Six weeks left. It's getting busy.

The governor is all over national TV talking about sovereignty and federal spending and stirring up the voters he hopes will come out next year and give him another term in office. He's also stirring up the opposition and effectively starting up the 2010 race for governor. Mark your calendar.

The Texas Senate is cranking out bills at something like its normal rate, sending hostages over to the House to wait in line behind House bills that haven't yet come up for a vote.

And the House is hitting stride, finally, popping out a supplemental appropriations bill that swells the current budget by $3.3 billion and setting the table for the 2010-11 budget.

Every session is weird in its own way. This time, it's been the lack of momentum, urgency, speed or whatever you want to call it.

For some, the argument over the state budget has come down to a provision prohibiting the use of public money for stem cell research. And others aim to cut the use of state money for family planning providers — in particular, Planned Parenthood affiliates.

The budget's got it all, though, and there's something for everyone to fight over: Unemployment insurance, highways, welfare, gambling proceeds, Rainy Day Funds, college funding, public education and textbook money, and on and on for $178.4 billion, or 903 pages, depending on how you'd like to count it. House members pre-filed 452 amendments, and set aside all of Friday and, if needed, the rest of the weekend to slog through it.

The rules: You can't add money unless you subtract at least as much. And you can't move money from one major section of the budget to another, say, from Education to Public Safety & Criminal Justice. Next stop: Settling almost $4 billion in differences between the House and Senate versions (the Senate's budget came in at $182.2 billion).

Tea, Con Carne

It was the kind of event Ron Paul supporters dream of having.

More than 1,000 conservatives of differing stripes showed up at Austin City Hall for the first of two "tea party" protests scheduled in the state's capital. Similar events were taking place in about 600 cities across America. Attendees toted an assortment of signs (more than a few recycled from Paul's run for President last year) against and for various causes, but one message summed up the sentiment of the crowd: "Big Gov't Sucks." (One man told us, "If you're not a right-wing extremist, you should be ashamed of yourself.")

A string of speakers — including incumbent Gov. Rick Perry and U.S. Senate explorer Michael Williams — skewered federal pork and dished out red meat.

Dressed as if he had just gotten back from a fishing trip, or a seminar on populism, a ball-capped, light-jacketed Perry greeted the crowd as "true patriots," championed the economic accomplishments of Texas and disparaged "the folks in D.C. rampaging through the halls of Congress." He signed off with the signature valediction of former Democratic Lt. Gov. Bob Bullock, "God bless Texas."

Perry's message at the rally (the first of three he was scheduled to attend across the state) could presage an argument in his GOP primary contest against U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, assuming she runs. Perry's involvement in the tea parties is an example of his efforts to consolidate the conservative base of the Texas GOP and tap into an anti-Washington sentiment now in vogue among Republicans, says former Hutchison aide Matt Mackowiak, now a political consultant who assures us he doesn't have a dog in the Perry-Hutchison fight.

"He's obviously trying to align himself as much as possible with the positive energy at the tea parties," Mackowiak says. "But I don't see him appearing at a rally one day in April having much impact on an election on one day in March next year."

Texans for Fiscal Responsibility's Michael Quinn Sullivan, one of the event organizers, says Perry is brandishing his ideological guns.

"I can't help but think in some ways that the Governor has done something politicians are not supposed to do. He has stepped out and drawn a line in the sand, and said, 'These are the things I stand by and judge my terms by them,'" Sullivan said.

Hutchison, meanwhile, donned her writer's cap with an op-ed letter in the Austin American-Statesman touting her efforts in office to rein in the Democratic-controlled U.S. Legislature. That letter is indicative of the sort of message Hutchison will try to communicate in the next year, Mackowiak said.

The Perry-Hutchison matchup will probably be one of politics versus personality, he said, predicting that Perry will corner the conservative wing of the GOP, while Hutchison's strength will be in attracting moderate voters to cast their lots in the open primary.

Texas Democrats, whose gubernatorial contenders now include 2006 independent Kinky Friedman, were paying attention to Perry. Party chair Boyd Richie sent out a statement calling him hypocritical for posturing against federal spending while accepting billions in stimulus dollars. Additionally, Perry's rejection of $556 million in unemployment insurance funds would force a tax increase on small businesses, Richie said.

"If tea party attendees want to talk about "tax and spenders," they ought to be protesting against Rick Perry," Richie said.

Rep. Dan Gattis, R-Georgetown, disagrees with that characterization, saying, "I have to applaud Gov. Perry. From the beginning, he was an early critic of stimulus funds and bailouts coming out of Washington, D.C."

Gattis attended the Austin event because he believes in the cause, he said.

"The federal system has run amok. That is one of the reasons I joint-authored HCR 50 [reaffirming Texas' sovereignty under the 10th Amendment]," Gattis said.

There is "some immorality" to the idea of passing on the cost of the federal stimulus to subsequent generations of taxpayers, he said. "There is not a special money tree in Washington."

Railroad Commissioner Williams was a big hit. Crowd members booed on cue when he dropped names like George Soros, Michael Moore and ACORN. They cheered when he referred to God and Abraham Lincoln.

He lashed out at President Barack Obama, saying, "The President said he was for hope and change. I just hope he changes."

Williams also criticized the federal government: "The fact is, Washington, there would be no tea parties if you weren't spending like it's a bachelor party."

Now that the tea parties are over, what are attendees going to do? "That is the question," Sullivan said. "Getting together for a rally is fun, but the point has got to be continued engagement," he said.

Toward that end, Sullivan, Perry and Americans for Prosperity Texas director Peggy Venable urged crowd members to sign up via text message to receive more information.

One of the remarkable things about the tea parties is that no single entity was in charge of them, Sullivan said. The morning protest in Austin was the product of collaboration among TFR, Venable's group, the Young Conservatives of Texas, the Texas Libertarian Party and others. The Texas GOP got involved late, and they gladly welcomed its participation, he said.

"The crowd was excited about being positive about who we are in Texas, instead of just being against Washington," Sullivan said.

Things in Motion

The governor wants to turn down $556 million in Unemployment Insurance money from the federal government, but the Senate doesn't see it that way. That chamber voted 22-9 to "modernize" unemployment to meet federal stimulus guidelines to get that money. Opponents fear the state will get locked into a more expensive UI program. The feds have said the state can change back when the money runs out, but the Guv and others doubt the state would go backwards once a more generous program has been put in place. Sen. Kevin Eltife, R-Tyler, and other supporters say the federal money will reduce the assessments on business for the insurance program and is well worth the $70 million to $80 million the changes add to the annual costs. All of the Senate's Democrats voted for the bill (one more vote is required to move it along); Republicans were split 10-9 in favor of it.

• The Supreme Court has revisited its controversial ruling in Entergy v. Summers — a worker's compensation case. And there are signs the Lege doesn't like the way that went. The House Business & Industry Committee voted unanimously for HB 1657, which would rewrite that law to make it clear that premises owners don't share the liability protections given to contractors who have worker's comp insurance.

• The Senate voted to "local option funding" to build local roads and that's on the way to the House. The 21-9 vote on Sen. John Carona's bill would allow local option gas taxes of up to 10 cents per gallon, and/or fees on vehicle registrations (including a new "road impact fee"), parking on government property, vehicle emissions, and driver's licenses. None of those things could take effect without a public vote in the affected areas. The locals would be barred from collecting more than they needed to pay for the projects they choose, and would have to stop collecting the taxes or fees once the projects were completed. The push for the bill started in the Dallas-Fort Worth area — Carona's home court — but would apply elsewhere as well. A constitutional amendment that would allow the money to go to road and rail projects — Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth, carried that one — also passed. If the House likes that one, voters will have the final say.

• The Senate okayed starting a new state law school in Dallas four miles from the private one at Southern Methodist University. If the measure passes, and gets funded by the appropriators, there will be a University of North Texas at Dallas College of Law in that city's downtown.

• The People of Tort are warring over an asbestos/mesothelioma bill approved by the Senate. Short form: It changes the legal standards for linking asbestos in a product to the disease in a plaintiff. Labor and trial lawyers support the changes; the Texas Civil Justice League and Texans for Lawsuit Reform oppose them. That's on the way to the House. That tentatively passed in the Senate and has to pass one more hurdle before it moves on to the House.

• Mark Homer's HJR 53, which would replace the attorney general with the agriculture commissioner on the Legislative Redistricting Board, is out of committee and on the way to the full House. That's the five-member panel that draws political districts if the Legislature locks up and can't do so itself. Attorney General Greg Abbott declined invitations to testify on Voter ID legislation earlier in the session, reasoning that he might have to defend the state later and should stay off the playing field to avoid conflicts. Homer, a Paris Democrat, and Sen. Robert Duncan, R-Lubbock, say he should stay out of redistricting for the same reason. The Lege will attempt to draw new congressional, Senate and House districts during its next regular session, which will follow the 2010 national census. The LRB currently includes the AG, the lieutenant governor, the speaker of the House, the comptroller and the land commissioner. All five (and the ag commissioner, too) are Republicans.

• An ambitious and expensive pre-kindergarten bill that was languishing in spite of its adornments — more than 90 co-authors are signed on — is out of committee and on its way. Nobody seems to be against it, really, but two objections have slowed it. It's got a $300 million annual price tag. And while it would send money into the public schools, it would come with strings attached. School districts would rather have the money without the strings, so they can use it as they please instead of for a new program.

• And a bill finally reached the governor for approval, more than 90 days into the 140-day session. Worse yet, it was one of the "emergency" bills Perry designated for consideration early in the session. The bill would allow utilities to raise rates through the Public Utility Commission to rebuild what they lost in last year's hurricanes.

Things at Rest

Gambling is easy to bet against this session, but there's a very interesting spreadsheet floating around — the bones of the omnibus gaming bill promised by Rep. Edmund Kuempel, R-Seguin.

It's not in bill form, as far as we know, but the highlights would include casino gaming allowed in six major markets and on three island locations, with licensing fees of up to $50 million per casino. They'd be taxed at five to 15 percent — higher rates for smaller developments and lower rates for big ones, to encourage economic development.

Video Lottery Terminals — called VLTs in the industry and slot machines by the rest of us — would be allowed in horse and dog tracks and in places now licensed for bingo. That last bit means VFW rooms and churches could get up to five VLTs for each license held. Elsewhere, VLTs would be based on the square footage given to gaming in a given location.

Gaming would be allowed in properties owned by the state's three Indian tribes: the Alabama-Coushattas, the Kickapoos, and the Tiguas (though concerns about the Tigua governor's rap sheet have raised political questions about gaming there). And gambling purses would be set at 12 percent and allowed to drop only after Texas surpassed total gambling in other states.

That said, it's difficult to find lawmakers — sponsors, even — who'll bet much on getting the two-thirds votes needed to pass a constitutional amendment expanding gambling.

Political Notes

If Texas passes a Voter ID bill, it'll have to be approved by the U.S. Department of Justice or a federal court under the Voting Rights Act. Texas is one of several states covered because of a history of racial discrimination, and has to have federal approval when it changes its election laws. The Texas branch of the ACLU asked the feds whether they'd have a say, and got a letter back saying it would have to be cleared like any other change.

• Move Kinky Friedman from the "considering" square to the "exploring" square. He's looking at a second run for governor in 2010, this time as a Democrat. And he says he's serious this time, though he still wants to be funny (his letter is here). Friedman finished fourth in 2006, behind Rick Perry, Chris Bell, and Carole Keeton Strayhorn, running as an independent. This time, he says his heroes have always been Democrats, and says he'll support the Democratic nominee, whoever that turns out to be. Right now, he and Fort Worth businessman/lawyer/ambassador Tom Schieffer are the two names in the Democratic column. Friedman's treasurer is Abel Dominguez, a San Antonio attorney who helped in Democrat Victor Morales' campaign for U.S. Senate in 1996. And Friedman says he's getting advice from former Texas Agriculture Commissioner Jim Hightower.

• Railroad Commissioner and prospective U.S. Senate candidate Michael Williams has a list of 1,600 people he says are supporting his bid to replace Kay Bailey Hutchison when she resigns or her term is up. A few names you might recognize: Ernie Angelo Jr. of Midland, Merrie Spaeth of Dallas, and Richard Collins of Dallas. Add a few who can't vote but support him anyway: Newt Gingrich, Rudy Giuliani, Lynn Swann, and J.C. Watts.

• The details aren't available yet, but look at the totals: Former Comptroller John Sharp raised $2.5 million "in cash and loans" during the first three months of the year and Houston Mayor Bill White raised $1.8 million during that period.

Sharp wasn't dragging the sack until January; if you add in White's December numbers, they're about even: White's at $2.6 million to Sharp's $2.5 million. And it's not clear how much of Sharp's account is from supporters and how much is from loans. In the end, it's the total that matters; but at this point, it's important to know who's got supporters and who's got a checkbook.

The money might be accumulating, but there's no race yet. The two Democrats have their eye on the U.S. Senate position occupied by Republican Kay Bailey Hutchison, who has her eye on the governor's post occupied by Rick Perry.

Mirror, Mirror

A new poll says Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst is better known than former Comptroller John Sharp, who in turn is better known than Houston Mayor Bill White.

That survey, done by Global Strategy Group — a New York-based consulting and polling firm that has several Democratic and corporate clients — doesn't include any head-to-head results in a hypothetical race for U.S. Senate (at least none were released). But it tried to get a read on the "familiarity" of each candidate to voters. And incidentally, it was released to the press a couple of days in advance of the deadline for candidate campaign finance reports, a more reliable measure of how the competition is developing.

And the pollsters shanked White, saying he "appears to be a one-market candidate" who is better known than Dewhurst or Sharp in Houston but falls behind them everywhere else. They also tested some negative ideas about White and Sharp and conclude that White's the more vulnerable to attack.

Dewhurst, familiar to 55 percent of the voters surveyed, topped the list. Sharp got 41 percent, and White got 30 percent. The rest of the list: U.S. Rep. Kay Granger, R-Fort Worth, 25 percent; state Sen. Florence Shapiro, R-Plano, 25 percent; Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert, 23 percent; Railroad Commissioners Michael Williams and Elizabeth Ames Jones, 11 percent and 8 percent, respectively; and former Texas Secretary of State Roger Williams, 9 percent. Granger has endorsed Roger Williams for that spot, should it open up.

Give Shapiro points for best spin, putting this headline on the results: "SHAPIRO HAS HIGHEST NAME ID AMONG ANNOUNCED GOP CANDIDATES." Dewhurst, see, hasn't said what he'll do.

The current occupant is Kay Bailey Hutchison, who's looking hard at a race for governor against fellow Republican Rick Perry.

Pollster Jef Pollock didn't return calls seeking comment. The survey was done March 30-April 1, included 603 "randomly selected voters" and has a margin of error of +/-4.0 percent.

Political People and Their Moves

U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton is leaving that post to pursue a job he hasn't named in the private sector. He was George W. Bush's criminal justice wiz in the Guv's office, then worked for Bush in Washington before winning the prosecution appointment here in Texas. Sutton was pilloried by conservatives for prosecuting a couple of rogue Border Patrol agents who shot a suspect and tried to hide the evidence and cover up the incident. In another case, Sutton helped send former Texas Attorney General Dan Morales to prison for a variety of financial crimes.

Mark Sanders is back on Carole Keeton Strayhorn's payroll, this time for the last month of her campaign for mayor of Austin. She's been mayor before — from 1977 to 1983 — and now that she's been a state insurance commissioner, railroad commissioner, comptroller, and (third-place) candidate for governor, she's making another run at the muni level. Sanders, a political consultant for nearly 20 years, was her primary political advisor for the last few years, hadn't been involved in the mayoral race until now.

James Huffines is the new chairman of the University of Texas System's board of regents. His colleagues elected him to replace Scott Caven Jr. of Houston; this is the second time since he came on the board in 2003 that he'll serve as chair.

Victor Alcorta now has a door with his own name on it. Alcorta — former policy director for Gov. Rick Perry and general counsel in the Secretary of State's office — has been at Thompson and Knight for seven years. The new shop is called the Alcorta Law Firm.

Former Public Utility Commissioner Karl Rabago has landed at Austin Energy — the city-owned electric utility in the capital. His portfolio includes "energy efficiency, climate, green buildings, key accounts, market research, and advanced vehicle initiatives."

The Fort Worth-based Eppstein Group won six "Silver Pollies" for political advertising and design, from the American Association of Political Consultants. That's that industry's version of the Oscars. The company (which entered under that name but has since reformed into four separate divisions) won for work for the Tarrant Regional Water District, the Texas Farm Bureau, Dallas Water Utilities, and for a wet-dry election in Mesquite. They also got three honorable mentions.

Deaths: Michael Heskett, who ran the state and local records division at the Texas State Library and Archives for years, of cancer. He was 64.

Quotes of the Week

Gov. Rick Perry, on federal stimuli, states rights, and secession, quoted by the Associated Press: "There's a lot of different scenarios. We've got a great union. There's absolutely no reason to dissolve it. But if Washington continues to thumb their nose at the American people, you know, who knows what might come out of that. But Texas is a very unique place, and we're a pretty independent lot to boot."

Democrat Tom Schieffer, currently exploring a gubernatorial bid against Perry: "Talk of secession would be laughable if it weren't mentioned in a serious way. Texas certainly can't withdraw from the world. We can't withdraw from America. We can't roll up into a ball and pretend problems don't exist. This is not the time to build walls between Texas and the world. This is the time to find workable solutions to the problems we face."

Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston, on the same subject: "Talking about state's rights, the oppressive hand of the federal government and secession brings up some pretty bad memories in this state. It was not all that long ago that those were the exact words used by those who opposed desegregation and the civil rights movement. The top elected official in the second largest state with our history simply cannot be so loose with his comments. He's not a radio or cable TV talk show host."

Rep. Harvey Hilderbran, R-Kerrville, on the slow pace of the session, in the Houston Chronicle: "We had a record number of bills introduced. That's the bad news. The good news is that probably a record number of them will fail."

Former U.S. Ambassador Tony Garza, asked by Texas Monthly what he'd do if Kay Bailey Hutchison resigned her seat and Gov. Rick Perry wanted to appoint Garza: "My response would be, 'Rick, I live in Mexico City. It seems like an odd place to choose a U.S. senator from.'"

Sen. Kip Averitt, R-Waco, on political squabbling at the State Board of Education, quoted in the Austin American-Statesman: "All I hear is that the Republicans want to push their religious views into the curriculum, and the Democrats want to teach our children how to masturbate."

SBOE member Pat Hardy, R-Fort Worth, on legislation that would strip the board of power, quoted in The Wall Street Journal: "As crazy as the Texas Board of Education is, there are just as many crazies, percentage-wise, in the state Legislature."

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Texas Weekly: Volume 26, Issue 15, 20 April 2009. Ross Ramsey, Editor. Copyright 2009 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.

Perry talked to reporters about unemployment insurance stimulus money (he doesn't like it and thinks it would raise taxes, but won't talk veto), secession (he's not for it and has some words for Jay Leno), the budget (he thinks "it's pretty good work" and discounts veto rumors), windstorm insurance and his own budget ("groundhog day").

The Texas Senate bucked the governor, voting out a bill that would change the state's Unemployment Insurance program in order to attract $556 million in federal stimulus funds.

Gov. Rick Perry opposes those changes, calling them strings that he fears will remain in place when the federal money is gone. Federal officials have said, in writing, that the state can change its UI program later, reverting to the current system when that money is gone. But they can't include an automatic reversion now. Perry and others fear the Legislature would never go back once it had made the benefits available to people who aren't eligible now.

The issue doesn't break on party lines, though all of the 'no' votes came from Republicans (GOP senators, however, split their votes). Some agree with the Guv. Others say the federal money lowers by $556 million the deficit taxes Texas employers will have to pay to keep the UI system going in a recession. The Texas Association of Business and the Texas wing of the National Federation for Independent Business are with Perry on this one; the Texas AFL-CIO, among others, thinks the state should make the changes and take the money.

The changes in eligibility will cost the state an estimated $70 million to $80 million annually, and the bill by Sen. Kevin Eltife, R-Tyler, would create a commission to study the system to recommend any future changes. That's the means for a reversion to what's there now — or an overhaul in a few years.

• The next skirmish for the People of Tort will be in the House; the Senate approved an asbestos claims bill supported by labor officials and trial lawyers and opposed by businesses that want to limit lawsuits. The bill in question — authored by Sen. Robert Duncan, R-Lubbock, changes the standard for linking a cancer called mesothelioma to asbestos products. Texans for Lawsuit Reform and the Texas Civil Justice League say Duncan's bill makes it easier for victims to win those lawsuits; the Texas AFL-CIO and the Texas Trial Lawyers Association support the bill and say Duncan's proposed standard is fairer than the current one.

Rick Perry made at taxpayer rallies last week. Perry says he doesn't think Texas ought to secede, but brought it up himself during post-speech interviews with reporters last week. And Sharp manages to join Perry's swipe at Washington while stepping away from the secession talk. The ad's up on the Internet; it's not clear that it's running as a paid commercial anywhere.

Tax Day tea party protests swept the nation and the blogosphere. Bloggers are also talking about Gov. Rick Perry's flirtation with Texas secession, bills that have cleared at least one chamber and legislation that hasn't made it yet. Wrapping it up are speculations on next year's elections and other posts.

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Mad Hattery

Tea party attendance was about 750,000 nationwide, says Travis Monitor. In Austin, Urban Grounds says at least 2,000 people showed up for the morning party at City Hall, while Patriot Writer says 5,000 folks went to Austin's afternoon tea party.

Blue Dot Blues has video of herself speaking at the Austin tea party. KVUE's Political Junkie got her hands on the tea party speech by Texas GOP Chair Tina Benkiser. And Travis Monitor has a report from Austin and also posts photos from other cities' events.

Lone Star Times reports 8,532 names on sign-in sheets at the Houston rally, where they took pictures, too. Greg's Opinion also has pics from Houston, and Texas Sparkle has an aerial shot of the rally here. Half Empty went to a rally in the next town over, Sugar Land (more here).

Brazosport News attended a party in Oklahoma City and took photos. "It was, by and large, a gray-headed crowd. Very polite," the blogger says. WhosPlayin shot about an hour of video of the Lewisville party. And Panhandle Truth Squad has photos from the Amarillo tea party here and here.

Walker Report has images from San Antonio. Refuse the Juice reports that about 1,500 people attended the El Paso tea party, and Texas Fred puts up a poster advertising the tea party in Rowlett, Texas.

Travis Monitor has five ideas for the future of the tea party movement, and Pondering Penguin reflects on the tea parties and where to go from there.

The Houston Chronicle's Texas on the Potomac has video of U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul having tea and a guest blog by U.S. Rep. Pete Sessions about the "grassroots revolt."

Daily Kos was not pleased with the party goers. Texas Kaos says, "this is not revolution. This is frustration..."

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Secede Section

Texans for Rick Perry followed their boss man to rallies in the DFW Metroplex, here, here, here and here. Postcards, the Austin American-Statesman's blog, has Perry talking Texas independence on video after the Austin tea party. Junkie has a transcript of an exchange between Perry and the Capitol press corps, where Perry denies saying he wants Texas to leave the union.

"There is little doubt that Perry is serious about seceding from the union. My guess is he's grown tired of fighting it out for last place with Mississippi," says Sen. Eliot Shapleigh, D-El Paso, sound bite courtesy NewspaperTree Blog. Blue Dot Blues ponders over the question of whether Texas really can secede or not. Meanwhile, Pondering Penguin "hope[s] the governor chooses his words a bit more carefully next time."

"He is smart enough to know that it is completely asinine and stupid, but apparently still thinks exploiting this intellectually handicapped segment of the population will prove beneficial at election time," Rhetoric & Rhythm says. Bay Area Houston says GOP voters won't choose U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison as their nominee for Governor because she's pro-choice (though she would disagree with that label). Breaking with her boss, In the Pink doesn't think Perry has a good shot at the 2012 GOP Presidential nomination. She posts a video of Perry talking tea, anyway.

Perry received more than 4,000 messages about unemployment insurance stimulus funds, reports the Houston Chronicle's Texas Politics, which has them all in .pdf format. They also posts negative responses to Perry from Texas Democrats, including one who wants Perry's job.

Click here for the wrapup of late night jokes about Texas secession, via Junkie. Meanwhile, Burka accuses the Governor of showing favoritism toward his alma mater Texas A&M. He's also calling for the Lege to abolish Perry's emerging technology fund.

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Chamber Made

Junkie pens a congratulatory letter to Senate Bill 769, the first bill to make it past the Lege and Gov. Perry this year. Burnt Orange Report has more information.

Rep. Ryan Guillen, D-Rio Grande City, has gotten seven bills out of the House and 24 more out of committee, he says on his El Wiri Wiri Blog. And Tex Parte Blog says the Senate passed a bill to create a Dallas law school, noting that South Texas has neither a law school nor medical school.

It took the House almost all night to consider more than 250 budget amendments. NewspaperTree Blog goes over them in 30 seconds. Capitol Annex live-blogged the debate until about 1 in the morning, here and here, and also looks at the 15 record votes House members took.

El Paso's state reps went 0-for-2 in budget amendment attempts, reports NewspaperTree Blog. And Burka is asking readers to choose their own House conference committees on the budget.

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On Queue

Bay Area Houston previews HB 1821, which would close Texas' primaries. He also live-blogs a Senate committee hearing on HB 2696, concerning mandatory binding arbitration. Meanwhile, Pollabear filmed a rally at UT against campus carry legislation HB 1893 and videoed a House press conference on energy efficiency.

Texas Blue checks out HB 2084 by Rep. Phil King, R-Weatherford, called the Texas Parental Rights Restoration Act. And Tex Parte writes about HB 1657, addressing the Texas Supreme Court's decision on the Entergy case, which passed out of the House Business and Industry Committee.

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Extra Extra

Off the Kuff speculates on possible statewide Democratic candidates in 2010. Annex does the same. Burnt Orange is excited about campaign finance reports in the U.S. Senate race. And KUT's Notes from the Lege says, "He's Baaaaack...," in reference to Kinky Friedman, a Democratic candidate for Governor. (Annex thinks he's terrible.)

Watchdog hired two new freelancers whom Houston-area readers might already be familiar with. And more than 21,000 people applied for their Rep. Betty Brown-approved name, says creator Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer, D-San Antonio, on his Poli-Tex blog.

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This edition of Out There was compiled and written by Patrick Brendel, who hails from Victoria but is semi-settled in Austin. We cherry-pick the state's political blogs each week, looking for news, info, gossip, and new jokes. The opinions here belong (mostly) to the bloggers, and we're including their links so you can hunt them down if you wish. Our blogroll — the list of Texas blogs we watch — is on our links page, and if you know of a Texas political blog that ought to be on it, just shoot us a note. Please send comments, suggestions, gripes or retorts to Texas Weekly editor Ross Ramsey.

Some personal injury lawyers' commitment to the proverb, "if at first you don't succeed, try, try again," is apparently paying off. In a shocking vote, the Texas Senate passed a personal injury lawyer sweetheart deal that will allow asbestos lawsuits that require virtually no proof of who caused an asbestos illness. The shakedown asbestos bill is just the latest in some personal injury lawyers' relentless pursuit to find new ways to sue and to circumvent laws to keep junk science out of our courts.

If the asbestos bill becomes law, it would undermine successful 2005 asbestos litigation reforms that are helping truly injured people receive swift and fair compensation and largely rid our courts of bogus asbestos cases based on junk science. In the "bad old days," inventive personal injury lawyers sponsored mobile screening vans and filed lawsuits for anyone who "tested positive" for asbestos illness. Not surprisingly, nine out of 10 claims examined were based on "wrong" conclusions by the lawyers' X-ray technicians, according to a Johns Hopkins University study. A federal judge in Corpus Christi exposed further abuse when she tossed out more than 10,000 silicosis lawsuits explaining the bogus diagnoses had been "manufactured for money."

The "bad old days" of asbestos lawsuit abuse ended in 2005 when reforms established objective medical criteria and expedited the cases of the truly sick. The reforms struck the proper balance of fairness by ensuring that sick people's cases are heard first while preserving the right of people who were exposed to asbestos but who are not sick to file their case later should they become ill. The current law is working to keep junk science out of our courts and to provide efficient and generous compensation for the truly injured; typically between $1.4 million and $4 million per case.

But now the "bad old days" are threatening a comeback. Personal injury lawyers pushed this bill to open the floodgates for yet another onslaught of asbestos cases based on flimsy — or even non-existent — evidence. Senate Bill 1123 (and its companion House Bill 1811) would allow for lawsuits with virtually no proof required that a defendant caused an asbestos-related injury. The bill sets the level of proof so low that even incidental, brief exposure to a small amount of asbestos would be enough to find a business liable regardless of whether the amount of exposure was enough to cause harm. With the bill approved by the Senate, it's up to the House to stand up for common sense and standards.

Just as reforms from 2005 established medical criteria to determine which plaintiffs are actually ill, Texas must have standards to establish who is at fault for the illness. SB 1123/HB 1811 would do away with such "causation" standards. Essentially, any business that ever had any product that contained any asbestos on the premises could be found liable for the illness — regardless if the amount was enough to cause harm.

People who have been injured deserve compensation and that requires actual, solid proof that a specific person or business caused the injury. A shakedown of peripheral players with little to no dealings with asbestos will only foster asbestos lawsuit abuse. Many businesses — both big corporations and small businesses like auto repair shops— are at risk. Since so little evidence would be necessary under SB 1123/HB 1811, businesses would be forced to settle regardless of liability because they can't afford the cost of a lawsuit and the threat of unlimited damages. Forced settlements and abusive lawsuits ultimately costs jobs by siphoning resources away from a company's payroll. Now is hardly the time to jeopardize more jobs in this economic crisis.

The personal injury lawyers' motive to expand asbestos litigation is simple: Now that reforms have clamped down on junk science asbestos lawsuits, personal injury lawyers are looking to expand the pot of money up for grabs by suing anyone, even if they're not at a fault. SB 1123 and HB 1811 pave the way for a resurrection of the kind of lawsuit abuse that once made Texas infamous. Lawyers may try and try again to find new ways to line their pockets but Texas lawmakers would be wise to ensure they don't succeed on their watch.

Chip Hough is chairman of Bay Area Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse, and managing partner with Basic Industries of South Texas, which operates in South Texas, Corpus Christi and San Antonio.

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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.

I recently found myself unexpectedly at the center of a national controversy.I testified at a hearing held by the Texas House Elections Committee on a bill that would impose significant restrictions on the identification voters must provide at the polls. Numerous studies have shown that such legislation disenfranchises minority, low-income, and elderly voters and voters with disabilities. Asian Americans encountered particular problems voting in 2008 in states with such laws, such as Florida, but because no one had testified on how the legislation would impact Asian American voters, I signed up to speak at the hearing.

Little did I expect that two days later, stories about questions State Rep. Betty Brown asked me regarding Asian names would be blasted by media nationwide. Since then, when asked how I felt about Rep. Brown's remarks, I said I found it jarring, but just because some people may have limited experience with another culture, it doesn't necessarily mean they're racist. Though I can only speak for myself, I believe she may have been trying, in her own uninformed way, to address some of the issues I raised in my testimony.

However, Rep. Brown should carefully rethink her image of who is and isn't an American, because her comments indicate that certain assumptions, even when innocent, can lead to real and damaging consequences. For example, I am still bothered by the continued lack of understanding about how Voter ID legislation will deprive many Asian Americans of the right to vote. As I stated in my testimony, Asian Americans often encounter problems voting in states with ID laws because of mismatches between the name on the required ID and the voter rolls.

Many Asian Americans adopt "anglicized" names such as John or Mary for convenience, which may also be the names used on their drivers licenses, but not the voter rolls. Other Asian Americans who choose to transliterate their Chinese, Japanese, or Korean names into the Roman alphabet encounter problems because the unfamiliarity of the structure and spelling of such names leads to errors in government records or because the voter has changed the transliteration over time based on what works better for others.

Rep. Brown's comments imply that she believes these problems could be solved by coming up with an easier way to transliterate Asian names. Others have suggested that if Asian American voters are using multiple names, then some restriction should be imposed.

These arguments miss the point. Many of those who work with immigrants already advise people to be consistent in the name they use on different documentation, but we still have millions of naturalized citizens who already have this problem. Not everyone has the luxury of an expensive attorney or the ability to find free resources to help new immigrants learn and navigate the path to naturalized citizenship, and few people understand the full legal significance of every piece of paper from day one.

Not long ago, before 9/11 and the Information Age, identification wasn't as central to American life. Unlike many foreign countries where citizens are tracked cradle to grave, Americans took pride in our freedom from Big Brother's "papers." That's why many Americans still oppose a national ID card, and many didn't give paperwork and record-keeping much thought. Many Americans will discover plenty of discrepancies they never bothered to check or correct if they go back through their records, such as maiden or married name changes.

Finally, and most importantly, existing Texas election law already requires voters to prove their identity by using a voter registration card or another form of ID. A few typos and clerical errors notwithstanding, there is no firm evidence of voter impersonation. However, legislators like Betty Brown want to impose far-reaching, radical changes to the way we vote while glossing over major unintended consequences by blithely telling voters like me that we should just come up with some way to "make it easier," even if that affects our names. Other problems will affect the elderly, the poor, and others if this legislation passes. But the Voter ID advocates, driven by a political agenda, imply that those problems are our fault for wanting to vote, and our fault if we lose the right to vote.

Ramey Ko is a member of the OCA-Greater Houston Chapter; founded in 1973 as the Organization of Chinese Americans, OCA is now a national organization dedicated to advancing the social, political, and economic well-being of Asian Pacific Americans.

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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.

After the tempest over Gov. Rick Perry's comments on secession (he brought it up without advocating it, but said you never know what Texans might do if they're not treated right by the federal government), Texas House Democrats ordered some t-shirts to commemorate the event.

Neither of the two members of the Texas Railroad Commission looking hungrily at a possible opening in the U.S. Senate is up for election next year. Not now, they're not.Both Elizabeth Ames Jones and Michael Williams can concentrate their political attention on their respective efforts to succeed Kay Bailey Hutchison when she leaves office. Jones isn't on the ballot until 2012, and Williams' term runs through 2014. But all that could change. Replacing the three commissioners with one — elected every four years — is on its way to the full House. It would require a constitutional amendment that would be on the ballot as early as November. And that could demand political attention from Jones and Williams. On the other hand, it could provide a public platform for a couple of state officials seeking wider attention and recognition. Rep. David Farabee, D-Wichita Falls, is the sponsor; it's out of committee waiting for a spot on the calendar. Another bill, by Rep. Tommy Merritt, R-Longview, would prohibit commissioners from running for office during their term at RRC. That one's still in committee waiting for a vote.

Dewhurst wants to bring his own wine. Sharp wants to be his sommelier.The Senate Administration Committee veered from its normal duties to take up a liquor bill — approving a proposal (SB 2523) that would allow people to take their own wine into restaurants that already sell wine, to pay a corkage fee and to take whatever's left in their bottle home with them at the end of the evening. That's an extremely local issue, at least for now: Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst told senators he'd like to be able to take his own wines into local joints whose cellars don't include his favorites. The Lite Guv's staff says the bill was requested by the Texas Restaurant Association. The sponsor, Sen. Tommy Williams, R-The Woodlands, feigns ignorance about all of that. But after word of the bill got out — the Associated Press was the first to report it — one of Dewhurst's former opponents — Democrat John Sharp — sent a bottle of wine to his office. It's probably not the wine Dewhurst had in mind, though.

John Carona wants Texas Transportation Commissioners to answer to the Legislature every two years.The Republican senator from Dallas has a bill headed for the local and uncontested calendar (SB 1351) that would replace the commissioners' current six-year, staggered terms with two-year terms. And the terms would end on February 1 of odd-numbered years — while the Legislature is in session. All five commissioners would come up for Senate approval at the same time.

Check your rearview mirror.

Here, Gov. Rick Perry, raising the specter of secession without actually advocating it, raising his profile inside and outside these sovereign borders.

There, the Texas House — the Fight Club of Texas government — doing everything but roasting s'mores and singing "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" around the campfire.

All the while, the Senate was chugging away, ambitiously passing dozens of bills and sending them to an uncertain fate in the molasses factory on the other side of the building.

That was some piece of road. And the trip's not over.

House and Senate conferees — as soon as they are named — will start their budget parley. The House is banging away on real legislation now after weeks of relative peace and quiet and a remarkably slow pace.

The 19-hour debate on the budget gave members and their leaders their first real look at how the various factions line up, and on what issues. When they split on straight party lines, it'll be something close to a tie. That's been apparent since November. Other fault lines are just now starting to show. It's too early to lock this down, but when the House splits on lines of power (as opposed to party, or something else), the outties have 55 to 60 votes. The harmony during the budget debate — borne of a mutual pact to drop amendments that had fatal procedural flaws — helped members avoid partisan warfare and skirmishes left over from the speaker race at the first of the session.

Now look ahead.

Sunset legislation for the Texas Department of Insurance could be a battleground. The Senate passed its version after a series of 18-12 party-line votes (Chris Harris, R-Arlington, was out sick), without Republicans fending off Democratic amendments that would have, among other things, created an elected insurance commissioner and given state regulators more oversight over rates. Several House members ran on those issues, and the House numbers are closer than those in the upper chamber.

The Texas Department of Transportation's Sunset bill is in there, too, with toll roads and Spanish engineers and funding shortages and so on.

College tuition, admission, and weaponry, local transportation taxes and fees and projects, public school accountability, property tax reforms, franchise tax adjustments, eminent domain, clean air, windstorm insurance... all of that is still ahead as the final month approaches.

Keep Monday, May 11, in mind. That's the last day, in practical terms, that a House committee can report out a House bill or resolution and have any hope of success. That date also marks the beginning of a series of deadlines that dot the last three weeks of the session.

Sharon Keller goes on the grill next week, when a House committee considers a resolution calling for her impeachment. Keller is the presiding judge on the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, and will face questions about turning away a death penalty appeal that came in after the 5 p.m. deadline. The inmate was executed a few hours later. The State Commission on Judicial Conduct will hold hearings this summer on the episode. The House will do it on Monday.

• A Senate committee approved an eminent domain bill similar to one vetoed by the governor two years ago. That legislation from Sen. Craig Estes, R-Wichita Falls, restricts government use of eminent domain for economic development (private sector) reasons. Agriculture groups, among others, have been pushing for it since a U.S. Supreme Court decision a few years ago. In his veto message two years ago, Rick Perry said that version created new causes of action for lawyers to pursue.

• Cities and counties are gearing up for the latest property tax battle. They oppose a bill that would set up automatic rollback elections when local governments raise taxes more than five percent. In current law, those elections are triggered when the rates rise more than eight percent and enough citizens sign a petition to force the rollback election. Sen. Dan Patrick, R-Houston, got his bill out of committee this week.

The House, meanwhile, wants the state comptroller to test local appraisal values less frequently. The comptroller does an annual study to try to make sure local property values are properly set, since those values are tied to school taxes and the state's funding for public schools is based on how much money comes in from local property taxes. Rep. John Otto, R-Dayton, and others say the state's annual study drives up values and forces tax increases on local property owners. He wants the state to review the local numbers every two years instead of annually. And it would allow more variance between the state and local opinions on property value. Right now, a district that's off by more than five percent gets corrected. Under Otto's bill, they'd be allowed to be off by up to ten percent in either direction.

• Unless leprechauns leave pots of gold laying around, the Texas Department of Transportation will have to forego maintenance to keep up with spending on new roads. The agency, in a friendly letter to the Senate (which asked for it), spells out the financial box it's in: Maintenance is already underfunded. Federal funding is only semi-reliable. Fuel taxes don't produce enough money to build the roads on the books. And state revenues aren't big enough to support the sale of all of the bonds voters have approved. The agency could have a $275 million difference between its plans for 2009 and 2010 and what's actually available.

• Vice President Joe Biden plans fundraising stops in Austin and Houston next week and will also visit the National Domestic Violence Hotline Center in Austin on that trip.

Roger Williams picked up endorsements from Don Powell, an Amarillo banker and fellow George W. Bush supporter who headed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. in the Bush Administration. Williams, who wants Kay Bailey Hutchison's job when she gives it up, also got nods from some former NFL Players: Cowboys Bob Lilly and Rayfield Wright, and Norm Bulaich, a TCU grad who played for Baltimore, Philadelphia, and Miami.

Dr. Alfred Gilman, a Nobel laureate at UT Southwestern Medical School in Dallas, will be the chief scientific officer of the state's new cancer research program. The school will be without a dean quickly; he plans to start the new job next month.

Laura Taylor is the new associate commissioner for accreditation at the Texas Education Agency. She's been at TEA for 16 years, and has been acting in her new job since November.

Gov. Rick Perry appointed three new members to the Texas Medical Board, and reappointed four more. The new members are Dr. Patrick Crocker of Austin, Houston attorney John Ellis Jr., and Dr. Wayne Snoots of Dallas. Reappointed: David Baucom of Sulphur Springs, Dr. Manuel Guajardo of Brownsville, Dr. Allan Shulkin of Dallas, and Houston attorney Timothy Turner.

Newbie: Genevieve Elizabeth Willett, born last week to Tiffany and [Supreme Court Justice] Don Willett. She's 7 lbs. 9 oz. Everyone's healthy.

The budgeteers from the upper chamber will be Republicans Steve Ogden of Bryan, Florence Shapiro of Plano, and Tommy Williams of The Woodlands, and Democrats Juan "Chuy" Hinojosa of McAllen and Royce West of Dallas. The five from the House haven't been named.