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June 2009
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Recently in Texas House CategoryGovernor Rick Perry on a special session due to lawmakers' unfinished business: How worried are you about bond ratings? Will Voter ID be part of a special session call? Despite House Speaker Joe Straus' efforts to avoid "blame gaming" after the sudden Senate meltdown on the closing day of the session, the back-and-forth between the Senate, House and Governor's office continues on this morning after. "If I understood what happened last night, I would be an absolute genius. I thought I was watching an episode of Lost. I don't understand what they [the senators] were thinking," said Governor Rick Perry, in his post-session press conference. Perry says he worked with Straus mid-afternoon Monday to come up with the resolution idea that allowed state agencies to stay ali... For anyone who peaced out early on Sine Die, the Senate adjourned without clearing safety net legislation to continue five state agencies because Republicans were upset $2 billion in transportation road bonds went unapproved by the House. A special session could be necessary to keep the agencies alive, but some lawmakers say Governor Rick Perry could just as well issue an executive order to keep TXDOT, the Texas Racing Commission and Texas Dept of Insurance alive. But what of the $2 billion beef? Many questions in the air this morning. "Tonight's developments in the Texas House and Senate were dis... Texas House lawmakers adjourned on the eve of Sine Die after failing to pass the sunset safety net bill, HB 1959, which would keep half a dozen state agencies going until next session, when lawmakers will try once again to overhaul them. As state Rep. Carl Isett, R-Lubbock, was rushing his questioners on the floor in order to take a vote on the sunset safety net bill, state Rep. David Leibowitz, D-San Antonio, began questioning him and after the clock struck midnight, called a point of order for going past the deadline. Straus s... Seventeen Texas senators have sent a two page letter to House members, asking them to "lead" and "take a stand" by voting yes for the legislation previously known as SB 855, the local option transportation funding bill. It's now in the form of an amendment to the TXDOT sunset legislation. The senators who signed the letter, in no particular order: Carona, Gallegos, Watson, Harris, Ellis, Zaffirini, Hinojosa, Wentworth, Nichols, Averitt, Deuell, Shapleigh, Whitmire, Davis, Lucio, Uresti, Eltife. As usual with these embedded documents,... "Senate bills that are now over in the House of Representatives are dying by the bushel basketloads." -State Sen. Kel Seliger, R-Amarillo Speaker Joe Straus and Lt. Governor David Dewhurst are spending some time together this afternoon in an effort to save the work of 181 lawmakers from dying with each passing deadline. "We're talking about education, we're talking about energy, we're talking about transportation. All those bills are up in the air," said state Sen. Jeff Wentworth, R-San Antonio. (Wentworth also represents South Austin, Buda, Kyle, etc.) Texas Windstor... The House descended into absurdity over the weekend as Democrats took the full time allotted to "chub", or talk-to-death, various minor bills. The chubfest resulted in all kinds of insane time-wasters on the floor that were just-serious-enough to be allowed. I started a list of memorable moments of random chubness, but please add your own favorite moments from the weekend. -- Dunnam's demonstration of how to properly fold the Texas flag, before then being asked to mime it. "Hence you will find the properly folded official flag of the state of Texas..." -- Al Edwards missing hat -- The pun-o...
It's on, y'all. House Speaker Joe Straus has had enough of people questioning his leadership, and he's not going to take it anymore. After calling Democrats who slowed down the passage of routine Local and Consent calendar bills "obstructionists", he defended his role in moving things along. "All session long when we've succeeded in a very closely divided House... it's when members have put their differences aside and worked things out themselves. It wasn't because I... In this latest chapter of the House Voter ID saga, Democrats believe they have found the point of order (a rules technicality) that could kill the voter ID bill. House rules say committee minutes must be filed within three days after a committee meeting. The minutes following a Voter ID hearing in the Elections Committee was not timestamped until seven days after. In a series of cryptic hypothetical questions this morning, House Dem leader Jim Dunnam got Speaker Joe Straus to answer that a bill would be "ineligible" if the committee minutes were filed late. Read the memo below. *Click on the little... |
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Elise Hu is KVUE's Political Reporter and your dedicated blogger. There's too much politics in Texas to fit into a newscast, so the fun continues here. Email your ideas and feedback to ehu@kvue.com.
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