Democrats block GOP corruption bill

For the second time this week, Texas House Democrats succeeded Thursday in derailing hot-button legislation by enforcing a technical rule.

The latest victim was a bill to remove public corruption cases from Travis County’s Public Integrity Unit — a longtime goal of Republicans who believe GOP officials cannot receive a fair hearing in a strongly Democratic county, particularly when the unit is run by the county’s Democratic district attorney.

House Democrats raised three points of order Thursday, arguing that House Bill 1690 did not conform to House rules. The final parliamentary maneuver — by Rep. Mary Gonzalez, D-El Paso — succeeded, delaying a vote on the measure until next week.

The bill was quickly returned to the General Investigating and Ethics Committee so a mistake in its written analysis — the subject of Gonzalez’s point of order — could be fixed.

“It’s just part of the process,” said the bill’s author, Rep. Phil King, R-Weatherford. “We’ll just pick up where we left off next week.”

Gonzalez, who was met with high-fives from fellow Democrats after her parliamentary tactic succeeded, said she opposed HB 1690 because she believed it would weaken prosecution of public corruption. Under the bill, corruption cases would be prosecuted in the home county of state officials, raising the prospect of cronyism between hometown political allies, she said.

Under HB 1690, which is similar to a measure that has already passed the Senate, allegations of corruption by elected and appointed state officials and by state employees would be investigated by the Texas Rangers, then referred to home-county prosecutors.

Before debate was stopped, HB 1690 was amended to clarify three points:

■ Corruption allegations against lobbyists are not included.

■ The Texas Rangers would not replace agencies that already have authority to investigate corruption, such as inspectors general in state agencies.

■ Officials would be prosecuted in the county they lived in when the alleged offense occurred.

Democrats also used a point of order Tuesday to derail a bill allowing holstered handguns to be openly carried by Texans with a concealed handgun license. The open-carry bill will return to the House floor Friday along with a bill designed to overrule local ordinances that regulate oil and gas exploration, including fracking, that also fell victim to Tuesday’s point of order.

At least one additional point of order is expected from Democrats on the open-carry bill.