As you know, the Lege will be back in Austin tomorrow for what would normally be a pro forma vote to suspend the Constitutional rule against bringing non-emergency legislation to the floor in the first 60 days of the session. And as you also know, the vote will be anything but a formality. I’ve heard from a source that it’s a sure thing that this vote goes against Speaker Craddick, and that it will be a bipartisan vote to boot, but I figure it never hurts to let your representative know how you feel about stuff like this. It’s not like he or she is going to get flooded with calls about this otherwise obscure procedural vote, so at least you know you’ll be heard.
In the interest of saving space, I’ll point you to Vince, Boadicea, and Muse, who lay out the case for voting against Craddick’s wishes. If you have a moment, please contact your Rep and ask him or her to join in on that. And tune in tomorrow to see how this plays out.
UPDATE: My take on the pros and cons of this vote for Democrats is here.
UPDATE: Former State Rep. Glen Maxey has more.
Interesting idea, but I don’t see what effect this would actually have on the Speaker’s agenda…he could still ram it through after the 60 days are up since he picked the committee chairs and members. What it would do is backlog the legislative process and make it nearly impossible to get legislation voted on in April and May. I would rather just have them get some bills out of the way.
I just don’t see how this advances anyones goals, Democrat or Republican.
El Longhorn: Here’s my response.