By J. Lyn Carl, GalleryWatch.com
Austin, TX –
"All that we can do in the Senate is all we can do," said Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst today as he announced that the Senate will move forward toward seeking passage of a public school reform bill.
Despite House Speaker Tom Craddick's (R-Midland) call last week for the 79th Second Called Session to end sine die, Dewhurst said there is a consensus among Senate members not to quit.
"In any game, whether it's baseball or football or politics, if the coach on the other side takes his team off the field, it's kinda hard to move the ball down the field," said the lieutenant governor. However, he noted that school finance is important, and in spite of the frustration of legislators, "We were elected to do a job" and called back into special session "to solve a very big problem."
With that, Dewhurst announced that the Senate will take up Sen. Florence Shapiro's (R-Plano) SB 8 at 2:45 p.m. on Tuesday. The bill was voted out of Senate Finance last week, only moments before Craddick announced he was ready to throw in the towel in the House. He also indicated other important legislation relating to telecom industry reform and judicial pay raises, might be heard if SB 8 passes the Senate.
Although Craddick shared with Dewhurst his intentions to make the statement suggesting the legislature adjourn, Dewhurst said it still "came as big surprise." While he said he understands that Craddick insists he does not have enough votes to pass a tax relief bill or school reform bill, "I can't help but believe that he wants to pass a bill," said Dewhurst. He added that he knows of "numerous" other members of the House who also would like to see such legislation pass.
"We've got a consensus of senators who want to go forward." He said those senators "don't want to give up" and don't want to have to go back to their senatorial districts and tell their constituents that they could not solve the school reform and tax problems.
Calling SB 8 a "good bill," Dewhurst said it includes 65-70 percent of work already agreed to by the House and Senate. Another element that is likely to be taken up tomorrow is SJR 11 by Sen. Steve Ogden (R-Bryan) that passed out of the Senate Finance Committee last week. The legislation calls for a constitutional amendment to lower the cap on property taxes from the current $1.50 to $1.25 per $100 valuation.
Dewhurst said it would not be a statewide property tax and would still be colleted by the local taxing authority "and may be a vehicle" that the House can see as companion that will lower taxes and reform and improve schools.
Calling SJR 11 a "novel" idea, the lieutenant governor said he wants to go farther. "As a first step," he said, "I think this is an interesting idea."
"If we can send people to the moon, we ought to be able to reach an agreement on school finance."
Dewhurst noted that media representatives say they are tired of hearing the leadership talk of how "close" the House and Senate are on reaching an agreement on school reform legislation. He said that when he is in a room and an agreement is reached and several weeks later a conference committee report is filed and signed off on by both houses, "Momma didn't raise a dumb boy, but it sounds to me like we're pretty close."
Pledging the Senate to continue to move forward, Dewhurst said that if the House is not able to pass a bill, "at least in the Senate we put our best thinking forward. When the courts rule, we have a plan."
While school reform and tax relief bills have been on the front burner for the legislature, other important bills - telecom reform and judicial pay increases - have been languishing. Dewhurst said at the start of the Second Called Session that he would not take up any other legislation until there was a school reform bill passed out of the Senate.
Today, he reiterated that it was not his intent to take up any other legislation until the Senate "moved the process forward" on school finance issues. He said he originally intended for that to mean after the conference committee reports were filed.
However, he said today that if the Senate votes out SB 8 on Tuesday, he is prepared to take up both the telecom and judicial pay raise bills immediately.