Texas Senate goes fast and furious
Democrats cry foul as Republicans set midnight vote, speed hearings to press Abbott’s agenda.
Moving with haste that Democrats called unseemly, Republicans in the Texas Senate set an aggressive pace Wednesday, giving initial approval to two key bills before committing to return at one minute past midnight to give them final passage.
The unusual schedule was designed to set the Senate on a path toward approving all 20 of Gov. Greg Abbott’s special session agenda items by next Wednesday — Thursday at the latest — putting additional pressure on the House, where Speaker Joe Straus, R-San Antonio, and other Republican leaders have been reluctant to embrace all of Abbott’s priorities.
On the secondday of the 30-day special session, Republicans also announced that Senate committee hearings will be held on all legislation by the end of Sunday — starting at 9 a.m. Friday, when the State Affairs Committee takes up a bill to limit which bathrooms and locker rooms can be used by transgender people.
That bill, however, hadn’t been filed by Wednesday evening, although Republicans expected it to be submitted by Sen. Lois Kolkhorst, R-Brenham, before midnight.
Sen. José Rodríguez, head of
the Senate Democratic Caucus, said Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Senate Republicans were emphasizing speed over good governance.
“This signals that the leadership is willing to suspend all rules, regardless, so (they) can get things done, even if it means shortchanging senators on more time to consider bills that are significant, and even if it means cutting out the public’s right to participate,” said Rodríguez, D-El Paso.
Sen. Paul Bettencourt, head of the Senate Repub- lican Caucus, said the post-midnight vote and rapid round of committee hear- ings will help his colleagues deal with significant issues in a tight time frame.
“There are lots of moving parts in the legislative process. At this point, anything can happen, and getting our work done early is the best way to be prepared for anything that can happen,” Bettencourt, R-Houston, told
the American-Statesman. “We want to come in, go to work and vote,” he said of Republicans, adding that many of the special session bills had been considered during the regular session that ended in May.
“It’s not like these are foreign subjects that we’ve never seen before,” Betten- court said.
But Democrats said the majority party appeared eager to stifle public input, with many Republican com- mittee leaders announcing
that they would limit registration for public hearings on bills to one hour before a hearing and three hours after it begins.
Patrick, Rodríguez said, “wants to get all of these bills out of the Senate and over to the House so the House ... has enough time to act and no excuses (not to act).”
The post-midnight vote was scheduled to meet con- ditions set by Abbott, who wants the Senate to approve two “sunset” bills, which will rescue five state agen- cies from shutting down, before he opens the special session to his 19 other prior- ities, including transgender bathroom policies, changes to the property tax system and limits on the regulatory authority of cities.
The Senate voted 31-0 to give initial approval to the sunset bills Wednesday, but Democrats refused to waive a rule requiring legislation to receive two votes on sep- arate days.
Shortly after voting on the sunset bills early Thursday, Republicans expected Abbott to expand the special session agenda, allowing legislation to be referred to committees — which could then schedule Friday’s hearings with the required notice of at least 24 hours.
Times and locations of the hearings were expected to be announced Thursday.
Meantime, the House began action on its version of sunset legislation when the State Affairs Committee approved a bill to keep the Texas Medical Board and four other state agencies operating until 2019.
Rep. Larry Gonzales, a Round Rock Republican who wrote House Bill 1, said it was a simpler version than the Senate bill and that it was written in consultation with Abbott’s office to ensure that it meets the governor’s proclamation setting the special session.
Without action, the agencies regulating doctors, psychologists, marriage and
family therapists, professional counselors and social workers would begin shutting down in September.