Democrats destructive marathon chub gives Gov. Perry option to call Special Session
What a session the 2009 Legislative Session has been … and going right down to the last day theres still an important bill in play as the clock ticks down to midnight despite the fact all deadlines" have expired and all items normally are either passed or dead the last day of work.
Those who follow the process closely have always thought the budget was the only bill necessary for legislators to pass. But this being a session most describe as different from any heretofore witnessed many have just now learned there are really only 2 bills that need to be passed during a Legislative Session; the budget and the Sunset Safety Net" Bill.
Since the budget was passed over the weekend were down to nip-and-tuck on the Sunset Safety" Bill which interestingly enough also brings into play (at least at this moment) the Childrens Health insurance Program Bill (CHIP) the TXDOT (Texas Department of Transportation) Sunset Bill and possibly others.
And on top of that the imminent death of the Sunset Safety Net bill could also call into question the existence of several state agencies including the State Board of Insurance TXDOT all of which when combined might necessitate the much discussed possibility of a Special Session".
In order to salvage the Sunset Safety Net Bill before midnight it will require a 2/3 vote in the House to suspend the rules and consider the bill at what literally some expect could be at the last minute. Thats if negotiators currently working are able to come up with a compromise at all.
As Texas Insider goes to print" the 2/3rds threshold does not exist in the House.
Why? Democrats who killed 100s of bills the past two weeks via filibuster on the Voter ID Bill want no semblance of having those efforts tied to the overall lack of tangible results this session.
They also at the last minute are tempting Republicans with the carrot of agreeing to bring up the Sunset Safety Bill for what would surely be passage by voice & majority vote. The stick offered for that agreement is bringing up the Sunset Safety Bill only if Republicans agree to allow an already pronounced dead CHIP-expansion bill. It also would likely pass on voice-majority vote.
So whos in control as the 2009 Session winds down? Seems not the party thats in the majority or in charge of running the railroad … not at least if you analyze the state of affairs by which party iss offering the bait and which party is being asked to accept.
Should be the other way around.
Sure the Democrats want the parliamentary rules to be waived (read broken) to allow CHIP expansion. And sure Republicans may feel they have to have the Sunset Safety Net Bill seeing that
it has suddently become the 2nd of bills the legislature
has to pass each session.
But it doesnt and it shouldnt.
While the makings of a deal" may appear to be present they really are not not as long as Republicans remember it is they who hold the cards & superior negotiating strength at this juncture.
The most important bill still remaining which Gov. Perry could justifiably call a Special Session to address should it fail to pass is not the Safety Net Bill but rather the Sunset Bill concerning the Department of Transportation itself.
Heres why; It is one of the most tangible day-to-day real-life frustrating issues to virtually every Texas citizen in a major metropolitan area and represents a sure-fire marketable Exhibit Item #1 to illusrate the ramifications of the actions House Democrats imposed on voters when they decided to undertake their 5 day filibuster on the Voter ID Bill.
The real life examples?
- Based upon straight Texas population growth 300 people a day are currently moving into each of the Dallas-Ft. Worth or Houston areas and 100 people a day move into Austin this translates into approximately 800 cars a day being added to Texas roads and Texas is projected to gain another 20 million people by 2020;
- 75 of Texas transportation infrastructure expenditures are spent in the Dallas-Ft. Worth to San Antonio to Houston triangle where 1970s facilities are being forced to handle 2010s capacitys;
- Todays road construction costs vary between approximately $1 million per mile for a straight-lined highway in West Texas to approximately $30 million a mile for an IH 35 type road to be constructed today. These costs are only going up;
- It is projected that to fund Texas current road expansion at some point Texas will need to find funding or increase the state gas tax by probably more than $1.00 and thats not going down either;
- Every time you see congestion thats a failure of the market" in action there is excess demand for access to the road except the market" (obviously)
DOES NOT apply to transportation;
- Newest cost improvements & efficiencies for automobiles are what have the biggest impact on Texas Gasoline Tax revenues. For instance should someone decide to swap out their Chevy Suburban for a Honda (or is it Toyota) Prius the amount of gas required to operate that consumers vehicle goes down by 75. As a result tax revenues to the state are decreased 75 - quite a pinch in anyones cash-flow.
So if in the next couple hours House Democrats are given their get out of jail free card" so be it; voters may never know the difference. Even if one tries to remind or explain the nuances of Legislative Procedure to them in the future forget it ever happened.
On the other hand if Republicans force the Democrats to continue their destructive ways which one could reasonably build the case has been under construction since long before the marathon Voter ID chub they put only Democrats at risk and give Governor Perry the option to call a Special Session at some point (of his choosing) in the not-too-distant future ... to clean up their mess.
The Session" can only be saved by - many are arguing being allowed to fall upon itself with clear-cut ramifications and real-life kitchen-table issues left to be discussed at a later date … and voters to be sure reminded of.
