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Regarding David Dewhurst

Brian Sweany — Fri, 24 May 2013 21:32:56 +0000

Poor David Dewhurst. He occupies what was once widely considered to be the most powerful office in the state. Now he is reduced to begging Rick Perry to help him pass his pet legislation so that he can have something to take to the voters. Dewhurst has had plenty of time after his loss in the Senate race to develop a legislative program, and now he comes along at the last minute to ask for special [session] treatment for his legislation.

The Budget Moves Forward

Brian Sweany — Thu, 23 May 2013 15:25:48 +0000

They should have stamped "fragile" on the House budget package. That is how tricky it was to assemble. Chairman Pitts tried to explain to the tea party members that there was no money in SJR 1; it's just a vessel for moving future payments into the Rainy Day Fund for water projects. That didn't seem to mollify the tea party contingent, led by Van Taylor and Scott Sanford, that gathered at the back microphone. Some members worried that the rating services (Moodys and Standard & Poors) would be alarmed because there wasn't enough money in SJR 1. In fact there is no money in the bill, nor was there intended to be any. The money comes later, in HB 1025, where it will be drawn down from the Rainy Day Fund. It will still be necessary for citizens to vote on whether to approive SJR 1. If they don't approve it in November, the Legislature will be back at square one, and action on the water plan will have to wait until 2015.

About Last Night

Brian Sweany — Wed, 22 May 2013 15:25:23 +0000

Haven't we seen this picture before? Speaker Straus performs well for most of the session, but when crunch time comes, he can't close the deal. His team has no cohesion (except for Geren), and there doesn't appear to be a strategy. So Straus falls back into his old persona of presiding rather than leading. It's happened every session he has been speaker. I wrote much the same story line a few days ago, ending with the prediction that Straus would end up putting Rick Perry in the driver's seat. That is exactly where we are headed.

Confirming the New UT Regents

Brian Sweany — Tue, 21 May 2013 20:45:21 +0000

UPDATE: The Nominations Committee has approved all three nominees the UT System Board of Regents. The full Senate will take up nominations next.

I walked in the east door of the Capitol yesterday with Senator John Whitmire. He asked if I was going to nominations. I said I was. Then he said, "I told them [the nominated regents], 'Don't even sit down. I know you're on a mission. And you're going to hurt your [reputation] very badly.'"

Kirk Watson carried the questioning in the early going. He got the candidates to agree that they cannot fire the president unilaterally, that the decision to initiate the dismissal of a president belongs to the chancellor alone. (For some background, read Jake Silverstein's exclusive interview with Chairman Gene Powell here.)

Elements of the Budget Deal

Brian Sweany — Sat, 18 May 2013 21:16:49 +0000

These were the final elements of the budget deal that was reached yesterday:

--Add $200 million to the Foundation School Program
--Use a portion of TRS funding to get to $3.9 billion, the Democrats' target amount for restoring the school cuts

The major point of disagreement arose over the System Benefit Fund, which has long been a personal concern for Sylvester Turner, became a contentious issue between Turner and Williams.

Williams, Perry, and the Budget

Brian Sweany — Fri, 17 May 2013 05:26:23 +0000

This morning I wrote about the prospects for a budget deal, the topic du jour that is uppermost in everyone's mind. The post contained, among other comments, this line: "House Democrats complained that Senate budget chief Tommy Williams had 'misled' them." That is what I was told by what I believed to be reliable sources; the problem is, now I don't believe it was true--or that Williams had sandbagged a deal. A Williams staffer asked me to correct another statement in the article, which was that Willams and Perry are close political allies. While there may have been a time when that was true, it is not true today. For example, a rider in the appropriations bill read as follows:

"Of the funds appropriated elsewhere in this Act to the Health and Human Services Commission in Goal B [never mind the jargon], no amount may be spent to modify Medicaid eligibility unless the commission develops a plan to create more efficient health care coverage options for all existing and newly eligible populations, and the commission receives prior written approval from the Legislative Budget Board before implementing the plan."

Perry wanted the bold-face language removed from the rider. Williams stood firm in resisting. He was determined that the Legislature should write the checks. This is as it should be; the Legislature holds the purse strings.

Things Fall Apart

Brian Sweany — Thu, 16 May 2013 12:46:29 +0000

As we tweeted last night as events were rapidly developing, the hopes for a budget deal that would send everyone home happy appeared to evaporate yesterday. House Democrats complained that Senate budget chief Tommy Williams had "misled" them. Dewhurst showed up in the House chamber and disappeared into the back hall. Perry, forever in search of relevance, began contacting Republicans, urging them to vote against restoring the education cuts. Williams and Perry are tight—always have been—and they probably had this play in mind from the beginning; earlier in the month, Perry had indicated to Straus that there was too much money for education.

The Non-session Session

Brian Sweany — Mon, 13 May 2013 15:22:51 +0000

When the curtain went up on the 83rd Legislature, I thought the state was poised to have one of the best sessions ever. The treasury had oodles of money, there was a feeling that important issues needed to be addressed, and Speaker Joe Straus was in position to dominate the session because of the weakness of the lieutenant governor and the governor. Straus had made it clear that he wanted to do big things—in education, in water and transportation infrastructure, and in increasing transparency—and he had a team of veteran legislators who knew how to get it done.

Then came the vote two weeks ago on HB 11—funding the water plan—and the House leadership couldn't get the votes, and everything fell apart. Now, here we are at the end of the session, with fifteen days to go, and the House has accomplished ...nothing...and will accomplish...nothing. Instead of one of the best sessions ever, it was one of the most depressing.

"Responsible" Funding for Transportation

Brian Sweany — Thu, 09 May 2013 19:48:44 +0000

UPDATE: REP. DARBY HAS PULLED DOWN HIS BILL, AND IN DOING SO SUGGESTED THAT IT WOULD BE TAKEN UP IN A SPECIAL SESSION.

Michael Quinn Sullivan is at it again. Writing on the Empower Texans website, he assails the House leadership for scheduling a bill raising fees for transportation. HB 3664, authored by Drew Darby and appearing on the major state calendar today, raises fees on vehicle registration stickers by $30. Governor Perry opposes fees for funding transportation.

Disorganization in the House

Brian Sweany — Wed, 08 May 2013 15:27:07 +0000

Yesterday's scene at the end of the floor session in the House was all too familiar. The proceedings limped to a close. Members milled about in the aisles. A major tax-cut bill, HB 500, was on the calendar but hardly anyone knew what was in it. Or cared. This scene has been repeated throughout the Straus speakership as the end of the session approaches. I get that Straus wants the members to be in charge--we've known that since 2009--but at some point you have to get the votes for the things you want. The House and Senate are far apart on their approaches to funding infrastructure. The clock is running out on the session. I recognize the symptoms. The lethargy in the House is what you get when members start to resign themselves to a special session. I think that's where we're headed.