Tuesday, May 9, 2017

#TXLEGE: Four Hour local and consent sets tone for final House push....


"While they promise them liberty, they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by whom a person is overcome, by him also he is brought into bondage."
2 Peter 2:19

After we left the UT board meeting, we went to watch the House local and consent calendar.  What a mess.  After four hours of crossfire stalling and a shady attempt by leadership to change rules, over 20 bills had been killed.

While Jonathan Stickland was a ringleader, he wasn't the only participant.  Briscoe Cain, Matt Rinaldi, Tony Tinderholt, Valoree Swanson, and others also did their thing.  On the Democrat side, both Rafael Anchia and Ramon Romero saw significant action.

Some highlights:
  • Stickland and Cain knocked off a Sarah Davis bill to fund a "maternal mortality" study under Medicaid that might have been used to justify abortions.
  • Travis Clardy had (at least) three bills knocked off the calendar and at times was trying to distract Stickland while he was speaking.
  • Larry Phillips almost sucker punched a member of the Freedom caucus and had to be physically restrained by another member of House leadership.
  • Several attempts to create new taxes were considered.
  • Likewise several special purpose districts with eminient domain authority.
Following the calendar, Senfronia Thompson attempted to change the rules so that the bills which had been knocked off could be considered on the regular calendar; she backed down when Matt Rinaldi attempted to amend her motion to consider several bills that leadership is actively killing.

Bottom Line: Tempers are short (and we still have two more days to go)....

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