Day 30: The Governor's Earth Moving Equipment

Today is the 30th day of the 82nd regular session of the Texas Legislature. The House reconvenes as 10:00 am, the Senate at 11:00 am.

Yesterday's "State of the State" address by Gov. Rick Perry was a pro forma "government is bad, regulation is bad, business is good" diatribe. If you can stomach reading the full text it is available HERE. In an irony no doubt lost on the man who has repeatedly tried to prevent queer people from talking about their relationships in public, Perry opened by thanking his wife Anita. He then went on to praise the Boy Scouts for making him who he is, so now we know who to blame.

Perry blamed the states 27 billion dollar budget crisis on everyone but the Republican controlled legislature who passes the budget, including: President Obama, Congressman Lloyd Doggett, the Environmental Protection Agency and illegal immigrants. All this while asking for more money for his personal "economic development" funds. State Rep. Jessica Farrar, president of the House Democratic Caucus, summed it up nicely "The first rule to being in a hole is stop digging. Perry traded his shovel for a backhoe,"

Still no movement on any of the bills we're watching. The Senate Education Committee (which has the Senate version of anti-bullying legislation) has not scheduled a hearing this week. The House still does not have committee assignments (no committee assignments = no committee hearings = no legislation) . A capitol staffer told me that the rumor mill has suggested that Speaker Joe Straus (who makes committee assignments) is waiting until the final report from the House Election Contest Select Committee to issue assignments.

The Select Committee was appointed to report on the contested election of Rep. Donna Howard (D-Travis County) in House District 48. Howard's opponent, Dan Neal, has been challenging her election (which was won by a narrow 16 votes), since November - charging that ballots where improperly counted. Howard has maintained her narrow lead after every recount. The report from the Select Committee is expected on Friday. If the rumors about the reason for Staus's tardy assignments are true, that means it may be next week before we have committee assignments.

Day 15: Everybody Understand the Rules?

Today is the 15th day of the 82nd regular session of the Texas Legislature. The House will reconvene at 10:00 am, the Senate is in recess and will convene a committee of the whole at 8:00 am to debate voter suppression legislation. The Senate will hear public testimony on the topic this afternoon. Members of the public are invited to register to speak starting at 7:30 am today. Each member of the public will be limited to three minutes for their comments.

Yesterday the House adopted rules after prolong and sometimes heated debate. Highlights include an attempt to change the way the speaker is elected (failed), an attempt to require the committee in charge of redistricting to abide by the voting rights act (failed), an attempt to strip Rep. Howard of her seniority since her election is still being contested (failed) and an attempt to loosen the rule that men wear ties on the House floor (failed).

We are still waiting for committee assignments in both the House and Senate. Those should be forthcoming in the next couple of days. Until that happens all of the bills we are tracking, from bullying to decriminalization, are stuck in limbo waiting for referral to committee. With only 125 days left in the session, time is running out.