2015 TX Legislature: Hope for the Best, Expect the Worst

With the removal of the 2/3rds rule in the Texas Senate, I think this legislative session can easily be summed up as this: Hope for the Best, Expect the Worst.

Texas keeps bottom 10 rank in kids' welfare

The GOP-led Legislature wants to essentially outlaw abortion in Texas without explicitly outlawing abortion.  This is one of those issues where government regulation is okay.

So the GOP wants to get rid of abortion and force women to have babies.  So what type of Texas will these babies be born in to?

According to the Annie E. Casey Foundation, not a very good one.  From the San Antonio Express-News:

Texas remains among the bottom 10 states when it comes to children's well-being, according to an annual ranking by a nonprofit that advocates for at-risk kids.

The state improved two places in the rankings, to 42 from 44, in the 24th annual 2013 Kids Count study, released Sunday by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, based in Baltimore.

Using data from the U.S. Census Bureau and other sources, the study found that Texas generally improved in education and health while it stagnated in the area of family and community. Economic well-being worsened, reflected in the 1 percentage-point increase in the child poverty rate in Texas, to 27 percent in 2011, the latest number available. The national rate also rose 1 percentage point to 23 percent, but remained below Texas.

On the plus side, the state's rates of child and teen deaths fell, as did teen births. Its percentage of youngsters without health insurance also declined, from 18 percent in 2008 to 13 percent three years later.

Still, the U.S. rate of children without health insurance improved from 10 percent to 7 percent over the same period.

Texas Legislature in Schiavo Session

I think we can officially say that the Texas Legislature is no longer in Special Session.  They're now in Schiavo Session.

For those who remember the Terri Schiavo controversy, you'll remember when Congress was called back into session in order to pass some controversial social legislation on a Sunday.

Now the legislature is working on a Sunday trying to punish women with its abortion legislation

I guess the Scripture according to the GOP must include some additional passage about resting on a Sunday...except when it comes to attacking womens' health.  Then Sunday isn't a day of rest, it's a day to wage war.

Perry Calls 5th Special Session on Redistricting

While it's the first Special Session of this Legislature, this is the 5th Special Session Rick Perry has called where redistricting has been on the agenda.

This will be the 10th time Perry has called a Special Session since he became governor in 2000.  10 Special Sessions and 50% involve redistricting.  3 in 2003, 1 in 2011, and 1 in 2013.

While Perry set the record for the longest-serving Texas Governor, he still hasn't beaten the record number of Special Sessions called by 1 Governor.  That honor goes to Republican Bill Clements.  During his 2 terms in office Clements called 11 Specials.  6 of those were for 1 Legislature, the 71st.

Funny enough, the man Perry eclipsed as longest-serving Texas Governor, Allan Shivers, only called 2 Specials during his tenure.

In case you're wondering, the Top 10 most Specials called by Texas Governors:

1. Bill Clements (R): 11
2. Rick Perry (R): 10
3. Price Daniel (D): 8
4. William Hobby (D): 6
    Dan Moody (D): 6
    Preston Smith (D): 6
7. Thomas Campbell (D): 5
    Pat Neff (D): 5
    Ma Ferguson (D): 5
    James Allred (D): 5
    Mark White (D): 5

All the money we've spent on redistricting from Special Sessions to lawyers' fees.  In addition to the wasted time and energy, you would think more people would demand their elected officials institute some sort of independent redistricting commission and save us all a lot of time and money.

Homophobia in the Texas Legislature

Not exactly earth shattering news here in Texas, but homophobia is alive and well in the Texas Legislature.

One of the Homophobic Heroes this session is Rep. Drew Springer (R-Muenster).  As of right now, his only press release on his state web page is one touting his filing of HB 1568.  What is HB 1568?  According the the Legislature website it's a bill, "Relating to funding under the Foundation School Program for a school district that offers insurance benefits to a person who is not a dependent of a district employee."  In other words, we don't want gays giving their partners health insurance.  No doubt, if he could, he'd probably outlaw gays in general getting health insurance...or anything beneficial for that matter.

What bee got in Rep. Springer's bonnet?  That bee would be Pflugerville ISD and its health benefits for domestic partners.  From the Texas Tribune:

The board of trustees of Pflugerville ISD made history in December 2012 with a 5-1 vote, becoming the first school district in Texas to offer health benefits for domestic partners.

“I think the money we give to educate our kids should go to the kids and not trying to expand social benefits that we decided in 2005 was unconstitutional,” Springer said Thursday, referring to the Defense of Marriage Act of 2005, which defined marriage in the Texas Constitution as between one man and one woman. "We're not taking away all the funding, just the 7.5 percent that goes to the health benefit plan."

Here's the kicker though:

Opponents of Springer’s bill argue that it mischaracterizes the school's health plan policy. “No tax dollars are being used,” said Chuck Smith, president of Equality Texas, an LGBT lobbying group. Smith said that no money is taken from funding the classroom, but rather the policy “allows access to the benefit plan, but the employee still pays the premium.”

"It’s yet another legislative overreach, and it seeks to undermine local control,” Smith said of Springer's bill.

Just as an aside, Rep. Springer comes from that bustling metropolis of Muenster, TX.  Never heard of it?  That's understandable.  As of the 2010 Census it counted 1,544 people in its population.  Just as an FYI, the 2011-2012 enrollment figures for Pflugerville ISD listed 3 schools that had a larger student body than Muenster had people: Pflugerville HS, 2,293; Hendrickson HS, 2,291; John Connally HS, 2,008.  Another 3 schools had nearly the same student population as Muenster: Kelly Lane MS, 1,153; Pflugerville MS, 1,039; Dessau MS, 1,019.  Altogether Pflugerville ISD has 23,287 students.

This may seem like small town bashing and so be it.  There may be a time and place for small town values (like valuing mom & pop shops over Wal-Mart), but in this case Rep. Springer needs to take his small town values back to Muenster and keep them there and leave Pflugerville ISD alone.

To sum up, government intrusion and overreach is okay as long as 1) it tries to outlaw to abortion or 2) it goes after GLBT.

As an aside, just to state for the record, the Tribune listed 3 cities that have domestic partner benefits for their employees: Austin, El Paso, and Dallas.  Just like to also mention that San Antonio is one of those cities as well.

Only In Texas

Only in Texas can you call the Legislature, be put on hold and hear an instrumental version of How Great Thou Art.  And if that wasn't the song that was playing, my mistake...but that's what it sounded like to me.

On that train of thought...here's Dixie Carter signing How Great Thou Art from Designing Women:

Texas Legislature Gavels In - Live

Little after noon, Secretary of State John Steen gavels the House to order.

12:05 - Preacher doing the invocation for the House gets political.  Talks about life at moment of conception.

12:08 - Rep. Kenneth Sheets (R-Dallas) leads House in Pledge of Allegiance.  Rep. Helen Giddings (D-Dallas) leads House in Texas Pledge.

12:10 - Steen delivers a message to the House.

12:11 - Asks that Dean of the House, Tom Craddick (R-Midland), stand.

12:13 - Perry political ad from Steen? Says Texas is top place for business, leader in exports, home to more Fortune 1000 companies.

12:18 - Mouseketeer roll call.  Taking attendance.

12:25 - Over at the Texas Senate, they're getting things underway.  Gov. Oops is speaking.
 
12:27 - Former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA) is in the State Senate Chamber.

12:28 - Mousketeer roll call finishes.  Quorum is present and members can officially be sworn in.

12:28 - SC: Perry speech gets interrupted.  Someone gets sick during his speech.  Not kidding.

Our Long State Nightmare Begins

The National Laboratory for Bad Government convenes in Austin, i.e., the Lege is coming back.

Gov. Perry: I Hate After Birth

On Dec. 11, Gov. Oops confirmed that he hates After Birth.  No, no the placental expulsion, although for most "pro-life" Republicans it can mean the same thing.  In this case, After Birth refers to the fetal expulsion that grows into a child, and hopefully an adult, and gracefully into a senior citizen.

Looks like we're going to have a fetal pain law on the books here in Texas.  Quick question: Is there any other medical procedure that is this regulated?  Additional quick question: If  men were the ones who got pregnant, would these fights over abortion be happening?

But I digress...

At this announcement with the Governor was a future legislator who is going to be a never ending source of jokes, State Sen. Donna Campbell:

“How tragic to think that these babies suffer pain, a cruel and unnatural death, for simply being unwanted while they’re in the womb,” said incoming state Sen. Donna Campbell, a Tea Party Republican from New Braunfels who was also on hand in Houston to support the measure. “It’s time to strengthen our laws to be in line with what science tells us is possible.”

I feel sorry for the suffering, pain, and cruel visits that people to the ER are subjected to when Donna Campbell is on call.  AND NOW a Republican cares about science.  Science for abortion = yes.  Science for evolution = HELL NO.

I don't know why the governor and others don't just come out and say it, "We love fetuses.  We just hate everything that comes after."

Question: Will this fetal pain bill come with anything other than a mandate?  Maybe additional funding for pregnant women?  Maybe funding for lab work & tests, prenatal vitamins?  Maybe an expansion of SCHIP to cover low-income pregnant women?

Somehow I doubt it.

We're 1st in the nation for uninsured people, but we need a fetal pain bill.
We're 49th in the percentage of low income people covered by Medicaid, but we need a fetal pain bill.
We're 48th in the percentage of people with employer health insurance, but we need a fetal pain bill.
We're 43rd in the amount the state spends on health, but we need a fetal pain bill.
We're 50th in mental health spending, but we need a fetal pain bill.
We're 49th in state spending on Medicaid, but we need a fetal pain bill.
We're 4th in the nation for people living below poverty, but we need a fetal pain bill.
We're 47th in monthly WIC (women, infant, & children) Benefits, but we need a fetal pain bill.

Let's face it, this being Texas, we're likely to get a fetal pain bill. But very unlikely to get any funding for those pesky things, like schools and health care, that actually help a population to grow and live.

I'd like to ask Governor Oops, how many of these anti-After Birth bills are we going to be subjected to?

State Rep. Lozano: I Support $4 Billion in Cuts to Education

No he never said he supported cuts to education, but he might as well have said it.  State Rep. J.M. Lozano is switching parties...D to R.

Since he's switching parties, what all is he now endorsing?

Here are some of the accomplishments of the the Republican Legislature from last session:

•  Cut $4 billion from Public Education
• $1000 less per student
• Larger class sizes
• Less Teachers
• 9% cut to Colleges and Universities
• Less college financial aid
• Increased tuition
•  $2.03 billion in cuts to Medicaid & CHIP
• Higher health care costs
• Decreased access to health care
• $2 billion in Tax Loopholes
• Voter ID
• Longer lines at the DMV
• Increased fees for state services