Tx Senate - Incompetent Or Sneaky ?

The Texas Legislature meets only once every two years for a 140-day session. That session ended this last weekend, and once again, it more closely resembled a convention of second-rate clowns than anything else. It reminds us why the people of Texas don't have the stomach or nerve to ask for yearly legislative sessions.

This year the Texas House and Senate adjourned before approving and funding the operations of at least three state agencies -- the Texas Racing Commission, the Texas Department of Insurance and the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT). Texas has a system that includes "sunset laws". That means that each state agency must be reviewed every few years and reapproved, or it automatically ceases to exist.

Some may disagree, but I think the state could get by for a couple of years without the Racing Commission and the Department of Insurance. All you have to do is look at insurance rates in Texas to know that the latter department did very little for Texas consumers anyway. But do away with TxDOT? That seems a little extreme, especially considering the condition of Texas' overcrowded and crumbling highway infrastructure.

Although they didn't pass the regulation bill re-approving TxDOT, the Texas House did pass a last-minute resolution that would have allowed the agency to operate for another two years. But that wasn't good enough for the Senate. A majority of the senators then worked themselves up into a lather and decided to teach the House a lesson. They adjourned without approving the resolution.

Even Governor "Good Hair" Perry didn't see the logic in that. He said, "If I could tell you I understood what happened last night, I would be an absolute genius. I thought I was watching an episode of 'Lost' for a moment. I have no idea what they were thinking or why they didn't want to pass the resolutions that would have given a safety net for those agencies."

There are two options as to what happened. The Texas Senate is either incredibly incompetent or very sneaky. The first option cannot be ruled out since the huge majority of the senators are Republicans, but I have a suspicion that the truth lies with the second option.

You see, the Republicans spent a large part of the session trying to pass a voter suppression bill (which they called the Voter ID bill). The Republicans know the political winds are currently blowing against them. They have only two choices -- moderate their views and appeal to a broader range of voters or suppress as many votes as possible. These right-wing nuts chose voter suppression.

The voter suppression bill easily passed the Republican-dominated Senate, but was killed in the House (where there are 76 Repubs and 74 Dems). The only hope to revive the bill is to force the governor to call a "special session" of the legislature. That is why the Senate refused to pass the resolution to keep TxDOT alive for another two years. If they had passed it, there would be no reason for a special session to be called.

So don't be surprised when the governor calls for a special session to save TxDOT. And don't be surprised when a voter suppression bill is added to the special session agenda. That's what this whole mess is about.

Come to think of it, maybe they're sneaky AND incompetent.