Quiet end looks likely

GOP expects big items to survive any filibusters by Democrats

AUSTIN — With four days left in the legislative session, the time for passing bills largely has ended. Now is the time when bills get killed.

“In the final days, anything can happen,” said Sen. Royce West, D-Dallas.

Veteran colleagues echoed those sentiments in the Senate, where much of the focus in the final days has shifted to the possibility of a last-minute rearguard action by the minority Democrats. Their weapon of choice: the filibuster, the lengthy talka-thons in which a single senator can halt all further business in the closing hours of the 140-day legislative session by taking the floor and continuing a speech until the clock runs out at midnight Monday.

With just a third of the seats, the Senate’s 11 Democrats are the only ones who would try a filibuster. In fact, Sen. Jose Rodriguez, D-El Paso, on Thursday threatened to do just that when the open-carry gun bill comes up for final approval.

To keep that from happening, the Senate’s GOP leadership is pushing to get all its important business done before the session comes into the filibuster zone sometime on Sunday.

For most Republicans, the goal is to end the legislative session as smoothly as possible, achieving as many of their conservative goals as possible and getting them signed into law by Gov. Greg Abbott, a list that includes the opencarry of handguns, tax cuts for businesses and homeowners, border security, a conservative budget, school reforms and expanded transportation funding.

Though bills on other issues such as ending in-state tuition for undocumented immigrants, school vouchers, ending so-called “sanctuary cities” and cinching up

the state’s ban on samesex marriages have not passed, the conservative GOP blocs that dominate the Senate and holds significant clout in the House are expected to claim victory. And they are closely monitoring the final days to ensure that no other key issues get derailed in either chamber, just as the Democrats continue to look for opportunities to do so.

It is the usual game of legislative cat-and-mouse, though this year Republican leaders seem to have the edge on sidestepping a last-minute partisan blowup that could not only endanger the passage of key bills in the final hours, but also could undo delicate political alliances in both chambers that have guided a number of bills to passage despite controversy and partisan wrangling.

Controversy disarmed

One example: The opencarry bill approved by the Senate last week with a provision that would have barred police from stopping or detaining someone to ask for a permit solely because he is carrying a weapon. Fierce opposition from police officials and organizations, who said it amounted to a back-door effort to repeal licensing requirements for gun-carrying Texans altogether, led to the provision being dropped by Senate and House conferees on Thursday.

The provision had been supported by a number of Senate Democrats, most of them minority lawmakers, who insisted it would prevent racial profiling by police.

Wednesday was the last day for the Senate to pass bills. The House deadline passed days earlier. Now, the final wording of negotiated bills — “conference committee reports” in legis-speak — are the only things left to be voted on.

Those reports, however, contain plenty of key measures, including the mustpass state budget, which is expected to come up for a vote on Friday.

By late Thursday, issues still awaiting final votes included border security, transportation funding, truancy, juvenile justice reform and veterans’ education benefits, among others.

Senate leaders were working to expedite approval of the final versions of as many of the outstanding bills as possible in a bid to stay out of filibuster range.

“If I do filibuster, I plan to wear my cowboy boots,” Rodriguez told reporters after joking about wearing tennis shoes, Senate code that a filibuster could be in the offing. “It’s no secret I don’t like that bill. … If it comes up within the last 24 hours or so for final approval, I’ll be on my feet to talk.”

Patrick optimistic

In the House, where filibusters are not allowed, shorter speeches and longwinded questions during the final approval debate — a technique known as “chubbing” — is the preferred method of killing bills in the final days.

Most Republicans, especially leadership in both chambers, appeared optimistic of a smooth ending to the 140-day legislative session, absent any closing-days theatrics.

“I believe that by Monday, we will have passed most if not all of the major goals for this session, and I believe that this session will be seen as successful — for both chambers,” Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick told reporters late Wednesday. “All that we have left to do is approve conference committee reports … and I don’t see any issues in getting that done.”

Senate leaders have made clear from the start that they would guard against a repeat of Wendy Davis’ filibuster in 2013, her opposition to a bill that would limit abortions made her a national star for Democrats and helped launch her on her ultimately unsuccessful bid for governor last year. Despite her success at running out the clock on the 2013 regular session, former Gov. Rick Perry quickly called a special session and Republican lawmakers pushed the controversial abortion bill through in a few days.

Thursday afternoon, even Senate Democrats seemed resigned to the idea that the final days of the session likely would pass without much political theater.

“But by finishing the budget on Friday and wrapping up the other issues by Saturday — that appears to be the plan — it looks like it may be a quiet ending,” West said.