AUGUST 2005
First Special Session Ends
The first special session of the 79th
Texas Legislative Session lasted a full
30 days, from Tuesday June 21st to Wednesday,
July 20th.
Governor Perry called the special session
to address education spending and education
financing, but by the last day of session,
legislative leaders had no resolution to
either issue.
Governor Perry made the special session
necessary by vetoing the entire education
budget passed during the regular legislative
session. One of the first bills filed (and
one of the few bills that passed) in the
first special session was HB 1, a bill
that simply reinstated the school funding
measure Governor Perry initially vetoed,
thus removing the urgency created by his
initial veto.
In the first special session, HB 2 by
Grusendorf again addressed education spending
and HB 3 by Keffer again addressed education
financing.
Debate of HB 2 and HB3 did not result
in either bill passing, but it did result
in several heated discussions and close
votes on the floor. In the House, for example,
on Wednesday, July 6th, HB 3 failed on
second reading (three readings are required),
showing a lack of overall support for the
bill.
The vote was retaken to verify its failure,
but on the verification vote, HB 3 passed
by the slim margin of one vote with House
Speaker Tom Craddick voting for the bill.
To see the vote, go to:
www.capitol.state.tx.us/hjrnl/791/pdf/79c1day05final.pdf#page=215
The Senate received the House versions
of HB 2 and HB 3 and promptly replaced
them with Senate versions of both bills.
A conference committee to resolve House
and Senate differences on HB 3 never got
off the ground. A conference committee
to resolve House and Senate differences
on HB 2 submitted a compromise bill to
the Senate where it died; Senator Whitmire
killed HB 2 with a filibuster by debating
the bill until midnight on Wednesday, July
20th when the session and thus all discussion
must end.
To see the Senate Journal’s account
of the filibuster, go to the bottom of
page:
www.capitol.state.tx.us/sjrnl/791/pdf/1sj07-20-f.pdf#page=11
By the last day of the first special session,
Governor Perry announced there would be
a second special session.
Second Special Session Begins
On Thursday, July 21st, Texas Governor
Rick Perry called a second special session
to address education spending and financing.
To read the Governor’s second special
session proclamation, go to:
http://www.house.state.tx.us/2ndCall79session/Proclamation072005.pdf
As mentioned in past Caucus newsletters,
a “called” session, commonly
referred to as a “special” session,
is named after the fact that the governor
must call it. A special session lasts no
more than 30 days; the second special session
must end by Friday, August 19th.
When the Governor convenes a special session,
he or she must declare its purpose. The
Governor has limited the second special
session’s purpose to only include
legislation that addresses:
- Legislation to limit ad valorem tax
appraisals and rates of certain taxing
units
- Legislation that provides ad valorem
tax relief and protects taxpayers
- Legislation to increase the homestead
ad valorem tax exemption
HB 2 & HB 3 Die Again in Second Special
Session; Rep. Hochberg’s Education
Plan Receives Bi-Partisan Support
Almost as soon as the second special
session began, the Republican authors of
the education spending (HB 2) and education
finance (HB 3) bills killed their own bills
rather than compromise with House Democrats.
HB 2 came to the House floor on second
reading on Tuesday, July 26th.
Rep. Keel suggested that the House pass
the bill without discussion, but a majority
of the House—Republicans and Democrats—voted
to ensure debate.
MALC member Rep. Scott Hochberg (Houston)
then presented the first amendment—a
complete replacement of HB 2 with his version
of HB 2. Rep. Hochberg, a recognized expert
on school finance and a member of the Democratic
leadership, had been gathering support
for his education spending proposal over
the course of the regular and first special
session.
Rep. Grusendorf, the author of HB 2, asked
the House to table (disregard) Rep. Hochberg’s
amendment, and in a move of bi-partisan
retaliation, the House refused to disregard
Rep. Hochberg’s amendent. In two
successive votes—a record vote and
then a verification of that record vote—the
House voted down Grusendorf’s motion
to table. In a verification vote of 76
to 67, the House adopted the Hochberg amendment.
To see these House votes in support of
Rep. Hochberg’s amendment, go to
http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/hjrnl/792/pdf/79c2day03final.pdf#page=14
Rep. Grusendorf then ended debate of the
bill by accepting every submitted amendment
and killed his own bill by asking for a
majority “no” vote for the
bill. To see the vote, go to:
http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/hjrnl/792/pdf/79c2day03final.pdf
Debate of Rep. Keffer’s HB 3 followed,
but also quickly devolved into the author
calling for a down vote on the bill. To
see the final vote against HB 3, go to:
http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/hjrnl/792/pdf/79c2day03final.pdf#page=80
Work on HB 2 and HB 3 will continue into
August.
Texas Supreme Court Hears Arguments on
School Finance
On Wednesday, July 6th, the Texas Supreme
Court heard arguments from lawyers for
the state and lawyers for Texas school
districts in Neely, et al, v. West
Orange Cove, et al.
The state is appealing Texas State District
Judge John Dietz’s decision last
year in the case finding the state’s
public school finance system unconstitutional.
Judge Dietz ordered the state to stop funding
Texas schools by October 2005 if the legislature
did not change the funding mechanism. Schools
will not close while the state is appealing
the case.
Lawyers for the state argued that the
responsibility for school funding belongs
exclusively to the legislature, not the
court.
Despite the lawyers’ argument, the
legislature has been unsuccessful in recent
regular and special legislative sessions
to resolve the school finance issue.
The Court has not said when it will announce
a decision.
To hear the arguments made before the
court, go to:
www.supreme.courts.state.tx.us/oralarguments/audio_2005h.asp
To read Judge Dietz's decision finding
Texas public school finance unconstitutional,
go to:
http://www.investintexasschools.org/schoolfinancelibrary/wocfof.pdf |
