Soldiering on into the sunset

The march through agenda clearing (the process of completing the legislature’s policy goals for the two year biennial cycle) continues.  There’s much that still needs to be done by May 27, or else Governor Rick Perry would have to call a special session (meetings to address additional business) for 30 days. The biggest sticking points are budgets for water projects and education.  Governor Perry’s top priority is for a water plan that would use monies from the Rainy Day Fund (Texas’ budget surplus), but that proposal (backed by a Republican majority) takes $2 billion from the surplus and requires a constitutional amendment to establish a dedicated account (both require a two-thirds supermajority vote).

Democrats hope to rally the troops by threatening to withhold needed votes to force a compromise on education funding they want restored after the last biennium when $5.3 billion in school financing was cut.

What’s the legislature to do?

Even if $330 million in funding for the public teachers’ pension funds are reinstated (something that Democrats are demanding for a compromise to be reached), that still leaves a budget shortfall of $1.3 billion. Complicating matters is that Governor Perry wants monies for transportation which also have to come from the surplus.  That forces some tough choices on decision-makers.

Speaking of tough decisions, legislation which limits the decision-making authority of the Higher Education Coordinating Board (the policy unit regulating policies and procedures to operate public higher education institutions) was dealt a blow with Senate Bill 215 that limits the agency’s life expectancy to 12 years.  Such sunset legislation (requiring termination of an agency or program by a specified date) means that the Board will have to get future justification for survival.

Legislators think the Board takes an “isolated approach to decision making” (in the words of Sen. Brian Birdwell, R-Granbury) and point to the Board’s decision to close low-performing degree programs (those failing to graduate at least 25 students in five years). The Board is accused of being heavy-handed in closing programs (especially in rural areas which graduate fewer students), and legislators want more transparency and local control in the process.   Texas Higher Education Commissioner Raymund Paredes, who oversees the Board, thinks that Texas needs the Board now more than ever to oversee initiatives for nontraditional students and online courses or else there will be an uphill battle to improve quality.

And higher education has more battles ahead.  The showdown over guns on college campuses comes to a floor vote soon since the Senate Criminal Justice Committee voted 4-2 to allow each campus to hold annual hearings to vote on whether guns are allowed.  Some are concerned that there are no penalties for “accidentally” bringing an unregistered gun on campus, while others raise the issue that disgruntled students will use weapons if they are unhappy about grades.  Sen. John Whitmire (D-Houston), sponsor of the legislation that just passed, has proposed a solution, “grade on the gun curve.”

Soldier on faculty, soldier on.

Drowning the water bill and exploding investigations

It is shaping up for a legislative water fight in the last month of the session because HB 11 has hit a sinkhole.  The bill funds the state’s 50-year water plan, and while it had enough votes for passage (76 of 150 House members), the bill relied on $2 billion from the Rainy Day Fund (Texas’ $12 billion projected surplus). Legislation which raids the Rainy Day Fund requires a two-thirds supermajority vote (100 of 150 House members).  Both Tea Party conservatives (who don’t want to use Rainy Day monies at all) and Democrats (who wanted Rainy Day funds to be used for both water and education projects) were unhappy with HB 11.

The bill drifted because of a point of order (debate query about whether correct procedures are being followed).  To kill the bill, Rep. Sylvester Turner (D-Houston) argued House rules mandate a minimum number of days for consideration—HB 11 did not meet that prerequisite (it needed 6 more days for deliberation).  It might get incendiary though—Democrats have accused non-Tea Party Republicans of callousness because they are willing to raid the budget surplus for water projects, but not for children’s education.  There’s some hope—the Democratic Caucus has proposed amendments to restore education funding cut last legislative session—so a compromise could get Democrats on board.

Someone may need to throw water on the firestorm that has resulted from the explosion in West, Texas, which killed 15, injured hundreds, and triggered calls for both state and federal investigations.  Six different state and two different federal regulatory agencies have substantive jurisdiction (legal authority to regulate).  Lax regulation may set off finger pointing between Texas and the federal government because 270 tons of ammonium nitrate went unreported to the Department of State Health Services (that’s 1,350 times the amount needed to sound the alarm of an administrative inspection—requirements that regulators investigate health and safety concerns).

U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer (D-California) has also called for oversight hearings (the power of legislatures to review how laws are implemented) because the plant had exceeded regulatory standards (benchmarks established by regulatory agencies to enforce legislative provisions).  She sent letters to the U.S. Chemical Safety Board and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requesting  investigations and guidelines for prevention.

This is serious stuff.

Finally, in the “that’s not funny” category, the West explosion sparked a paroxysm from Governor Rick Perry because of a political cartoon mocking Texas’ regulatory enforcement. The graphic shows the Governor promoting Texas’ capital investment (“Business is Booming”) and our anti-regulatory approach (“Low Tax-Low Regs”) next to a picture of a giant explosion (recalling images of West). The Governor demanded an apology, but cartoonist Jack Ohman says he’s not backing down.

Where there’s smoke there’s fire. Can someone please get the water hoses?

Personal blog note: Families of first-responders and victims of the West explosion held memorial services this last week.  Our thoughts go out to all those who lost loved ones and to those affected or injured by the blast. Texas is a big place, but in times like these, we remember that our small communities are linked together in spirit.

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.

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?

The post-election wrap (part I)

So another election has wound down and the political pundits are going crazy analyzing the election results, and what it all means going forward. What happened in the top races around the state? Let’s start this first blog with what didn’t happen.

The Republicans did not manage to get the super-majority in either the Texas House or the Texas Senate that they had hoped.  A super-majority is a greater vote percentage than the typical 50% plus simple majority necessary to accomplish legislative business—and it is typically a two-thirds or three-fifths majority. True Texas Republicans held the state Legislature, but lost their supermajority in the House of Representatives.  Before Tuesday Republicans held a 102-48 majority, and after, it went to 95-55. The Senate stayed at a 19-12 Republican advantage. Had the Republicans attained a super-majority, they would have been able to suspend the rules to push legislation through more easily.  That will be important because funding for public education promises to be a contentious issue where Democrats will need to have negotiation leverage.  Blocking the super-majority gives them that.

Wendy Davis did not lose her seat to Mark Shelton in the most bitter and expensive race in Texas.  Davis who is a rising star was able to take advantage of her incumbency effect (re-election advantage that elected representatives have over newcomers because voters recognize the candidate’s names and interest groups are more likely to give money to incumbents).  Davis narrowly defeated Shelton (51-49%) after he accused her of ethics violations.

The incumbency effect doesn’t always help you though, so speaking of expensive and bitter races, the bid for the U.S. House seat in District 23 still remains contentious in the post hoc analysis. That race saw Democratic challenger state Rep. Pete Gallego defeat incumbent Republican U.S. Rep. Francisco “Quico” Canseco.  This will make Gallego one of eight freshmen (first-time) representatives in the newly redistricted Texas 36-member delegation. That is when and if Canseco concedes the race, which so far he has not done. Why? The vote difference is about 9,000 and Canseco has argued voting irregularities and voter fraud account for his loss and has vowed not to accept the loss.

Guess for that race, it’s not yet a wrap.