Isn’t that special

This week, and as predicted, the legislature has gone into special session (a limited 30 day session called by the Governor).  At the conclusion of the regular 140 day regular biennial session (which meets only in odd-numbered years), the gavel came down in both chambers signaling the end, but within 10 minutes, the Governor invoked his state Constitutional powers.  Such authority allows the state’s chief executive to call the legislators into “extraordinary session…at any time and for any reason”.  The key is that the Governor must specify the issues or else face a runaway legislature (one where lawmakers focus on their own policy agenda rather than what the governor wants).

Several outstanding issues need resolution, but most salient is the need to adopt a redistricting map.  After the 2010 census required by the U.S. Constitution, the Texas legislature had to go through reapportionment of the Texas House and Senate, along with the U.S. House of Representatives.  Seats were reallocated into the different administrative or election districts, and then the state legislature had to redistrict (the process of drawing boundary lines for election districts in a state).  The new maps resulted in the filing of two federal court cases (one in San Antonio and the other in Washington, D.C. where Texas had to get approval from the federal government).  The San Antonio court found that the legislature had gerrymandered (illegally manipulated) district lines to favor one group over another.  The three-judge court then re-drew the maps to accurately represent racial minority interests—those maps were used in the 2012 election. The court in D.C. did the same thing about six months later.   

Now the state legislature has to vote on whether they want to approve the San Antonio map or try to draw up their own during the special session. 

Other hot issues that Governor Perry may press for during the special session include prohibiting abortions after 20 weeks, drug testing for welfare applicants, and allowing guns on campus. The Governor may have to call more than one session.  He can call an unlimited number, but each 30 day session costs about $1.3 million because of per diem costs—monies allocated to pay for funding, travel and staff during the session.  Perry hasn’t been shy about using his authority—he’s called 10 sessions during his 12 years in office.  

And in other census news, a new report highlights that Texas’ growth in the Hispanic population after the 2010 census means that immigrants have substantially contributed to the gross state product (total sum of all goods and services produced in the state in a given year).  According to the report, Texas’ immigrants produce about 69.3 billion in economic activity by spending in the state, contribute about $30.8 billion in gross state product, and account for approximately 403,174 of the state’s workforce.   The report comes at a time when the U.S. government is considering a major overhaul on immigration reform. 

Guess we’ll just have to wait and see whether the federal government thinks immigrant economic contributions are special enough to merit immigration reform.

Road trip

Governor Perry took a road trip this week to California to recruit businesses from the Golden State to think about re-locating to the Lone Star state.  Judging from some reactions, not everyone thought that the Governor gave a shining performance.  The Governor has made several expeditions to try to enhance Texas’ economic growth (an increase in the capacity of an economy to produce goods and services, compared from one period of time to another).   No doubt, the Texas economy has been a source of southern pride because our Gross State Product (GSP) has continued to expand even during economic downturns, and our unemployment rate has remained below the national average for 72 consecutive months.

GSP is a measure of the economic output of a state which is a sum of all value added by industries within the state for a specific period.  Its counterpart at the national level is the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) which measures the same thing for the entire country. In 2012, Texas’ GSP was about 1.3 trillion while the national GDP was approximately 15.7 trillion growing faster than the national average (about 23% compared to 16% for the national average).

So what’s not to love about Perry wanting California to have a piece of the action?

Seems California Governor Jerry Brown was not happy about Perry’s $24,000 radio ad which asked whether California businesses wanted lower taxes and less regulation. Calling the ad “barely a fart”, Brown blasted Perry for trying to poach jobs, while one journalist asked Governor Perry during a press conference whether Texas’ lax regulatory standards were related to worker deaths. Hoping that California businesses will beat a path to get here, Perry was quick to respond that higher rates were due to the hazardous energy industry, not poor regulation.

And speaking of pathways, Agricultural Commissioner Todd Staples is working with members of the Texas legislature to craft a resolution to challenge granting a pathway to citizenship as a policy solution for illegal immigration.  As head of the Texas Department of Agriculture,  Staples works to support private sector job creation and economic development, t0 improve consumer
protection, to promote agricultural products, and to expand trade.  Staples’ concern is about the shadow economy—unofficial, untaxed economic activity that is not declared for tax purposes and is usually carried out in exchange for cash.   His comments come as President Obama highlighted concerns in his State of the Union address about the 11-12 million undocumented persons in the U.S.  Staples would prefer to see border law enforcement efforts increased, and he intends to continue to push that message as he goes on his book tour to promote his new book and gear up for a run at the Lieutenant Governor job in 2014.

Happy travels.