Check your rear view 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), with 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.

Labor Day in the Senate

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.

"Ronald Reagan said that there's nothing more permanent than a temporary government program. I think that is a very wise statement and I will stand by that," Perry said.

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.

And Perry, while solidly against taking the money, pulls up short when you ask if he'll veto the bill: "Oh that's so far down the road. I think we've got a lot of debating and discussing to do."

• 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.

Texas Unemployment Rises Again

Unemployment rose to 6.7 percent in March in Texas, up from 6.5 percent in February and up from 4.6 percent in March 2008. The Texas Workforce Commission said 47,100 people lost their jobs in March, bringing the net job losses in Texas over the last 12 months to 106,500. Construction and manufacturing led the losses. The state gained jobs in trade, transportation and utilities, and in financial services. The lowest unemployment rate in the state was 4.3 percent, in Midland. The highest was in McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, at 9.5 percent.

Secede?

One in six Texans thinks it's a good idea, according to Rasmussen Reports.

In a new survey, the pollster found that 31 percent of Texans think the state has the right to take its basketball and go home, but that 75 percent think Texas should remain part of the United States.

The quickie survey was inspired by Gov. Rick Perry's comments at an anti-government "Tea Party" rally in Austin. Perry, as quoted by the Associated Press: "Texas is a unique place. When we came into the union in 1845, one of the issues was that we would be able to leave if we decided to do that. My hope is that America and Washington in particular pays attention. 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, who knows what may come of that."

Perry isn't backing off his main idea — that the feds are overreaching and that Washington (where his next opponent works) is screwing things up. But he says he's not promoting divorce, and isn't paying attention to the comics who found material in his comments: "I don't think Texas is going to secede. I don't think that we should.... Leno makes his own jokes and a lot of time, makes them up. I would suggest to you that they can make jokes about Texas. We'll continue to take their jobs."

The pollsters also took a peak at the coming race for governor (at least on the GOP side). Perry is viewed favorably by 55 percent of the voters. U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison is viewed favorably by 67 percent. Republicans like both of them, the survey said: Perry got 78 percent, Hutchison 83 percent.

Sharp Ad: Secession is "radical, anti-American"

Former Comptroller John Sharp used the secession uproar as the subject of his first ad, available, apparently, only on the Internet.

The text: "During World War II, my father was shot in defense of the greatest country on Earth. And I proudly wore the uniform of a United States Army Reserve officer. So I'm offended when it becomes acceptable for anybody to talk about Texas leaving the Union. I'm running for the United States Senate because we need mainstream, common sense leadership to clean up the mess in Washington, D.C. — not a bunch of radical, anti-American rhetoric. I'm John Sharp, and you bet I approve this message."

The former comptroller isn't mentioning anyone by name, but the issue arose from comments Gov. 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.

He Likes It?

After 18 hours of debate and consideration of 225 amendments, the Texas House unanimously approved a $178.4 billion budget that's almost $4 billion smaller than one passed earlier by the Senate. They finished at about 4 o'clock Saturday morning. Next play: A conference committee to reconcile the two bills. The House voted down amendments on merit pay for teachers and publicly funded vouchers for private schools. And they added some things. The governor would lose money in the Texas Enterprise Fund if he decides not to take federal stimulus money for Unemployment Insurance. They voted to slash the governor's budget and use the money for veterans and the mentally ill.

Even so, the governor said lawmakers are on the right track. "Pretty good budget work, actually," Perry said. "Looking at it from 35,000 feet, I think they're some budgets we can work with it. Left to my own devices, I might have crafted them a little bit different."

He dismissed rumors that he's considering a veto of the budget with a special session to follow. That gossip was widespread a few weeks ago and persists today. " How many sessions have we been here? Since '85? Okay, how many times have we heard that statement, 'That's veto bait?' So, I'm sure there are people that are saying that, but again, I put that in the highly inflammable rumor category."

The House-Senate conference committee will have ten people on it, although the Senate asked — for the second session that we know of — to increase the numbers and have seven people from each side. On that issue, they'll use the House's number. Five each.

Don't Look Back

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.

Regular Job Reviews

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.

Flotsam & Jetsam

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.

• 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.

Something to Wet Your Whistle?

David Dewhurst wants to bring his own wine. John 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. 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 Sharp — sent some wine to his office. It's probably not the wine Dewhurst had in mind, though. He sent a note along with it.

House Democrats Spoof the Guv

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.

Political People and Their Moves

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.

Quotes of the Week

Rep. Richard Raymond, D-Laredo, during the budget debate: "That's the headline: Two days after governor says we ought to secede, House zeroes out the governor's budget."

Former Appropriations Chairman Warren Chisum, R-Pampa, commenting on the budget debate in the San Antonio Express-News: "There's a new sheriff in town. And it ain't us."

Gov. Rick Perry, on the pace this year: "I'm always frustrated with the speed of important issues, but that's how this place works. It goes through a sometimes cumbersome, sometimes frustratingly slow process, but we've still got 40 days left of the legislative session. That's plenty of time. I feel like Groundhog Day, answering the questions, because if you think about it, we always get down here to the last 40, 45 days of the session and 'Well, are we going to get anything done?' and it seems like we always do."

Sen. Joan Huffman, R-Houston, arguing that an asbestos litigation bill would burden business, quoted by Texas Monthly: "Dow Chemical pays over a billion dollars... to help support our schools. Business has been good to Texas."

Rep. Jodie Laubenberg, R-Parker, trying to stop efforts to regulate teen use of tanning beds: "You're really going to change Friday night lights at the football game for all these cheerleaders and drill team girls."

Senate Nominations Chairman Mike Jackson, R-La Porte, on the thin support for Don McLeroy's appointment to be chairman of the State Board of Education, quoted in the Houston Chronicle: "It's my preference, if that is going to be the case, that we don't bring him forward. There's no sense in doing that."

Democratic consultant Jason Stanford, quoted in the Houston Chronicle on two of his party's gubernatorial hopefuls, Tom Schieffer and Kinky Friedman: "We've got two white guys collecting Social Security who say they like George W. Bush."

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Texas Weekly: Volume 26, Issue 16, 27 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.

Democrat Barbara Ann Radnofsky, a Houston attorney who ran unsuccessfully against Kay Bailey Hutchison in the 2006 race for U.S. Senate, filed papers to run for attorney general next year. And she's got a couple of fundraisers coming up in Austin and Houston. She's the first Democrat to actually enter the thing. Former Travis County DA Ronnie Earle told the Austin American-Statesman that he might run, and a number of Republicans are looking, on the assumption that AG Greg Abbott won't seek a third term. His former solicitor general, Ted Cruz, is the only active candidate on that side at this point. And he says he won't run if Abbott does.

Gov. Rick Perry issued a statewide disaster declaration for swine flu, saying it'll let Texas tap government funds and also extend its emergency plans if the disease spreads.Sixteen of the 91 confirmed cases in the U.S. are in Texas, as well as the only death in the country — a 22-month-old from Mexico City died in Houston. Perry preached calm in spite of the higher warning levels and he and other state officials said they'll issue updates as needed. The latest information about the flu is available here: U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Texas Department of State Health Services.

For good or ill, Gov. Rick Perry's secession-related comments have set the tone early for his reelection campaign, at least in the blogosphere. Bloggers are also remembering other candidates in 2010, keeping tabs on legislation and impugning certain Texans' grasp of science. At the end, there are posts on the clash between old and new media, plus other topics, too.

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Yell Leader

A pair of former Kay Bailey Hutchison staffers split over whether Perry's secession talk was good politics or not, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram's PoliTex. "Perry's comment (in reality, little more than a failure to refute) tapped into a deep-seated frustration among libertarian and ultra-conservative activists, and has put him solidly back into the game. But at what cost?" asks Letters From Texas.

Perry's people are pushing a video clip of Fox News' Sean Hannity seemingly endorsing Perry over U.S. Sen. Hutchison, via Rick vs. Kay.

Nearly two-thirds of Texans support Gov. Perry's rejection of unemployment insurance funds, according to a survey by the Tower Institute (a conservative thinktank) cited by Blue Dot Blues (a conservative blog).

A reader calls BurkaBlog to the carpet over a January 1975 issue of Texas Monthly that talked about a sovereign Republic of Texas. (The article was satirical.) In the comments, Burka goes on a tangent and disses local politics: "The mayor's race is for Burnt Orange [Report] readers. I do not care about Austin city politics. It makes no difference about who holds office. It's always the same nutty policies, making the world safe for bicyclists, paying more for electricity so we can say we're green, putting the tender eardrums of downtown residents above live music, and so on," Burka says.

The Austin American-Statesman's Postcards advertises a happy hour with Democrat Tom Schieffer (who maybe'll run for Governor) May 8 at an Austin beer garden. Meanwhile, former Democratic U.S. Rep. Martin Frost weighs in on Schieffer and the Democrats' chances in 2009, via Texas on the Potomac, the Houston Chronicle's blog.

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Racing Stripes

Texas Watchdog is seeking information about the relationship between Houston Mayor (and potential U.S. Senate hopeful) Bill White and developer Marvy Finger — information White doesn't want Watchdog to have. Meanwhile, U.S. Senate candidate John Sharp's campaign has launched its own social networking site, SharpSenator.com, Capitol Annex reports. And the Houston Chronicle's Texas Politics uploads Sharp's fundraising reports and says that preliminary analysis indicates that many of Sharp's former supporters are now backing White.

Rumor has it Republican Dee Margo might run again in 2010 against freshman Rep. Joe Moody, D-El Paso, according to NewspaperTree Blog. (Margo defeated then-incumbent Pat Haggerty in the GOP primary.) Meanwhile, the Dallas Morning News's Trail Blazers posts campaign cash on hand for the North Texas congressional delegation.

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Floor Exercise

KUT's Notes from the Lege has video of Rep. Bryan Hughes, R-Mineola, talking about his idea to accelerate House action by lumping together noncontroversial bills. In another post, the same blogger wonders, "Maybe this body's got some life in it yet in what many are calling a "Do Nothing" session."

The Big Beer lobby is busting up pro-microbrew legislation, Watchdog reports, while Blogabear breaks down legislation by Rep. Ruth Jones McClendon, D-San Antonio, that "seeks to put muscle on [the Texas Residential Construction Commission's] set of bones." And Bay Area Houston looks at some bills concerned with electricity deregulation.

Conservative Republicans "bushwhacked" SB 315 by Sen. Jeff Wentworth, R-San Antonio, establishing a bipartisan congressional redistricting committee, Postcards reports. Wentworth called for a vote when several senators were absent but failed to pass the bill by one vote. He blamed the failure on Sen. Robert Deuell, R-Greenville, according to the blog.

Click here for the "LFT Sin Legislation Search Engine," by Letters from Texas. A Keyboard and a .45 looks at gun-related legislation here and here. And Rep. Solomon Ortiz Jr., D-Corpus Christi, appears on a Burnt Orange video praising the House's efforts to pass a budget , while Half Empty analyzes education reform bills HB 3 and SB 3.

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Sci-onaro

Annex liveblogged the nomination hearing for State Board of Education chair (and creationist) Don McLeroy. TFN Insider was also there. And Sen. Eliot Shapleigh, D-El Paso, excoriates McLeroy, according to NewspaperTree.

Burka doesn't see a big shakeup at the SBOE, even with McElroy gone: "Everyone expects [Gov. Perry]'ll appoint another conservative, just after the Legislature adjourns sine die, so there won't be a nominations committee review until 2011. Don't expect a big shake-up at the SBOE," he says.

WhosPlayin? gives U.S. Rep. Joe Barton, R-Ennis, its Texas Dim Bulb Award after viewing a YouTube video being passed around that shows Barton querying a Nobel Prize winner. Annex gets in on it, mocking Barton's understanding of science.

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Potpourri

Brazosport News gives props to Houston Chronicle science writer Eric Berger for nearly securing his paper a Pulitzer Prize. Burnt Orange lays out a dust up between blogger mean rachel and Austin Chronicle reporter Wells Dunbar. And Blog maverick (by Dallas Mavs owner Mark Cuban) marks his fifth anniversary blogging by reflecting on old media: "now 5 years later, my writings about newspapers have evolved from my annoyance with them, to my hope that they will survive," he says.

Anti Corruption Republican hears word of a movie about jailed lobbyist Jack Abramoff featuring former House Republican Majority Leader Tom DeLay, played by one Spencer Garrett. Potomac launched a new feature called "Texas delegation in depth." Their first subjects: U.S. Rep. Ron Paul and U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee.

One Texas city that doesn't have to worry about its road projects being nixed is El Paso, hometown of House Transportation chair Joe Pickett, according to the El Paso Times's Vaqueros & Wonkeros blog. But someone who does have to worry about uninvited correspondence is Lance Armstrong, who accidentally leaked his email address out to his 700,000 followers on Twitter.

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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.

It took more than ten days for the feds to put it online, but the campaign finance reports for all of the U.S. Senate wannabes from Texas are now available in all their gory detail.

The headliner is John Sharp, the Democrat who announced his fundraising prowess a couple of weeks ago without mentioning that 80 percent of his campaign money came from his personal bank account. Sharp's loans to his campaign total $2,001,678, according to his report with the Federal Election Commission. And he spent some more of his own money — $23,000 — directly on consultants and services, his report says.

It all spends the same, however, and Sharp ended the first quarter of the year with more cash on hand than anyone else on the list. Including only the folks who have expressed interest in Kay Bailey Hutchison's Senate seat, the cash list is: Sharp, $2,432,675; Houston Mayor Bill White, Democrat, $2,131,638; former Secretary of State Roger Williams, Republican, $388,628; Sen. Florence Shapiro, Republican, $310,407; Railroad Commissioner Elizabeth Ames Jones, Republican, $164,662; and Railroad Commissioner Michael Williams, $113,957.

Roger Williams got more than half his money — $200,501 — from himself, but he's second to Sharp in the loan column. White smoked everyone else in contributions, gathering $1,876,163 during the first three months of the year. Sharp, at around $500,000, was second. White also spend the most, at $472,119; nobody else spend more than $100,000

By the way, the delay of the reports — Sharp's in particular — apparently took place in the U.S. Senate. He mailed his report on April 15, the due date. The Secretary of the Senate didn't send the report on to the FEC until April 21. That agency posted it over the weekend.

Last week the governor of Texas ignited a media firestorm for his remarks involving the idea of secession.He did not call for Texas to secede from the United States. He merely pointed out that the federal government is treading heavily on the sovereignty of the states and that this cannot continue indefinitely without a breaking point. The reaction to Governor Perry’s statements has been nothing short of hysterical. He has been called treasonous for making this obvious point and opening up a discussion. I am not calling for secession either, however there is nothing wrong with a healthy and open discussion of this issue. America was born from an act of secession. When King George’s rule trampled on the rights of the colonies, we successfully seceded from England. It took a war, but we were well within our rights. We applauded when former soviet states seceded from the USSR and declared their sovereignty. And hopefully the United States will eventually secede from the United Nations. We pay most of the bills of the UN, yet do not have the commensurate votes, so someday we will wake up and realize that membership, for these and other reasons, does not serve our interests. On a personal level, contracts you enter into can be terminated if one side unilaterally changes the terms. If a credit card company jacks up your interest rate, you have every right to fulfill your obligations and close the account. Imagine if you were forced to stay with a credit card company forever no matter what just because you previously signed up! The principle of self-determination applies to political unions as well. In the cases I mentioned above, governing organizations transformed into much more overbearing entities than originally agreed upon. Several state constitutions originally had clauses explicitly allowing them to opt out of the Union down the road if they so chose. I doubt our country would have ever come together if this were not the case. Just because the north successfully kept the union together by force with the Civil War does not mean that enslaving the states is a legitimate alternative. Secession is the last resort of states whose sovereignty is over-ridden by an overreaching federal government. The federal government has only itself to blame for this talk. Recently, some states have enacted laws allowing for the medicinal use of marijuana, yet these laws are basically voided by the continuing raids by the DEA, sanctioned by the administration. The federal government is also strong-arming states with stimulus money, forcing them to expand programs they know they will not be able to afford in the future, at a time when many states’ budgets are already in the red. This is not a new problem. No Child Left Behind burdened the states’ education systems and forced them through many hoops designed by federal bureaucrats in distant Washington DC rather than allowing communities to tailor education to their children’s unique needs. There are numerous other examples of the erosion of state sovereignty and many governors are frustrated, not just ours in Texas. Without the right to secede, state’s rights are meaningless. A republican form of government should also be as close to the people as possible, which means the decisions of local governing bodies must be respected. Where the decisions of local governments are disregarded, the voice of the people is also disregarded. The more that happens, the more frustrated and angry the people will become. Ron Paul, R-Surfside, represents the 14th Congressional District in Texas.

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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 budgeteers from the lower chamber will be Republicans Jim Pitts of Waxahachie, John Otto of Dayton, John Zerwas of Houston; and Democrats Ruth Jones McClendon of San Antonio, and Richard Raymond of Laredo. Waco Democrat Jim Dunnam got the House to require its conferees to meet with the Senate only in public, posted meetings. The Senators in that parley were named last week: 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.

A pack of House Republicans wants a Voter ID bill that doesn't include any extras, sweeteners, or concessions.Most of the lower chamber's Republicans — 51 of 76 — signed a statement saying they want Voter ID legislation that has four elements. Quoting from their statement:

"Our principles concerning what the bill must contain are clear, this bill must: • Ensure a valid photo identification is needed to vote • Take effect at the next possible uniform election date • Be free of any registration requirements such as same day voter registration that dilutes the intent of the bill, which is ensuring fair and accurate elections. • Increase criminal penalties for voter fraud and registration We are all strongly encouraging Chairman Todd Smith and the other Representatives on the Elections Committee to present a bill which protects the integrity of the electoral process, is fully implemented at the next possible uniform election date and ensures a reasonable period of advanced registration to allow voter registrars the time to protect the integrity of the registration process as well."

Rep. Todd Smith, R-Euless, says the bill could be up for a committee on Thursday. Smith, who chairs the Elections Committee, expects to circulate a draft version before then. And he says that could include a bypass for the photo ID that would allow voters to provide two other accepted documents in lieu of a picture ID; and phasing in the law over the next four years (two election cycles). He won't include same-day voter registration, though that could appear as an amendment (likely from the Democrats) if and when the Voter ID bill reaches the full House. That could happen as early as next week. The signers: Jimmy Don Aycock, Charles Anderson, Leo Berman, Angie Chen Button, Betty Brown, Fred Brown, William Callegari, Wayne Christian, Warren Chisum, Joe Crabb, Tom Craddick, Brandon Creighton, Myra Crownover, John Davis, Joe Driver, Gary Elkins, Allen Fletcher, Dan Flynn, Charlie Geren, Dan Gattis, Kelly Hancock, Patricia Harless, Will Hartnett, Linda Harper-Brown, Brian Hughes, Todd Hunter, Carl Isett, Jim Jackson, Phil King, Tim Kleinschmidt, Jodie Laubenberg, Ken Legler, Tryon Lewis, Jerry Madden, Doug Miller, Geanie Morrison, Rob Orr, John Otto, Tan Parker, Larry Phillips, Debbie Riddle, Ralph Sheffield, Mark Shelton, Wayne Smith, Burt Solomons, David Swinford, Larry Taylor, Vicki Truitt, Randy Weber, Beverly Woolley, and John Zerwas. The statement was issued more or less simultaneously by the Republican Party of Texas and the Texas House Republican Caucus.

Quick take on Arlen Specter's switch to the Democratic Party:

He'd be the 59th Democrat in the U.S. Senate. If Al Franken ever beats Norm Coleman in Minnesota (the recount from the November election remains unsettled, with Franken in the lead and the courts, at this point, on his side), he'd been the 60th Democrat. That's the magic number in the U.S. Senate: 60 senators are what's needed to squelch the filibusters that give a minority its clout.

So? Until all that falls into place, the Republicans have been clutching every vote they've got, including that of Texan Kay Bailey Hutchison. She wants to run for governor and talked about resigning late last year. But the numbers made a case against risking the Texas seat to a Democrat. She stayed. But she could still resign later this year — there's talk of that inside and outside her camp — to focus on the state race. If Franken prevails after the Spector switch, hers would be an insurance vote instead of a critical one, and she'd be free to quit to pursue the next paragraph on her resume. It could all have a short life: Hutchison and Spector will be on their states' ballots at the same time (whether she quits the Senate or not) and the numbers could easily change in the November 2010 election.

The federal Voting Rights Act was challenged in the U.S. Supreme Court today, where justices heard arguments in a case that started in Austin.The transcript of the oral arguments is available online. And our original story on the North Austin Municipal Utility District Number One case is available here. At issue is whether that MUD should have had federal approval before it moved a polling place or should have been allowed to "bail out" — that's a term of art. VRA requires Texas and other states with histories of racial discrimination to get federal approval of changes made to voting procedures. Depending on what the court rules, and when, that could come into play on Voter ID this year and on redistricting in 2011. Under current law (and the court's reading of it), changes to the voting laws and to the political maps in Texas require approval from the U.S. Department of Justice. If the court declares that provision unconstitutional, what's decided in Texas might stand without that federal sign-off.

The Voter ID draft floating around the House is gonna change before the House sees an official version, according to the author.

Rep. Todd Smith, R-Euless, isn't saying — to us, anyhow — what the changes will be. At last word, he was hoping to try to vote the bill out of his Elections Committee on Thursday and to get it to the full House as early as next week.

The first trick is to get six votes on his committee; the second, to get a majority from the full House.

Fifty-one Republicans have signed a letter spelling out what they want and don't want in a Voter ID bill. The rub at the moment is that some of what's in the current version is also on that letter's list of taboos.

UPDATED: Make it 71 Republicans; the GOP put out a new list that includes the signatures of everyone but Speaker Joe Straus, and Reps. Dennis Bonnen of Angleton, Delwin Jones of Lubbock, Tommy Merritt of Longview, and Smith. They didn't ask Straus, they said, and they included a statement from Bonnen, who said he's on the Elections Committee and is trying to get a bill out instead of killing it there, and that he's really for Voter ID and filed a bill showing his stripes earlier in the session. That leaves Smith, who's trying to do the same thing and to whom the GOP message is addressed, and Merritt and Jones, who both voted against Voter ID legislation when it came up two years ago.

Specifically, the draft version wouldn't take effect until 2013 — after the next two election cycles. The Republicans want immediate changes.

Smith's version includes training for election officials and for voters, and creates criminal penalties for preventing a legal voter from voting in an election. The Secretary of State would have to report to the Legislature annually on any voting violations that year.

And the draft would require photo IDs, but would let voters who don't have those IDs to instead use two documents from an approved list that includes voter registration cards, recentutility bills, recent bank statements, official mail from government entities, birth certificates, marriage licenses and divorce decrees, citizenship papers, adoption, name and sex change papers, Social Security cards and similar government IDs, temporary licenses, library cards, and hunting or fishing licenses. Or they could vote provisionally using their signature, and a panel would later determine if those signature votes match signatures on the lists of registered voters.

The Republicans, in their letter, indicate they want no alternatives to photographic identification.

The budget, unemployment, top schools, Pre-K, and school performance testing...

The state's budgeteers will start meeting formally next week to reconcile the House and Senate versions of the budget. The Legislative Budget Board has a summary of the differences online; if you want to go into ghastly detail, you've got about 1,808 pages of reading ahead. The bills differ by $4.8 billion. The Senate spent more on Medicaid growth, community-based services and waivers, incentive pay for teachers, higher education incentive funds, community colleges, prison guards, inmate healthcare, the governor's office, and debt service on bonds. The House has more money in community mental health, eligibility services at the Health and Human Services Commission, science lab grants, Texas Grants, higher education formula funds (and health related formula funds), residential services at the Texas Youth Commission, grants for colonias and rural water projects, $15 million to end bad debts at the Texas Agricultural Finance Authority, oil storage tank cleanup, and bonuses for retired and current state employees and retired teachers. And the LBB writeup includes a list of things that could affect the numbers, including changes to the business tax, school finance, Pre-K legislation, CHIP, Tier 1 universities, healthcare, and state schools.

• The Senate and the House both approved bills that attempt to change accountability in public schools while taking some of the pressure off of TAKS tests. They'll have to hammer out a number of differences. A weird example: The House included an amendment that allows students with good marks to ignore rules governing how long they can wear their hair. Honest.

• The Unemployment Insurance bill passed earlier by the Senate — in defiance of Gov. Rick Perry's wishes — is on its way to the full House. The Business & Industry Committee — which has a Republican majority — voted it out. By the way, the Alaska legislature pushed Gov. Sarah Palin to go along. She, like Perry, didn't want to take the money. But Alaska will take the money.

• A House committee approved an expanded Pre-Kindergarten program that has more than 100 sponsors but also sports a $300 million fiscal note. That's on the way to Calendars.

• Legislation needed to create new flagship universities in the state is out of the Senate on the way to the House. It doesn't pick favorites, but sets out the standards and lets the schools run the race. The University of Texas and Texas A&M University are already top-tier public universities (Rice University is a private Tier 1). Others — Texas Tech, University of Houston, University of Dallas, etc., etc. — want to be. That'll meet a companion bill somewhere in the middle of the Capitol Rotunda; the House passed a similar bill a few days earlier.

Texas transportation reform is currently parked in the House, but members could be ready to move on Texas Department of Transportation sunset and local transportation options funding as soon as next week.

Sticking points during the debate could be malice toward TxDOT (and to the governor, and the Trans Texas Corridor, and toll roads) and aversion to taxes.

On Tuesday, the House Transportation committee voted out HB 300 by House Sunset Chairman Carl Isett, R-Lubbock, who says he's trying to keep the subject on the agency and how it works and not on policy, which he says ought to be addressed in other legislation. Transportation Chairman Joe Pickett, R-El Paso, D-El Paso, gives the sunset bill high marks, saying it focuses on empowering metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) and includes detailed guidance on how the agency should operate over the next decade. But he expects the bill to generate a lot of heat on the House floor.

"It's going to be very contentious. A lot of amendments will be brought up to the bill, because there is a lot of ill will and distrust toward the agency," Pickett says. Amendments could include toll road limitations and changes to the Texas Transportation Commission, TxDOT's governing board, he says.

Senate Sunset chair Glenn Hegar, R-Katy, hopes to have his version, SB 1019, ready by next week, too, but has it on hold. "I'm trying to wait on the House bill. However, if the House bill doesn't move in kind of a quick fashion, then I would like to bring the Senate bill up and send it over here in another week or so, at least as a backup," he says.

Hegar wants to increase transparency of TxDOT with regard to current and future projects, require detailed short- and long-term plans, and ensure that TxDOT takes its cues from local entities instead of dictating from the state level. The bill would shorten the terms of transportation commissioners from four to two years, forcing them to appear before legislators each session. It also provides for a legislative oversight committee "to go out and do a real audit to determine if any more reconstruction of TxDOT is necessary," Hegar says.

The bill changes the makeup of TxDOT administration to ensure that a "CFO type" is on equal footing with a "CEO type" but does not touch the makeup of the TTC governing board.

"That's off the table. We don't have to address that whatsoever," he says.

The House version, similarly, would have TxDOT's administration led by CEO and CFO consuls, says Pickett. He adds that if local MPOs have actual control over projects, then it doesn't matter whether the agency is run by elected commissioners or an appointed czar.

Allowing Texans to raise transportation funds locally will hit the House fan at about the same time. The basic idea is to allow local voters to raise local motor fuels taxes, vehicle registration fees, etc., to pay for local projects.

"The philosophy behind it is the Legislature has been unwilling for over a decade now to adequately fund transportation, and so is the federal government," says former House Transportation chair Mike Krusee, R-Round Rock. "There are no signs they are about to step up to the plate to fund it. So local regions simply want the ability to help themselves."

There is, however, a However, according to Krusee: "Legislators are afraid to vote for anything that could be perceived to be a tax increase, even if it is a local option one that's voted on."

Krusee says he was never able to get his major funding bills over that hurdle, but he thinks Sen. John Carona, the Dallas Republican who's carrying the ball now "is making as good an effort as I've seen."

The Senate passed Carona's SB 855, and its corresponding constitutional amendment, SJR 52 by Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth. Both of those are sitting in Pickett's committee, which has already held hearings on House versions by Rep. Vicki Truitt, R-Keller. Pickett's committee could vote those out before the weekend is over, he says.

If the votes break along party lines, the constitutional amendment will have trouble in the evenly divided House. Hegar, who spent the 2003 and 2005 sessions as a representative, was one of nine Senators to vote against both the Senate bills. He says he doesn't have much insight on what his former colleagues will do.

Even if they become law, local funding options aren't a panacea for Texas' transportation ills, Krusee cautions. "First of all, the elected officials have to put it on the ballot. Then the locals have to vote for it. And lastly, it still won't be enough money to do everything that's necessary," he says.

The pace has normalized a bit, with the House accelerating in the last week and a number of major bills starting to come to the floor.

They're touting statistics that show that the number of bills they've passed isn't all that different from previous years, in spite of all the talk of the slow pace. They're not comparing the number of minor and major bills, but that's another argument. And the major bills are here.

On the eastern end of the Pink Building, the Senate has done it again, sending a disproportionate number of major bills to the other body. Early in the session, the upper chamber likes to boast of its steadier, faster pace. More bills go from the Senate to the House than in the other direction. And about this time every two years, you start to hear worried senators talk about the hostages they've sent to the suddenly overworked House. That doesn't necessarily give the House the upper hand, but it's good for some bargaining power.

The end-of-session deadlines, as we've pointed out, start to fall in about 10 days. And there's one month left before the players leave the field.

If you're not under pressure, the House is sort of an interesting Petri dish right now.

Every major bill seems to split the pols in a different way and that might explain why they seem so laid back in the face of so many approaching deadlines: Their coalitions change on every major bill, and some of the normal animosities are set aside for the bargaining that's going on with each new issue.

Voter ID is a classic fight, breaking along party lines.

Transportation bills coming up next week depend on who's getting projects and who's not, who's mad and whether they're mad about traffic or tolls or Trans Texas Corridors, political anger and worries over taxes. It's a real dog's breakfast, mixing the disparate interests of cities and suburbs and rural areas.

Bailing out the coastal insurance pool — officially, the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association — depends on how far you are from the coast and how much rates might rise.

It changes with every issue.

If you are under pressure — that is, you are trying to get something done or undone — this is a difficult group to read. When the coalitions are fixed along party lines or behind a particular leader, strategy is easier. Talk to the honchos on the side that's in charge, cut your deal, light your cigar. But this House, with its shifting majorities and a relatively small sample of votes to guide strategists, is different. Interesting, even — if you're not under pressure.

Insurance, sonograms, motorcycles, lobby spending, and a goof

The Senate sent a windstorm bill to the House, where lawmakers are still talking about whether and how to spread the costs of hurricanes and such across the state. The Senate version — sponsored by Troy Fraser, R-Horseshoe Bay — includes a $400 million "post-event" assessment against property and casualty insurers that do business in Texas. The reserves in the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association, or TWIA, are depleted right now; if a storm hits and claims are made against the fund, it would be able to tax the state's insurance companies to pull in that $400 million. TWIA would also be able to issue up to $600 million in bonds to build its reserves, with the debt service to be paid by insurers in the state.

• Doctors would have to offer ultrasounds to women seeking abortions, but the women could opt out under the terms of legislation tentatively approved by the Senate. That version of SB 182 watered down some from what Sen. Dan Patrick, R-Houston, wanted. The patients would have to fill out and sign a form saying whether they wanted to receive, see, hear, and/or get an explanation of the ultrasound before the abortion, and then would have to sign a consent form for the operation itself.

• It turns out the state allows you to take a kid on your motorcycle no matter how old the kid is. So there's proposed legislation — from Rep. Valinda Bolton, D-Austin — that would require any passenger under five years of age has to ride in a sidecar. Five and up? Hold on for dear life, just like grownups.

• The lobby filings at the Texas Ethics Commission are easier to search online now; the commission's new search engine lets you go back to to the beginning of 2004. You can find out, for instance, that lobbyists spent $2,586,380 in the Food & Beverage category in 2007, when the Legislature held its last regular session (numbers for this one aren't yet reported). Entertainment is a separate category, totaling $459,101 that year. The lobsters spent another $260,167 on gifts. You can even ask for detailed lists, finding out who gave away circus tickets, and shaving kits, and pocket knives.

• Department of Corrections: In some editions last week, we wrote that Rep. John Otto's property tax reforms would allow local tax appraisers a larger margin of error in their estimates than they're allowed now. That ain't right; if they vary more than five percent from what the state says values should be, they have to change their numbers. To do otherwise, Otto says, would put a big price tag on his legislation. Sorry, sorry, sorry.

President Obama nominated former state Rep. Juan Garcia, D-Corpus Christi, to be assistant secretary of the Navy for manpower and reserve affairs. Garcia — who served one term in the Texas House before losing to Republican Todd Hunter in November — was one of Obama's law school classmates. He's been working at a Corpus law firm.

In last week's episode, U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton announced he'd be leaving that job for a post unnamed. Now, it's named: He's joining a law firm with former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft. Sutton will head a new Austin office.

Bryan Preston signs on as the new spokesman for the Republican Party of Texas. He's the replacement for Hans Klingler, who left some time ago to work on Kay Bailey Hutchison's gubernatorial bid. Preston's latest gig was as a producer on Laura Ingraham's radio show.

Railroad Commissioner and U.S. Senate candidate Michael Williams says he's been endorsed by 22 Republican sheriffs, or one of every five Republican sheriffs in the state.