By J. Lyn Carl
Austin, TX – - Congressional redistricting legislation previously on the fast track for the 78th Legislature's first called session is looking more and more like it's headed down a dead end street.
"In complex legislation, the road is rarely smooth and straight," said Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst at a press conference today. "We may be looking at a bump in the road here."
That bump that is more like a mountain has taken the form of Sen. Bill Ratliff (R-Mount Pleasant), who today issued a statement saying he is adding his name to a statement signed by 10 members of the Texas Senate stating "their unalterable opposition to any motion to bring a congressional redistricting bill to the Senate floor."
The rules of the Texas senate require a two-thirds vote of the 31 members - or 21 votes - to suspend the rules and bring legislation to the Senate floor for debate.
If the 11 senators who signed the statement stick to their guns, a congressional redistricting bill headed to the Senate floor is DOA.
In his statement, Ratliff noted that Senate Jurisprudence Committee Chair Sen. Robert Duncan (R-Lubbock) has reported to the Senate that at statewide hearings, "the overwhelming majority of citizens appearing at these statewide hearings are opposed to such redistricting," and said those numbers include "many local activist Republicans and locally elected Republican officials."
Ratliff said maps produced so far have indicated "a total lack of concern for the communities of interest in rural Texas." He said those driving the redistricting effort clearly have "no knowledge of, or regard for, the representative balance between the urban/suburban power base and the diminishing influence of the rural/agricultural community."
The Mount Pleasant Republican said the current congressional lines produce 20 Republican seats, 19 with GOP strength of at least 55 percent. He said the majority of both parties in the Senate have indicated "that the costs associated with this effort are not justified by the marginal gains to the Republican congressional delegation."
He said members also anticipate a huge financial burden on the state for litigation they feel "is sure to follow." However, he said their biggest concern is the level of "animosity and distrust" that will ultimately be harbored for members of the Senate as a result of "such a vitriolic battle."
Dewhurst's acknowledgement at his press conference that Ratliff is having "serious concerns on redistricting" might have been an understatement. However, he indicated he still is holding out hope.
The lieutenant governor said when the redistricting process began, he visited with 21 senators "who assured me if a fair map came out of the (Senate) Jurisprudence Committee, they would seriously consider voting for it."
Apparently at least one in his own party has not found a map he can support.
"My intention is to continue with this process," said Dewhurst. He said Sen. Chris Harris (R-Arlington) is "hard at work on fair map" and said if the map is presented to the committee and passed out of committee, "I will work with our senators to pass a fair map."
Dewhurst also said he talked twice last week to House Speaker Tom Craddick, who said he would work with Dewhurst and the Senate "to pass a map consistent with what we want to see in the Senate" - one that is fair, represents the voting trends in the state, protects communities of interest and protects minority districts.
The lieutenant governor said he will share with Ratliff some of the drafts the bill sponsor is working on and he is confident that if Ratliff believes they are fair maps, "Then he will be supportive."
And if he's not?
"At this point in the process, where the House already passed a map and where we've already gone in and taken testimony throughout the state, I'd have to consider all our options," Dewhurst said of the possibility of not having enough members to bring the bill up on the Senate floor. Some have speculated that he might alter Senate rules that would remove the "blocker bill" which requires a rules suspension and two-thirds vote to take up legislation ahead of it. He said exploring options could lead to the conclusion that "there is no other step, but it would be imprudent of me not to evaluate all of our options."
Ratliff is not sounding supportive.
"We, in the Senate, pride ourselves in being able to work in a bipartisan manner for the people of Texas - the same bipartisan spirit which President George W. Bush nurtured so vigorously and of which he was so proud when he was governor," said Ratliff.
"I will not be a part of the destruction of that spirit for the sake of a theoretical marginal partisan gain in the Texas congressional delegation."