Pulling Your Lege

In the past week, your Lege has outdone itself. I sure hope y'all are proud. Houtopia put it well, thanking the regressive Republicans for their devotion to really important matters. Here's a sample.

No gay foster parents: The Texas House yesterday voted to make Texas the only state that bans gays from serving as foster parents. The vote came on an ammendment to a bill (CSSB 6) to reorganize the Department of Child and Protective Services. The ammendment, offered by Rep. Robert Talton (R-Pasadena) passed by a vote of 81-58. According to the Houston Chronicle, a similar law passed in Arkansas was declared unconstitutional in that state last year. Rep. Mike Villareal (D-San Antonio) called the measure "an inquisition." The measure must be reconciled with a CPS bill from the Senate that does not contain this language. Sen. Jane Nelson (R-Lewisville), sponsor of the Senate version, expressed concern that many already placed children would be displaced if the measure becomes law. No kidding. I'm sure that all the abstinence-only crowd will be more than happy to take on foster care for a physically or emotionally disabled child (snort!).

Reinstituion of Jim Crow: HB 1706, authored by Rep. Mary Denny (R-Flower Mound) requires that all voters bring a photo id with them when they vote, even if they have their voter registration card. Without the photo id, they would have to produce two other forms of id, all in the name of preventing voter fraud, a problem for which Denny produces no actual evidence. The fact is that Texas, like all states, is currently developing a statewide voter database, due to requirments of federal legislation, which, if properly maintained will reveal any instances of the type of fraud that this legislation is supposed to prevent. This bill was scheduled for a floor vote yesterday, but was sent back to committee. I'd like to think that they've come to their senses, but we will probably see it again in some form. Regrettably, I've got to disagree with Charles Kuffner on his analysis of this bill. Kuff suggests that Denny is merely ignorant, but that seems overly generous. I don't think she's actually concerned about fraud at all. It's just the excuse du jour for suppressing minority (read "Democratic") vote.

All Hail King George: The House did find time to pass HB 137, which will require new highway 'welcome' signs at Texas border crossings that include the wording "Welcome to Texas--Proud to be the Home of President George W. Bush." Huh. Maybe they'll pay for that with the new stripper tax (I gotta know if that means that "tips" will have to be $1.08 or multiples thereof).

Hot rumor: According to W. Gardner Selby of the Austin American-Statesman, House Speaker Tom Craddick and Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst are locked in a game of high-stakes "chicken". It seems that Dewhurst and several Senators want to make adjustments to several House-passed bills, including tax bills like HB 3 (the school finance legislation), presumably because they recognize that the House bills are irresponsible. But they want to be able to avoid being blamed for having the gumption to do some heavy lifting. So, according to these Senators, the House leaders responsible for the various bills have been mysteriously "unavailable" to meet to negotiate acceptable compromises. Selby speculates that the Speaker has muzzled them in order to try to run out the clock. The way it would work is that with the session scheduled to end at the end of May, Senators will have the option of passing a bill that would be responsible, but politically difficult, or just agreeing with the ideologically-driven bills the House passed. Failure to do either could force a special session this summer. This is an example of extremists no longer satisfied with being conservative; they are actively regressive. As Molly Ivins said in her latest column, "I like conservatives. They're opposed to all questionable adventures abroad and [are] for fiscal prudence and responsibility. It's right-wing nuts I can't stand."

DEMOPHOENIX