’s (that) war is the answer. It’s how we stop evil, ya ****in’ idiots.”
-“I’m just a guitar player… I am political every day because politics must be exposed and embraced and celebrated as the function of the We-the-People experiment in self government! Duh! Of course you’ve got to be political. Political is voting, political is caring, political is going to school and say, you know, the children who are graduating from this building should probably be able to speak. You might want to teach them how to write. That’s being political.”
Getting the picture?
Former White House press secretary and Austin native Scott McClellan has probably faced tougher interrogators, but none who's ridiculed his non-responses as publicly and as often as comedian/faux newscaster Jon Stewart.
Tonight: Scotty's chance for revenge.
He will appear on "The Daily Show" with Mr. Stewart at 10 p.m. Central time on the Comedy Central channel, according to Mark Sanders, erstwhile spokesman for McClellan's mother, former Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn.
Scores of House Democrats today urged repeal of a tighter eligibility and enrollment procedure that the Legislature grafted onto a popular health program for children four years ago.
“It’s just flat the right thing to do,” said freshman Rep. Paula Hightower Pierson, D-Arlington.
She and freshman Rep. Allen Vaught, D-Dallas, knocked off GOP incumbents last fall after pledging to reverse a sharp enrollment decline in the Children’s Health Insurance Program.
But while Democrats picked up six seats in the House last year, they’re still not running the show.
And one of the Republican leaders who has cast himself as a defender of the program for children in working poor families, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, said he favors retention of a requirement that parents apply for the coverage every six months. Until 2003, coverage lasted a year.
“I don’t think most people in Texas have a lot of sympathy for someone that can’t fill out a two-page application every six months,” said Mr. Dewhurst, the Senate’s presiding officer.
Just got out of a presser where Charles "Doc" Anderson, a state rep from McLennan County and ally of Dallas Mayor Laura Miller's in coal plant opposition, announced he's filing a bill to ask for a 180-day moratorium on new coal plant permits.
The bill -- which comes in the form of a non-binding resolution -- will, at the very least, take the pulse of the House on the coal plant issue, which has heated up in recent months with TXU's plans for several more across the state. Lawmakers also expect it to open the door for a more detailed energy debate this session, which could include tax incentives for clean energy options.
The two wholesalers who control 90 percent of the booze market in Texas have launched a full-court press to grab the market for sales to restaurants and bars.
According to ethics filings released last week, Dallas-based Glazer’s Distributors and San Antonio’s Republic Beverage Co. dumped nearly $1.7 million on lawmakers in the weeks leading up to the Legislature.
What do they want? Since the 1970s, when Texas legalized liquor sales by the drink, restaurants and clubs have had to get their booze from package stores. Package stores, in turn, buy from wholesalers. The wholesalers want to cut out the middle man.
Reporter Robert T. Garrett will report in tomorrow's paper (but you can get a sneak peek today) that the company's contributions are five times greater than in the entire year leading up to the 2005 Legislature.
“It shows that in Texas we have a pay-to-play system,” said Suzy Woodford of Common Cause Texas, which tracks ethics in government. “We have no limits on the amount of money that these individuals, their PACs and their officers can contribute. So it clearly demonstrates to the average Joe that if you don’t have the big bucks … the item you care about is not even going to be considered.”
Go to the jump to see how much lawmakers got.
Liquor wholesalers recently gave nearly $1.7 million to Texas lawmakers in an apparent move to cut in on the business of selling booze directly to restaurants and bars. Top recipients of the campaign contributions include:
-- $100,000: Gov. Rick Perry
-- $100,000: House Speaker Tom Craddick
-- $75,000: Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst
-- $40,000: Sen. Kim Brimer, R-Fort Worth, chairman of the Sunset Advisory Commission, which recently reviewed whether to extend the life of the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission.
-- $40,000: Sen. Troy Fraser, R-Horseshoe Bay, chairman of the Senate business and commerce committee
-- $40,000: Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston, dean of the Senate and member of Sunset Advisory Commission.
-- $20,000: to 23 of 31 senators
-- $10,000: to 26 House members, including 9 committee chairmen
-- $6,000: to 27 House members
-- $4,500: to 9 House members
-- $3,000: to 39 House members
-- $1,500: to 17 House members
SOURCE: Texas Ethics Commission filings. Three other senators and 11 other House members received contributions in different amounts, ranging from $1,000 to $15,000 each.
Gov. Rick Perry, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and the Senate paid tribute Tuesday to the late Sen. Frank Madla of San Antonio, who perished last November in a house fire that also killed his granddaughter and mother-in-law. Mr. Madla, who would have been 70 on Tuesday, served 20 years in the House and 12 years in the Senate before he was defeated for re-election in 2006.
During a memorial ceremony in the Senate chamber, Mr. Perry, Mr. Dewhurst and Sen. Eddie Lucio of Brownsville recalled Mr. Madla's accomplishments as a lawmaker and a representative for San Antonio. "People say what they want about politics, but when Frank Madla said he would be there, he was there," Mr. Dewhurst said. "He had a heart as big as the State of Texas."
The final report from the Tom Pauken-led task force on property appraisals releases its report this afternoon in a presser with Gov. Perry. Quorum Report's Harvey Kronberg obtained an early copy, which reveals few, if any, surprises.
Some highlighted recommendations:
• Require voters’ approval for government spending to increase more than 5 percent year-over-year.
• Reform the property appraisal process by establishing minimum qualifications for appraisal board members and taking other steps to protect property owners.
• Require taxing entities to give taxpayers more specific and explicit information in their bills.
• Require the comptroller to give taxpayers better information about their rights -- notably their rights to appeal -- under the tax code.
• Change the makeup of the appraisal boards to include taxpayer representatives.
• Prohibit legislative actions that are in effect unfunded mandates – services that the state requires local governments to perform but does not fund. One example: Requiring school districts to lower the student-teacher ratio without providing additional money to hire more teachers.
• Require the disclosure of property sales prices. A lack of disclosure is thought to have depressed the taxable value of property, especially on high-end residential and commercial property.
Our Karen Brooks reports from the House floor that Austin power couple Mark Strama and Crystal Cotti are proud parents at last.
Victoria Rose Strama, their first child, was born Monday night. Vital statistics: Six pounds, two ounces.
Her dad is a House Democrat in his second term. Mom covers Austin City Hall for Lyndon B. Johnson's old TV station in the state capital, KTBC Fox Channel 7. All three were reported to be doing well.
Donna Howard dazzled, while Norma Chavez varoomed.
Both wore eye-catching garments on the House floor today. Ms. Howard, D-Austin, wore a bright green jersey of high school football powerhouse Southlake Carroll, winner of the state Class 5A Division I title last month over Austin Westlake. "I'm honoring my word," she said of a bet she lost to Rep. Vicki Truitt, R-Keller. Ms. Truitt also won House passage of a resolution declaring Tuesday "Carroll Dragons Day" at the Capitol.
Ms. Chavez wore a leather motorcycle jacket as she welcomed hundreds of motorcycle riders on their lobby day. "I'm the riding representative," said the Harley-owning lawmaker.
Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston, filed two bills today targeting wrongful convictions in Texas: one to create an innocence commission to investigate these cases, the other to boost the compensation for wrongfully convicted inmates released to the public.
Innocence commissions have gained popularity around the country. But no one's getting overly excited yet in Texas -- Mr. Ellis has filed identical legislation in past sessions, to no avail. Opponents say a state innocence commission would be a front for attempts to ban the death penalty.
Mr. Ellis' second bill would raise compensation for wrongfully convicted inmates to $50,000 per year of incarceration, or $100,000 per year served on death row, with no cap. Currently, Texas grants wrongfully convicted inmates $25,000 per year of incarceration, and caps out at $500,000.
You can read about Dallas County's DNA exonerations in today's print or online edition.
Ted Nugent is speaking up to deny he said anything objectionable at Gov. Perry's inaugural ball last week. He was on Dallas radio station WBAP with talker Mark Davis this morning to say his 90-minute performance at the Austin Convention Center was strictly PG and that he saw nothing but smiles from those in attendance.
In case you missed it, some attendees said the Nuge shouted unspecified offensive remarks about non-English speakers. At least one Republican strategist said Mr. Nugent was "a terrible choice" for the gala.
Mr. Nugent wrote on his website this weekend that he said nothing offensive: "Our film of the entire show is conclusive irrefutable evidence that not a single (English) word out of my all American mouth made any reference whatsoever to the English language or anyone using or not using it. My (our universal) logic stand is surely well known, but not a word on this subject was uttered this night. The media & all my critics are lying sacks of [expletive]. I am so very proud."
Sen. Mario Gallegos of Houston was in good condition this morning after receiving a liver tranplant late Friday evening. His physician said he passed the crucial 48-hour mark after the surgery without problems and will remain hospitalized for a few days.
Although the operation came sooner than anticipated, Dr. Joseph Galati of Houston said the senator "has not received special treatment, nor did he need any. Organs are allocated on rigid criteria based on medical need. He is fortunate that a compatible organ became available." The Houston Democrat is expected to have a smooth recovery and resume his duties in the Senate as early as next month.
Gov. Perry was in Washington today on a hush-hush visit to congressional Democrats. Yes, Democrats.
Our own Todd J. Gillman snooped the story out and was there alone. The host was the dean of the Texas delegation, Solomon Ortiz of Corpus Christi. In the photo above, he's arriving with Dem Eddie Bernice Johnson of Dallas.
Todd says Mr. Perry got an earful. You can bet he heard a lot about redistricting and the state's payments to Republican-connected lobbyists.
Now that Democrats run things in D.C., Mr. Perry wanted to stress that it's time to smooth things over and work together for better highway funding and other needs.
Here's an early copy of his story for tomorrow's paper.
In other news, the governor's peeps announced they have dumped the forementioned Republican-connected lobbyists. Read the jump for Todd's account of that.
Here's a piece of the release just out from Texas House Dems leader Jim Dunnam:
"Well, it's about time. House Democrats have been calling on Governor Perry, Speaker Craddick and Lt. Governor Dewhurst to cancel these exorbitant and unnecessary lobby contracts since 2003, when we first offered legislation to stop wasting more than $1.1 million state taxpayer dollars on two Abramoff/DeLay cronies."
By TODD J. GILLMAN
Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON - Gov. Rick Perry has canceled a pair of controversial state contracts with GOP lobbyists, bowing to the realities of a Democrat-controlled Congress.
Texas Democrats had long complained about the contracts with the Federalist Group and Cassidy & Associates, which were hired to push Texas legislative priorities and purportedly to work with the state’s entire congressional delegation. Both firms were hired for their ties to GOP leadership, though, and when Congress changed hands in the November elections, that no longer seemed like much of a selling point.
The chief lobbyist on the Federalist contract was Drew Maloney, former chief of staff to Tom DeLay - long the nemesis of Texas Democrats as the architect of a mid-decade redistricting that tipped a half-dozen House seats into the hands of Republicans. At Cassidy, the principal lobbyist for Texas has been Todd Boulanger, who worked with disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff - a close DeLay ally - and reportedly touted his ties to Bush adviser Karl Rove in pitching the contract to the governor’s office three years ago.
During the 2006 campaigns, even as he accepted Texas taxpayers’ money purportedly to work with the entire Texas delegation, Mr. Maloney actively raised money to defeat two senior Democratic House members, Martin Frost of Dallas and Charlie Stenholm of Abilene.
Cassidy’s contract is worth $15,000 per month. The Federalist Group gets $10,000 per month. Combined they have collected about $900,000 from the state.
Perry spokesman Robert Black said Friday that the firms were told in a Jan. 12 letter that their contracts were being terminated. Democratic members of the Texas congressional delegation learned of the move Thursday night, and were pleased.
“We recognize that Congress has changed and we’re going to look for other avenues where we can have an effective voice for Texas up there, in addition to our elected officials,” Mr. Black said.
E-mail tgillman@dallasnews.com
Anybody smell a cover-up?
Experts at Texas A&M are saying the dozens of birds found dead along Congress Avenue last week died of natural causes -- parasites and dropping temperatures. The results, following 9 bird-topsies, jibe with authorities' assertion that it wasn't the Avian Flu. But here's what doesn't track: they seemed to think last week that the birds had been poisoned. And they kept saying there had been no changes in weather that would've led to such a dramatic bird-kill.
It turns out our very own Erich Schlegel, who attended the ball on assignment Tuesday night, had an image or three of Uncle Ted and his Rebel Flag shirt.
Because we're just that curious, we went hunting for video of the Nugent performance. Didn't find it, but we did find video of Gov. Perry singing and dancing (you need to have a Yahoo account) to "Sweet Home Alabama" with Clay Walker.
We're no Simon Cowell, but we vote against a golden ticket to Hollywood for the foot-stompin' guv.
Disputing the origins of the hamburger is exhilarating, at least according to Rep. Betty Brown, R-Athens. Today, she recounted her exciting week -- "great fun," she said -- in an email to constituents. Her little-noticed resolution declaring Athens as the "Original Home of the Hamburger" landed her on a national cable-TV news channel.
Ms. Brown apparently relished her on-air debate with the mayor of New Haven, Conn., a rival claimant to burger-birthdom. They appeared on Fox News' "Fox and Friends". In today's email, she quoted Dallas Cowboys founder and Athens resident Clint Murchison Jr. as saying that if Connecticut can "get away with claiming the invention of the hamburger sandwich, they'll be going after chili con carne next."
This, off the wire today, shows why instrumental might be the way to go when picking music for political galas: The Nuge apparently thought Gov. Perry's inaugural ball wouldn't be complete without faux firearms, Confederate flags and slurs some in the audience found offensive.
Go to the jump for the story.
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Hours after Gov. Rick Perry kicked off his second full term in office, Ted Nugent helped him celebrate at a black-tie gala, but not all attendees were pleased by the rocker’s performance.
Using machine guns as props, Nugent, 58, appeared onstage as the final act of the inaugural ball wearing a cutoff T-shirt emblazoned with the Confederate flag and shouting offensive remarks about non-English speakers, according to people who were in attendance.
Perry’s spokesman, Robert Black, downplayed the Tuesday-night incident.
“Ted Nugent is a good friend of the governor’s. He asked him if he would play at the inaugural. He didn’t put any stipulation of what he would play,” Black said.
Others said the appearance was inappropriate.
“I think it was a horrible choice,” GOP strategist Royal Masset said. “I hope nobody approved it.”
Nugent, a hunting and gun-rights advocate, couldn’t be reached for comment Thursday because he was hunting, a spokeswoman said.
News of Nugent’s appearance drew criticisms from civil-rights leaders.
“Whenever someone sports the Confederate battle flag, many Texans will be offended, and rightly so, because of what it symbolizes — the enslavement of African-Americans and more recently the symbol of hate groups and terrorists,” said Gary Bledsoe, president of the Texas chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
Because there's so much bad weather and not much for them to do.
These are the folding chairs that are still out in front of the Capitol building after the freeze (and yes, Emily, it was a BITTER COLD) drove the inauguration inside yesterday.
But won't it make a great campaign mailer during the next election??
"Where was YOUR REPRESENTATIVE during this important vote?!"
Want to add a name to the list of unexpected contributors to Speaker Tom Craddick's reelection campaign? Dallas Mayor Laura Miller.
Ms. Miller's latest campaign expenditures -- trolled with fingers of fury by my former City Hall deskmate Dave Levinthal -- indicate she spent $2,000 on a catered dinner party for the speaker and his wife Nadine at Dallas' luxurious and legendary downtown Neiman Marcus.
Ms. Miller, who spent Wednesday digging out from far more than snow and ice (try a sewage leak in her Preston Hollow home) said November's dinner for 30 followed a day spent showing Mr. Craddick around downtown, where she and UNT Chancellor Lee Jackson lobbied him for a new law school in the inner city. The law school, which passed the Senate last session, got held up in the House.
Mary Wilson, founding member of The Supremes, Stop!p-ed by the House floor today in the name of music. She’s on a nationwide tour for the Golden Globes, the new movie “Dreamgirls,” a new book and – last night – the governor’s inauguration ball.
Today she was in the Capitol promoting the Truth in Music bill, sponsored by several state reps, which makes it illegal for cover bands to tour under the original group’s name without a disclaimer.
The national Vocal Group Hall of Fame, which is pushing the legislation in states across the nation, is using the inimitable Bowzer (Jon Bauman of Sha-Na-Na) as the chairman of its Truth in Music committee.
For Ms. Wilson's effort in Texas, she's being represented by attorney Geoff Connor, former secretary of state. And she was escorted to the Capitol today by former Rep. Ron Wilson, an entertainment attorney in Houston who drove her up to the west steps in his black Hummer and walked her to the House floor in his signature black-and-silver trench coat and black wrap shades.
This apparently happens in Vegas, Branson, and low-budget cruise ships more than it does in Texas. Not likely that a real Texan is going to be duped by a fake Willie. In fact, I think that may be part of the True Texan Citizenship Exam.
I’m just guessing.
p.s. No, this won't stop your neighborhood bar band from playing "Mustang Sally" and "Brown-Eyed Girl" yet again. Sorry to disappoint....
State Rep. Betty Brown's seemingly harmless bill to declare Athens as "original home of one of the nation's favorite foods, the hamburger" has sparked a battle royale (with cheese; sorry, couldn't resist.) that now involves three states.
First came a Connecticut restaurant owner to dispute Athens' claim. See this story.
And now comes a lawmaker in Wisconsin who says the hamburger was invented in Seymour, Wis., just west of Green Bay.
According to AP, Democratic State Rep. Tom Nelson is proposing a resolution not unlike Ms. Brown's in Texas. “Seymour is the hamburger capital, period,” Nelson said.
And there were fightin' words from Seymour Mayor Harold Pingel, who says Athens' claim to the hamburger is "bologna." Indeed, Seymour's hamburger legend appears to predate Athens' by almost two decades.
According to AP: "On its Web site, Seymour says Charlie Nagreen created the first hamburger in 1885 at the Seymour Fair. Each August, Seymour’s Burger Fest attracts thousands of people for such features as the Ketchup Slide, a parade and the Bun Run."
Not only that: Seymour also claims a record for the largest burger -- 8,000 pounds.
Read the jump for the text of Ms. Brown's bill and Athens' claim to hamburger history.
80R583 MMS-D
By: Brown of Kaufman H.C.R. No. 15
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, Athens, Texas, boasts a strong claim to being the
original home of one of the nation's favorite foods, the hamburger;
and
WHEREAS, Although accounts differ as to the origins of this
American classic, the staff at McDonald's management training
center has traced its beginnings back to the 1904 St. Louis World's
Fair, where it was sold by a vendor on the midway; a reporter for the
New York , writing about the fair, made note of the new
sandwich in an article and commented that it was the vendor's own
creation; and
WHEREAS, The vendor, Fletcher Davis, had moved from Missouri
to Athens in the 1880s to take a job at the Miller pottery works;
Mr. Davis had a flair for preparing food and usually served as chef
at his employer's picnics; when the business slowed down in the late
1800s, he opened a lunch counter on the courthouse square, where he
sold the sandwich that would become such a staple of the U.S. diet;
and
WHEREAS, Although it was served with slices of fresh-baked
bread instead of a bun, this early version of the hamburger was then
much like it is today and contained ground beef, ground mustard
mixed with mayonnaise, a large slice of Bermuda onion, and sliced
cucumber pickles; customers could also enjoy fried potatoes, served
with a thick tomato sauce; when the journalist from the was
told that Mr. Davis had learned to fix potatoes in that manner from
a friend in Paris, Texas, he misunderstood and described the item to
his readers as french-fried potatoes; and
WHEREAS, According to a nephew of Mr. Davis's, the new
sandwich acquired its name during the potter's sojourn in
St. Louis; one theory holds that local residents of German descent
may have named the sandwich after the city of Hamburg, whose
citizens had a special affinity for ground meat; each June,
residents of Athens celebrate the hamburger's origins in their
community with Uncle Fletch's Burger and Bar-B-Q Cook-Off; and
WHEREAS, A century after the hamburger debuted on the
national stage, it has become one of the best-loved foods in
America; its economic impact is no less evident than its
popularity: the immense volume of the burger business helps to
drive the beef and grain industries and supports the employment of a
substantial workforce; and
WHEREAS, The connection between Athens, Fletcher Davis, and
the famed hamburger of the St. Louis World's Fair has been well
documented, and it is fitting that the town's role in the history of
that all-American sandwich be appropriately recognized; now,
therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the 80th Legislature of the State of Texas
hereby formally designate Athens, Texas, as the Original Home of
the Hamburger.
Let me start this post -- a recap of yesterday's inauguration -- with some snotty East Coast sarcasm about the "arctic blast" (30 degrees?) and "icy mix" (can you say 'cold rain') and "dangerous conditions" (some slush on some bridges) paralyzing this city. But if you're going to complain about the weather and STILL come to inauguration, a word of advice: Leave the high heels at home.
I can't tell you how many big-haired women on Perry's big day refused to don boots or winter jackets, perched on these elegant Marc Jacobs and Stanley Korshak heels that normally are just extensions of their feet. They looked about as comfortable as if they were standing on stilts, shuffling sideways up and down the Capitol steps. (Perry's own daughter was wearing incredible heels that I swear were five inches high; I said a little prayer for her as she climbed up beside him for his swearing in.)
Then there were those who were so tied to their winter fashion that they wouldn't part with it. The barbeque tent was a sight to behold -- there's nothing more carnivorous than a woman, decked in animal skins from head to toe, gnawing on some brisket gristle. I saw one particularly trendy woman holding a dripping rib daintily between two fingers -- without taking off her red leather gloves.
Speaking of fashion, there was one particularly well-dressed individual in the audience: Mark Lunsford, father of 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford, who was abducted, assaulted and killed in 2005 in Florida. Mr. Lunsford, tuxedo-clad, came to Tuesday's inauguration at the request of Lt. Gov. Dewhurst, whose speech revolved around his plans for a hyped up, death-penalty inclusive version of Jessica's Laws in Texas.
Which brings up a point that's always bothered me about inaugural and campaign speeches -- elected officials always have people stationed in the audience to point out. Do you think they write the speech, and then twist arms to get these props into the audience? ("Mr. Lunsford, I've got this speech, and I think it would really add a lot if I could point to you at the front of the room during it, so could you fly to Texas for it?") Or do you think they invite the person, then try to find a way to work them into the speech? Either way, I find it awkward and kind of off-the-point. Instead of listening to the speech, you're wondering how on earth they decided to bring that person in for it.
Here's your chance to play copy editor -- use the comments feature to write a caption for this photo from today's inaugural ceremonies. (And keep it clean, you animals!)
The themes of Rick Perry's third oath-of-office address go something like this: Diversity, equality, unity, compromise, bipartisanship. He addresses global terrorism and AIDS in Asia and Africa. He quotes the Isaiah and jokes that hell has frozen over because Aggies are playing good basketball.
On the border, he says he's against walls and for greater manpower. He calls for "solutions to the high rate of the uninsured and to the high cost of health insurance."
And, sounding like a candidate for higher office (or, as a colleague said, a preacher), he ends on this note: "I wish from this grand stage our government might be so noble, so compassionate, so visionary as the highest aspirations of our people. That we might surrender to causes greater than self, that we might give voice to the voiceless, and hope to those yet born. And that we might use this great opportunity, just this one chance, to do that which endures forever.
"The world is watching. Once again, let’s show them what it means to live with one another, to love one another and to be Texans."
Go to the jump for a look at his prepared text.
Gov. Rick Perry's Inaugural Address Jan. 16, 2007
(NOTE: Gov. Perry frequently deviates from prepared text.)
Lieutenant Governor Dewhurst, Speaker Craddick, Chief Justice Jefferson, members of the Legislature, my fellow Texans: the oath that I have taken this morning confers upon me not only a public office, but a public trust. I accept it with humility, knowing to whom much is given much is expected in return.
Texas has given me more than I could ever give back. It was here that I discovered life and met my first love: the First Lady of Texas, Anita Perry. Had we not served one day in office we would feel eternally blessed because of the gift of two wonderful children: Griffin and Sydney.
I am also glad to be joined by two Texans that raised me in a home filled with love, and who taught me the value of respecting everyone: My parents, Ray and Amelia Perry. Mom and dad, how can I sum up more than five decades of love and sacrifice but to say thank you, and I love you.
As a state that has always proudly rolled out the welcome mat, please join me in giving a Texas-sized reception to four special guests from Mexico, Governor Gonzalez of Nuevo Leon, Governor Hernandez of Tamaulipas, Governor Herrera of Vera Cruz, and Governor Garcia of Zacatecas.
As we gather today, there is great reason for optimism in Texas. We have a record budget surplus, jobs are at an all-time high, children’s test scores are improving, home and medical insurance costs are decreasing, school finance is out of the courts and school property tax rates are on the way down. On top of that, the Aggie basketball team is ranked in the top ten in the nation. Apparently, hell has frozen over.
I don’t mention these successes to downplay our great challenges, but because they stand in great contrast to uncertain events across the world.
We are now in an era of great global anxiety. Two conflicts on Israel’s border, and one in Iraq, threaten the stability of the entire Middle East, as well as the safety of America’s bravest men and women.
Our greatest threat is no longer a Cold War enemy that advances a Godless ideology, but fanatics that kill the innocent and themselves in the name of a Higher Power. Rogue states and terror cells have made nuclear proliferation a greater threat, and leaders in Europe and Latin America have risen to power and popularity based on anti-American appeals.
We face not only a war on terror, but a war on drugs that brings violence to our border and carnage to millions of American families.
The 21st Century has begun with no shortage of human suffering. New treatments for the American victims of AIDS have seemingly insulated us from rampant suffering on two continents: Asia and Africa.
And an even more insidious disease, human hatred, has claimed many more lives, infecting tribes, ethnic groups and nations that commit genocide in places like the Sudan while much of the world stands idly by.
We cannot ignore the challenges beyond our borders any more than we can the problems we face at home, whether it is poverty in Mexico, hopelessness in Africa or homelessness in Austin.
It is this perspective that shapes my view on immigration. We are both a nation of laws and immigrants; the former protect us, the latter enrich us.
Every nation has a sovereign right to control its borders. Our porous international border is one of the greatest threats to this nation’s security. Securing our border is more complex, however, than building a border-wide barrier.
Strategic fencing makes sense in densely populated areas, but a comprehensive border security solution requires additional manpower and the use of technology. We have shown Washington what works. With Operation Rio Grande, we have increased patrols, cut off common illegal crossings, and reduced crime in sheriff-patrolled areas by 60 percent during intensive surge operations.
I believe we can secure the border without compromising our economy, and we can implement a guest worker program without compromising our security.
Illegal immigration drains the resources of our schools, our hospitals and our law enforcement agencies. But I do not believe it is realistic to deport 12 million people already here illegally. We have to understand why millions of people come here, and why many more have died trying, it is for something as basic as the freedom to find a job and feed their families.
I know illegal immigration and border security are polarizing issues. To those on both sides of the issue, I simply make one request based on the words of the prophet Isaiah: “come now, and let us reason together.” Let us choose to sit down together and be a part of the solution rather than a source of division.
I start from this premise: we must secure the border with manpower, not unmanned walls. We must have a guest-worker program that recognizes the economic contributions of foreign workers and the desperate conditions that bring them here. And we must oppose amnesty because those who come here illegally should not be able to receive citizenship ahead of those who migrate here legally.
My vision for Texas is a tremendous tapestry of diversity woven together by common threads. We are of many faiths, traditions, heritages, but we are all Texans. And in Texas, it is not your identity that matters most, but your ideals.
There are no black, white, Asian or Hispanic dreams. Take away what’s on the outside, and you see a common thread on the inside, the human desire to live a life of meaning, purpose and fulfillment.
And even when we disagree, we can engage our differences in a discussion that unifies rather than divides, that lifts up the hopes, dreams and aspirations of all people without casting a single soul aside.
For much of the world, age-old conflicts derive from differences of tribe and tongue. It produces a cycle of violence that never seems to end. Yet, here we are, as diverse a people as any state in the union, and we share a bond that is much deeper than what could ever divide us, our common bond as Texans.
It’s not that we have a history of solidarity. 140 years ago a segment of our people was enslaved and considered less than equal. But we are overcoming past prejudice for the sake of the common good.
On this stage is the descendent of a slave who was once sold as property on the steps of a Central Texas courthouse. Today, Wallace Jefferson walks up the steps of our highest civil court in Texas, not only a peer among nine equals, but as our chief justice.
I believe hatreds that are centuries old can be extinguished by one courageous generation. If hatred is something that can be taught, then so can the greatest attributes of any society: “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” As the Apostle Paul wrote, “against such there is no law.”
We are a nation of great ideals, the greatest of which is the belief that all men and women were born to be free. For freedom to work, we must all be committed to another important ideal, “that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights.”
I don’t believe in prescribing equal outcomes, but I do believe in preserving equal opportunities.
And I also believe no great society can be built, or maintained, if we cultivate in our children the vanity of self rather than the virtue of selflessness.
Young Texans must never be taught about rights without also learning about responsibilities. Only when we embrace the responsibilities of a free society can we achieve the greater social good.
As a society, we have a responsibility to those who languish in poverty, to empower them with the tools needed to live a life of self-sufficiency. We have a responsibility to the most vulnerable among us, the young and the aged, those who are sick and those who live with disabilities, and that is to protect them, nurture them and empower them to overcome all obstacles. And we have a responsibility to future generations, to leave them a world that is safe, an environment that is healthy, an economy that is strong and a government that is honest.
But we must not proclaim the responsibilities of a free society and ignore the responsibilities of free individuals.
For more than a generation our culture has emphasized a message of self-indulgence at the expense of social obligation. We have reaped the consequences in the form of teen pregnancies, divorced and broken families, and a cycle of incarceration that joins young men with their fathers behind bars.
The fabric of our society is not government or individual freedom, it is the family. And the demise of the family is the demise of any great society.
Past generations have not fought and died so that children would have the freedom to gun down other children. No, they didn’t die so that parents would have the freedom to starve their babies so they could spend their last dime on the next drug-induced high. And no, they didn’t die so that video games, television and the Internet could raise our children instead of two loving parents.
We must never mistake freedom for license; one is a right, the other leads to bondage.
While there are limits to what government can accomplish, there are some things it must do. When a child is born into an abusive home, government must intervene and provide safe sanctuary. When a child is sent to a school that doesn’t educate them, government must demand change, not defend the status quo. And when a child goes down the wrong path because they have no one to look up to, they must not only learn about sobering consequences, but life-redeeming second chances.
There is nothing so powerful as the testimony of a changed life and a redeemed soul. Without forgiveness and compassion, there can be no redemption. And where would sinners like me be if there weren’t?
There were times in my life when the only solace I could find was the quiet outdoors where I could wrestle with my thoughts and talk to God. It was then that I asked the pointed questions: what exactly am I doing with my life, and what does it all mean?
Over the last 30 years, because of the grace of God, I have learned my purpose. It is not to build a majority political party, nor to hold power for the sake of holding power, it is to build a Texas of limitless possibility. And it starts with our children.
Imagine the possibilities in a Texas where every child is educated, every graduate has access to a good job, every life deemed precious.
Imagine the possibilities in a Texas blind to color, class and ethnicity, where no one is invalidated because of their heritage, but valued because of their humanity.
Imagine the possibilities in a Texas where every man, woman and child is able to put behind the past, to grab hold of their promise, to press on to be who they were created to be.
We have our differences. But, we cannot bridge those differences as long as we live in the past. Reconciliation requires forgiveness and a forward-looking spirit.
Texas is better off when Republicans and Democrats work together. Our potential is too vast to be spoiled by a politics leavened with partisanship. There is so much we must do together.
Together, we must work to make our border more secure and our neighborhoods safer.
Together, we must find solutions to the high rate of the uninsured and to the high cost of health insurance.
Together, we must commit to excellence in higher education as it prepares the workforce of the future.
Together, we must ensure that property tax relief is not only substantial, but long-lasting.
Together, we must pass budget reforms that protect the taxpayers.
And together, we must engage in a debate and a dialogue characterized by civility and consensus.
We have come together before to solve the greatest of problems. A little more than a year ago, when hundreds of thousands of our neighbors and fellow Texans suffered through two devastating natural disasters, Texans showed the power of example and the power of our ideals. With open arms we embraced those with nothing but the shirts on their backs. We opened our homes and houses of worship, our convention centers and our modern day coliseums.
We nursed the sick, we fed the hungry, we housed the homeless. For every first responder there were many more volunteers. And the world saw in us, for that brief moment in time, what it means to reach beyond the comfort of our own existence to aid the least among us.
They saw the concern of the Good Samaritan, with neighbor helping neighbor.
What they saw, in short, was the Texas we know and aspire to every day.
If we live lives of selfless sacrifice and love, the meaning of our lives reaches beyond the grave and transcends space and time to leave an enduring mark of eternal goodness.
I wish from this grand stage our government might be so noble, so compassionate, so visionary as the highest aspirations of our people. That we might surrender to causes greater than self, that we might give voice to the voiceless, and hope to those yet born. And that we might use this great opportunity, just this one chance, to do that which endures forever.
The world is watching. Once again, let’s show them what it means to live with one another, to love one another and to be Texans.
Looks like tomorrow's Inaugural Parade has been called off due to chilly conditions. The latest press release indicates that accumulating ice and sleet have kept workers from putting up bleachers and platforms needed for the noon parade. They say the weather outlook isn't expected to improve overnight.
For those of us who were supposed to be standing out in these temps tomorrow, this is a good thing. I nearly fell down an entire flight of iced-over stairs on my way out the door this morning.
The House adjourned about two hours ago. Final tally of Floor Hours - about 9.5 hours nonstop. Hardworkin reps, right there. And they debated 40 some-odd amendments, had some weighty discussions on ethics, open government, religion, and freshmen legislators. As much as everyone complained about the unexpectedly long day ( /what, me? guilty?), they did make some waves in interesting places:
Final updates:
- The House members decided to put "In God We Trust" on the electronic board at the front of the chamber (where they put the words to the Texas flag pledge, because the members always forget it). Rep. Richard Raymond, Laredo Democrat, proposed it and two people voted against it. One was Rep. Lon Burnam, D-Fort Worth, and the other was freshman Rep. Donna Howard, D-Austin, who said it was just "not the kind of business I want get into." We asked Speaker Craddick when it would appear. He shrugged.
- The House members realized that they'd misunderstood Rep. Juan Garcia's record-votes bill. They actually don't want to have a record vote - as defined in the law - on second reading of bills because, they say, it would take too long and trigger complications on bills that take immediate effect. None of that part's been explained too well yet. But they killed his amendment 84 to 57.
P.S. You have to know Rep. Rafael Anchia, D-Dallas, was disappointed - I don't think he realized that the House misunderstood when they first let it pass without objection. He high-fived another House member before they brought it back up and then killed it.
An aside: "Record vote" is defined, in this discussion, like this. Members go to their desks, hit the button, the board at the front lights up and the vote gets recorded in the journal. Currently, a single member can request that. When it's a voice vote, everyone gets an automatic "yes" recorded in the journal unless they tell the journal clerk.
- Rep. Jim Dunnam, Democratic Caucus Chairman, said he was proud of the Democratic performance today, going "on the offensive" with ethics efforts that he says might not see the light of day in actual legislation. They did actually pass some of them, too - which Rep. Pete Gallego, an Alpine Democrat and fellow party leader in the House, said could signify that members were ready to start considering some legislation "based on merit" instead of politics. The measures they passed went on largely without objection - which meant they got the approval of 81 Republicans as well.
Everyone's now adjourned until Tuesday. Looking forward to an actual weekend.
Cheers!
Two of our own have landed internships in House Speaker Tom Craddick's office. Clarisse Profilet of Dallas, a senior political science major at the University of Texas at Dallas, is one. She'll be concentrating on the state budget. Also working for the Republican leader is Ryan Clay of Arlington, a senior public administration major at Texas State University-San Marcos. He'll be working on tax policy.
From an exasperated lawmaker, anticipating being here through Sunday's cold snap:
"Here's your headline. Lawmakers got stuck in the ice storm in Austin because they were debating the color of the carpet on the House floor.l"
The House just adopted, without objection, a provision to require recorded votes on all second readings - unless they suspend the rules. That's a huge step from what they were originally going to do, which was requiring them on final passage (meaning that the bills that die don't get a record vote).
It seemed awfully easy. Too easy. Turns out, it was.
Reps didn't realize, after amendment and discussion, what they were voting on. They thought Rep. Juan Garcia, D-Corpus Christi, had whittled his original proposal down to just the final passage, with votes available on the internet within the hour. Everybody thought he'd cut out the second-passage provision.
So it's being reconsidered.
So they're going to actually read the amendment and vote again.
Ok, for the record? The Senate didn't even come in today. They're off until Tuesday.
The House, on the other hand, has been working on its rules since 9 a.m. Far be it for me to belittle any of this, or say that it's not important, because - say it with me now - it's all part of the process.
But there have been many provisions offered that had no chance in h-e-double-L of passing, some to make a statement - and some because nobody was at the rules meeting last week (they were all working on the speaker's race). So no one knows what anyone else wants, no one knows what will pass, and no one seems to remember that THIS IS THE HOUSE RULES, NOT ACTUAL LEGISLATION.
How about this idea: Hang every bill you got onto the House rules, turn all 6,000 bills the reps will file into amendmnets, pass them or fail them, and let's get out of here by Mardis Gras.
One more thing: Last session, the rules fight took maybe two hours. The two sessions before that, it took 20 minutes. We've been here eight hours.
First Lady Anita Perry has some classy threads for next Tuesday's inaugural shindig: She said today that she hired fashion bigwigs Douglas Hannant and Robert Danes to design her clothes.
According to a press release, for the inaugural she'll wear a suit by Mr. Hannant: "A hint of the romantic period and is a three button jacket with a straight skirt. In contrast to the full skirted look, this is a new take on the classic suit jacket and slim skirt, fashioned out of richly textured tweed with sequins. The silhouette is straight down and veered away from a nipped in waist. The inside of the jacket is lined with silk charmeuse."
That's a sketch of the suit above.
For the Inaugural Ball, it's a dress by Mr. Danes: "A strapless corset in silk crepe back satin and silk organza. The skirt of the gown is a mermaid silhouette cut in hundreds of interlocking layers of organza fabric. The First Lady has chosen a coral tinted strong pink for the dress fabric color."
Mr. Danes calls the dress "one of the most modern and signature gowns I've designed in the past few seasons."
"We have sewn over 100 unique pieces of organza together in an abstract version of the honeycomb style found in Chinese paper lanterns. The combination of the satin draping in the bodice and this honeycomb construction results in a design that is both futuristic and feminine."
The release doesn't say, but all that can't be cheap.
UPDATE: Turns out, it was cheap -- to the Perrys, anyway. Inaugural committee chairwoman Mica Mosbacher says the designers donated their services and their clothes. I had reported here earlier that the costs were covered by $1.4 million in corporate donations Gov. Perry raised for the inauguration. Alas, not so.
Oddly enough, this one got people out of their chairs in a hurry.
Rep. Dennis Bonnen, R-Angleton, moves to ban smoking in the Members Lounge that's right off the floor of the House. The provision says the House will dedicate a smoking section at some point, but no longer can members - who include Rep. Terri Hodge, D-Dallas, and Rep. Garnet Coleman, D-Houston - light up where members go to rest, eat lunch, nap and smack each other around between votes.
Rep. Harold Dutton, a nonsmoker, wanted to know how it would be enforced.
"Are you going to be the one to tell Terri Hodge she can’t smoke in the member’s lounge?" he asked.
Bonnen: "I'm terrified of that idea, honestly."
But vote they did, and the ban passed 84-52.
"I don't know what they're going to do about it," Mr. Dutton said. "I don't know of any sergeants at arms who are tough enough to take on Terri."
Garnet weighs in: :"Anyone who's hard up enough to smoke a cigarette smelling doo-doo and wee-wee ought to be allowed to do it."
Apparnetly, Garnet knows the meaning of the word "nic fit." Then again, after 15 solid hours on this House floor some nights, everyone becomes a smoker...
Suddenly there’s a lot of chagrin over a proposal to keep lobbyists out of the back hall behind the House chamber, back offices behind the gallery, and the speaker’s office and apartment while a bill is being debated on the House floor.
Technically, they’re not allowed in the restricted areas anyway because that’s closed to the public.
Clearly a reference to buddies that Speaker Craddick has in the lobby – Bill Messer, Bill Ceverha, Mike Toomey, and some of those guys who sit up in the “owner’s box” (the gallery area next to the front of the chamber) during major legislation and work with ease out of the back offices. Some, working for Dr. Jim Leininger, regularly pulled people off the floor and into official offices during floor debates on school vouchers.
Rep. Jim Dunnam, House Democratic Caucus Chairman, is carrying that provision through debate.
Dissenters are treading carefully, particularly after this quote by Mr. Dunnam:
“Do you really want to be on the record that a lobbyist has better access to the offices than the constituents?”
But they are dissenting. Rep. Fred Hill, R-Richardson, got worked up over Mr. Dunnam’s suggestion that such a practice – which, interestingly enough, is not being denied by anyone – has become the rule, not the exception to it.
Rep. Burt Solomons, R-Carrollton, says it’s good to clarify the law but has unintended consequences. Rep. Will Hartnett, R-Dallas, demanded to know why the speaker can’t meet with a lobbyist during bill debate but that members technically could.
The provision fails, after kind of a snotty debate in which it’s clear that personal hard feelings garnered during the speaker’s race are still in play.
It was a record vote, and that’s good for FODs (Friends of Dunnam). The record vote – 83 to 59 – that killed the amendment is sure to become fodder for campaign mailers. (See Dunnam’s set-up quote.)
Right after that, Rep. Lon Burnam, D-Fort Worth, attempted to keep people who are under indictment (or officers of corporations that are under indictment) out of the House back halls and offices or on the floor as a special visitor. We could call this the Bill Ceverha amendment. He was treasurer of TRMPAC when it was indicted. And he spent most of the day on the House floor on Tuesday during the speaker vote as a special invited guest.
He gets plenty of blowback – including from Rep. Helen Giddings, D-Dallas, a House chairman. Then it gets amusing.
Rep. Gary Elkins, R-Houston, brings up two former House speakers who were indicted, and then exonerated, but wouldn’t have been able to get to their offices under Mr. Burnam’s amendment.
“Well, I wasn’t’ going to go there… “ Mr. Burnam started laughing.
His bill failed 103 to 36.
Last session, a bunch of people in the Capitol (on both sides of the aisle) were annoyed when Milton Rister was appointed to head Lege Council – mainly because he had been an operative for a lot of Republican campaigns in years past, including some particularly dirty primaries. Historically, Lege Council director is politically unaffiliated, since he or she advises members on the legal aspects of legislation they’re drafting, but not always a lawyer. Bob Kelly was not. So this discussion of the executive director being an attorney is a new one - Steve Collins, the director between Kelly and Rister, is an attorney.
During one of the special sessions, rumor had it that Mr. Rister or one of his minions leaked to the speaker’s office the fact that House Appropriations Chairman Jim Pitts had an alternative education bill he was working. No proof of that really emerged but House members clearly saw the possibility of that in the future – since Mr. Rister is not an attorney and therefore is under no attorney-client privilege, though he has promised to stay neutral.
Today, reps amended the House rules to clarify that conversations between the Lege Council stay confidential. Just in case.
UPDATED: By "historically an attorney" I meant, "the last one was." Bob Kelly was director before that, but was not. Clarified above.
The House is debating their House Rules right now (meanwhile the Senate has gone home until Tuesday) and it looks like they’re going to work right through lunch.
It may not be immediately apparent why this is interesting. But this is where we get a hint of the politics that are going to be at play this session.
- Whether and how to record their votes.
- How to vote on the Speaker next time.
- When reps can stop debate and make a point of order (a very tactical move, both strategically and timing-wise)
- How the Speaker can choose who goes on the powerful House Appropriations Committee. Historically, about 10 of the 29 members are chosen on seniority, and the other half are chosen by the speaker. This doesn’t give the speaker 100 percent control over that panel – so that was changed in 2003, over the loud objections of Democrats (and other non-favorites of the speaker) who knew (and they were right, as it turned out) that they wouldn’t get to sit on that committee unless they had seniority privileges.
A lot of it sounds like housekeeping, but it’s a lot more important to the politics of hte process than it appears.
Yesterday we told you that people were buzzing about the Ag and Livestock Committee maybe getting room for two more people - two more urban, dissenting, Republican, i-could-give-a-you-know-what-about-farming type people. Like what happened with Lon Burnam, the urban FW vegetarian who got the committee after voting against Craddick.
As we predicted, this morning the sponsor of the House rules - Rep. Burt Solomons, R-Carrollton - changed it to add the two seats to Regulated Industries instead.
Last session nearly half the House asked for that committee. Can't imagine that the big-money lobbyists who pour cash into telecom and dereg bills aren't at least *part* of the draw there.
I don't know, maybe everyone's just paranoid around here. After the week we just had, it's not surprising.
It was one of those rare moments when the press felt justified actually yelling out their opinion on the House floor without fear of being labeled as biased.
Rep. Rafael Anchia, D-Dallas, had an amendment to set up wireless internet service on the House floor. His reasoning - wisely - was that it would benefit members.
The big winners in that deal, though, would be the press. Right now, we have six green ethernet cords at the press table (and 6,000 reporters) on the House floor. The rest of the schmucks who don't get here in time have to use "air cards" - which is fine, but those are hard to come by.
We've been trying to get the House Administration to give us wireless access - LIKE THE SENATE HAS - for years.
So Anchia tells the House that Admin said wireless changes have to go through the Preservation Board, which oversess the building.
"I withdraw my amendment, but I expect to see this done by next session."
At that, much to the delight of the House members, the dozen or so reporters sitting at the press table in front of the House stood up, waving their arms, booing and giving a thumb-down sign. "Down with ethernet!" "Boo!!"
Clearly, the House members enjoyed our chagrin. They laughed and point and waved. Keep smilin, guys. After 140 days, we'll see who laughs last.
AP reports on tough news for a Texas senator.
... a fascinating tale of political rivals setting aside their differences to watch the Legislature together. Who would have guessed all that chaos in the House could bring people together?
Plus, Karen Brooks tells us about how lawmakers might take another step toward making sure their votes are disclosed.
And if you're interested in what the state's going to do with that record surplus, Bob Garrett is keeping track.
House members spent several minutes debating on whether and how to let newly elected reps get into their new offices - with computer service - a little earlier than on the morning they get sworn in. (Which is the first day of session).
As a veteran House chairman (Robert Puente) tried to stand up for the frosh, he got blowback from several other members who talked about costs, who said the freshmen would just take longer to move in if they were given more time, etc.
While Puente tried to defend his idea, a group of freshmen gathered at the back mic - most of the class of 22. Rep. Jimmie Don Aycock, R-Lampasas, stepped up and declared the class' solidarity in support of it.
"The chair has a quesetion," House Speaker Tom Craddick replied. "Is that a mob behind you?"
Aycock said: "How are we as freshmen expected to be anything more than a mob without a computer system?"
Everyone laughed, and Craddick addressed the chamber: "Would someone remind Mr. Aycock that he's still a freshman?"
I tried to listen to Gov. Rick Perry today during the DMN's group meeting with him. I swear I did. But there were all these distractions. Like the incredibly comfortable, incredibly professional chair I got to sit in. And the governor's darling pet, who just wouldn't stop making eye contact with me. I think he wanted a treat.
Everyone’s wondering why on EARTH the House might want to add two seats to its Committee on Agriculture and Livestock when they debate the rules tomorrow.
You see, everyone’s remembering how Rep. Lon Burnam, a vegetarian from inner-city Fort Worth, got plunked onto that panel after casting the lone vote against House Speaker Tom Craddick in 2003.
Not that it’s a bad panel – Chairman Rick Hardcastle is one of the more fun, personable members of the House. It’s just that Mr. Burnam isn’t, how might one say, a *natural choice* for such an assignment.
So it’s no surprise that the theory making the rounds is that Mr. Craddick is opening up two more spots on that committee to toss on a couple more urban (or suburban) dissenters (Pitts, McCall, Coleman, anyone?).
Mr. Craddick says its actually because House State Affairs Chairman David Swinford would like to be allowed to serve on another committee, and it would only seem fair to let the House Appropriations Chairman do the same. They’re the only two chairman not allowed to do anything else, since their committees are so busy.
The two added spots on Ag – which has only seven members – give room to shuffle, he said.
But Mr. Craddick also said, this morning, that he thought a better committee for that would be the Regulated Industries Committee headed by Rep. Phil King of Weatherford – it has only 7 members and got some 60 requests last session. More than any other panel.
That’s the panel that handles telecom legislation, electric deregulation – and holds great committee parties at lobbyists’ lush homes.
So we’ll just have to see how that shakes out. Rumors around the Capitol are sometimes so laughable that they can’t be true. Funny thing is, it’s the most laughable ones that ARE true.
In other words, you can’t make this stuff up.
Gov. Rick Perry gets sworn in next week in an outside ceremony in front of the Capitol, a couple months after winning his re-election with only 39 percent of the vote.
But the chilly reception at the polls – though still a healthy lead over second-place candidate Chris Bell – is nothing compared to the chill expected at next week’s inauguration.
Weather forcast: a balmy 38 degrees.
Let’s rewind about 160 years to President William Henry Harrison, who at 68 wanted to prove how healthy he was by riding a horse for two hours in the cold, rainy weather in D.C. on HIS inauguration day. Then he spent another hour and 40 minutes giving his speech – outside, freezing. He developed pneumonia and died a month later.
Our bureau chief Christy Hoppe reminded Perry of this cheerful fact during a meeting several of us had with him earlier today and cautioned the guv not to catch pneumonia out there.
“That would be a dream come true for a few,” he said with a grin. “61 percent, to be exact.”
If you like this blog you'll love Chamber Music, Karen Brooks' weekly column out of the Legislature. We had a little glitch that kept this off the Web this morning, but check out Karen's first dispatch, with some final notes out of the House speaker race.
Emily Ramshaw has an update on the prisons vs. rehab debate.
And from our Senate reporter, Terry Stutz, this piece on what's sure to be a controversial bill by a controversial senator -- the "abortion trigger" legislation.
Seven conservative activists have called for a return to taxpayers of most of the $14.3 billion surplus that Comptroller Susan Combs expects the state to rack up by September 2009.
"Taxpayers deserve to get a refund; the surplus is theirs," the advocates of smaller government said in a joint letter to lawmakers today.
The authors said only $5 billion or $6 billion of the surplus is needed to cover teacher pay raises and school property tax cuts passed last April. The rest should be used to cut property taxes further or scale back a new business tax, they argued.
Signers included Kelly Shackelford of the Plano-based Free Market Foundation; Will Newton of the state chapter of the National Federation of Independent Business; Young Conservatives leader David White; and a quartet of conservatives who've been highly visible around the Capitol in recent years -- John Colyandro, Peggy Venable, Brooke Rollins and Michael Quinn Sullivan.
Members of the Sunset Commission on Wednesday made their formal recommendations on how to overhaul the state's prison, parole and probation systems. Their ideas, which they say will curb an impending inmate overflow in the state's prison system?
-Pouring additional funds into in-prison and community-based drug and alcohol treatment programs.
-Changing the probation and parole structure to emphasize early release for good behavior and low-risk offenders.
-Giving judges better authority to release state jail inmates with severe medical conditions early.
Corrections officials, who have asked for funding to build three new prisons, are working under the assumption they'll have an 11,000 bed shortfall by 2011.
This is my inaugural "Fresh Eyes" post -- a look at the weirdness that is the Texas Legislature through the eyes of an eager, slightly embarrassed young state house reporter who has been on the ground in Austin for a whopping four weeks. (Sounds like an editor's great plan to humiliate a new staffer, doesn't it?!)
So imagine me, chagrined and red-faced, as I give you my free association from yesterday's speaker's vote -- which happened to coincide with my first ever day in the Capitol:
1) Is that the dinner bell? Or the summons to enter the chamber? Reminds me of the glockenshpiel I attempted to play in my second grade music class. Or that chime on cruise ships that warns you that it's time to eat (again).
2) It's a rowdy scene -- watching a handful of lawmakers with cowboy hats, with steer-sized belt buckles, with cream-thick East Texas twangs, navigating their tinsel-covered, big-haired wives and hearty, screaming babies across the floor. Talk about a Texas stereotype.
3) "And the home....of the....braaaave." There's so much applause from the gallery I'm craving peanuts and Cracker Jack, fighting the urge to scream "Play Ball."
4) During the invocation we "pray for Texas and HER people." I know boats are supposedly female, ("Thar she blows!") as are some expensive cars ("Isn't she a hot little number"). But states? Texas?
5) Speaking of important Texas women, Nadine Craddick is amusing her and Tom's grandchild ("Tripp, and yes, that's a little Texas Longhorns outfit he's wearing") by wearing a giant hand puppet. Everyone's voting. Everyone's serious. And Nadine and Tom are playing with puppets.
6) What? Are they seriously deciding which resolution to vote on first with a coin toss? (Yes, according to Christy Hoppe. They are.)
7) And the football references don't stop there. It took me more time than I care to admit to figure out that lawmakers are making the "1" and "2" signals with their fingers during votes -- not practicing their "Hook 'em horns" sign.
That's just a start. More to come...
Sen. Dan Patrick said an incident involving his Dallas radio station's tower is indicative of the intensified debate over illegal immigration in the country. Someone hung a Mexican flag on the KVCE radio tower in Lewisville several days ago to protest a talk show host's comments for an illegal immigrant ordinance in Farmers Branch.
"It's indicative of the problem we have in the country today, of this growing opposition to what we stand for, by a minority of people," said Mr. Patrick, R-Houston, who also hosts a talk show on the station. "If we can't talk about a story on our radio station without someone coming down and hanging a flag...on top of the radio tower, that is really intimidation. That's not healthy," he said.
Secretary of State Roger Williams says he was nervous, as someone appointed by the governor, to co-preside over the highly sensitive election of a new House speaker. State law put him and the House parliamentarian in charge of the House today.
"I went in there understanding that this is the elected officials' house," he said. Mr. Williams said he felt good "the House was able to create its own environment."
The Weatherford auto dealer was a decent hitter and a good glove for TCU and, in the early '70s, Atlanta Braves farm teams. "We did a good job today," he said, adding quickly, "They (House members) did a good job so it really made my job easy."
The vote was 121-27. All of the "nay" votes were cast by Democrats, including six from the Dallas area: Roberto Alonzo, Lon Burnam, Yvonne Davis, Terri Hodge, Barbara Mallory Caraway and Marc Veasey.
The 80-68 vote to kill Rep. Charlie Geren's amendment -- concealing how House members vote on the speaker's race for several weeks -- can be seen as the real vote on keeping Tom Craddick as speaker. If so, a change in six votes would have deadlocked the House. Change seven, and Jim Pitts might have won.
Only 14 Republicans voted against tabling the Geren amendment: Gary Elkins, Mr. Geren, Pat Haggerty, Bryan Hughes, Delwin Jones, Ed Kuempel, Thomas Latham, Brian McCall, Tommy Merritt, Mr. Pitts, Todd Smith, Joe Straus, Robert Talton and Buddy West.
The 15 Democrats who sided with Craddick forces in killing the Geren amendment?
They were: Kevin Bailey, Norma Chavez, Joe Deshotel, Dawnna Dukes, Harold Dutton, Kino Flores, Helen Giddings, Ryan Guillen, Tracy King, Eddie Lucio III, Ruth Jones McClendon, Aaron Pena, Robert Puente, Patrick Rose and Sylvester Turner.
He says he's going to vote for Craddick "to begin the healing."
The vote is 96-51 approving Hartnett's amendment.
Bear in mind that the interesting vote was on Geren's amendment, which basically was Craddick supporters vs Team Pitts. Lots of members who wanted Geren's amendment now are voting with Hartnett, so they can't be accused of wanting to hide their votes.
80 ayes, 68 nayes, motion to table prevails.
They're back at the mics.
Hartnett says a delay in releasing votes puts "important information in the freezer."
Rep. Craig Eiland replied that it's still public - but without intimidation.
For the record, Hartnett moved to table (kill) Geren's amendment. So right now, Craddick supporters are trying to table the amendment. Pitts supporters are trying to save it from the table. If they succeed, the House votes again.
Eiland's one-liner in a debate with Doc Anderson, a Waco Republican: "I would not belittle the Alamo by comparing it to the election of the Speaker of the House."
King's move to kill Geren's amendment goes down, with the parliamentarian saying there's a precedent for the Texas Supreme Court to give "strong recognition" to the fact the chambers should elect their officers "by means the chamber determines is best."
Dallas Rep. Fred Hill, a Craddick supporter, is asking for another interpretation. Can three members override the House's majority decision to have a secret (or delayed public?) ballot.
So now they're thinking again .....
Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst declined to indicate who his choice for Texas House speaker was as House members were preparing for the showdown vote later Tuesday. Mr. Dewhurst was asked about meeting with the speaker in the next few days over the state's revenue situation and how it will affect property tax cuts promised by lawmakers.
Mr. Dewhurst added he was prepared to work with which ever man wins the post - Tom Craddick or Jim Pitts - on taxes and other issues. "Tom Craddick and I are long-time friends, but I am pledged to work with whomever my friends and colleages in the House elect as speaker," he told reporters after the Senate adjourned Tuesday.
The "knee-capper," Tom Craddick, has ordered the proceedings slowed so he can pressure wavering members, according to House Democratic Caucus Chairman Jim Dunnam of Waco. He says Mr. Craddick may delay a speakership vote until tomorrow.
"You never call a point of order when you've got the votes," Mr. Dunnam said. "This is going back to the same old intimidation stuff: Call a halt. Crack some knee caps."
Fort Worth Republican Charlie Geren, agreed. "You call a point of order so you can go twist arms," Mr. Geren told reporters. Turning toward Craddick supporters who were leaving the floor during a break, Mr. Geren added, "Nothing's changed. Nothing's ever going to change." One of the Craddick dudes, Dallas' Dan Branch, just shook his head.
New Sen. Dan Patrick of Houston, who doubles as a conservative radio talk show host, took the Senate floor on Tuesday to push one of his favorite targets, a long-time rule that requires a two-thirds vote of the chamber to take up legislation. He contends a majority vote should be sufficient.
Despite an impassioned plea to fellow senators, Mr. Patrick fell short - way short - on the issue as senators voted 30-1 to keep the rule. Still, he promised to keep on fighting the requirement as long as he is in the Senate and indicated he would keep arguing his position on his radio program - which airs in Dallas and Houston - later in the day.
Shocking, I know - but Rep. Phil King, a Craddick lieutenant, is in fact trying to kill Geren's amendment with the constitutional point of order.
If parliamentarian Denise Davis (via Williams) uphold the point of order, Geren's amendment dies without a vote.
Looks like the House will be voting first on Charlie Geren's amendment to release the signed ballots after committee assignments.
If it's approved, Harnett's amendment is negated.
"I'd say the system ain't broke," he said.
This from a story by Christy Hoppe a few years ago regarding the push for record votes. Rep. Will Hartnett, R-Dallas, told us he'd never had a constitutent call to ask him how he voted.
From the story:
"He pointed out that members will consider 1,600 bills and amendments and "will have to ... scrutinize every word, or our opponents in the next election will use it against us."
Ok we're talking about bills, not a speaker - but plenty of these House members would have you believe, TODAY, that it's the same thing.
Re[. Robert Talton to Hartnett during the debate about when to release the vote tally: "You don't agree with protecting members, and I appreciate your answers."
From some House members: "Boo, hiss."
On the side: Nadine Craddick, sitting next to her husband, winced and shook her head, mouthing the word "No." Craddick looked amused.
What's funny is that they all seem to be in violent agreement on the idea of letting the public know who votes - they're just boiling it down to whether they'll be able to use that list during committee assignments.
Rep. Will Hartnett is - finally - talking about his amendment creating a "tally sheet" for the vote that would be passed around immediately after the winner is announced.
"My amendment is a typical record vote like we do all the time. It provides transparency. It lets the public know how we have cast our vote on what is an extremely important decision before our state."
(p.s. Hartnett just used the endorsement of Paul Burka of Texas Monthly to back up his amendment - other bloggers must be so jealous!)
On releasing the vote after committee assignments: "We have never done that in 160 years."
Rep. Robert Talton, R-Pasadena, shoots back: "We haven't had a speaker's race like this before... (in decades)."
Hartnett: What the heart of this is the people who have double-pledged, who want to have their cake and eat it. ... I personally have no interest in protecting double-pledgers.
Talton: Don't you think what we really ought to be thinking about is ... what your'e talking about is exposing people right now as they are as far as how they voted and how they pledged. ... If I understand right, you want to show those people out and you really dont' care about what happens to those folks? Is that what your'e telling us today?
House Speaker Tom Craddick isn't running around trying to tie up votes, or twist arms, or smile and hug.
He's still at the desk next to the press corps, flanked by his wife and daughter, grandson Tripp bouncing in his lap. The occasional House member drops in to chat and shake his hand, but there doesn't seem to be any concerted floor lobbying going on. He's giving most of his attention to his family.
Here's what we're guessing Rep. Phil King is up to with all his talk about the so-called "constitution" (anybody read it lately?):
The constitution says three members can ask for a record vote (where the votes are made public) on "any question" that's before the House. Now what that means, normally, is if the members just do a voice vote on a bill and three people want the vote on the record, they have to put their votes on the record.
Now. What does that have to do with today's proceedings? Phil King appears to be priming the chamber for a possible stealth move in the off-chance that the House votes - by majority - to seal the signed speaker ballots and destroy them. (Which is basically a secret ballot). Whether he and two other cohorts (Craddick supporters) try to use the a) constitution or b) the Open Records laws to force a recorded vote even if the majority of the House doesn't want it ... I guess we'll have to hurry up and wait to see.
UPDATE: Everyone's still discussing the constitution question, but Texas Supreme Court did say - after a Senate lite guv vote a few years ago - that the Open Records Act doesn't apply to the election of chamber officers.
That still doesn't speak to the record vote question. I would note here that the House voted, last session, to require that a record vote could be requested with one member and not three. Presumably, if the House can override the Constitution with those rules, it can also override it regarding the election of the Speaker.
But that's just a guess. It comes down to what the House Parliamentarian decides.
"This is part of the process."
These are words that we hear around here all... the... time. And while they give some people comfort, I use them today in jaded exasperation.
A flurry of activity, and then ... an hour of rest. A wave of excitement and then ... two hours of naptime. This doesn't usually happen until the bills start getting floor debates.
You see, opening day is usually like the first day of high school. Everyone's happy to see each other, you wear your new clothes, you check everyone out to see who's lost weight, cut their hair, hooked up, or grown up over the summer. There's lots of smiling and hugging and "great to see you!" and no real substance, and you're usually done within an hour or so (or less, if you're the Senate) and then everyone goes to each others' offices to eat tacos and drinks Shiner.
"The process" doesn't really get going until the bills start hitting the floor.
But there's real business on the floor today, which means that "the process" is starting now. And who knows when it'll be done.
Rep. Jim Keffer just introduced the senators, who spent, like, FIVE SECONDS getting their act together in the chamber across the rotunda.
(House is still working on their act ... or, trying to find it .. or, something...).
Keffer: "We have been invaded by a group of House has-beens who have come over to say hello."
Former Rep. Carlos Uresti, a new senator, stepped up to the mic to cheers:
"We are sent over by the lt. gov to let the house members know that the senate is organized and ready to conduct business."
Hoots and hollers all around.
Translation: "Yeah, we've got a ways to go yet."
Ok, Sec. Williams is calling up Rep. Hartnett's new-and-more-popular voting proposal - a paper ballot signed and put into a box.
The fight comes when they start taking amendments about when to release the names of who each member voted for, or whether to do it at all.
We're an hour and a half in, and so far, the House has taken oaths, sung the national anthem and pledged to the U.S. and Texas flags. And they've agreed to some rules on how the nominating speeches for speaker candidates will go down. But that's about it -- at least, that's all we can see.
Looks like the lege's Web site is at capacity. Give it a shot, you might get in as someone else drops out (kinda like calling a radio station contest!).
Makes you wonder -- when was the last time there was this much interest in the Legislature?
Those interested in following the action of the Speaker's election, although it might be hours in the making, can go tohttp://www.capitol.state.tx.us and go to the live video section.
Tom Craddick and his family have entered the chamber, to a smattering of applause. Don't read anything into the applause-o-meter. Those in the gallery can't vote.
Mr. Craddick, for the first time in four years, is seated on the floor of the House instead of on the rostrum. He has taken a desk that is vacant pending the outcome of a special election.
The floor is packed with family and dignataries. Every seat in the gallery is filled. The occupants started lining up three hours before the session began.
The last time there was a contested election of a sitting speaker was 1959. So people here are ready to witness a little bit of history.
The first of the gladiators has entered the chamber. Jim Pitts, R-Waxahachie, entered the House just moments ago and prompted loud applause from the gallery and some in the House.
Rep. Will Hartnett, R-Dallas, has changed his proposal on procedures for the upcoming Speaker's vote. A staunch Tom Craddick supporter, he initially wanted each member, when his/her name was called, to stand by the desk and proclaim their vote. Not surprisingly, a few House members thought this was a reminder of what they didn't like about the Craddick regime -- the use of heavy-handed intimidation. Mr. Craddick soon distanced himself from the proposal.
This morning, Mr. Hartnett submitted a revised voting procedure. Members write their ballot on a piece of paper and put it in a locked box. The chief clerk tallies the vote, with a few impartial onlookers, and the winner is announced and the vote made public. Jim Pitts' supporters want the ballots kept secret until after committee assignments are announced by the next speaker. That, they say, removes the fear of retribution from the voting process.
If Jim Pitts can wrest the House speaker's chair from old ally Tom Craddick today, the spoils will include the 2,000-square-foot statehouse apartment dazzlingly renovated by ... Tom and Nadine Craddick.
AP's Liz Austin Peterson reports that the renovation is only now nearing completion. Mr. Craddick's office isn't giving a cost yet, but it was paid for with more than $1 million raised from lobbyists and others. Among the trappings: two $1,000 commodes.
One wonders if Mr. Pitts would invite the Craddicks to the housewarming.
By LIZ AUSTIN PETERSON
Associated Press Writer
AUSTIN (AP) — Some valuable real estate is at stake as members of the Texas House of Representatives elect a new leader at the start of the biennial legislative session.
And it's not just the podium at the front of the House chamber.
The winner gets access to the nation's only residence inside a statehouse, a 2,000-square-foot apartment that recently got a pricey — and controversial — makeover with funds raised by current Republican House Speaker Tom Craddick and his wife, Nadine.
Craddick is being challenged by fellow Republican Rep. Jim Pitts of Waxahachie. The 149-member chamber is expected to vote on Tuesday afternoon.
The Craddicks raised more than $1 million last summer to overhaul the apartment's two kitchens, two bathrooms and laundry room, to install wood floors and to remove a loft and spiral staircase in the living room.
Watchdog groups were incensed to hear most of the money came from lobbyists, businessmen and other organizations that could benefit from legislation whose destiny is largely controlled by the House speaker.
They were even more aggravated by the Craddicks' shopping list, which at one point included such expensive items as two $1,000 toilets and a $1,400 washing machine. A list of the appliances and furnishings that were installed wasn't available Monday.
In a letter to potential donors last year, the Craddicks said the renovation is a “gift to all Texans” that will let the speaker's residence “reflect the same attention to detail that is seen throughout the Capitol.”
Craddick spokeswoman Alexis DeLee said the speaker and his wife sought out private donations so they wouldn't have to use public money for the project. The contributions came from regular Craddick donors and supporters of historic preservation, she said.
The project is nearly finished, but DeLee did not know how much the renovations cost. She said there were a “multitude of entities involved” and they hadn't given the speaker's office a final bill.
The Craddicks, who own a house in Midland and a vacation home on Lake LBJ northwest of Austin, repeatedly declined to speak with The Associated Press about the project last summer or allow a reporter to tour the apartment. The residence is not included in the public Capitol tour, and only invited guests may enter, DeLee said.
Because the donations are considered a gift to the state and the checks are being sent to the State Preservation Board, which maintains the Capitol, they are not subject to campaign finance laws.
The speaker's apartment was extensively remodeled in the mid-1990s during a $187 million Capitol restoration. In 2003, the Craddicks spent nearly $27,000 in private donations refurbishing the unit.
Conspiracy theorists and scientists alike have directed me to this story about a striking string of bird deaths in Esperance, Australia this week. We thought 63 was bad here in Austin. How about 1,063? Authorities there are calling it a "catostrophic event." It might've been catastrophic here -- if it weren't for the fact that no one misses a grackle.
This morning, workers began dismantling the huge, outdoor Christmas tree that had stood outside the Capitol for the past month. With the Speaker's race, take it as the official sign that the Christmas spirit is passed.
After a fast-paced, uncertain campaign, Election Day is here for the Texas House. If you're wondering exactly how it will all go down, Karen Brooks has a good primer here.
And Gromer Jeffers takes a look at the Dallas-area delegation that will hit the Capitol today -- what they're after, what unites them and what divides them.
Plus, the state budget is always a matter of big debate. Bob Garrett reports on the state' s massive surplus.
Elizabeth Souder, the paper's energy writer, offers the following:
Some Wall Street types are getting nervous about TXU’s prospects this session. For months, even the more conservative lawmakers have been making angry noises about electricity prices and deregulation and market power.Then came the speaker showdown, and some investors are wondering if Jim Pitts could make things even more difficult for TXU. Already the former chairman of the House Regulated Services Committee, Phil King, has been calling on TXU to cool it on electricity prices. And he’s one of the guys who supports business and deregulation. What if Pitts shakes up that committee?
Meanwhile, Governor Rick Perry is expected to nominate Deputy Secretary of State Buddy Garcia to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, which decides whether TXU may build 11 new coal-fired power plants. The TCEQ had been expected to decide on the first permit for the Oak Grove plant on Wednesday, but the resignation of TCEQ commissioner Martin Hubert slowed things down. TCEQ didn’t want to decide the permits with only two commissioners; a tie vote would mean permission denied. The legislative approval process on Garcia could slow down the Oak Grove permit by weeks.
Maybe this is a sign I'm waaaay too into the speaker race, but I find this video oddly compelling. For one thing, these lawmakers look as average and unassuming as can be. And there's also the mystery of where this came from: Who posted it and why? A Craddick backer as a show of force? A Pitts backer as a show of weakness? A Democrat calling out the Craddick Ds? (The poster's screen name sounds like a Bart Simpon call to Moe's, so that's no help.)
By tradition, legislators' spouses host a black-tie dinner for lawmakers on the eve of the start of a regular session. The only segregation allowed is by chamber -- senators have one party, and state representatives have another.
Will the speaker's race part the waters at the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum tonight? Will Team Craddick hover on one side and the Jim Pitts Orchestra on the other? Well-placed sources predict a maximum of mingling and good manners.
"Let me tell you, we WON'T be talking politics there," said Rep. Warren Chisum, R-Pampa, a Craddick lieutenant.
Comptroller Combs reports that the state has plenty of cash but cautions that the economy could sour. Read Robert T. Garrett's report here.
All that's left now is the prolonged fight over how -- and whether -- to spend all that money.
Just made it into the office on foot -- and looks like downtown is slowing starting to come back to life. I snuck in behind an officer who was startled by a passing car with bird sounds -- "caws" and "quacks" -- pouring out of its speakers. Some sense of humor this city has. You should have seen everyone "duck" for cover.
Emily Ramshaw is pounding the pavement on the Dead Bird Beat.
Congress Ave. is going to be open again any minute, she reports from a press conference that just ended.
Final body count – sparrows, pigeons and grackles – 63 birds. None on the rooftops, all scattered along Congress Ave., found mostly between 3 and 6 a.m.
63 corpses, man. It's either the Apocalypse, or there's a speaker's race going on.
Authorities figure they were either poisoned intentionally or suffered from a bacterial infection. But after shutting off downtown all morning – to let everyone from special-ops to HazMat crews to the National Guard check out the situation (yes, the National Guard) - they’ve declared the health threat over and are going to start letting people come to work again.
Emily reports that police say they were first notified about the dead birds by Austinites passing through downtown. She said witnesses and authorities “could tell something was up because, early on, they could see the birds were acting really awkward, crashing into things, unable to fly.”
Emily says that authorities have done environmental testing, they’ve checked the birds bodies for pesticides, and are trying to find out if any have been swimming in Town Lake recently.
OK, I made up that last part. It was actually the Trinity River.
P.S. The DMN Austin bureau's offices are on the ninth floor of a building on Congress and 10th, right smack in the middle of the Dead Bird Zone.
Birds willing and speaker race aside, lawmakers will actually, eventually, tackle some issues in the session. One of the biggest will be caps on property appraisals and government revenues -- big news for anyone who owns a house, drives a car, or interacts with government services/taxes in any other way (this means you).
For a look at other issues that will get a lot of attention, check out this report from our Austin correspondents.
Throwing caution to the wind, our intrepid Emily Ramshaw ventured into the dead-bird zone to file this update on the closure in downtown Austin. Expect another update from public-health officials in a half-hour or so, she reports.
Meanwhile, have to note this funny take on the situation from blogger Pink Lady, who writes: "Investigators discovered that all of the birds had pledged their support to Jim Pitts for Speaker the night before."
I'm having a flashback.
Anyone remember a few years ago when the grackles in Austin started acting OUTTA CONTROL???
Our own George Kuempel, then-Austin bureau reporter, was attacked on camera while helping out our Belo TV friends here do a report on them. (If I can find the video, I'll post it. It's hysterical.)
I'm pretty sure he retired so that he could escape these shiny black menaces.
I personally have had to duck and run out of the way of these maniac birds on a number of occasions, particularly around the Capitol (coincedence?)
They literally stand on the benches, wait for you to walk by, and then fly right at your head. I've been hit twice and dodged many more.
I haven't been attacked by sparrows or pigeons, though, so whatever's ailing the downtown Austin avian population is presumably separate from whatever it is that make the grackles go all Alfred Hitchcock on us on a regular basis.
A key Jim Pitts supporter in the House Speaker race is floating an idea that would allow for a public vote in the divisive race - but wouldn't let the winning speaker use that info against the members during the session.
The backlash on Dallas Rep. Will Hartnett's stand-up-and-name-your-leader idea of a roll call vote for the speaker race has been pretty strong - and has, reportedly, alienated some support from House Speaker Tom Craddick, who's fending off a challenge from Pitts.
Generally, Pitts supporters want a secret vote to avoid retaliation. Team Craddick is demanding that his supporters call for a public vote on Tuesday, in whatever form that could take.
Fort Worth GOP Rep. Charlie Geren, who is supporting Rep. Jim Pitts for House Speaker, is calling for a process that would make public who voted for whom - but couldn't be used against members in committee assignments.
He suggests that members write their votes on paper ballots, sign them, and then the Secretary of State Roger Williams tallies them and announces the winner.
Here's the twist: The names on the ballots wouldn't be released until after committee assignments are made.
"The vote process that I have presented today not only protects House members, it protects the integrity of open government," Geren said in a press release. "The process is the best of both worlds. It allows every member to vote his or her conscience for Speaker without the fear of retribution. It also maintains our commitment to open government by providing a mechanism for the ballots to be released to the public."
Presumably, those names could still be used for primary-election strategizing much later - which is where a lot of the intimidation and fear of retribution comes from. Committee assignments play an important, how-shall-we-say, "motivational tool" in such contests, but they aren't the be-all-end-all.
Which means that next year's primary election will be interesting no matter what.
Craddick lieutenant Warren Chisum, a GOP rep from Pampa, said last night that Team Craddick was willing to negotiate with the other side on how to vote.
Ultimately, the House members get to decide the process on Tuesday.
Through a public vote. Which is basically a speaker vote. Just sayin.
Reporter Emily Ramshaw is braving the dead birds in downtown Austin for this update, fresh from a news conference:
Some 40 to 60 dead grackles, pigeons and sparrows were found along Congress Ave. around 3 a.m. today.
Police think they may have been poisoned, but still aren't sure.
This is based on a couple of things: There have been no windstorms or hailstorms, it’s not the right season for the West Nile avian flu, and so far preliminary tests show there’s nothing dangerous in the air.
Two officers felt some discomfort or mild symptoms this morning after working the area, but none were sent to the doctor or anything.
They’ve done gas and chemical testing in the air and so far have found nothing. They’re starting autopsies on the birds. And HazMat crews are still searching the roofs of buildings to see if there are more feathery corpses.
They expect downtown (south of the Capitol) to be closed until noon. The state Capitol is still open, and you can access it from the north.
Meanwhile, Emily describes the surreal scene downtown like this: Flashing lights everywhere, tons of ambulances, special-ops teams, guys in yellow full-body plastic suits with the head coverings – full on Haz Mat in effect.
And craaaazy traffic.
Trying to get into downtown Austin this morning? Don't bother. Congress Ave -- the city's main drag -- is in lockdown after more than a dozen dead birds were found early this morning. Authorities are taking samples from the birds and saying it's just precautionary. But they're not letting anyone into offices up and down the strip until close to noon. Word is the birds started acting funny -- wandering aimlessly in the middle of the street in a two to four block area. Then one after another, they just started to croak.
Here's the low-down on what happened Sunday night in Austin. Nothing too shocking. Lots of House Chairmen expressing confidence that Craddick has more than 80 votes. Lots of House members dodging a knot of reporters staking out the front steps of this private, members-only club.
(Please note the double entendre. Ok, now keep reading.)
The Austin Club was hoppin tonight, as droves of House members showed up to put a face on their support for House Speaker Tom Craddick, less than 48 hours before Tuesday’s contest against Waxahachie Republican Jim Pitts.
Craddick was collecting pledge cards from members who hadn’t signed any in the last few days, state Rep. Warren Chisum, R-Pampa, who has been a leading voice for the speaker’ team, told our reporter Robert T. Garrett.
“They’re all pledge cards that are less than three days old,” he said.
The two-pronged pledge cards were sent by the speaker to his supporters on Friday. They read:
"I am committed to voting for Speaker Tom Craddick for Speaker, and I am also committed to supporting public, recorded vote for the speaker elections." The member then signs his or her name.
Mr. Chisum said some members faxed their updated pledge cards to Mr. Craddick, while others delivered them personally at the Austin Club on Sunday night.
Pitts’ camp, which has seen some new supporters in the last few days, has claimed to have winning support, too.
Business as usual. Anybody’s guess.
Reporters counted about 60 (that we recognized) braving the press knot and walking through the front doors, starting around 6 p.m. Another dozen people reportedly snuck in the side door, although they weren’t identified in the darkness, according to a freelance videographer who’d been there all day (he didn’t say who he was working for).
Seriously - how much fun is it to see well-dressed House members ducking in to a dark alley and slipping into a speak-easy-like side door a few hundred feet away from a stinking dumpster?
Answer: Too. Much. Fun.
None of the half-dozen reps we talked to after the meeting, which lasted about an hour, could give us an exact headcount of who stopped in. Some, like GOP Rep. John Smithee, a chairman, stayed only a short time – Smithee cut out after about 15 minutes to celebrate his wife’s birthday.
Members had a sandwich buffet and there was an open bar.
The meeting, which Fort Worth GOP Rep. Anna Mowery, a chairman, billed as “an information exchange among Craddick’s supporters,” was closed to the public.
We’re told that Craddick spoke only briefly and there were no polls, votes, or any other consensus-type activities happening. Dallas Rep. Will Hartnett stood at the mic and reiterated that his controversial roll-call proposal was just one of a couple of options for voting.
Mr. Chisum continued to place distance between the Craddick forces and Mr. Hartnett’s method. He said Team Craddick is willing “to negotiate with the other side how you tally the vote. But at the end of the day, every vote will be public.”
Rep. Sylvester Turner, a Houston Democrat, spoke as well. Rep. Joe Driver, R-Garland, and Rep. Larry Phillips, R-Sherman, stood up and spoke from their seats at the table.
Much of the palaver stressed, especially to the incoming freshmen members on hand, how important it is to honor a prior commitment.
“I would say the theme of this mini-event was that this is an honorable institution, and if you give you word, you keep it,” said Rep. Mike Krusee, a GOP chairman from Round Rock.
Asked if he had signed a pledge card tonite, Krusee started laughing.
“I already did that like three times,” he said.
Chisum said other topics included “how the healing process needs to start right now and let’s protect our Democrats who might get beat up on. … And we talked a little bit about procedure” for Tuesday’s vote.
“We had a nice dinner and everybody was happy,” he said.
The start of the session is less than 48 hours away, and we've got everything you need to keep up:
Wondering how the House speaker's race will affect issues and legislation? Check out this report from Austin bureau chief Christy Hoppe.
Also, if you're looking for tips on how to follow the session, or perhaps even get involved, this may help.
And check back soon for more on the big issues this year, from appraisal caps to immigration and more.
Ok, maybe they're talking to somebody. It's just not us. Or at least, not yet.
There's still time for a handful of House members to return their phone calls (hometown paper, anyone?) before Tuesday's speaker vote. So I can't say that their inexplicable and, in some members' cases, UNPRECEDENTED disappearances are unequivocally linked to any indecision or fear on their part to reveal where their loyalties lie in the race.
Just feels a little coincedental.
See, for reporters, who pontificate and theorize and predict with the best of the wonks, the primary indicator of who's getting soft on their previously declared support is simple:
The House members who call us back tend to give it to us straight, either way.
Then there are the House members who have apparently lost their voice mail passwords, gotten caught in the El Paso blizzard (since the Colorado alibi doesn't really fly anymore), or found themselves in reaches international with a sudden inability to figure out their cell phones in a foreign country.
Or, they're hunkering down with their thoughts to try and figure out whether they're going to continue supporting Waxahachie Rep. Jim Pitts or House Speaker Tom Craddick. Maybe they haven't decided, or they're playing both sides, or they just think it's none of our business.
Right now it appears that the answer will come on Tuesday, no matter who we can find.
But the answer will come out. The best thing about covering the Legislature is that at some point, no matter how many voice mails go unreturned, we eventually see everyone - and I mean everyone - face to face.
Tick-tock...
House Speaker Tom Craddick is ready to stand with the "will of the House members" on whether to use a proposed roll call vote that's being floated for Tuesday's speaker elections, his spokeswoman said today (Saturday).
Alexis DeLee said that while he's actively supporting an open, public vote - which challenger Jim Pitts' supporters don't want - he won't publicly take a position on whether to make each member stand up as his or her name is called and say, out loud, their speaker of choice.
His answer comes after a flurry of slams by Pitts supporters after Dallas GOP Rep. Will Hartnett told everyone that he was going to move for the roll call vote. Critics, including Pitts and former candidate Senfronia Thompson, said this was proof that - in spite of recent remarks - the speaker clearly was ready to continue intimidating members into doing his will.
Craddick is effectively saying, "Hartnett's on his own," though he is still asking for his backers to support an open vote on Tuesday - in any form.
The only candidate to release a list of supporters has been Craddick, whose 10-day-old list of 84 fluctuates daily. Pitts has said he won't "play the list game."
The back-and-forth over intimidation and arm-twisting tactics is the central theme of this highly tense race.
Watching 149 House members stand up at their desks, one by one, with a gallery full of onlookers (and God knows how many on the Internet and TV news) and say out loud the speaker of their choice would - no doubt about it - be highly dramatic and emotional for both sides.
Fascinating tidbit regarding the speaker vote, the timing of a secret ballot decision - and what it could mean for Craddick in 2009:
Since the House doesn't vote on the rules until Thursday - two days after the Jim Pitts/Tom Craddick race for speaker - lawmakers who met informally this week to propose some House rules didn't really talk too much about whether that speaker vote will be secret or out in the open.
But Denise Davis, the House parliamentarian hired by Craddick, says that the group, whose proposal is non-binding, did discuss maybe changing House rules permanently to require a secret ballot in the speaker's race - a rule that would affect the speaker's race in 2009, but not this one.
Common wisdom around here dictates that Pitts would win in hands-down in a secret ballot, and Craddick would win in an open vote. And that a vote on whether to have a secret ballot (which is going to be an open vote) is actually a referendum on Craddick.
That decision will be made only if someone on the House floor floats it on Tuesday and asks for a vote. If not, it's an open vote - the way it is right now.
Bearing that in mind, here's what I'm thinking:
If Craddick hangs onto his speakership on Tuesday and then full House changes the vote to a secret ballot on Thursday, he could be toast if he wants to hang onto his speakership in 2009 and he doesn't become more popular between now and then.
The second interesting thing to watch there: If he doesn't fight it or try to keep it from happening, it could indicate that he a) really does plan to change his style of leadership to become a bit more popular or b) plans on retiring after this session and couldn't care less either way it shakes out.
Just speculation at this point. Geez, is it Tuesday yet?!
A bunch of House reps got together yesterday for an informal meeting with House parliamentarian Denise Davis to talk about proposals for House rules this session. This is standard operating procedure, and anyone who wanted to come could drop by.
Anyone elected or employed by the state, I should clarify.
Naturally, it was a closed session – no reporters allowed.
Not surprisingly, the subject of record votes came up.
And interestingly, the group wound up favoring requiring members to take a record vote on the final passage of every bill.
For those who aren’t complete gov’t nerds, here’s what that means: Every bill gets voted on twice. Preliminary passage is where the real meat of the debate happens – and 99 percent of the interesting votes. Then if it passes, the House waits a day and then votes a second time for final passage. Usually if the bill was passed, the final passage is almost always unanimous, give or take a couple of votes.
Put it this way. Observers are interested in the first vote. The second vote’s a bit of a yawner. Usually.
The compromise, which happened among 15 or so members from both parties isn’t exactly what record-vote advocates would like to see – it’s still a House rule and not a state law, and it doesn’t count for every vote.
But let’s put that aside and talk about the speaker’s race. (Are you shocked?)
Rep. Lon Burnam, D-Fort Worth, wonders if the compromise – reached between a group that included such polar opposites as Dem Rep. Barbara Mallory Caraway (a freshman from Dallas) and Republican Rep. Burt Solomons of Carrollton – means that “the speaker’s team is scared of losing the speakership and they’re trying to come off as accommodating as they can.”
He notes that the meeting was surprisingly cordial, given the intensity and division surrounding the speaker’s race.
Solomons, a chairman who reaffirmed his support for Craddick today, discounts that theory: “I don’t think anybody’s being really conciliatory or not. We had discussion a couple of times on a couple of issues that was very congenial.”
Here’s a guess: Neither side knows what’s going to happen on Tuesday, so everyone (well, almost everyone) is walking on eggshells around each other.
No movement, by the way, on whether there will be a secret ballot for the speaker’s race on Tuesday. (Are you shocked?)
Ok, just in case you thought daytime TV could NOT get anymore interesting than dueling supermodels and Donald Trump calling Rosie O’Donnell a “real loser,” I give you …. The Texas House.
As they do each session, Austin’s Cable Channel 6 will have gavel-to-gavel coverage of the House except on Thursdays – when 6 covers the city council and the House moves over to Channel 17.
I recommend you tune in on Tuesday and watch the Speaker vote. But maybe that’s just me being a nerd.
Here’s one more tip: Watch for that AWESOME opening montage. Seriously. It’s worth getting up for in the mornings.
For those of you outside of Travis County, you get to watch said coverage on the Internet.
In case you don’t have anything better to do.
Here's our coverage of the Pitts-McCall Show yesterday.
And meanwhile, actual issues are percolating, too, as the session draws ever closer. Click here for coverage of a brewing fight over how to punish sex offenders and here for more on the debate over prisons vs. rehabilitation.
A speaker’s race is partly theatrics. Earlier in the week, some of Waxahachie Rep. Jim Pitts’ supporters said they expected to see dozens of House Republicans join Mr. Pitts and Plano Rep. Brian McCall at the Capitol announcement that Mr. McCall has withdrawn from the speaker's race and thrown his support to Mr. Pitts.
As it turned out, the two Republicans were unaccompanied – other than by a few of Mr. Pitts’ family members. For one Craddick ally, the visual image told all.
“I think it says volumes that they stood alone,” said Rep. Phil King, R-Weatherford. “It’s all over.”
After citing the House's need for openness and a different management style for nearly 20 minutes, Reps. Jim Pitts and Brian McCall ended their press conference today with a move straight out of the Tom Craddick playbook: They high-stepped from the Capitol committee hearing room, taking no questions from reporters.
Mr. Pitts promised that if he's elected speaker, he'll institute an open door, open mind policy.
Hey, he didn't say anything about opening his mouth.
I tried to watch the Brian McCall-Jim Pitts press conference on the Legislature's Web site but couldn't get any sound. On the second attempt, I got the ominious message: "Server has reached its capacity and can serve no more streams. Please try again later."
Perhaps with that fat budget surplus, the lege can upgrade its servers.
Legislators in the mix on the state inmate space debate are saying they don’t need to build new prisons to meet a projected 11,000 bed shortfall by 2011. Instead, they want to reduce the inmate population by upping rehabilitation efforts – from drug and alcohol treatment beds to community-based therapy – and pushing a backlog of parole-ready offenders through the system.
But on Thursday, Senate Criminal Justice Chair John Whitmire, a Dem from Houston, indicated rehabilitation efforts may not be all it takes to meet the prison population’s needs. He said he’s interested in turning two state juvenile facilities into adult corrections centers -- housing another 2,000 adult inmates.
The latest Craddick list - last week, with 84 numbers - fluctuates almost hourly, according to reps we've been polling over the past few days.
On, off, and - mostly - who-the-heck-knows because we can't find them anywhere. Several of the members were in Colorado over the holidays, unavailable for comment, apparently unavailable to the speaker, too.
Or, as one D rep said a few days ago, "hiding behind a blizzard."
Three GOP names semi-surprisingly absent from last week's list: Rep. Debbie Riddle of Houston, Rep. Ken Paxton of McKinney, and Rep. Jodie Laubenberg of Parker.
Today the reaffirm that they're back on. From a joint statement they sent out a few minutes ago:
"In light of recent speculation, we reaffirm our commitment to Speaker Craddick. We believe his leadership is best for our constituents and the people of Texas."
"Speaker Craddick is dedicated to bringing all of the members of the House together. He is committed to respect, inclusion, and to helping all members represent their districts and advance their causes to create a better Texas for all Texans. We think Speaker Craddick will reunite the House so that we can go about the business of the 80th Legislature."
From here on out, the speaker’s race between House Appropriations Chairman Jim Pitts and House Speaker Tom Craddick belongs to the House Republicans, a key Democrat says today.
“You do the best with what you’ve got, and we’ve been extremely successful, but the Republicans are going to choose whoever’s speaker. That’s the reality of the circumstances,” said Rep. Garnet Coleman, an influential Houston D. “The House needs to run appropriately, and I think Pitts can do that. But he’s not my first, second or third choice.”
Coleman’s first choice was Rep. Senfronia Thompson, D-Houston, who filed to run last year – the first official challenger to Speaker Tom Craddick since he was installed in 2003. She was also the first choice of, reportedly, some 59 reps who had pledged to her, and who, in large part, moved over to McCall when she stepped out of the race last week and released her pledges.
Coleman was among a group of influential Ds who were surprised and indignant that they hadn’t been informed of the late Wednesday decision by GOP Reps. Pitts and Brian McCall to join forces behind Pitts – and were reticent to automatically throw their support behind Pitts, of Waxahachie.
Pitts and Craddick supporters had been saying – either directly or indirectly – that McCall appeared to be too close to the Dems to attract enough GOP House members to seal up the 75 votes needed to win the speakership.
But the sands have shifted. The Dems are stepping way off the Pitts campaign and becoming, if anything, “reluctant” supporters.
And that, whether intentional or not, could make it a little difficult for Pitts’ opponents to spin him as a liberal who’d be bad for the Texas Republican Party. Not that they won’t try.
Coleman, who is influential in the House, isn't speaking for other House Dems - but it's a good bet that several will follow his lead.
No word yet on whether Pitts managed to convince Ms. Thompson in talks this morning to throw her reluctant support to him as well.
A large pack of reporters attended the swearing in of Susan Combs as comptroller in the House chamber this morning. Most were interested, not in her, but the hot House speaker's race. The incumbent in that contest, Speaker Tom Craddick, served as the Combs event's emcee. Mr. Craddick apparently was in no mood to discuss reports that his two Republican challengers, Jim Pitts and Brian McCall, have joined forces.
After the event, reporters huddled in the corridor between the House floor and Mr. Craddick's office, hoping to pepper the speaker with a few questions. However, as Mr. Craddick's press aides and security men formed a human barricade, he quickly ducked into the members' lounge, which connects to his office. End of interview.
So why exactly did Plano Rep. Brian McCall step aside today in his bid for Texas House speaker and throw his support to Waxahachie Rep. Jim Pitts? Story
