Tales of the budget conference: Guillen's dilemma
Talk about your tight spots. Rep. Ryan Guillen, D-Rio Grande City, was torn between House loyalty and partisan allegiance yesterday. Very reluctantly, and even painfully, he sided with his chamber.
The scene: House Appropriations room, Capitol extension, 2:18 p.m.
The action: As the budget conference committee convenes to ratify decisions on health and welfare programs, all five Senate negotiators are present. But two from the House are missing -- Democrat Sylvester Turner and Republican Lois Kolkhorst.
Unexpectedly, Warren Chisum, the House's chief negotiator, brings up a politically supercharged matter left over from the otherwise-finished judiciary section of the budget: Whether to give Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle's Public Integrity Unit 6.5 percent more than the $6.8 million, two-year "baseline" budget it was given by the Legislative Budget Board back in January. Uh oh. It's crunch time.
The background: Mr. Earle is nationally famous for bringing da hammer down on The Hammer, a/k/a former U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Sugar Land. Or at least, Mr. Earle has obtained an indictment -- though not yet a conviction -- of Mr. DeLay on campaign money laundering charges.
Mention of Mr. Earle, who for eons has been the top prosecutor in the People's Republic of Travis, brings snarls from diehard Texas Republicans. Many consider him a partisan, Democratic dirt dauber. And I believe the state GOP platform calls for dismantling his anti-corruption unit.
Earlier this session, the Senate gave Mr. Earle an additional $440,000 for his 40-person Public Integrity Unit. The House did not. Mr. Earle has said he needs the additional funds. Budget documents show they would let him spend about $355,000 more on probes of general shenanigans in state government, and $85,000 more on insurance fraud investigations.
Back to the action: Mr. Chisum briefly describes the situation and mumbles off-mike and inaudibly to Sen. Steve Ogden, the Senate's top gun on all things financial. More mumbling from Mr. Ogden, before the sound system picks up this:
Mr. Chisum: "You want to split it?"
Mr. Ogden: "Let's split it, and vote it."
Mr. Chisum: "Clerk will call the roll."
The Senate's five negotiators quickly break along partisan lines. Three GOP senators favor giving Mr. Earle only $220,000 more, while Democrats Judith Zaffirini and John Whitmire, who want the full amount, vote no.
But it takes three votes from a chamber's quintet to give that chamber's approval. This puts Mr. Guillen in the uncomfortable position of either letting down the House's negotiating team or undercutting a Democratic prosecutor's efforts to ferret out corruption at a time when all statewide offices are held by Republicans.
Mr. Chisum votes for his own motion. It's a given that the only other House member on the dais, Republican Dan Gattis, will do likewise. Which puts a spotlight on Mr. Guillen. He is, after all, the vice chairman of House Appropriations and serves in that heady post at GOP Speaker Tom Craddick's pleasure.
The clerk calls Mr. Guillen's name. He hesitates.
Mr. Gattis: "You gotta vote yes, Ryan!"
After a pause of several seconds, Mr. Guillen mutters, "Aye." He then seems to slump in his chair.
And who said it's easy to be a Craddick D?
Comments
And for all that, Guillen still couldn't get his local bill passed - the same local bill that ignited the calendar fight and gave strength to the anti-Craddick revolt.
Posted by: Annie | May 19, 2007 12:49 PM
In a weird way, Craddick Ds seem almost bystanders in the House's current power struggle. But coup plotters would be foolish to believe they can topple the speaker without picking off at least a few of his Ds -- and even more of his Rs.
Posted by: rtgarrett | May 19, 2007 3:09 PM
Who says they can't? Or, more accurately, haven't already?
Posted by: Brooks | May 20, 2007 3:30 AM
Not I. As you know, Karen, I've spent a lot of time in the Senate lately. And from the upper chamber's vaunted heights, it sure is hard to tell those House brawlers apart ...
Posted by: rtgarrett | May 20, 2007 3:46 PM
Annie--read SB 63.
Posted by: Bubba Galt | May 20, 2007 5:46 PM
You know - it's hard to tell from the ground, too. Being in the House doesn't always answer questions!
Posted by: Brooks | May 21, 2007 11:01 AM