In case you missed it …
With 30 days left, legislators to pick up pace By Tim Eaton and Mike Ward Saturday, April 27, 2013
Capitol regulars have talked for weeks now about
He acknowledged that the absence of controversial, hot-
how slow this legislative session has been, with few
button issues that dominated the 2011 session — voter ID,
fiery debates, no late nights and lots of unfinished business.
preabortion sonograms, airport security patdowns and more — has helped.
But with only 30 days left in the session, legislators will be looking to pick up the pace, maybe even working next
To speed its pace, the Senate this year has used work groups
Saturday.
to resolve conflicts before they reach the floor, a method that some senators refer to as “shuttle diplomacy.” Senators
“This is not unusual for this time in the legislative session,”
divide into small groups to try to resolve disagreements, one
said state Rep. Todd Hunter, R-Corpus Christi, a veteran
by one. Proposals get shuttled back to the GOP and Democratic
of seven sessions. “There’s plenty of time to consider and
caucuses, and then are further refined to reach a compromise.
pass bills.” But the final weeks of the session are always fraught with Still, there’s a lot left on the to-do list: from paying for
potential blow-ups as deadlines loom, workdays grow longer
roads and water projects to passing a two-year state
and tempers become short.
budget to deciding whether to expand Medicaid. Many key issues have passed the House or the Senate, but not both. Only
“We may be singing ‘Kumbaya’ now, but that can change,”
10 pieces of legislation have made it to Gov. Rick Perry’s desk
said state Sen. Royce West, D-Dallas.
so far. And, by law, the session ends May 27. In the House, Hunter, chairman of the agenda-setting CalThe biggest complaint in a session in which “Kumbaya” jokes
endars Committee, said many legislators filed bills late this
are aplenty is the turtle-like pace of bills in the House com-
session, and a dearth of pre-filed bills contributed to slowing
pared with sessions past. House members are hearing about
things down.
38 percent fewer bills on the floor than they did at this point last session, according to statistics from the Legislature’s of-
“It’s not anybody’s fault,” Hunter said.
ficial website. As of Friday, about 400 bills were read on the floor, compared with about 650 at this point in 2011.
Notably, many major pieces of proposed legislation — the kind of core responsibilities that House Speaker Joe Straus,
The Senate is moving more quickly, ahead of its pace last
R-San Antonio, said he would prioritize — have already
session. As of Friday, senators heard 107 bills on the floor, up
been debated, Hunter said, pointing to the 2014-15 budget,
from 88 at this point last session.
supplemental appropriations for the current budget year, several sunset bills necessary to continue operations at key
“Many of our major goals for this session — the budget, infra-
state agencies, and a water bill.
structure, public education — have been passed out already,” Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst said.
continued …
Texas Monthly political editor Paul Burka wrote in a blog post this week that the speaker has bottled up controversial legislation because he doesn’t want “tea party freshmen to do their thing.” And one of Straus’ primary critics, Michael Quinn Sullivan of the conservative organization Empower Texans, also complained about the slow pace. “Whether it is protecting religious liberties or defending life, reforming the budget or cutting taxes, this Texas House is doing nothing. … Thanks to their legislative leadership, conservative House members are preparing to go home with no wins, no fights and not much of a record,” Sullivan wrote. Hunter dismissed the accusations. “Is there a plan to do this?” Hunter asked. “No. There’s not a grand design.” Retiring Austin Rep. Mark Strama, a Democrat, said this session is going more smoothly than past meetings of the Legislature. “People view this Legislature as being less divisive and having a more constructive working environment than the last one,” Strama said. “And while that may stifle some people’s opportunities to pursue some of the more controversial issues, my sense is that most Texans prefer the climate of this session to the climate of last session.” With another month to go, and the House’s proclivity to work the hardest when the clock winds down, many people at the Capitol expect a flurry of late activity. “As we get to the final 30 days, every minute on the calendar is critical,” said Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer, D-San Antonio.
