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.

Slap shot silence

You may remember that in October the Kountze School District had been slapped with a temporary injunction (an order which restrains a person from effecting a legal action or orders redress to an injured party) to prevent the display of banners with a Christian message. Public school high school cheerleaders had used their own money, made the banners off-campus, and unfurled the banners at football games.  The school district, concerned that the student-led Christian display was an Establishment Clause violation, had banned the cheerleaders from displaying the messages. The First Amendment prohibits the government from making any law “respecting an establishment of religion” and forbids the government from establishing an official religion and prohibits government favoring one religion over another.

Wednesday, a state district judge disagreed with the school district and held that the school could not prohibit such displays.  The school district will now have to appeal.

One legislator displayed his unhappiness with the Travis County District Attorney by criticizing one of its lead attorneys Rosemary Lehmberg who pled guilty to drunken driving in April and who is due for early release (serving less than your full sentence because of good behavior while incarcerated).   Rep. Phil King (R-Weatherford) called for District Attorney Lehmberg’s resignation and proposed HB 3153 to transfer the state’s public integrity unit (currently housed in the Travis County District Attorney’s office) to the Texas Attorney General’s office when the local District Attorney (like Lehmberg) is convicted of a crime.  King called it a “shot across the bow” to force Lehmberg to resign.

And speaking of cheap shots, the budget battle turned into a war of words when Rep. Sylvester Turner (D-Houston) went after Rep. Harvey Hilderbran (R-Kerrville) who authored HB 500—a bill giving $661 million in tax cuts to businesses including specific industries (e.g. insurance, hospitals, and oil and gas).

The two sparred over whether the tax cuts were at the expense of public education. Hildebran argued that strong business growth through tax incentives (reductions in taxes that businesses would have to otherwise pay) would fuel more taxes long-term into education. Turner challenged cutting the franchise tax because he favors restoring funding for over $5.4 billion in education cuts made last biennial session (two year legislative cycle).

At one point Turner accused Hildebran of not being truthful and questioned his competency by making a veiled reference to Hildebran’s public  statement that he is considering running for Comptroller of the Public Accounts (the chief of the state’s finances,  tax collections,  accounts, revenue estimations, and treasurer).

The quip caused the legislature to go to go unusually silent. Turner later apologized.

Governor Rick Perry is not apologizing for pushing hard to get HB 500 passed because it is a cornerstone of his legislative agenda this term.  He has threatened to call a special session (a short 30 day term called by the Governor to address specific issues) if legislators fail to pass “significant tax relief” this year.

Take that!

Opening the doors and shuttering the windows

Governor Rick Perry, acutely aware of time winding down on this biennial session (the 140 day period that Texas has to complete the passage of all legislation until 2015), has asked the legislature to open wider the doors to bring business to Texas.  Perry has proposed that the legislature find $1.6 billion in tax relief for businesses.  Two key components of that are: 1) limiting the franchise tax (the tax rate charged to corporations and other businesses as part of doing business in Texas) to five percent; and 2) making permanent a $1 million deduction for businesses that have up to $20 million in gross receipts.  Both measures are designed to make it more likely that businesses in another state close up shop and move here by giving tax incentive subsidies (tax breaks that are designed to encourage businesses to engage in certain types of behavior).   The Governor’s “open for business” call came after his return from another out-of-state-trip (to Illinois) to encourage businesses to re-locate to Texas. In a paid ad, the Governor suggested that the business climate in Illinois was collapsing because of “rising taxes and government interference”.

And speaking of closing up shop, 37 of Texas’ 47 abortion clinics may have to shut down depending on the votes of two key Democrats in the Senate regarding Senate Bill 537. Sens. Carlos Uresti (D-San Antonio) and Judith Zaffirini (D-Laredo) are opposing an abortion bill which would require abortion clinics to have additional equipment  and infrastructure (e.g. X-ray machines, anesthesia pipelines, larger rooms for post-operation recovery, etc.).  Opponents of the bill say it is trying to force abortion clinics out of business by increasing expenditures on unnecessary equipment.  Supporters of the law argue that they are trying to ensure the clinics have adequate medical facilities.

Senators Uresti and Zaffirini have broken ranks from fellow Democrats on party votes (voting the publicly stated position that your party has endorsed).  Last biennial session they voted with Republicans on one of the more controversial laws involving vaginal sonograms for women seeking abortions, but it remains to be seen whether they will do so again.

Right now the bill has 20 supporters (all 19 Republicans and 1 Democrat), but under the Senate rules, the chamber needs 21 votes or a supermajority (requirement that a proposal garner a vote specified at a greater level of support than a simple majority of 51%). Under Senate rules, 2/3^rd of the Senators must agree that a bill can be considered by the Senate. So if either of the 2 Democrats change their mind, then the bill can be voted on (where it is likely to pass because legislation only needs a 51% vote.

Get out while you still can seems to be the message of the week.

Session is on, is there a Speaker in the House?

Session is on, is there a Speaker in the House?

Game on today as the House and the Senate introduced their versions and visions of what the budget should be.  Strikingly, the Senate has proposed a leaner budget for once.  The Senate has posted a $186.8 billion budget, while the House came in slightly higher with a $187.7 billion budget.  The real question is how willing will some legislators be about restoring the $5.4 in cuts made in the 2011 session.  Before anyone does anything however, both chambers have a little speed bump because they need to pass an almost $6 billion supplemental budget (one which covers pending expenditures against the state) to deal with bills from the last legislative cycle.

And speaking of speed bumps, Joe Straus  (R-San Antonio) seems to have recovered from challenges to his leadership, and he was re-elected Speaker of the House, but he still has a rough road ahead.   As Speaker, his main duties are to conduct meetings of the House, appoint committees, and enforce the House Rules.  Or maybe not because it looks like Straus’ battles are not over.

Each new biennium (the 140 day legislative session that meets in odd-numbered years) the Texas House elects its leader for the session.  It’ virtually guaranteed it will be a Republican given 95 Republican-55 Democrat split, but the question often becomes whether there will be an internal party challenger (someone who is not the incumbent in the position).  Straus—a third term incumbent (existing holder of a political office)—seemed  to be the choice after the 2012 elections, until David Simpson (R-Longview) and Tea Party supporter accused Straus of not being conservative enough.  Simpson put forward a challenge, but at the last minute pulled out right before the vote.

Simpson may have had other goals in mind.  He wants to alter the rules of the game and limit the speaker’s power by altering the Speaker’s appointment authority and the rules governing procedures if a member opposes House leadership.  One of the more controversial proposals mandates that if a bill has 76 (51%) or more co-authors, the Calendars Committee must send it to floor debate within seven to 10 days-effectively allowing a bill to bypass the regular process.  The committee appointment power is also important because the chairs of the committee can kill legislation by never having it considered by the committee.  That’s critical because the Speaker makes appointments and expects his committee leaders to help pass his agenda, but that won’t happen if Simpson and conservatives who want to see a decentralization of power are able to change the rules.

Get ready, it’s game on.

Happy New Biennium!

Hope all is going well for you so far in 2013! Things have started already heating up for the newly installed 83^rd Texas legislature as it came back into session yesterday with a full set of policy issues facing the state in the short biennial session (the 140 day period which runs in odd-numbered years).   Typically the first day is full of pomp and circumstance to welcome the legislators, but it is also a day filled with agenda setting (a discussion about what issues need to be addressed in the upcoming cycle).  With 150 members in the Texas House and 31 members in the Texas Senate, this session promises to be a rough ride because of the range of policy issues up for consideration.

In the last decade, Texas has become a majority Republican state–meaning that Republicans control the governor’s office as well as both chambers of the legislature.  So it’s no surprise that the GOP also controls the 83^rd legislature (Senate 19 Republicans-11 Democrats; House 95 Republicans-55 Democrats).  What is interesting is that we have a record number of freshmen legislators (those members of the House and Senate for whom this is their first term in office) and that Governor Perry has promised to make this a fiscally and socially conservative legislative year by limiting government spending.  The State Comptroller of Public Accounts-Susan Combs (person responsible for the state expenditures) said that spending must be limited to $101.4 billion dollars for the next two year cycle, so legislators are gearing up for discussing what should be the fiscal priorities this session.

Get ready for a budget battle.

Combs’ report Monday highlighted that the Texas Rainy Day Fund  (the reserve surplus that Texas holds for emergencies) has grown from 8.8 billion to $12 billion, leading some legislators to call for restoring spending on health care and education that were substantially cut in the 82^nd legislative session (about $5.4 billion).   Governor Perry fired back saying “[t]here are interests all across the state who view Monday’s revenue estimates as the equivalent of ringing the dinner bell.” Given that a number of conservative Republican incumbents were upset by Tea Party candidates (very conservative Republicans who adhere to reducing government spending and to promoting conservative social issues), the Governor will have additional support.  Added to the mix is whether the Governor himself may want to try another bid for the U.S. Presidency in 2016.  So while even some conservatives are concerned that Texas is being too tight with spending given how well the economy is doing, other Republicans are saying we need to be even more fiscally lean.

Don’t ring that bell just yet.

Pushing forward and pulling out

The Texas legislature does not come back into session until January 2013, but the newly elected House and Senate members have already submitted over 250 bills for consideration. The bills range from prohibitions on texting while driving to regulations about where raw (unpasteurized) milk can be sold. The big issues, however, are clearly funding for education, crime, and health care—and these issues are likely to dominate the upcoming legislative session.

Our state’s founders were distrustful of government and the process for passing any legislation is arduous. Under the Texas Constitution, a bill requires three readings on the floor of each house. The first reading is after the bill’s introduction and assignment to a committee by the Speaker of the House or the Lieutenant Governor in the Senate. That committee then begins markup (the process of holding hearings and amending the legislation).  The second and third readings occur after the bill passes out of each chamber. While technically all three readings must occur on three separate days, this rule can be suspended by a super-majority (extraordinary voting requirement to ensure consensus on some issue) of four-fifths vote of members present.  To get the process moving in the short biennial session (the Texas legislature only meets for 140 days in odd-numbered years), legislators file bills in advance of the session so they can hit the ground running.

And speaking of running, both John Cornyn and newly elected Ted Cruz are advancing into key leadership positions in the U.S. Senate.   Cornyn has been elected as Senate minority whip (second in command to the minority leader), while Cruz was selected to be the vice-chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee-a committee which focuses on getting Republicans elected to the Senate.  Cruz’s position is interesting because typically such positions are reserved for persons who have more years of experience, but given Cruz’s growing reputation as a “conservative’s conservative”, his nomination is not such a shock.

One step forward, two steps back is what some people say about the recent spate of over 100,000 signatures on a petition calling for Texas to secede from the Union. Supporters of the petition argue that Texas, ranked as the 15^th largest economy in the world, should be allowed to pull away from the federal government.    The petitions were submitted on the White House through a crowdsourcing website (which allows citizens to express their concerns directly to the President). In essence those petitioning their government are asking for the state to be allowed to form its own “national” government. Even though there had been some speculation back in 2011 that Governor Perry supported secession,  this week Perry was quick to respond that he does not support such talk of pulling out because he “believes in the greatness of our Union and nothing should be done to change it.”

In response, at least one petition has requested President Obama strip the citizenship and peacefully deport those persons who support secession.  Another petition by people in Austin, which is thought to be a liberal stronghold, has requested that Austin be allowed to stay with the Union in case Texas does secede.

Welcome to the new post-election world. Moving on?