We're gonna have a floor fight

As you may know, I am fairly “into” Texas politics. As you may not know, the 80^th Texas Legislature convenes today, 9 January 2007, at Noon, and the first day looks to be a doozy.

The Texas Constitution is set up so that the Legislature meets every two years for 140 days and that’s it. In that time, all bills must be filed (though, really, most are actually filed before convening), debated in committee, revised, debated on the floor, passed on to the other house, debated there, passed, revised in conference committee, and then given to the Governor for his signature. The most important thing to do is pass a budget for the state for the next two years; and the most important people in that process are the Governor, the Lieutenant Governor (President of the Senate), the Comptroller (who controls the money), and the Speaker of the House. The Speaker and Lt. Governor especially have power because they are the ones who control the calendars for each house (what bills get heard, when), and who make committee assignments and appoint the chairs of each committee (where the real revising and debating of bills occurs).

Anyway, two years ago, I was working in the office of my then State Representative, Todd Baxter (R-48 Austin). The first day of session, as is custom, was largely ceremonial, where the members filed into the House (similar happenings occur in the Senate, just with slightly different rules), agreed on rules (pretty much the same from year-to-year), elected a Speaker (the incumbent from the “Texas Republican Revolution” a couple of years before), passed the blocker bill, and greeted their family, friends, and staff who had been watching from the Gallery and televisions throughout the Capitol. Basically, it’s a day to have a party in your office, and for the staffers with no particular attachment (like me) to walk around the building trying to find the best office party. Day 2 of the session is when things will get more business like and return to what people think of politics (the scheming, backstabbing liars).

Not so this year.

A few weeks ago, Brian McCall (R-66 Plano) announced not only that he would be running for Speaker of the House against fellow Republican Tom Craddick (the incumbent), but that he had the votes pledged to win. Add to that the fact that a week or so later, another Republican, Jim Pitts (R-10 Waxahachie), threw his hat into the ring, and we have one heck of an interesting race. McCall initially ran because he wanted to offer an alternative to Craddick’s strong-arm intimidation tactics as Speaker. To get into a list of Craddick’s apparent offenses would take too long, but suffice it to say that I’m glad that some one finally has enough courage to openly stand up to him. McCall claimed the Democratic vote (the Democrats control 69 of the 149 House seats—one is empty awaiting a special election), and much of the liberal Republican vote; however, I think what Pitts said when he entered the race was about right: that he [Pitts] was a good compromise candidate between Democrats and Republicans. Many Republicans were worried that, while McCall would be more bipartisan and open than Craddick, he would end up representing Democratic interests more than it appeared on the surface. That’s why, only a week ago, McCall dropped out of the race and started lending his support to Pitts. Some of his followers (especially the Democrats), I think, were a little put off by this surprise announcement, but it seems like a fair number of them have gone over to the Pitts camp.

Basically, that’s the back-story, but nobody really knows what is going to happen until the vote actually happens. Usually, members sign pledge cards before session even starts, and they don’t really stage a coup against the incumbent (unless, of course, a new party comes into power). That way, everyone knows before the session even starts who is going to be Speaker, so the first day with a roll-call vote is largely ceremonial. This year, though, there is so much confusion and back-room deal making that it’s an impossible race to call. Therefore, today’s vote is very important, and it’s very important how it’s conducted. A voice roll-call vote would favor Craddick because he could see who votes against him, and punish them if he loses (good ‘ol intimidation). Of course, that is the only way that constituents can see how their Representatives vote in one of the most important votes in the session. The other way to do it (that would supposedly favor Pitts) would be a secret Speaker ballot. That protects members from intimidation, but also hides the vote from the constituents of the state. I, for one, favor the secret ballot in this case because the threat of retribution is a very real one, and the Speaker race is normally conducted somewhat in the background anyway (I realize that that’s not very good justification, but I just feel in my heart that this needs to be a secret ballot). The members will determine how the voting is to be conducted today before they actually elect the Speaker. A vote for a secret ballot could be seen as a vote against Craddick, but I don’t think so. To me, it seems more just like a vote against intimidation and strong-arm tactics.

I feel hopeful about this session, and I’m interested in seeing exactly how today and the next four months turn out.

“If the legislature didn’t have fat people, or lazy people, or stupid people, it wouldn’t be representative.”

-State Representative Patrick Rose