3:57 PM Mon, Jan 12, 2009 | Permalink
Elise Hu
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In an earlier post, we featured speaker-to-be Joe Straus' answers on questions like iPhone versus Blackberry. Now we get to the more substantive stuff, on the issues. He took a few viewer questions too, at the end.
Straus with our San Antonio team from Belo.
Talk to us about the Austin delegation.
The Austin delegation is great. They're not from my party, I have a great relationship with all of them. Real diverse delegation. Good relationship with each one of them.
Mark Strama is a really intelligent young guy, a very talented legislator. A lot of experience even though he has only had a few terms here. Eddie Rodriguez is a real up and comer and a real friend of mine, we served on a committee together when I first got here and enjoyed a lot of good conversations with him. Donna Howard is an exceptional member of the delegation and I like the way she thinks and she's really dedicated to her job. Elliott - has been around a long time and we've known each other for years, our families have known each other a long time and he's just a real good hearted gentleman. And Valinda, is a relative newcomer too and I've enjoyed many visits with her and her family.
Chance for a chairmanship for any of the delegation?
Oh my gosh. No, don't get into that. I think I better get into office first before I worry about chaimanships or anything, this is a really fast transition and I havent quite gotten to address who's going to be working where yet because I haven't been elected speaker.
You want to be deferential to members, but how are you going to reconcile allowing members to do what they want and yet avoid some rancorous wedge issues that drove acrimony?
I've said that I want the members to work on what they want to work on. Not to do what they want to do. What they do is really up to the body, but each individual member should be able to propose what they want to see drive policy in this state, but then it should be up to them to get the votes, I dont think anybody should be pigeonholed or put on the back bench or taken out of the game.
Say, for instance, voter ID comes up. Do you anticipate the House taking up the issue next session?
Yeah I do. That's a real important issue for certain people and one of the parties and it is a bit of a hot button issue but I hope it can be addressed in a real thoughtful way to maybe there are some things we can do to avoid the rancor. Don't know that we can get there, but I'm sure that it's going to receive a lot of attention, and I'll try to help where I can to fashion something that avoids land mines that we may have stepped on in the past?
Specifics?
I think it's important to avoid some of the issues in the past that limited or seemed to limit somebody's access to the voting booth. I don't know that there's a magic answer but we oughta keep working at it because the goal of making sure voters are who we think they are, who they say they are, is a worthy one. Again, it's fraught with some danger and we have to be very careful.
In Houston, since it's such a high carbon-emitting part of Texas. Rodney Ellis has filed a bill that would lower carbon emissions in Texas to 1990 levels by 2023. This might come up federally but he says the state should go ahead and take care of it to better control its destiny. Is the Texas legislature ready for a cap-and-trade program?
I don't know. Personally I don't favor cap-and-trade regime. But beyond that, more importantly I think it would be in Texas' best interest to wait and see what the federal governement does. Obama will be inaugurated soon adn I know that the federal goverment will be much more aggressive in air quality issues. I think it would behoove the state of Texas to see what direction they're going in before we get ahead of it or miss the mark on what we do here.
How important is lower carbon emissions to you, as a legislative priority?
It's important, it's very important. I know San Antonio and some other areas of the state are in the non compliance area that has significant economic development impacts if we don't get it right.
So it's not that it's not important. It's very important. But how we do it and whether or not we conflict with new federal laws I expect to see enacted soon is I think very important to keep in mind.
What should be done to lower greenhouse gas emmissions?
Oh there's various ways. I think the federal government approach - there's some talk about a federal cap-and-trade program that I'm not crazy about. I've read some approaches that seem to make better sense to me, maybe a carbon tax, offset with some tax cuts that can create jobs. So I think there's some better ways than cap-and-trade in my view.
There's some talk of a casino on Galveston Island to boost the local economy there after Hurricane Ike? Would you support it?
I have to stay away from the gaming issues. My family is involved in horse racing - has been for 80 years in racing and breeding, and then when racing was passed in Texas and brought back here, my family was involved in building a racetrack in San Antonio.
I've said I'm going to keep my distance from the gaming issue, so I wouldn't push that at all. I've had some interesting dialogue this week in talking with members from the Houston-Galveston area. I do know the needs in that area, the UT Medical School, there's going to be a lot of attention paid to trying to restore that communitiy. How we do it, I don't know, we do have some money left in the budget I think to look at some of that without having to look at outside revenue sources.
Do you believe the Retama racetrack boosts the local economy in San Antonio?
Yeah I mean it's a significant business for the Northeast San Antonio area. But the ripple effect of horseracing is as important as the racetrack. The agricultural community, breeding, people have to grow the feed, there's transportation involved in this too, so it's a boost to agrobusiness as well.
Wouldn't people in Galveston argue that if racetracks help the SA economy, then Galveston should have a casino to help their economy?
I'm not saying that they're not going to work on that, and I'm sure they will. I've heard several people mention that it will be proposed - casino gambling for certain areas of Texas will be proposed. I'm just saying Im going to stay away from it. Im very sensitive to that industry and any involvement that I would have legislatively.
I really just want to stay as far away from that as possible.
In North Texas - property-rich school districts up there like Highland Park and Plano, they're still looking for relief from paying into Robinhood. Is there any hope ahead?
I hope so. Representative Branch has been studying this issue, he's a real expert in this area and I rely on him for advice. But I know school districts all over the state are feeling pressure. We did make some significant alternations to school finance just a few years ago, but we knew that wasn't going to last forever. The pressure builds as soon as we try to fix something. It's always been that way in Texas.
I remember when I was elected a few sessions ago, I ran into former Governor Dolph Briscoe at an event in San Antonio. He put his hand on my shoulder right after we did the big school finance tax deal, he said, 'Joe, I thought in 1949 when I was in the legislature that we fixed shcool finance forever with the Gilmer Akin Act.' You never fix it. It just is a temporary adjustment and you see how long it lasts and then you alter it again.
This session, we'll wait and see, maybe there are some adjustments that make sense to give relief to the school districts.
Paul in Leander asks, do you think the gas tax should be raised or indexed to inflation?
I was one of those 15 idiots in the last session of the legislature that VOTED to index the gas tax. There were 135 members who disagreed with me then. I think I was right, and I have no problem with indexing the gas tax. It's been a long time since it has been increased. It stayed at a very low level for years and years and it's clearly not keeping up with the needs, infrastructure needs of Texas.
What will you say to the drivers who don't want to see their gas prices go up?
When we were talking about indexing it in the last session it was by a penny maybe. So it won't be noticeable.
Dedicate gas tax revenues to transportation instead of sending to general revenue?
I sure hope so. I know the Governor, Lt Governor, speaker and good work that Senator Carona have done are leading that way and I certainly would support that.
Another viewer question: What do you think are the most formidable obstacles to leading an organization like the Texas House.
That's a great question. I'll tell you in June. I think right now it's a matter of settling everyone down. We've had a couple of sessions that have been a little rocky. And that's why a group of us wanted to make changes in the House and I hope that we can lower the tone and kind of calm people's nerves a bit and get serious about legislation and not so serious about politics.
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