Not just a cheesy line from a horror flick, the 82nd legislative session will come to an end on May 30, 2011, in seven days. This does not however mean that the legislature is finished. If the state cannot pass a budget by Sine Die, the legislature will be forced into special session/s until a budget is passed. With currently no funding for education the inevitability of a special session is high…as in I will be damn surprised if there is not a special session.

House Deadlines
Tuesday, May 24, 2011: Last day for House to consider 2nd reading SBs/SJRs on Daily or Supplemental Calendar
Wednesday, May 25, 2011: Las day for House to consider local and consent SBs on 2nd and 3rd reading and ALL 3rd reading SBs/SJRs on Supplemental calendar
Thursday, May 26, 2011: Before midnight — Senate amendments must be distributed to the House
Friday, May 27, 2011: Last day for House to consider Senate Amendments (concur or go to conference)
Saturday, May 28, 2011: Before midnight — House copies of ALL CCRs must be distributed
Sunday, May 29, 2011: Last day for House to adopt CCRs
Monday, May 30, 2011: Sine Die Corrections only in House and Senate

So, what have we accomplished so far?

House of Representatives
Introduced
Bills: 3,865
Concurrent Resolutions: 154
Joint Resolutions: 154
Resolutions: 2,345

Passed
Bills: 304
Concurrent Resolutions: 71
Joint Resolutions: 0
Resolutions: 1,845

Senate
Introduced
Bills: 1,930
Concurrent Resolutions: 57
Joint Resolutions: 53
Resolutions: 1,124

Passed
Bills: 305
Concurrent Resolutions: 35
Joint Resolutions: 2
Resolutions: 1,122

Total House and Senate Bills
Introduced: 5,795
Passed: 609

Total
Introduced: 9,682
Passed: 3,684

Bills Vetoed: 0

Bills signed by the Governor: 180
Bills vetoed by the Governor: 0
Bills filed without the Governor’s signature: 2

For more statistics and reports you can visit the Texas Legislature Online Website

About those special sessions. It is just about guaranteed that the legislature will meet back in Austin some time around the second week in July to discuss the state budget, redistricting, and education funding. While all of this can be tackled in one special session it is more likely that Gov. Perry will call a seperate session for each issue (not necessarily limited to the ones I listed).

This is pretty much how the legislature works. The reasoning for this is mostly due to the time constraints placed on the legislature by the Texas constitution wherein the legislature only meets for a total of 140 days every odd numbered year. Not only are they constrained to this timeframe but the initial 60-days of session legislators are only allowed to pass bills delegated by the Governor as “emergency items” in his/her State of the State address. This is nearly half of the entire session during which we passed none of the Governor’s emergency items in this session.

Furthermore, all other bills must have a vote to suspend the rules agreed upon at the start of the session in order to take up any legislation. Of the legislation filed, which amounts to over 9,000 bills this session, only about 20 percent makes it to the floor in either chamber where it often faces lengthy scrutiny and delays. In combination with the massive budget shortfall for the next two fiscal years, redistricting, and public education funding to be carved out it’s not hard to see that 140 days is not nearly enough time to cover all of your bases.

Finally, one cannot forget the solid majority held by Republicans in both chambers which constantly reminds us that not everything that legislators wish to accomplish will happen in one session. This session, more than most, time constraints, partisan conflicts, and constitutional requirements made for one hell of a session to watch even as we stood biting our nails and shaking our heads.

always,
davilin.marie

Due to a rule in the Senate Rule book, House Bill 1 was brought up for debate on the floor of the Senate on Wednesday. This ruling states that on “House Bill Days” (Wednesday and Thursday) House bills may be considered before Senate bills and therefore does not need the two-thirds majority usually necessary to bring it up for debate. This means that with 16 instead of the normally required 21 votes the Senate was able to debate the House budget bill.

The Senate book of rules is usually brought out when a Senator wishes to pass or kill, usually kill, proposed laws and consists of a tangled web of obscure statutes and fluctuating laws. Sounds like interesting reading though somewhat snooze-worthy.

House Bill 1 passed the Senate with a simple majority vote of 19-12 along party lines with all Democrats voting nay and all Republicans voting yea.

With a proposed $176.5 billion budget, the Senate’s version of the bill, despite deep cuts, includes significantly more money for public schools, nursing homes, employee heath insurance and other programs as opposed the the House’s $164.5 billion Budget. Both chambers must now reconcile these plans that differ by $12 billion in conference committtee before Sine Die (May 30,2011). If differences cannot be compromised lawmakers will be in for special sessions this summer.

Since not a single Democrat voted for the bill in either chamber the future budget of Texas rests in the hands of the Republicans which brings to light several insecurities. The first of which is the breach of tradition through the use of an obscure rule in order to bring the bill up for debate. The worry is that the two-thirds rule could be circumvented regularly therefore bringing legislation to the Senate from the House by Republicans without the Democrats present. Another insecurity rests upon the Republican supermajority. With control of the budget in their hands there is little that Democrats can do to impact its passage therefore the question arises: Does this budget represent the best interests of Texas or does it best represent the interests of the Republican agenda?

Though the budget bill has been hammered out by both chambers it will likely be quite a battle between House and Senate budget writers as they try to meet in the middle of this piece of legislation mandated by law to pass before final adjournment.

always,
davilin.marie

This session is quickly becoming a very hectic situation. The House is now meeting on Fridays, committee meetings run into the wee hours of the morning, and the budget has yet to be passed agreeably. I have been planning on writing about the budget for some time now and I will get to it eventually but it is a monster with a million tentacles and very easy to get tangled in.

The day-to-day hasn’t changed so much as it has increased in momentum. Our office sees hundreds of visitors, the capitol sees thousands. I have to check the mail twice a-day just to keep on top of things and forget reading all of the legislative clippings, bills, and information that makes it across your desk on the daily. As much as it’s been getting busier I still thoroughly enjoy it.

Monday night a benefit for TLIP was held at which Rep. Senfronia Thompson was roasted. This woman is a pistol. The event was fun and lighthearted amidst the chaos that is work.

I am also looking into summer internship and job opportunities, taking the GRE, and researching graduate programs. Life is definitely moving fast.

In other news:

A New and Exciting Age of Space Travel

Sparks fly on legislation to promote “a new and exciting age of space travel.” (Rep. Tyron Lewis, R-Odessa)

Texas Legislators approved a bill on Monday which gives thrust to the commercial space travel industry. The bill limits the liability that face private space travel companies. This piece of legislation seeks to promote the development of a commercial space flight industry in Texas by clarifying that any persons aboard a space vehicle launched from Texas will assume the risk of death or injury if a space flight entity discloses the risks involved and the persons partaking in the space flight signs a waiver. Companies will remain liable for injury caused by gross negligence or damage to nonparticipants. In lieu of House Bill 245, the identical Senate Bill 115 faces a final procedural vote and is expected to be sent to Gov. Rick Perry this week.

Commercial spaceports are already in the process of being built including a spaceport being built in West Texas by a company owned by Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos.

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The Internet is a Girl’s World

Tech Crunch recently posted an article written by guest writer Aileen Lee about the ways in which women rule the interwebs. With all of the crazy statistics about how fast consumer internet services and e-commerce are expanding it’s no wonder we are seeing a generation of exponential growth for web companies in relation to both user adoption and revenue. Lee lets us in on a little secret unnoticed by most. It’s that female users are the main driving force behind this techno-boom. When it comes to socializing and shopping, women not only rule the world but they also rule the internet. Check out the blog article and see for yourself how large of a consumer base women are and the reason we rule the internet.

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Sonogram Bill: Update

A compromise has been struck in the Senate State Affairs Committee between the stringent House sonogram legislation and a more flexible Senate draft on Tuesday. As we all know (should know) by now this legislation requires doctors to do a sonogram before performing an abortion. After an intense standoff in which neither chamber was willing to make changes the Senate committee approved a compromise which restores an exemption for women who are victims of sexual assault or incest or in cases where the fetus is fatally deformed. Also exempted under this compromise are women who reside in rural counties from waiting 24 hours between receiving a sonogram and having an abortion. Still required however is a requirement for the woman to be shown a sonogram hear a fetal heart beat and listen to a detailed description of the fetus. So, what’s next for this emergency legislation? The full Senate must now consider the compromise before sending it to the House and ultimately landing on the desk of Gov. Rick Perry.

always,
davilin.marie