Off the Kuff: That's our Lege Archives

One threat of a special session averted, another arises

In a surprise ending to the second-to-last day of the legislative session, the House failed to pass the so-called sunset safety net bill, HB1959, before the midnight deadline tonight for the chamber to approve bills.

The bill would allow agencies like the Texas Department of Transportation, the Texas Department of Insurance and others that were supposed to be sunset this year to continue even though lawmakers failed to pass legislation renewing the agencies.

State Rep. David Liebowitz, D-San Antonio, first tagged the bill and then asked questions about the bill right up until the midnight deadline.

But it's not like Texas can go without a state transportation agency. So without some sort of legislation to keep it going for the next two years, Gov. Rick Perry would likely have to call lawmakers back to get the job done in a special legislative session.

House Speaker Joe Straus, R-San Antonio, said he would work tonight to find some way to revive the bill Monday, the final day of the 140-day legislative session.

"We've got one more day," Straus said.

Apparently, this was a deliberate decision to allow some other bills that had been lost in the last-minute stampede to get a second chance, though there were also some objections to the substance of the bill.

Several members said a group of Democrats decided to go through with the bold maneuver as a way to force other issues to get a vote tomorrow, most notably pushing for an expansion of the Childrens Health Insurance Program (even though Perry has already vowed to veto that measure).

Since the deadline was midnight tonight, members can only take up any bills Monday if 2/3s of the House agree to do so. It's unclear whether the votes are there.

When asked if he was surprised by how the day ended, Straus said, "Nothing surprises me. What's a little chaos before we go home."

A vote came up for members to consider not adjourning and pushing back the deadline. The vote failed 86 to 56.

At this point, who knows what's going to happen? All I can say is I sure hope HB1959, at least, gets a vote. One of the bills that this tactic was meant for was SB2080, which had become the vehicle to save the CHIP expansion provision. It passed the Senate unanimously last night but didn't come to the House floor in time for a vote. I gather there's optimism about the possibility of taking one last crack at these things today, and given how the entire session has gone, I'm loath to make predictions about one bill or another's demise. I'm not even sure if I should be applauding or cringing. Elise and Floor Pass have more.

06/01/09 | permalink | comments [0]

You say "succeed", I say "secede"

Bleah.

Lawmakers in the Texas House sent the U.S. Congress a message on Saturday to mind its own business.

But just so no one gets the wrong message, House Concurrent Resolution 50 now says that Texas is still proud to be part of the U.S. of A.

The resolution "is about succeeding in the union, not seceding from the union," said Rep. Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe, the resolution's author. "It is not a slap. It is a reminder."

Creighton objects to Congress handing down unfunded mandates, exploding the federal deficit and the intruding into the state's authority.

The measure, which passed 99 to 36, reaffirms the state's sovereignty and its rights under the 10th Amendment.

[...]

Rep. Garnet Coleman, D-Houston, cautioned that Texans need to be careful when talking about "state's rights."

"Growing up in the South, there are certain words that bring up certain emotions," Coleman said, emotions connected to the denial of rights.

More here, here, and here. What a pointless waste of time. To all the Democrats who voted for this, I say way to hand Governor Perry a PR victory.

06/01/09 | permalink | comments [1]

House approves windstorm insurance bill

The one known threat of a special session has just been dramatically reduced.

House members today approved the conference committee report shoring up a fund supporting hail and windstorm insurance coverage for coastal property-owners.

Assuming the Senate similarly OK's the legislation, it'll go to Gov. Rick Perry, whose threat to call a summer special session if lawmakers didn't address the windstorm topic helped kick-start negotiations about 10 days ago.

Sen. Troy Fraser, R-Horseshoe Bay, said a moment ago he expects Senate approval tonight. Referring to previous efforts to amend the windstorm law, Fraser said: "This represents six years of work, so we're excited."

Details are in the Postcards entry. According to TrailBlazers, the vote was 147-0 in favor, so one hopes that this will carry forward and get signed. Doesn't mean there can't or won't be a special session, but it does mean the one issue that Governor Perry explicitly said could trigger one will be resolved. That's all one can hope for at this time.

05/31/09 | permalink | comments [0]

The lack of leadership

State Sen. John Carona gets medieval on his party's leadership.

Tempers flared Saturday on the Legislature's last weekend with a key GOP senator declaring that the session's central theme is "lack of leadership" by top members of his own party.

"If you look at this session, you've got two underlying problems: One is simply the lack of leadership in the top offices and the second is the lack of any clear, compelling agenda," said Senate Transportation and Homeland Security Chairman John Carona, R-Dallas.

His angst was triggered by the evident demise of a proposal to allow urban areas to raise gasoline taxes and some fees in their areas to pay for local transportation projects.

But the bickering about the bill has been emblematic of a string of sparring episodes that have played out over the last few weeks as lawmakers have struggled with successes and losses on controversial public issues.

[...]

n charging a lack of leadership, Carona referred to Perry's expected tough primary battle to keep his job against U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, speculation that Dewhurst may run for U.S. Senate and the fact that GOP Speaker Joe Straus is a novice House leader.

"You can determine that perhaps that's because the state's top two leaders are considering their future political ambitions. You might consider that part of it is due to the fact we have a new speaker who has his own troubles," Carona said. "The bottom line is you can't lead 181 members without strong personalities and a set and significant agenda."

He particularly said Perry has failed to lead on the transportation bill, saying the governor should have supported the local-option idea since money is running short to meet transportation needs.

Once again, I'll say that this session has been about the 2010 GOP gubernatorial primary from the beginning. Rick Perry has achieved a lot of his goals, though not all of them. If you don't like what you've seen, well, that's what the elections next year are all about.

The story talks about the bills that were killed by the chubfest, and the ensuing scramble to resurrect as many of the important ones as possible. I say the fact that so many bills were in a position to be killed by that kind of delay is itself an indictment of the leadership, specifically of Speaker Straus. Look at SB1569, the unemployment insurance bill that would have gone against the Governor's wishes on stimulus money. It passed out of the Senate committee on April 2, was put on the calendar on the 14th, passed on second reading on the 16th, and on third reading on the 20th, when it was sent to the House. It then passed out of the House committee on May 2, and disappeared until May 18, when the Calendars committee finally took it up. It was debated in the House on May 21, then postponed due to disagreements over an amendment, and was finally taken up again after all the chubbing concluded late on the 26th, where it failed to pass before midnight. It took the Senate 18 days to go from committee approval to final passage. It took the House 19 days to go from committee approval to the initial floor debate. If the House had moved at the same pace as the Senate, SB1569 would have been on its way to Governor Perry's desk before any of us had ever heard the word "chubbing".

Oh, and despite Burka's helpful suggestion that the House simply punt on this, I'll note that SB1569 passed on third reading with eight Yes votes from Republican Senators, out of 19 total. Assuming it would have gotten 70 Yes votes from House Dems (let's assume an absence or two, and a stray No vote or two), it would have needed 30 of 75 Republican Yeas to pass with a veto-proof majority. That's a smaller percentage of House GOP votes needed than Senate GOP votes received, so don't tell me it was impossible. Yes, there may have been more pressure on House Republicans to vote No, but we'll never know that now. This could have been taken up for a vote in time had the House been better organized and had it been a priority instead of voter ID.

There are other examples, of course. We know that committee assignments came out later than usual. You can cut some slack for that. The House didn't get to voting on any bills till later than usual as well, and along the way we've heard complaints about the pace of the action in the House and of the length of their daily schedule. All I'm saying is there was a reason there were so many bills imperiled at the end. It didn't have to be that way.

Getting back to Carona and his complaint, it's making for some quality entertainment if you're into that sort of thing. Follow the ups and downs here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.

05/31/09 | permalink | comments [0]

Extending the deadline

The deadline for finishing up conference committee work was supposed to be last night at midnight. There was too much work to do for that, so the deadline got pushed back for 24 hours.

That means the Senate on Monday likely will be approving dozens of conference committee reports -- the final versions of bills -- where they were supposed to just do minor corrections to a few bills.

Senate Administration Committee Chairman Tommy Williams, R-The Woodlands, told senators a few minutes ago that 131 House bills loaded up with Senate amendments are still in conference -- meaning they are still in negotiation with House members.

"We've got a lot of work to do," Williams said.

The vote to waive the rule and extend tonight;s deadline was 31-0. A four-fifths vote of at least 25 senators was required.

Among other things, that means that there's more time for a deal on windstorm insurance, which is now the must-pass bill of the session, as a failure to do so will mean a special session. It also means that there may be some hope for the previously-declared dead solar bill.

At the stroke of midnight last night, Sen. Troy Fraser's SB 545, the "chosen" solar incentives bill for the legislative session, seemed to have drawn its last breath when Rep. Sylvester Turner killed its vehicle.

Fraser's solar bill would have provided incentives for solar installation, with a view to increasing solar energy generation in Texas. Since the bill didn't make it through the House chubfest last week, it was tacked on to HB 1243, which would require utilities to purchase extra electricity from on-site renewable generation.

Well: Would have required. Turner killed the bill last night, seemingly out of hurt feelings over other bills that didn't make it through the parliamentary process over the past day.

"All day long we have been sending bill after bill back on germaneness," Turner said, objecting to the fact that HB 1243 had absorbed three loosely related measures.

He also objected to the electricity rate increases that would have been passed onto consumers to fund the solar incentives. Still, at 20 cents per month for residential customers, the increases were quite small.

[...]

According to Environment Texas advocate Luke Metzger, establishing a solar incentives program is critical in Texas right now, since the solar manufacturing base isn't permanently settled anywhere. If Texans buy more solar systems, it could persuade manufacturer's to set up shop here. Without the incentives, Metzger says, "we'll miss the solar boat for decades to come, potentially."

But all hope is not lost. Last week's chubfest in the House has put legislators through an exercise in it ain't over 'til it's over. And it ain't over for solar incentives, which may find a viable vehicle in Fraser's own SB 546, the session's "chosen" energy efficiency bill, which is in conference committee today.

If SB 546 can accommodate solar incentives legislation, Metzger does not think there will be a problem with germaneness.

However, he points out, "the other danger still is timing. This all has to happen very quickly in order to avoid Turner or anyone else trying to chub it to death."

Keep hope alive. Maybe the extended deadlines will be sufficient to allow this to pass. Stranger things, almost always for the worse, have happened.

Other items to keep an eye on are SCR72, the joint resolution to clean up after the Railroad Commission, and HB498, the innocence commission study bill. A lot of good criminal jurisprudence reform bills were chubbing victims so salvaging that one would be nice.

05/31/09 | permalink | comments [0]

Budget heads to the Governor

In the end, thanks in large part to the stimulus package and its infusion of funds that prevented the need to dip into the Rainy Day Fund, the budget process was relatively uncontroversial. Yesterday, it was passed by the House, and is now on its way to Governor Perry's desk.

With just three days left in the 81st Texas Legislature, the only thing certain was the state's $182.3 billion budget, which, among other things, increases spending for the mentally disabled, correctional officer salaries, college financial aid and pre-kindergarten programs. Most of the money, which includes $12.1 billion in federal economic stimulus dollars, is dedicated to education and health care.

The vote in the House was 142-2, after unanimous passage in the Senate. Perry is certain to do some line-item vetoing, if only to remind us that he can. Odds are he'll pick something that no one will see coming. We'll know soon enough.

Of greater interest at this time is the handful of bills that are still struggling to stay alive.

The House kept the debate on windstorm insurance reform alive by agreeing to seek a compromise on the bill in a joint conference committee. Perry has told lawmakers he will call a special session if the windstorm insurance reform does not pass.

At issue is how to keep solvent the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association, which provides insurance for homeowners who cannot find private coverage -- without pushing insurance rates up. Hurricanes Ike and Dolly busted the association with an unexpected $2 billion in payouts.

Rep. Larry Taylor, R-Friendswood said they hope to reach a settlement so as "not to have a special session."

Here's the conference committee information. They have till midnight tonight to work it out, get a bill printed, and distribute it to members. Tall order, but doable.

Also Friday, Sen. Kip Averitt, R-Waco, said he was still trying to revive the Children's Health Insurance Program. An effort earlier this week to piggyback CHIP on a bill for newborn disease screening did not comply with House rules that subjects be "germane."

Although a coalition representing 70 groups called on legislative leaders to "take all necessary means" to pass the bill, the prospect is dim.

Apparently, the measure to which the CHIP bill had been attached as an amendment, which had originally been sent back by the House because author Paula Pierson didn't think it would concur, has now been approved for a conference committee, but that's to remove the CHIP amendment so the original bill, having to do with newborn screening, can pass. There's still the original House CHIP bill by Rep. Garnet Coleman, which hasn't been approved by the Senate but still could if they agree to suspend the rules to bring it up. I'm not holding my breath on that one. The Chron editorializes today in favor of taking action, while Rick Casey took Lt. Gov. Dewhurst and Sen. Steve Ogden to task for not getting this right the first time.

Disputes also were holding up a bill to renew the life of the Texas Department of Transportation for another two years. Portions of the bill call for a local option gas tax, supported by business leaders and elected officials from North Texas and San Antonio.

In Harris County, officials are keeping an eye on a provision that could limit or ban new cameras being placed at intersections to catch red-light runners.

That one could get ugly. Rep. Joe Pickett has called out lobbyists who are agitating over the local-option tax, which has both strong support and strong opposition. More from McBlogger and EoW, both of whom are in the latter camp. On a tangential note, the Chron rails against the attempt by the state to meddle in local affairs regarding red light cameras.

Finally, one bit of bad news.

At the stroke of midnight on Friday, House Bill 1243 turned into a pumpkin and a fairy godmother was nowhere to be found to save it or the electric cooperative measure attached to it.

Provisions to improve accountability in the electric cooperatives, including Pedernales Electric Cooperative, had been tacked on to the bill in the Senate. And Rep. Sylvester Turner, D-Houston, challenged whether that amendment and others belonged on the bill.

A lengthy confab at the dais followed by a postponement delayed a vote on whether to send the bill to a conference committee, called for by Turner, until shortly before midnight. That vote failed 48 to 90.

But by the time Rep. Pete Gallego, D-Alpine, stepped to the microphone to save the bill, it was too late.

Another half-hour of parliamentary hand-wringing ensued. But, in the end, the glass slipper didn't fit.

That unfortunately means that SB545, the solar bill, is dead as well. Major bummer about that.

05/30/09 | permalink | comments [1]

Lon Burnam

The Star Telegram has a nice profile of Rep. Lon Burnam of Fort Worth, who we all know was anti-Tom Craddick before it was cool. If he were a baseball or basketball player, you'd say he's one of those guys who does things that don't show up in the box score. Burnam doesn't pass a lot of bills, but he works to kill those that need killing, and he helps provide a much-needed and otherwise often lacking liberal perspective on many issues. And his story for this session has not been fully written yet, as he has promised to bring his resolution to impeach Sharon Keller to the floor for a vote on a personal privilege motion. He has said that will happen before sine die, so it's got to be coming soon.

05/29/09 | permalink | comments [0]

Senate passes windstorm bill

The one bill that has been expressly mentioned as a reason for a special session if it doesn't get done is SB14, the windstorm insurance bill. It was a chubbing victim on Tuesday, but on Wednesday it was revived by the time-honored "attach it as an amendment to another bill" method.

By a 27-4 vote, senators voted to amend House Bill 4409 to include the provisions of Senate Bill 14, that was passed in April to address the looming crisis in the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association.

"This is our last hope to be able to work on this issue," said state Sen. Mike Jackson, R-LaPorte, the Senate sponsor of the House legislation.

[...]

Jackson said that while the House may not accept the Senate's provisions, the approval of the amended bill tonight will provide a way for House and Sehate negotiators to come up with a final version that can be approved before the Legislature adjourns on Monday.

The original version of HB4409 passed the House by a 147-0 margin, so one hopes that the addition of SB14 to it will be palatable. I'm in favor of there not being a special session, so taking action to reduce the odds of one is a good thing in my book. Floor Pass has more.

05/28/09 | permalink | comments [0]

Anti-Metro amendment officially dead

Good.

State lawmakers today voted unanimously to kill a provision that could have complicated the Metropolitan Transit Authority's light-rail plans.

The House removed language from a local transportation bill for Austin that would have put limits on Metro's authority to acquire property through condemnation.

Rep. Joe Pickett, D-El Paso, quietly placed the provision in the bill, apparently at the request of rail critics who contend that a 2003 referendum didn't specify that a portion of the planned University Line would run on Richmond rather solely on Westpark.

Technically, it was one critic, though as has been suggested to me I'm sure there were others behind him. Way to operate in the daylight, y'all. But then that's been the hallmark of rail opponents around here, going back to Texans for True Mobility in the 2003 referendum, and no doubt much farther than that. No surprise there at all.

05/27/09 | permalink | comments [1]

The state of solar power

The Chron has a feature story on efforts to ramp up solar power in Texas.

[S]olar advocates say the right legislation could do the wind industry's success one better.

One approach, incentives to install solar panels on homes and businesses, could be the catalyst for a homegrown industry of system installers and panel manufacturers, they say. Those manufacturers also could benefit from close proximity to an existing link in the solar supply chain -- the single largest manufacturer of high quality polysilicon used in semiconductor chips and solar panels, which is located in Pasadena on the Houston Ship Channel.

"Really you want to develop a sustainable industry that does not require incentives," said Steve Chadima, vice president of internal affairs for SunTech Power, a Chinese solar panel manufacturer that is eyeing Texas as a possible plant site. "You don't want to live on the dole forever. But you need to jump-start the industry for it to develop along all the sectors."

As legislative deadlines approached late Tuesday, advocates were closely watching a bill that would give out $500 million in rebates over the next five years to businesses and homeowners who install solar panels. Money for the rebates would be raised through monthly fees on electric bills--about 20 cents for residential customers, $2 for small businesses and $20 for industries.

The law would also require retail electric companies to buy a customer's surplus electricity at a fair market price or credit the customer's bill and provide incentives for commercial-scale solar installations.

The bill's fate was uncertain, and its supporters in the legislature and the solar industry fear that if it doesn't pass the Legislature this year, other states that offer incentives will get a leg up on Texas in developing new solar business.

The bill in question is SB545, which was sadly one of the victims of the weekend chub-a-rama. However, as Citizen Sarah notes, there's still hope.

This afternoon, the Senate has HB 1243 on their intent calendar. HB 1243 is a "net metering" bill which would ensure that owners of solar installations, small wind turbines, or biogas generators get paid a fair price for the excess power they produce. As HB 1243 is a solar-related bill, it can be deemed germane, or related, to solar SB 545, which "died" last night [...].

Which means that SB 545 can (maybe, possibly) be amended to HB 1243. Tentative huzzah!

It gets better. HB 1243 is co-authored by Senator Troy Fraser -- the same fellow who sponsored SB 545. As both of these bills are Fraser's babies, the chances of SB 545 living on as an amendment are looking pretty good.

We should know soon enough. Both HB1243 (99-36 in the House) and SB545 (25-5 in the Senate) passed easily enough, so one hopes this would not be controversial. I've got my fingers crossed. NewsWatch: Energy has more.

UPDATE: Success!

The text of Senate Bill 921 was attached to House Bill 1243, a measure relating to net metering for electric service customers that was earlier passed the House.

Also attached was the text of Senate Bill 545, a bill earlier passed by the Senate that is designed to provide incentives for solar projects.

I don't know how the vote went, but it doesn't really matter. It passed, and as long as the House concurs, it's off to the Governor for an autograph. Nicely done, Senate.

05/27/09 | permalink | comments [0]

Would-be Metro killer outs himself

05/27/09 | permalink | comments [4]

And so the chubbing comes to an end

05/26/09 | permalink | comments [0]

The last day of chubbing

05/25/09 | permalink | comments [0]

Anti-Metro amendment removed

05/25/09 | permalink | comments [9]

Westpark zealots try to pull a fast one

05/24/09 | permalink | comments [8]

Where things stand in the House

05/23/09 | permalink | comments [1]

Chubbing

05/22/09 | permalink | comments [0]

McLeroy confirmation lives again

05/20/09 | permalink | comments [0]

Gearing up for the voter ID showdown

05/20/09 | permalink | comments [0]

RIP, statewide smoking ban

05/19/09 | permalink | comments [3]

Campaign finance bill passes the House

05/18/09 | permalink | comments [1]

Kuempel out of coma

05/16/09 | permalink | comments [0]

Cohen pulls strip club bill

05/14/09 | permalink | comments [2]

High school registrars

05/14/09 | permalink | comments [0]

Why words matter

05/13/09 | permalink | comments [0]

Rep. Kuempel collapses at Capitol

05/13/09 | permalink | comments [0]

Tuesday Lege roundup

05/12/09 | permalink | comments [1]

Monday Lege roundup

05/11/09 | permalink | comments [0]

Voter ID passes out of House committee

05/11/09 | permalink | comments [0]

Happy Ardmore Day

05/11/09 | permalink | comments [0]

Safe Passing Act moving forward

05/11/09 | permalink | comments [1]

Statewide smoking ban still stuck

05/10/09 | permalink | comments [0]

Smith caves in to the Browns

05/08/09 | permalink | comments [1]

Sunsetting TxDOT

05/08/09 | permalink | comments [0]

Poker bill coming to a vote

05/08/09 | permalink | comments [0]

TRCC survives sunsetting

05/07/09 | permalink | comments [0]

No sunset for SBOE

05/06/09 | permalink | comments [0]

IG for DPS

05/06/09 | permalink | comments [0]

Voter ID still pending

05/06/09 | permalink | comments [2]

"Blogger bill" passes out of House committee

05/05/09 | permalink | comments [0]

The poll tax

05/05/09 | permalink | comments [0]

Altering Houston term limits

05/04/09 | permalink | comments [1]

Omnibus gambling bill gets committee approval

05/04/09 | permalink | comments [1]

Electronic textbooks

05/03/09 | permalink | comments [6]

Patrick forced to moderate his ultrasound bill

05/02/09 | permalink | comments [5]

Wendy Davis

05/02/09 | permalink | comments [0]

Big education bills pass

05/01/09 | permalink | comments [0]

Bait and switch on Voter ID

04/30/09 | permalink | comments [0]

And here we have the "compromise" voter ID legislation

04/30/09 | permalink | comments [0]

Statewide smoking ban stalled

04/30/09 | permalink | comments [2]

Poker bill in trouble?

04/30/09 | permalink | comments [0]

"Groundless" campaign finance complaints

04/30/09 | permalink | comments [0]

Separating the Permanent School Fund from the SBOE

04/30/09 | permalink | comments [0]

The voter ID "compromise" bill

04/29/09 | permalink | comments [0]

Clean Air update

04/29/09 | permalink | comments [0]

The Speaker speaks, and a Voter ID update

04/29/09 | permalink | comments [0]

Senators versus TCEQ

04/28/09 | permalink | comments [0]

Two legislator stories

04/27/09 | permalink | comments [0]

It only hurts when it happens to you

04/26/09 | permalink | comments [0]

Senate passes Safe Passing bill

04/26/09 | permalink | comments [0]

Busy day yesterday

04/25/09 | permalink | comments [1]

Stand Up To Help Bloggers Get Needed Protections Under Texas Law

04/24/09 | permalink | comments [1]

House hearing set on Keller impeachment resolution

04/23/09 | permalink | comments [0]

Sometimes the clock is your friend

04/23/09 | permalink | comments [0]

Another chance to slap the Governor

04/22/09 | permalink | comments [0]

Go Solar Texas

04/22/09 | permalink | comments [0]

Statewide smoking ban update

04/20/09 | permalink | comments [1]

Seventeen casinos?

04/18/09 | permalink | comments [1]

Revisiting the FLDS saga

04/16/09 | permalink | comments [0]

Clipping the SBOE

04/15/09 | permalink | comments [0]

Public financing for judicial races

04/14/09 | permalink | comments [1]

No Tigua casinos

04/14/09 | permalink | comments [0]

The Onion takes on Betty Brown

04/13/09 | permalink | comments [1]

Ethics and campaign finance bills to get their turn

04/13/09 | permalink | comments [1]

More Ramey Ko

04/13/09 | permalink | comments [0]

Ramey Ko speaks

04/11/09 | permalink | comments [0]

Rep. Brown's apology

04/10/09 | permalink | comments [2]

Senate passes clean air bill

04/10/09 | permalink | comments [2]

What's in a name, Betty Brown style

04/09/09 | permalink | comments [4]

CLC gambling update

04/08/09 | permalink | comments [1]

More on Day One of the House hearings on voter ID

04/07/09 | permalink | comments [1]

Rodney Ellis

04/07/09 | permalink | comments [0]

Blaming the nuns

04/06/09 | permalink | comments [0]

Voter ID begins in the House today

04/06/09 | permalink | comments [1]