Day 50: Here We Go Round the Committee Chambers, at Two O'clock in the Afternoon (or whenever)

Today is the 50th day of the 82nd regular session of the Texas legislature. The House reconvenes at 10 am, the Senate at 11.

Three House committees will hold hearings today on bills that could improve the lives of queer Texans:

• The Criminal Jurisprudence Committee will hear HB 172 by Veasey (D-Fort Worth), which would require the state to study the effectiveness of the James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Act, at 10:30 am or when the House finishes their business for the day. More info HERE.
• The Human Services Committee will hear HB 130 by Alvarado (D-Houston), which would create a statewide bullying hot-line, at 2:00 pm or when the House finishes their business for the day. More info HERE.
• The Public Education Committee will hear HB 24 by Guillen (D-Duval, Starr, Webb and Zapata counties) which would allow school administrators to address cyber-bullying and HB 224 by Strama (D-Travis county), which proposes a four-fold approach to fighting bullying (requiring training for teachers, staff, volunteers and students; allowing for the transfer of bullies from their victims classes/campuses; allowing school administrators to address cyber-bullying and requiring schools to compile reports on bullying), at 2:00 pm or when the House finishes their business for the day. More info HERE.

If you would like to watch any of these hearings you may do so on the House website HERE. Be forewarned, the House Administration Committee apparently thinks it's 1998 and so broadcasts committee hearings using RealPlayer, which is notoriously buggy. Expect your window to crash on a regular basis. (I suppose this is an improvement over the House Human Services Committee which seems to think it's 1898.)

The bills will be "laid out" in committee: Each bills author will get up, explain what the bill does, and say why they think it should become law. Members of the public will then have a chance to tell the committee why they think the bill should or should not become law. Finally the bill's author will get to make a closing statement on the bill and the bill will be left "pending" in committee until the committee chair decides to call for a vote. Committees rarely vote on bills the same day they are heard, usually waiting at least a week to take a vote.

The Dallas Voice reported yesterday that Rep. Strama will offer a committee substitute to HB 224 (read Legislative Queery's response HERE). House committees are charged with studying bills and making recommendations to the whole House about whether those bills should become law. The recommendation is called a "committee report". A committee substitute replaces the proposed bill with another bill on the same topic. It is included in the committee report which is then sent to one of the House's five "calendars committees" (different calendars committees handle different kinds of bills). The calendars committee then places the bill on the House schedule for consideration. If there is a committee substitute when the bill is brought up for discussion on the House floor the first order of business will be to approve the committee substitute as a replacement for the original bill. It is not until the whole House votes to "take up" the substitute that it officially replaces the bill.

Chuck Smith, Deputy Director of Equality Texas, posted a link to the proposed committee substitute in the comments section of the Dallas Voice article. He writes that:

"ALL members of our Texas Safe Schools Coalition support the committee substitute language, including Equality Texas, Transgender Education Network of Texas, and the GLBT Issues Committee of the National Association of Social Workers-Texas. "

The Texas Safe Schools Coalition is a group of lobbying and community organizations that have come together to advocate for legislation designed to address bullying.

Public Education Committee to Hear Bullying Bills

Two bills concerning bullying, HB24 and HB224, have been scheduled for public hearing on Tuesday, March 1 in the House Public Education Committee:

HB 24 by Rep. Ryan Guillen would allow schools to place students who engage in electronic harassment in alternative school if the communication was sent from school grounds or the communication was received on equipment that is school property. Current law does not recognize cyber-bullying and gives administrators no ability to address cyber-bullying that takes place off-campus (Legislative Queery's initial post on HB 24 is HERE)

HB 224 by Rep. Mark Strama requires all school districts to create a training program for staff, volunteers who work with students, students and parents designed to teach them to prevent, identify and respond to bullying and allows school administrators to transfer bullies to a different class or campus than their victims (under current law only the victim may be transferred). It creates a uniform definition of bullying in the education code, adding cyber-bullying and allows school administrators to address cyber-bullying that takes place off campus if the electronic communication is received on campus or at a school event or if it substantially disrupts school operations. The bill also includes a requirement that schools report statistics on bullying to the state. (Legislative Queery's initial post on HB 224 is HERE)

Chairman Rob Eissler scheduled both bills for the committee's regular hearing at 2:00 pm on Tuesday (or later if the House doesn't get out in time, which seems unlikely). Because of the similarities between the two bills it is likely that they will be discussed (or "laid out") at the same time. I do not expect the committee to eventually take a vote on both bills. Instead they will probably take any parts of Guillen's bill that they like better than Strama's and attach it to HB 224.

HB 224 was filed last session as HB 1323, which was also referred to the Public Education Committee and was eventually voted out (for Legislative Queery's somewhat exhaustive exploration of that bill's journey go HERE). HB 1323 was scheduled for public hearing on the 77th day of the 81st session, the fact that HB 224 is scheduled for public hearing on the 50th day gives me great hope. It shows that Chairman Eissler (who chaired the committee last session as well) is giving this issue more attention.

The committee will hear several bills during the hearing. The order the bills are taken in is completely at the chairman's discretion. Typically committee chairs will hear bills that have strong public interest first, so that people who have traveled to Austin to testify can get on their way, but there is no predicting the actual order.

Any member of the public may testify at a public hearing. All they have to do is go to the hearing room (E2.036), fill out a form and hand the form into one of the committee's staff, who will be sitting at the front of the room. People testifying before the committee are required to indicate which bills they are testifying about (so if someone wants to testify about both HB 24 and HB 224 they need to fill out two forms) and to say if they are testifying "For", "Against" or "On" the bill. (Generally people do not testify "On" the bill unless they are state employees who are their to provide factual or background information to the committee.) It is also possible to fill out the form as "present - not testifying" which creates a public record of the person's position without having to speak before the committee. Chairman Eissler has indicated that each person's testimony will be limited to three minutes.

Last session only two people testified against Strama's bill: a representative of the ACLU who believed that “shielding children from getting snubbed or being called names undermines children's ability to develop the coping mechanisms to be able to fend for themselves” and a representative from the radical right-wing "Freemarket Association" who did not testify. Conservative radio and "news" stations have begun to portray anti-bullying efforts as an insidious plot to push the "gay agenda" (whatever that means). I would not be surprised if there were more people testifying against the bill this session.

(By the way, the ACLU of Texas' phone number is (512) 478-7300 and their e-mail is info@aclutx.org -- I, for one, will be contacting them urging them not to testify in support of bullying as a vital educational experience this session.)

Seven of last session's committee members are back this time around: Eissler, Hochberg, Allen, Aycock, Dutton, Shelton and Webber. Eissler is about as conservative as they come, but his scheduling of the bill for hearing, plus his history of scheduling it in the past means that he could possibly vote in favor. Hochberg, Allen and Dutton have good histories of supporting the LGBT community and will likely support HB 224. Two sessions ago Aycock voted against an amendment by Rep. Garnet Coleman that would have required reporting very similar to HB 224's - I worry that that part of the bill will be a sticking point for him. Shelton and Webber are sophomore members of the House and don't have a strong voting record to base predictions on. Webber prides himself on his tech savvy and reliance on hard facts and statistics (he is known for fact-checking his fellow committee members during hearings using his laptop). He may be convinced to support HB 224 if given sufficient empirical data that the approach it proposes would achieve the desired effect (or if he is informed that in a 2010 Equality Texas poll 79.2% of Texas voters said that they support uniform anti-bullying legislation to prohibit harassment in schools, including the children of gay/lesbian parents or teens who are gay).

Four of the committee's members are new: Guillen, Huberty, Smith and Strama. It's a pretty safe bet that Strama and Guillen support their own bills. Huberty is a freshman, recently swept into office on the teabagger wave, it's pretty much impossible to predict his actions but I'm guessing he will look to the senior republican members of the committee (Eissler and Aycock) for direction. If Todd Smith votes for this bill I'll eat my hat. Expect him to offer helpful suggestions to parents who testify to the committee about encouraging their children not to stand out so much, and thus avoiding making themselves targets.

To pass out of committee anti-bullying legislation needs the support of the chairman and at least 6 "Yes" votes. I count: 5 definite Yes's, 1 maybe, 2 probably not's, 1 hell no, and 2 who the hell knows. Both of these bills have a very good chance of making it out of committee in some form, but the public will need to strongly express their support to the committee members to push anti-bullying legislation through committee and on to the House floor.

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If you support anti-bullying legislation I encourage you to contact the members of the committee and ask for their support. The e-mail addresses and phone numbers for all the members and select staffers are below. There is also a copy-and-paste list of all the e-mail addresses at the bottom if you only have time to send one e-mail.

House Committee on Education Members

Rob Eissler, (Chair)
512-463-0797 Fax: 512-463-0898
rob.eissler@house.state.tx.us

Scott Hochberg, (Vice Chair)
512-463-0492 Fax: 512-463-5896
scott.hochberg@house.state.tx.us

Alma Allen
512-463-07445 Fax: 512-463-0761
alma.allen@house.state.tx.us

Jimmie Don Aycock
512-463-0684 Fax: 512-463-8987
jimmie.aycock@house.state.tx.us

Harold Dutton, Jr
512-463-0510 Fax: 512-463-8333
stephanie.russell@house.state.tx.us

Representative Ryan Guillen
512-463-0416 Fax: 512-463-1012
ryan.guillen@house.state.tx.us

Dan Huberty
512-463-0520 Fax: 512-463-1606
dan.huberty@house.state.tx.us

Mark Shelton
512-463-0608 Fax: 512-463-8342
mark.shelton@house.state.tx.us

Todd Smith
512-463-0522 Fax: 512-463-9529
todd.smith@house.state.tx.us

Mark Strama
512-463-0821 Fax: 512-463-1199
mark.strama@house.state.tx.us

Randy Weber
512-463-0707 Fax: 512-463-8717
randy.weber@house.state.tx.us

In addition each of the Representatives has a staffer whose primary responsibility is handling education issues:

Jenna Watts - Rob Eissler, (Chair)
jenna.watts_hc@house.state.tx.us

Becky Cohen - Scott Hochberg, (Vice Chair)
becky.cohen@house.state.tx.us

Brian Waldrup - Alma Allen
brian.waldrup@house.state.tx.us

Belinda Pustka - Jimmie Don Aycock
belinda.pustka@house.state.tx.us

Stephanie Russell - Harold Dutton, Jr.
stephanie.russell@house.state.tx.us

Cory Howell or Katy Johnson - Representative Ryan Guillen
cory.howell@house.state.tx.us
katy.johnson@house.state.tx.us

Maggie Irwin - Dan Huberty
maggie.irwin@house.state.tx.us

Sierra Stephens - Mark Shelton
sierra.stephens@house.state.tx.us

Trish Conradt - Todd Smith
patricia.conradt@house.state.tx.us

Mary Throop - Mark Strama
mary.throop@house.state.tx.us

Chara McMichael - Randy Weber
chara.mcmichael@house.state.tx.us

If you only have time to write one e-mail copy and paste the list below into the "to" field to reach all of the committee members and their education staffers.

rob.eissler@house.state.tx.us; scott.hochberg@house.state.tx.us; alma.allen@house.state.tx.us; jimmie.aycock@house.state.tx.us; stephanie.russell@house.state.tx.us; ryan.guillen@house.state.tx.us; dan.huberty@house.state.tx.us; mark.shelton@house.state.tx.us; todd.smith@house.state.tx.us; mark.strama@house.state.tx.us; randy.weber@house.state.tx.us; jenna.watts_hc@house.state.tx.us; becky.cohen@house.state.tx.us; brian.waldrup@house.state.tx.us; belinda.pustka@house.state.tx.us; stephanie.russell@house.state.tx.us; cory.howell@house.state.tx.us; katy.johnson@house.state.tx.us; maggie.irwin@house.state.tx.us; sierra.stephens@house.state.tx.us; patricia.conradt@house.state.tx.us; mary.throop@house.state.tx.us; chara.mcmichael@house.state.tx.us; rita.ashley@house.state.tx.us

Straus Wins GOP Caucus' Speaker Vote

Quorum Report tweets that Speaker Straus has won the Republican caucus vote for Speaker with 70 out of 100 votes (for more information on the unorthodox practice of taking a caucus vote for House Speaker see Legislative Queery's post UPDATE: Chisum Remains in Speakers Race).

Unconfirmed reports indicate that the vote was stopped after Straus received 70 votes so it is possible that he actually had much broader support. It is now all but certain that Joe Straus will remain House Speaker for another session. With that settled the next major step in getting the session underway will be the adoption of the House's rules, followed by the appointment of committee chairs by the Speaker.

Straus is a Republican from Bexar County. He has been praised for his even-handed and statesmen-like approach to the Speakership and vilified by the far right for not suppressing moderate and liberal members.

The Texas State Constitution allows the House to adopt its own rules within certain guidelines. The rules generally remain about the same with minor tweaks here and there to address issues that have risen since the last revision. It takes a two-thirds majority of the House to approve the rules.

(With the new Republican super-majority it is possible that an attempt will be made to majorly edit the rules to make it easier to pass conservative legislative priorities. Last session a change in Senate Rules allowed voter suppression legislation that had stalled in previous sessions to sail through the Senate, creating a major crisis when it reached the House and the Democratic leadership slowed House business to a standstill to prevent its passage. It is possible that something similar may be tried in the House this session.)

Once the rules have been adopted the next order of business is for the Speaker to appoint chairs, vice-chairs and members to each of the House's standing committees (the exact number and nature of committees is laid out in the House Rules, so appointments can not be made until the rules are agreed upon). Committee Chairs determine which bills will receive hearings and in what order and which bills will be voted out of committee. A chairpersonship is a very powerful position.

Historically both Democratic and Republican speakers have appointed chairs from both parties with the appointments roughly divided between parties in proportion to that party's seats in the House. If that pattern holds true we should see about 11 Democratic committee chairs and 23 Republicans.

Assuming the committee structure this session is similar to what it's been in the past (which seems likely), most media will be focused on the chairs of the Appropriations, Elections, Redistricting, Border and Intergovernmental Affairs, State Affairs and Ways and Means committees. These committees will likely handle the highest profile issues like the budget, voter suppression, redistricting, and immigration. It is very likely that all of those chairpersonships will go to Republicans.

Most of the legislation that will most directly effect the queer community, however, is likely to go through the Public Education Committee (anti-bullying), the Criminal Jurisprudence Committee (Hate Crime reform) and the Insurance Committee (insurance non-discrimination).

Straus's chairs last session of those committees were: Rob Eissler (R), Public Education; John Smithee (R) - Insurance and Pete Gallego (D) - Criminal Jurisprudence.

Last session Chairman Eissler was fairly supportive of anti-bullying legislation, scheduling it for a hearing and bringing it up for a vote, if a bit late in the session. He supported Straus's bid to remain speaker so it seems likely that he may keep his chairmanship. If so, the public attention on bullying and the early filing of several anti-bullying bills will likely mean an earlier hearing date, and hopefully earlier passage out of committee.

Chairman Smithee is one of what I like to call the "gang of 37" - arch conservatives who have consistently opposed any legislation that improves the lives of queer people - regardless of how minor. If he remains chairman of the House Committee on Insurance it seems unlikely that any effort to outlaw insurance discrimination based on Sexual Orientation or Gender Identity and Expression will succeed.

Smithee is also frequently named as a potential candidate for Speaker. He has supported Straus in the past but his potential as a rival makes it important for Straus to reward his loyalty. It seems almost certain that Smithee will be appointed as a committee chair... but which one? Speaker Straus will want to be certain that the chairs of the high profile committees and the chairs of the procedural committees like Calendars are all Republican stalwarts. He may choose to promote Smithee to a more powerful position. If so, we may have a new chair of Insurance, and a new hope for justice.

Chairman Gallego has a solid record of votes in favor of the best interest of the queer community. Last session his committee sent through Marc Veasey's HB 616 (refiled this session as HB 172) which would study the effectiveness of Texas' current Hate Crimes Law and suggest improvements, but the bill stalled waiting to reach the House floor.

There will be fewer Democratic Chairs this session, there is no getting around that. Gallego may be one of the Democrats who lose their chairmanship. I will be watching this appointment carefully.

Expect to learn the new lineup of committee chairs within a week or so. The outcome is crucial to the eventual success or failure of many vital bills.

Anti-Bullying Legislation in Texas Part III

Be sure to read Part I and Part II

What can be done to insure that anti-bullying legislation passes in 2011?

Rep. Strama is expected to re-file HB 1323 (which will then get a new number), but he needs to be pressured to file it earlier, preferably in November. The earlier a bill is filed the earlier it gets referred to committee and the earlier the process can start. If you would like to contact Rep. Strama and ask that he file the bill earlier this time you can call his office at (512) 463-0821 or e-mail him at mark.strama@house.state.tx.us

The Chair of the Public Education Committee needs to be pressured to schedule the hearing for the bill as soon as possible. It is possible that the House may have a new Speaker next session, which will likely mean a new committee chair, and even if the same Speaker remains in power the chair may change. As soon as that person is named anyone who supports anti-bullying legislation needs to contact them and start asking that this legislation is scheduled for a hearing as soon as possible.

A State Senator needs to be found who is willing to carry the legislation in the Senate. Maybe your Senator will? If you don't know who your Senator is you can find out here: http://www.senate.state.tx.us/75r/Senate/Members.htm#FYI Even if they are not willing to carry the legislation it is good for them to know that they have constituents that support it.

In the end it comes down to that 140 days. 140 days to improve the lives of every student in Texas. That's not a lot of time. We must start now if we are going to give the next Asher Brown the support they need.