It probably tickles the Yankees when a little ice shuts down the Texas government this way, but until the cabin fever set in, it offered a nice break from the head-banging that went on during the first week of the legislative session.

Not everything stopped. Oaths have been taken. The Senate is organized, at least on paper. House members have made their committee requests and wait to see what the recent race for Speaker of the House did to their chances. The last special election runoff is out of the way. The governor's task force on appraisal reform is still in the field — they're still tinkering with their recommendations and report, but will be ready soon.

The last three startup elements for the 20-week session will be over soon: House committees, a budget bill, and a State of the State speech from the Guv. It's always this way; at this point a few years ago our headline was "On Your Mark, Get Set, Get Set, Get Set..."

More historical lint: Tom Craddick has been speaker for two sessions before this and named his committees on the last Friday in January both times.

Whole Lotta Swearin' Goin' On

They moved inside because of winter weather and the ice on the outdoor stage and scaffolding, and they started 20 minutes later than they planned, but Gov. Rick Perry and Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst have been sworn in for new four-year terms and the state government selected by voters in November is now in place.

The weather not only forced the ceremony inside — it scotched plans for an inaugural parade. Don't worry over the barbecue, though. It was served outside in heated tents and what was left went to charity. And the gala scheduled for Tuesday night held indoors at the Austin Convention Center. The big news there was rocker Ted Nugent's Confederate battle flag shirt and his rant about Mexicans and immigration.

The swearing ceremony started with Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston, calling the Senate to order, and breaking the gavel on this third whack. Dewhurst was sworn in first, with his hand on Sam Houston's Bible and with Texas Supreme Court Chief Justice Wallace Jefferson administering the oath.

"When you elected me the first time it had to be in part an act of faith. But this time, I trust I've earned your confidence and I thank you for your support," he said.

He touted some of the achievements of his first four years in office — mentioning tort reform, school finance, and "pro-family legislation... protecting our families, the unborn, and the vulnerable."

He highlighted one program — his push for a "Jessica's Law" like one passed in other states, introducing the father of the Florida girl whose death inspired the legislation.

The law would make the death penalty an option for people who repeatedly commit sexually violent crimes against children. "Literally, two strikes you're out, forever. Our message is this: There’s tough. And then there’s Texas tough. And if you’re going to commit an unthinkable crime against a child, we’ll show you what Texas tough means."

He said he'll push legislation requiring criminal background checks for public school employees, random testing of high school athletes for steroids, and requiring defibrillators at public schools.

Perry's address was more sermon than platform — a talk with few specifics but with references to international troubles, AIDS, immigration, religious zealots, slavery, morals, public service and social obligation, poverty, family. Without being specific, he said the government should work on this to-do list (and he and his have promised details later, maybe in a State of the State speech later this month):

"Together, we must work to make our border more secure and our neighborhoods safer. Together, we must find solutions to the high rate of the uninsured and to the high cost of health insurance. Together, we must commit to excellence in higher education as it prepares the workforce of the future. Together, we must ensure that property tax relief is not only substantial, but long-lasting. Together, we must pass budget reforms that protect the taxpayers. And together, we must engage in a debate and a dialogue characterized by civility and consensus."

He talked about his family and then briefly about the state of the state: "As we gather today, there is great reason for optimism in Texas. We have a record budget surplus, jobs are at an all-time high, children’s test scores are improving, home and medical insurance costs are decreasing, school finance is out of the courts and school property tax rates are on the way down. On top of that, the Aggie basketball team is ranked in the top ten in the nation. Apparently, Texas isn't the only place that's frozen over."

He talked about international affairs, noting conflicts in the Middle East, threats from religious fanatics, rogue states and terror cells, anti-U.S. sentiments in Europe and Latin America. He talked about the war on drugs, suffering from AIDS, particularly in Asia & Africa, and about ethnic cleansing and genocide in the Sudan. That section spurred talk that Perry is interested in national office. He has publicly resisted that kind of talk, recently telling the Associated Press that he's "not interested" in going to Washington, D.C.

We've posted both addresses online. Dewhurst's is here. Perry's is here.

A Rebate in Every Pot

Put Gov. Rick Perry in the group that wants the state to refund some of the money it has collected from taxpayers. He added an emergency item to the legislative agenda, saying it ought to be legal to give rebates to state taxpayers.

The governor also wants quick action on property tax relief for elderly homeowners, who were passed over during the special session on school property taxes.

Lawmakers can't pass legislation during the first 60 days of the session unless it's designated an emergency by the governor. That designation doesn't force them to do anything; it just allows them to act if they want to act.

Perry telegraphed his emergency declaration of the break for elderly homeowners. And while he scorned talk of a $14.3 billion budget surplus — it's about half that amount, he says — he also foreshadowed the rebate move, naming some conservatives outside the government who were, as he put it, on the right track.

Some of those folks have been calling on the Legislature to refund money that's in the treasury but not needed to pay for promised cuts in local school property taxes. That puts new spending on the block, forcing lawmakers to choose between a tax refund and spending for new and existing programs. It makes it easier for budgeteers to say no to financial supplicants, but that's a relative thing: It's tough to tell people you don't have the money when there's $7 billion to $14 billion billowing out of your purse.

Perry also wants to exclude the state's tab for the local tax cut from constitutional spending limits. The constitution limits growth in the state budget, saying it can't exceed projected growth in personal income. Barring a new law, that means they'd have to vote to bust the spending cap in order to pay for the school property tax cuts. That's awkward, twice: Some conservatives don't like the fast growth or the appearance of it, and others foresee trouble if they limit county and city spending while they unleash their own. Perry made the fix a legislative emergency item.

The Last Seat in the Legislature

Mike O'Day beat Randy Weber in the HD-29 runoff election to replace the late Rep. Glenda Dawson, R-Pearland. Weather put an asterisk on this one. It's hard to say whether it affected one side more than the other, but the Election Day turnout was lower than early voting — blame the near-freezing temperatures for that. Total turnout was 6,212; early voting brought out 3,579 voters or 58 percent of the total. It's usually only a fraction of the Election Day vote.

O'Day won however you slice it. He won in both Brazoria and Matagorda counties. The district includes a part of the former and all of the latter. The early vote went 60.6 percent his way; Weber pulled 39.4 percent in the pre-Election Day voting. It narrowed a bit, but O'Day ended up with 57.2 percent to Weber's 39.4 percent.

Both are Republicans; both are from Pearland. In the first round last month, O'Day got 48.9 percent of the vote and Weber got 28.1 percent. Two other candidates — Republican John Gorman and Democrat Anthony DiNovo — split the remainder. With 7,324 votes cast in that first special election, O'Day was just 154 votes short of an outright win.

Gallegos on Liver Transplant List

Sen. Mario Gallegos, D-Houston, says he is now on a waiting list for a liver transplant and can't travel regularly between Houston and Austin during the session. He's asking Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst to do for him what the Senate did for the late Gregory Luna of San Antonio — delaying votes on major legislation until he's available.

"My physician has placed me on a waiting list to be a recipient for a liver transplant," he said in a written statement. "He has long anticipated this possibility ever since I became sober almost a year ago... At this 'stand by' stage of the process, my physician cannot allow me to travel far from Houston, so I will temporarily be unable to be in the Texas Capitol."

He doesn't know when or whether a liver will become available, but said recovery after a transplant will take almost three weeks. Gallegos said he and his staff will get his bill amendments and other issues into the hands of helpful colleagues, and then he asked Dewhurst to postpone controversial legislation until he gets back.

"... I have submitted a letter to Gov. Dewhurst formally requesting that key legislation be delayed for suspension of the rules and Senate floor debate until my return," he said.

Luna and then-Lt. Gov. Rick Perry had a one-issue deal: the senator asked Perry not to hold a vote on public school vouchers without giving him a chance to leave the hospital so he could be there to vote. And a couple of years later, Perry asked Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston, not to push for a hate crimes bill without all the members in attendance

Sen. Dan Patrick, R-Houston, needn't have worried over the two-thirds rule; Gallegos' need to stay within a liver's throw of Houston means the Republicans have all the votes they need.

If they can stay together.

Under most circumstances, it takes two-thirds of the Senate to bring legislation up for debate. If everyone's in the room, that's 21 votes. But the rule applies to two-thirds of the senators in the room — not two-thirds of those on the roster. When one is gone, the magic number is 20.

The Senate has 20 Republicans in it, and Gallegos has told Dewhurst he'll be out awaiting a liver transplant. He wants the lieutenant governor to call him on tight votes. Dewhurst has made empathetic noises but hasn't publicly agreed to do that.

If he does, a Democratic bloc could block legislation. If he doesn't, the Democrats are one vote short of an effective obstacle.

Patrick proposed killing the two-thirds rule so that simple majorities — Republicans, for instance — could move the Senate to act. He got stomped on a 30-1 vote. And Gallegos' absence doesn't make that a meaningless issue. Not all close votes are partisan. Some issues split along geographic or other fault lines, and it's easy to get one mixed bag of partisans battling another.

This isn't the first time this has come up: The little green book handed out every day the Senate meets has a chart that shows how many senators have to be around for the two-thirds rule to slip. When four senators are absent, only 18 votes are needed to consider bills. Seven missing? 16. And so on. If you're a senator with a small majority, you watch the body count carefully, and so do the lobsters sitting in the gallery above the Senate.

Senate Committees Named, with Very Little Violence

Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst loosed his committee assignments on a Friday night — the deadest spot in any political week, if you listen to the marketing trolls — creating 15 standing committees and five subcommittees. Dewhurst has the same numbers of standing and subcommittees, but there's one change. Where there was a Finance subcommittee on Capital Funding for Higher Education, there's now an Intergovernmental Relations subcommittee on Flooding & Evacuations. And every returning senator who chaired a committee in the previous Legislature kept his or her position in the new lineup.

The 31-member Senate has five new members. Only one of the five senators they replaced — the late Frank Madla, D-San Antonio — chaired a committee.

• Dallas Sen. Royce West, a Democrat, lost the chairmanship of the Subcommittee on Higher Education, which went to Sen. Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo. He also lost the vice chairmanship of the parent committee, Education, to Republican Sen. Kyle Janek of Houston. But he's a chairman now, heading the Intergovernmental Relations panel.

• The other new chairman is Sen. Mario Gallegos, who heads the newly created Subcommittee on Flooding & Evacuations.

• Sen. Chris Harris, R-Arlington, is apparently still in Dewhurst's Doghouse. A senator since 1991, he's on some strong committees. But he doesn't chair any of them (and doesn't get the extra staff or office space that comes along with a chairmanship).

• El Paso Sen. Eliot Shapleigh's campaign assertion that he'd been assured a spot on the Finance Committee didn't come true. At a campaign forum during his reelection bid, Shapleigh said Dewhurst had promised him a spot on the budget-writing panel. Asked then, aides to Dewhurst ducked, saying the Lite Guv hadn't made up his mind about who would be on what committee. A spot was open at the time — it had been emptied by the resignation of Madla (who died a few months later in a fire at his home) — but it didn't go to Shapleigh.

• The Finance Committee — a highly coveted assignment — has three new members: Kevin Eltife, R-Tyler; Troy Fraser, R-Horseshoe Bay; and Eddie Lucio, D-Brownsville. Two of those spots were opened by departures (Madla and Sen.-turned-Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples); the other belonged to Sen. Kim Brimer, R-Fort Worth. Brimer had spots on Business & Commerce and Finance last session and now has spots on Government Organization and Natural Resources instead.

• There are 15 standing committees and five subcommittees. Republicans chair 10 of the committees and two of the subcommittees, leaving the Democrats with five and three, respectively. Women chair three committees and one subcommittee. Hispanics chair two committees and two subcommittees. Blacks chair two committees.

The lists, by committee and then by member, with chairs (C), and vice chairs (VC):

BY COMMITTEE

Administration: Brimer (C), Uresti (VC), Seliger, Shapiro, Wentworth, Whitmire, Zaffirini.

Business & Commerce: Fraser (C), Harris (VC), Averitt, Eltife, Estes, Janek, Lucio, Van de Putte, Watson.

— Subcommittee on Emerging Technologies & Economic Development: Janek (C), Estes, Harris, Lucio, Watson.

Criminal Justice: Whitmire (C), Seliger (VC), Carona, Deuell, Ellis, Hegar, Hinojosa.

Education: Shapiro (C), Janek (VC), Averitt, Ogden, Patrick, Van de Putte, West, Williams, Zaffirini.

— Subcommittee on Higher Education: Zaffirini (C), Averitt, Patrick, West, Williams.

Finance: Ogden (C), Zaffirini (VC), Averitt, Deuell, Duncan, Eltife, Fraser, Hinojosa, Janek, Lucio, Nelson, Shapiro, West, Whitmire, Williams.

Government Organization: Ellis (C), Hegar (VC), Brimer, Gallegos, Jackson, Nelson, Whitmire.

Health & Human Services: Nelson (C), Deuell (VC), Janek, Nichols, Patrick, Shapleigh, Uresti, West, Zaffirini.

Intergovernmental Relations: West (C), Nichols (VC), Gallegos, Patrick, Wentworth.

— Subcommittee on Flooding & Evacuations: Gallegos (C), Nichols, Patrick.

International Relations & Trade: Lucio (C), Patrick (VC), Estes, Fraser, Gallegos, Seliger, Uresti.

Jurisprudence: Wentworth (C), Hinojosa (VC), Carona, Duncan, Gallegos, Harris, Watson.

Natural Resources: Averitt (C), Estes (VC), Brimer, Deuell, Duncan, Eltife, Hegar, Hinojosa, Jackson, Seliger, Uresti.

— Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Affairs & Coastal Resources: Estes (C), Hegar, Hinojosa, Jackson, Uresti.

Nominations: Jackson (C), Eltife (VC), Hegar, Nelson, Nichols, Shapleigh, Watson.

State Affairs: Duncan (C), Williams (VC), Carona, Ellis, Fraser, Harris, Jackson, Lucio, Van de Putte.

Transportation & Homeland Security: Carona (C), Watson (VC), Brimer, Ellis, Nichols, Shapiro, Shapleigh, Wentworth, Williams.

Veterans Affairs & Military Installations: Van de Putte (C), Shapleigh (VC), Estes, Harris, Ogden.

— Subcommittee on Base Realignment & Closure: Shapleigh (C), Estes, Harris.

BY MEMBER

Averitt: Business & Commerce; Education; Subcommittee on Higher Education; Finance; Natural Resources (C).

Brimer: Administration (C); Government Organization; Natural Resources; Transportation & Homeland Security.

Carona: Criminal Justice; Jurisprudence; State Affairs; Transportation & Homeland Security (C).

Deuell: Criminal Justice; Finance; Health & Human Services (VC); Natural Resources.

Duncan: Finance; Jurisprudence; Natural Resources; State Affairs (C).

Ellis: Criminal Justice; Government Organization (C); State Affairs; Transportation & Homeland Security.

Eltife: Business & Commerce; Finance; Natural Resources; Nominations (VC).

Estes: Business & Commerce; Subcommittee on Emerging Technologies & Economic Development; International Relations & Trade; Natural Resources (VC); Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Affairs & Coastal Resources (C); Veterans Affairs & Military Installations; Subcommittee on Base Realignment & Closure.

Fraser: Business & Commerce (C); Finance; International Relations & Trade; State Affairs.

Gallegos: Government Organization; Intergovernmental Relations; Subcommittee on Flooding & Evacuations (C); International Relations & Trade; Jurisprudence.

Harris: Business & Commerce (VC); Subcommittee on Emerging Technologies & Economic Development; Jurisprudence; State Affairs; Veterans Affairs & Military Installations; Subcommittee on Base Realignment & Closure.

Hegar: Criminal Justice; Government Organization (VC); Natural Resources; Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Affairs & Coastal Resources; Nominations.

Hinojosa: Criminal Justice; Finance; Jurisprudence (VC); Natural Resources; Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Affairs & Coastal Resources.

Jackson: Government Organization; Natural Resources; Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Affairs & Coastal Resources; Nominations (C); State Affairs.

Janek: Business & Commerce; Subcommittee on Emerging Technologies & Economic Development (C); Education (VC); Finance; Health & Human Services.

Lucio: Business & Commerce; Subcommittee on Emerging Technologies & Economic Development; Finance; International Relations & Trade (C); State Affairs.

Nelson: Finance; Government Organization; Health & Human Services (C); Nominations.

Nichols: Health & Human Services; Intergovernmental Relations (VC); Subcommittee on Flooding & Evacuations; Nominations; Transportation & Homeland Security.

Ogden: Education; Finance (C); Veterans Affairs & Military Installations.

Patrick: Education; Subcommittee on Higher Education; Health & Human Services; Intergovernmental Relations; Subcommittee on Flooding & Evacuations; International Relations & Trade (VC).

Seliger: Administration; Criminal Justice (VC); International Relations & Trade; Natural Resources.

Shapiro: Administration; Education (C); Finance; Transportation & Homeland Security.

Shapleigh: Health & Human Services; Nominations; Transportation & Homeland Security; Veterans Affairs & Military Installations (VC); Subcommittee on Base Realignment & Closure (C).

Uresti: Administration (VC); Health & Human Services; International Relations & Trade; Natural Resources; Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Affairs & Coastal Resources.

Van de Putte: Business & Commerce; Education; State Affairs; Veterans Affairs & Military Installations (C).

Watson: Business & Commerce; Subcommittee on Emerging Technologies & Economic Development; Jurisprudence; Nominations; Transportation & Homeland Security (VC).

Wentworth: Administration; Intergovernmental Relations; Jurisprudence (C); Transportation & Homeland Security.

West: Education; Subcommittee on Higher Education; Finance; Health & Human Services; Intergovernmental Relations (C).

Whitmire: Administration; Criminal Justice (C); Finance; Government Organization.

Williams: Education; Subcommittee on Higher Education; Finance; State Affairs (VC); Transportation & Homeland Security.

Zaffirini: Administration; Education; Subcommittee on Higher Education (C); Finance (VC); Health & Human Services.

Political People and Their Moves

The Texas Senate's new Sergeant-at-arms is Rick DeLeon, who replaces Carleton Turner. The last guy had the job for 20 years.

Jeffrey Kloster, general manager and counsel at RunTex — that's an Austin sporting goods outfit — is joining the Texas Education Agency as associate commissioner for health and safety. That portfolio includes everything from childhood obesity to homeland security to campus safety. He was a government guy before he went to the private sector; one of his bosses was then-Rep. Rick Perry, D-Haskell.

TEA also named Lizzette Gonzalez Reynolds senior advisor on statewide initiatives, replacing Christi Martin, who resigned. Reynolds' most recent gig was with the U.S. Department of Education.

Recovering: Former Gov. Mark White, after having a cancerous kidney removed at Houston's M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. He's 66, and word is that the surgery was successful...

Rep. Rene Oliveira, D-Brownsville, after double-bypass surgery in Austin. The 51-year-old's surgery was also successful.

Quotes of the Week

Gov. Rick Perry, asked by the Associated Press about his national ambitions: "I have no interest in that. I am not interested in going to Washington, D.C., other than to the occasional meeting or to meet with a secretary or someone in the administration to help further Texas' business."

Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston, leaning over to Lakeway Church Senior Pastor Joel Osteen while the audience was applauding Gov. Rick Perry's "Imagine the Possibilities" inauguration speech: "Hey, Joel! You've got some competition!"

From a sermon by Catholic Bishop Charles Grahmann, quoted in The Dallas Morning News on strict anti-immigration laws adopted on one of that city's suburbs: "I often wonder if Joseph and Mary and Jesus would try to find a place in Farmers Branch. They would probably be told they would have to find another place."

Sen. Kevin Eltife, R-Tyler, in the Tyler Morning Telegraph on local school property tax cuts funded by the state: "I was concerned people were going to get their tax bills and they would be furious that there was no tax decrease. The first 17 cents wasn't even felt. I am in real estate, and I get tax bills. I don't think I got one tax bill that was less than the year before. We may not feel much of the next round, the 33 cents, either."

Rep. Wayne Smith, R-Baytown, telling the El Paso Times why he filed legislation making it a crime to miss a parent-teacher conference at school: "It's intent is not to raise money; it's solely to improve parental involvement."

Eric Hanushek, a researcher who also works at Stanford University, quoted in The Dallas Morning News on studies showing masters' degrees for teachers don't improve education for students they teach: "They're worthless. Case closed. Next question."

Another researcher — William Sanders, formerly of the University of Tennessee — in the same story: "I did one study that compared graduates from 40 different schools of education, everything from tiny no-names to national powerhouses. Each school produced great teachers, mediocre teachers and lousy teachers in roughly the same degree."

Former U.S. Rep. Ken Bentsen Jr., who now lives — mostly — in Washington, D.C., in the Houston Chronicle: "I think we are the only people in the United States who summer in Houston."

Former Rep. Ric Williamson, now chairman of the Texas Transportation Commission, on the Texas Legislature, in the San Antonio Express-News: "Those boys and girls pass the laws and we live with them and smile."

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Texas Weekly: Volume 23, Issue 29, 22 January 2007. Ross Ramsey, Editor. Copyright 2007 by Printing Production Systems, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission from the publisher is prohibited. One-year online subscription: $250. For information about your subscription, call (512) 302-5703 or email biz@texasweekly.com. For news, email ramsey@texasweekly.com, or call (512) 288-6598.

In Texas, other than lobbyists, the Speaker of the House is one of the most powerful people in the Texas Legislature. Next week a very important election will take place in Austin. The 150 (currently 149) members of the Texas House of Representatives will decide who will serve as its speaker for the 80th session.

A bona fide challenge to the current speaker, Rep. Tom Craddick, R-Midland is now underway. Without question, and win or lose, a new leader has emerged from the House chamber. Rep. Brian McCall, a conservative Republican from Plano, has stepped forward to challenge Mr. Craddick for the speaker's post. Simply by challenging Mr. Craddick, Mr. McCall has demonstrated a kind of leadership that has been lacking in the Texas House for too long.

Mr. McCall's challenge should in no way diminish the courage and leadership skills of Rep. Senfronia Thompson, D-Houston, who stepped forward months ago to take on Mr. Craddick. Needless to say, a Democrat is not going to be speaker in a Republican controlled House. Ms. Thompson showed even more political savvy and leadership last week when she withdrew form the race and pledged her support to Mr. McCall.

Rep. Jim Pitts, R-Waxahachie, has also decided to challenge Mr. Craddick. Apparently, both Mr. McCall and Mr. Pitts are held in high regard by their colleagues on both sides of the aisle. Both men would be a major improvement over Mr. Craddick. However, Rep. Pitts' decision to seek the speaker's chair came a day late and a dollar short. If the majority of the members want a new speaker, and that seems to be the case, Mr. Pitts should follow the lead of Rep. Thompson and throw his support to Mr. McCall.

Texas voters, frustrated for some time now with our legislators over any number of issues — inaction, allegations of corruption, ethical misconduct, extreme partisanship, and lack of leadership, to name just a few — made their voices heard loud and clear this past November. Although they will not be able to go to the polls on January 9, Texas voters can, if they choose, determine the outcome of this election as well. Texans who want to see a new speaker must phone, fax, write, e-mail, and when possible, visit with their representatives and demand that they vote not out of fear and not with an attitude of "what's in it for me," but what is best for all Texans.

Knowing that the number of Republicans in the House has dropped from 88 to 81 since Mr. Craddick became speaker in 2003, some Democrats think that one more session under Craddick's "my way or the highway" leadership style just might be enough to put the D's back in control of the House in 2008. That kind of thinking shows a lack of respect for the democratic process and diminishes the importance of the upcoming session.

The members' legitimate concern for retaliation appears to be the overriding factor that will determine who the next speaker will be. A prevailing view among political writers and apparently among many House members is that if the vote for speaker were done secretly, Mr. McCall would be the easy winner. Most of these individuals are calling for a secret ballot on January 9.

That is simply an easy way out. Members from both parties should follow the lead of Rep. McCall and be proud to make their votes public. What are we to think of an elected representative, one chosen to lead, who will vote one way on a secret ballot, but another way in public? Looking in the mirror has to be difficult. That is not leadership, at best it is CYA, and at worst it is cowardly.

House members must come clean now and make their intentions known. If they truly want to stay with Mr. Craddick, fine. If not, they should show some leadership, be true to themselves and those they represent. And whatever the consequences, they will have earned increased respect from their colleagues and constituents.

Ken Zornes lives in Austin, Texas. You can reach him at kzornes13@hotmail.com.

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Texas Weekly's Soapbox is a venue for opinions, spins, alternate takes, and other interesting stuff sent in by readers and others. We moderate submissions to keep crazy people out, and anonymous commentary is ineligible. Readers can respond (through the moderator) to things posted here. Got something to submit? We're interested in everything from full-blown opinion pieces to short bits to observations or tidbits that have escaped us and the mass media. One rule: Your name goes on your words. Call or send an email: Ross Ramsey, Editor, Texas Weekly, 512/288-6598, ramsey@texasweekly.com.

Appraisal reform and a proposed state budget go public on Tuesday... You can already hear distant rumblings of the 2008 legislative elections... the state dumps its Washington lobbyists... And the footprint of major media in Texas shrinks, again.

The appraisal reform task force will roll out its report Tuesday, and is showing its proposals around. No surprises are expected, but the board had a hard time voting out a recommendation for disclosing sales prices of real estate. Real estate agents and owners and developers have, in large part, never been crazy about that idea and the panel headed by Dallas lawyer Tom Pauken barely squeezed it out.

• Also coming Tuesday: The "base" budget, which is the starting point for the appropriations and finance committees that decide how much to spend on what over the next two years. The state has a larger-than-usual pile of available money to spend, with various claims on it coming from property tax cutters, budgeteers who'd like to stash some money away against a rainy day, advocates for various programs, and outside groups pushing for a tax rebate.

• Rep. Buddy West, R-Odessa, is already looking over his shoulder for the 2008 elections. There are stirrings in his part of the country after he voted against a procedural proposal favored by House Speaker Tom Craddick. That vote was widely seen (by him and others) as a vote for a change in the chamber's presiding officer. West voted for Craddick, a Midland Republican, and said he always intended to. But he said the other proposal would have given Craddick opponents a little cover for voting their minds, and he wanted to give them that. We've already heard one potential opponent mentioned: Kirk Edwards, who lost the state Senate race a few years ago to Sen. Kel Seliger, R-Amarillo.

• The state no longer requires the services of two Tom DeLay-connected lobbying outfits in Washington. Gov. Rick Perry told Democratic members of the state's congressional delegation that the two firms — subjects of much criticism from the left — have been terminated. Democrats have maintained the contracts were both expensive and useless to the state. And Perry is one of several state officials who have complained about the use of taxpayer money for lobbyists in Austin.

• Media Shrinkage: The Houston Chronicle is shuttering its bureaus in San Antonio and the Valley, leaving that turf to its sibling, the San Antonio Express-News. (The Laredo Morning Times is also a Hearst paper.) And People Magazine is closing its Austin bureau, where the reporter in residence is Bill Minutaglio, formerly of the Dallas Morning News Austin bureau.

State officials, spurred by folks outside government, are putting together a fund to invest $3 billion fighting cancer over the next ten years. They hope to make serious progress against the disease while also drawing experts and their programs and making Texas the epicenter of cancer research in the U.S.

It's similar in some ways to California's effort to become a center of stem cell research (and a more recently announced stem cell fund in New York). The Texas plan would focus on cancer and not stem cells. And in other ways, it's akin to existing state funds set up to encourage development of new technologies and businesses.

The effort began with Cathy Bonner of Austin and now includes a mess of people inside and outside government: Gov. Rick Perry, athlete and cancer survivor Lance Armstrong and his eponymous foundation, the Susan G. Komen Cancer Foundation, former Texas Comptroller John Sharp, and Dr. John Mendelsohn, the president of the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, and the guy who inspired Bonner to get it going with a speech he gave some time ago in New York.

They're in the early stages but have already signed up sponsors in the House and Senate, including Sens. Kirk Watson, D-Austin, Jane Nelson, R-Lewisville, and Florence Shapiro, R-Plano, and Reps. Jim Keffer, R-Eastland and Patrick Rose, D-Dripping Springs.

Most of those people were in the crowd at a lunch held in Austin to get the idea rolling (though they weren't doing a full unveiling for the public and didn't invite press).

The idea is to raise $3 billion, investing $300 million annually for ten years into research programs approved, probably, by both a committee of scientific experts and then a board with financial responsibilities for the fund. Details are unsettled, but here are some high points made, in each case, by more than one of the people we've talked with.

Projects would get multi-year funding up front, which gets them past an obstacle with other government programs that can pull out the rug in mid-project.

Results that produce income through licensing or patents or whatever could be tied to paying the state back for its original investment.

Universities and other institutions that could participate in the projects might get non-voting spots on the panels, but wouldn't be allowed decision-making power. That's apparently hindered the rollout of the California project on stem cells.

The fund would be able to "force collaborations" — to make otherwise competitive researchers who want funding to work together when that makes sense.

Funding could come from general obligation bonds, which would require approval from two-thirds of the House and Senate and then from the public. It could come from the currently swollen Rainy Day Fund, or from the state's tobacco settlement money, or from other unnamed sources. Bonds backed by tuition were approved by lawmakers last year, and the Rainy Day Fund has been tapped for other programs, like the state's Emerging Technology Fund.

Bonner said the idea came from California's stem cell fund and from a speech she heard Mendelsohn give. Both of her parents were cancer victims. She was a pal of former Gov. Ann Richards and said the two of them talked about public policy and cancer while Richards, who died last year, was fighting that disease. Bonner became convinced the disease needed a "Manhattan Project" approach, and met with Mendelsohn and Sharp and Armstrong (she was once a member of his foundation's board) to get it going.

Everyone else joined in quickly, she said, and now it'll go to the Legislature, where the details can be decided.

Gov. Rick Perry's Task Force on appraisals and property taxes is done; he and Tom Pauken, who chaired that panel, unveiled a package without any surprises.The task force would allow counties to add a half-cent to their sales taxes if the money was used to directly cut county property taxes. That would bring the sales tax rates up to as much as 8.75 percent — the current maximum is 8.25 percent — but it would lower property taxes at the same time. The discount would depend on the value of the property and the local tax rate. If you know what a county can raise with a one-half cent sales tax, and how much it gets through property taxes, you can back into a rough estimate for a given property. Task force members were slightly in favor of requiring disclosures of sales prices. Some real estate people don't want to give up that information (though doing so is common in other states), and there's some fear that disclosing prices without any other controls would simply contribute to inflation in the property tax rolls, a phenomenon called sales chasing. But with everything else in the mix, sales price disclosure is in. The state comptroller's leash on local values would have more slack in it. Right now, the state does a "property value study" to see whether local property appraisals are where they should be. If they're off by more than five percent — low or high — the comptroller makes the local appraisers adjust them. The task force wants to increase the allowed variance to 10 percent and wants the comptroller to check values every three years instead of every year. Cities and counties wouldn't be able to increase their incomes from property taxes by more than five percent per year without approval from their voters (there's a barb in the hook, too; the task force is recommending the tax election be held in conjunction with the elections of the local officials who want more money). They'd ban unfunded mandates from the state, where officials in Austin require locals to run programs without sending the money to cover the costs. The attorney general would decide whether something is a state mandate. The comptroller would determine the cost. And the Legislature could then either pay the price or turn the required program into a suggested one.

The Legislature's starting budget totals $147.6 billion, and the budgeteers started by talking away all but $2.5 billion of the $14.3 billion in new revenue.Legislative leaders unveiled their starting budget, a record-setter (each new one is) that proposes spending $147.6 billion over the next two years, and increases general revenue spending by $4.6 billion over the current budget. But the first news is that they want to take $11.8 billion off the table. Comptroller Susan Combs opened the money talk by saying the state would have $14.3 billion in new revenue. That got people drooling about how that might be used, and it made budgeteers nervous about the prospect of spending more than some of them want to spend. So they've whittled, saying $3.9 billion should be set aside to pay for local school property tax cuts in this budget and another $3 billion should be stowed for the same purpose in the 2010-11 budget (that's a tacit admission that the previous comptroller — Carole Keeton Strayhorn — was correct when she said last spring that the school finance package was way out of balance). Another $1.4 billion comes off the table as a result of moving some spending from one account to another, and a one-time payment of $1.4 billion undoes an accounting trick used last time the budget was out of whack (legislators moved payments from one fiscal year to the next to balance a budget that spent more than available and now they're moving it back). Reforms from the school finance bill will cost $1 billion, and expected population growth in Medicaid and public education and other programs will eat another $1.1 billion. Thought you were flush? That leaves $2.5 billion for a variety of things on the list, like prisons, the governor's border security plan, higher education and on and on and on. The starting budget is available on the Legislative Budget Board's website. (It's a big file!) From $14.3 billion to $2.5 billion in one chart:

Gov. Rick Perry's appraisal reforms don't have nearly the momentum of last year's school finance package, though both came out of task forces headed by political figures and comprised of business folks.

• There's no court order forcing lawmakers to work on property appraisals. School finance had a court-ordered deadline.

• This is a regular legislative session, with plenty of competing issues, and not a one-issue special session.

• The business community isn't as deeply involved in these changes. Companies have less at stake and it's hard to put dollar numbers to it this time.

• The members of the task force on taxes had more clout than the appraisal bunch. The tax task force was populated with big taxpayers and their ilk, the better to reach a consensus. The appraisal panel has more advocates of reform, and didn't include obvious opponents who might have been able to work compromises. Where the tax bills began their legislative ride with few (openly) mortal enemies, cities and counties, among others, have been attacking the appraisal package for months.

• The chair of the tax panel, former Comptroller John Sharp, has been around the Texas Legislature all his adult life, as an LBB analyst, a member of both the House and the Senate, a railroad commissioner and state comptroller. Tom Pauken, who headed the appraisal group, has long experience in politics, but little in working the gears of Texas government — or of the lobby.

• Last year's tax overhaul came pre-sold to most of the groups that might have been expected to oppose it. While the governor and Pauken were officially unveiling their report to reporters and others, opponents were outside the press conference passing out scads of paper in opposition.

• The upside's too quiet this time. The story of the business tax often ran second to the story of cuts in school property taxes. Elected officials were talking about the new tax, but they were yelling about the property tax cuts. Voters, if they wanted to, could actually calculate the effect of the cuts on their own housing costs. This time, the benefits are fuzzier. Local government spending would be curtailed, but it's hard to put a dollar amount on it. The recommendations include a potentially lower property tax, but only at the expense of higher sales taxes. And local officials are on TV talking about state efforts to cut city and county services. It's noisier out there, and harder to sell.

• It's easier to take credit for cutting taxes than for limiting growth of a part of the budgets — albeit, a big part — of city and county governments. A tax cut can be reduced to an actual dollar amount for each taxpayer. The latter requires the taxpayer to imagine what might have happened with no limits. The stakes appear different to voters, and thus to the people they elect.

Any attempt to judge our history by today's standards — out of the context from which it occurred — is at best problematic and at worst dishonest.

For example, consider the following quotes:

"So far from engaging in a war to perpetuate slavery, I am rejoiced that slavery is abolished."

" … there is a physical difference between the white and black races which I believe will forever forbid the two races living together on terms of social and political equality."

By today's standards, the person who made the first statement, Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, would be considered enlightened. The person who made the second, President Abraham Lincoln, would be considered a white supremacist.

Many believe the War Between the States was solely about slavery and the Confederacy is synonymous with racism. That conclusion is faulty, because the premise is inaccurate.

If slavery were the sole or even the predominant issue in sparking the Civil War, the following statement by Lincoln is puzzling: "My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union and it is not either to save or destroy slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing any slaves I would do it."

If preserving slavery was the South's sole motive for waging war, why did Lee free his slaves before the war began? In 1856, he said slavery was " … a moral and political evil in any country ... "

Why was Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation effective in 1863, rather than when the war started in 1861? And why did it free only the slaves in the Confederacy and not in Northern or border states?

If slavery was the only reason for the Civil War, how do you explain Texas Gov. Sam Houston's support for the Union and support for the institution of slavery? In light of the fact that 90 percent of Confederate soldiers owned no slaves, is it logical to assume they would have put their own lives at risk so that slave-owning Southern aristocrats could continue their privileged status?

There are few simple and concise answers to these questions. One answer, however, is that most Southerners' allegiance was to their sovereign states first and the Union second. They believed states freely joined the Union without coercion and were free to leave the Union at will. You could say they really believed in the 10th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, the "powers not delegated" clause. They believed the federal government should be responsible for the common defense, a postal service and little else. They viewed the Union Army as an invader, not an emancipator.

I am not attempting to trivialize slavery. It is a dark chapter in our history, North and South alike.

However, I am a proud Southerner and a proud descendent of Confederate soldiers. I honor their service because, to me, it represents the sacrifice of life and livelihood that Southerners made for a cause more important to them than their personal security and self-interest.

While I'm aware of the genocidal war conducted by my country against the American Indian, I'm still a proud American. And while I'm also aware of the atrocities that occurred at My Lai, I am proud of my service as a U.S. Marine in Vietnam.

If the Confederate flag represented slavery, then the U.S. flag must represent slavery even more so. Slavery existed for four years under the Stars and Bars and for almost 100 years under the Stars and Stripes. If the few hundred members of racist groups such as the Ku Klux Klan want to adopt the Confederate flag as their symbol, over the objections of millions of Southerners, should we believe it has been corrupted for all time? Since the KKK has adopted the cross for its burnings, should churches across the country remove this symbol of Christian faith from all places of worship? Should we diminish the service of the Buffalo Soldiers (Black U.S. cavalry troopers of the late 1800s), since those soldiers were an integral part of a war that subjugated and enslaved a whole race of people, the American Plains Indians?

No. We should not surrender the Confederate flag or the cross to the racists, and we should not tear down the monuments. Retroactive cleansing of history is doomed to failure because it is, at heart, a lie. We should memorialize and commemorate all of our soldiers who served honorably — those who wore blue or gray or served as Buffalo Soldiers — whether or not we completely support their actions in today's enlightened world.

 

JERRY PATTERSON is the 27th Texas Land Commissioner and a member of Sons of Confederate Veterans. As a state senator, he sponsored legislation establishing the Juneteenth Commission for the purpose of funding a Juneteenth monument on the Capitol Grounds.

 

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Texas Weekly's Soapbox is a venue for opinions, spins, alternate takes, and other interesting stuff sent in by readers and others. We moderate submissions to keep crazy people out, and anonymous commentary is ineligible. Readers can respond (through the moderator) to things posted here. Got something to submit? We're interested in everything from full-blown opinion pieces to short bits to observations or tidbits that have escaped us and the mass media. One rule: Your name goes on your words. Call or send an email: Ross Ramsey, Editor, Texas Weekly, 512/288-6598, ramsey@texasweekly.com.

The Texas Senate's new Sergeant-at-arms is Rick DeLeon, who replaces Carleton Turner. The last guy had the job for 20 years.

Jeffrey Kloster, general manager and counsel at RunTex — that's an Austin sporting goods outfit — is joining the Texas Education Agency as associate commissioner for health and safety. That portfolio includes everything from childhood obesity to homeland security to campus safety. He was a government guy before he went to the private sector; one of his bosses was then-Rep. Rick Perry, D-Haskell.

TEA also named Lizzette Gonzalez Reynolds senior advisor on statewide initiatives, replacing Christi Martin, who resigned. Reynolds' most recent gig was with the U.S. Department of Education.

Recovering: Former Gov. Mark White, after having a cancerous kidney removed at Houston's M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. He's 66, and word is that the surgery was successful...

Rep. Rene Oliveira, D-Brownsville, after double-bypass surgery in Austin. The 51-year-old's surgery was also successful.

Just a week after announcing he was a candidate for a liver transplant, state Sen. Mario Gallegos, D-Houston, got a new organ and is recovering from surgery.

A statement issued by his office Monday morning says he had the surgery Friday night and is in good condition.

It included a statement from his doctor, Dr. Joseph Galati:

"After Senator Gallegos' liver transplant was completed late Friday evening, he was making the progress we would have anticipated over the weekend, and this morning is resting comfortably in stable condition. As we had expected, the surgery went well, without complications.

"Given that Senator Gallegos was just subjected to a major surgical procedure 48 hours ago, I am pleased with his progress so far.

"Senator Gallegos has not received special treatment, nor did he need any; organs are allocated on rigid criteria based on medical need. He is fortunate that a compatible organ became available.

"Assuming unanticipated complications do not arise, I would project that Senator Gallegos can expect a smooth recovery, and that this procedure will be a very good next step in his recovery."

Gallegos has asked Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst not to schedule close-fought votes while he's out, a request that spurred speculation that his absence could affect Senate business for the entire legislative session. He said in that earlier announcement that his recovery from then-unscheduled surgery would take about three weeks.

But that's not the problem now that it might have been. With his surgery coming so early in the session, it's less likely that he'll have to miss much of importance during the legislative session. Lawmakers can't debate anything but emergency issues during the first 60 days of the 140-day session, and if all goes well, he'll be back at work well before that period is over.

Drop the other shoe: Gov. Rick Perry officially announced his expected appointment of H.S. "Buddy" Garcia to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. Garcia's a former Senate and Perry staffer who, until now, was the assistant Texas Secretary of State.

Gene Fondren, the former legislator and retired head of the Texas Automobile Dealers Association, will be "of counsel" to the Hilgers Bell & Richards law firm. He'll be working with car dealers around the U.S. on legal needs and regulatory work, when they need it.

Former assistant U.S. Attorney Eric Nichols joins the Texas attorney general's office as deputy AG for criminal justice. He was most recently in private practice at Houston-based Beck Redden & Secrest.

The moves are at least partly a response to the departure of Ed Burbach, who left his post as litigation chief for AG Greg Abbott to join the Gardere Wynne Sewell law firm, where he'll head litigation for the Austin office. David Morales was moved into the post of deputy AG for civil litigation, Burbach's job.

And Abbott rearranged his org chart, making Casey Hoffman, who'd been deputy AG for families and children, the executive first assistant AG. Alicia Key got a promotion to deputy AG for child support. Jeff Rose, the deputy first assistant, will add three litigation departments to his portfolio. Abbott left the rest of his top folks in place after starting his second four-year term.

Janelle Collier, general counsel for the Sunset Advisory Commission, is leaving that agency after five years to become committee director and general counsel for the Senate Jurisprudence Committee.

To the governor's press office, add two new deputy press secretaries: Katherine Cesinger, an LSU grad who's been an assistant in that office for two years... And Krista Moody, who worked in Florida for Gov. Jeb Bush and for that state's health and human services agency.

This ought to kill the theory in the lobby that Rep. Jim Pitts, R-Waxahachie, was a stalking horse for House Speaker Tom Craddick.Craddick punished his challengers when making his committee assignments, according to the challenger who made it to the end. Pitts, the former chairman of the budget-writing House Appropriations Committee, said Craddick chose "retribution over reconcilation" and declared himself disappointed. As evidence, he offered his committee preference card, saying the difference between what he sought and what he got illustrates his complaint.

That's what he requested. Craddick named him vice chairman of the Government Reform committee and put him on the tax-writing Ways & Means panel. Both are on his sheet, though they weren't his first picks. "Speaker Craddick had an opportunity to prove us wrong — to prove to us that he had heard the concerns about his leadership style and his tactics of retaliation and intimidation. I believe that he missed that opportunity with his committee assignments," Pitts said in a press release. Alexis DeLee, Craddick's spokeswoman, said Pitts isn't telling the truth. "Rep. Pitts met and talked with Speaker Craddick several times about his committee assignments," she said, also in a press release. "Speaker Craddick offered Rep. Pitts a seat on the Appropriations Committee. Rep. Pitts declined that offer. His statements to the contrary are not an accurate reflection of the exchanges between the two of them."