Friday, August 19, 2005
Finishing with a Whimper
Here's a further accounting of the two special sessions (with apologies to MasterCard's ad agency):
Days in session: 60
Added cost to taxpayers: More than $3 million
Bills passed: 5, by our count (wind power, TEA budget part II, eminent domain, judicial pay raise, and telecom).
B-movie analogies circulating the Capitol: 2, "Groundhog Day" and "Weekend at Bernie's"
Filibusters: 2
Lame radio spots: 2, one series each by the governor and the speaker
Number of times Dewhurst and Speaker Tom Craddick snapped at each other: N/A (we may have to contract with IBM to calculate this.)
School finance bills passed: 0
Making the state's leadership look incompetent: Priceless
So there you have it. What's next? Well, the Texas Supreme Court will rule on the school finance lawsuit, presumably this fall. After that, it's anyone's guess. There will be yet another special session, perhaps this fall or, as increasingly rumored, after next spring's primary elections. Will the dynamics change? Will Perry, Dewhurst and Craddick learn how to govern? By then, will the leadership be able to muscle any education groups or reluctant Republicans into supporting its reforms? Will those reforms benefit all Texans instead of just the richest 10 percent? Stay tuned.
All we can tell you at this moment is that our legislative blog is coming to a close for now (hey, we've got a magazine to put out, don't you know?). We hope you've enjoyed it. And when the Lege returns, so shall our blog.