CAPITOL LETTERS

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.