Aiming at the owner's box
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.