Governor Perry is pushing hot button issues (highly salient issues which elicit strong emotional responses from other leaders and the general public) during the special session (30 day period that called by the Governor at the end of the regular session). He has indicated that he is ready to pull the trigger on abortion reform and that he’s ready to pull the plug on the Public Integrity Unit (the agency that investigates the state agencies the governor oversees).
The Governor has called the legislature into special session to ensure his policy priorities receive the attention he thinks each deserves. Texas has a plural executive system which fragments power among multiple offices. Known as a weak governor system—one where the chief executive officer has limited power because other departments (typically under the governor’s control) are under another state officer who is subject to election by Texas voters. Top positions like Lieutenant Governor or Attorney General are offices elected by the people rather than by gubernatorial appointment. There are other ways the Governor’s powers are limited. For example, the Governor cannot suspend a capital murder death penalty—he only makes recommendation, the Board of Pardons and Paroles ultimately decides.
It’s kind of difficult to think of Rick Perry as “weak”-this is the guy who shoots coyotes while he’s out on his morning run.
How to think about the power a governor has is a complicated matter, and the National Governor’s Association (the professional association to which all governors belong) has quite a few ways in which you measure a governor’s power. No matter what metric you put on Texas, we have a weak governor system—but nobody told Governor Perry that.
He’s used the special session to give broad authority to Republicans to pass restrictive abortion legislation. Rather than define exactly what he wants done, he has said that lawmakers should consider legislation “relating to the regulation of abortion procedures, providers, and facilities.” The Governor is not pulling any punches–he wants a law that prohibits abortions after 20 weeks (late term abortions). This year Senate Democrats stopped 3 controversial bills because regular sessions require support from 21 senators before most legislation can be voted on–but those rules do not apply in special session (Republicans control the Senate 19-12 making them unstoppable during special session).
The Governor’s not stopping there. He has threatened to use his veto power—the ability to reject legislation passed by the Texas House and Senate—to eliminate $7.5 million in funding for the Public Integrity Unit in Austin headed by District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg. She was arrested and pled guilty in April to having a blood alcohol level three times what is allowed under Texas law. Perry’s critics saying he’s just looking for an excuse to eliminate the office which is investigating improper ties between Governor Perry and his cronies.
Look out abortion providers and Rosemary Lehmberg, the coyote killer is on your trail.
Lone Star News Review 