Democrats Knock Off Election Bill Revenge
and Other Budget Amendments from Right
Capitol Inside
April 22, 2021
The perennial push for school choice crashed again in the Texas House on Thursday during the state budget debate when Democrats used parliamentary techniques to pick off amendments that took aim at immigrants, transgender people and academic theory on institutional racism.
The Democrats saved GOP colleagues from a series of votes they didn't want to make with points of order that killed radioactive proposals including an amendment that was designed as retaliation against counties that fail to comply with new voter restrictions that the Republicans have been pushing under the heading of election integrity.
GOP State Rep. Briscoe Cain of Deer Park - the author of a sweeping voting limitation plan in House Bill 6 - served up an amendment that would withhold state funding that counties use to stage elections if they don't fully enforce the new law that he's trying to make as the Elections Committee chairman.
Cain called off another amendment that he'd been planning in a move to cut off state subsidies to corporations for economic development as punishment for speaking out against the new restrictions that he and other Republicans are backing in House Bill 6 and Senate Bill 7.
But Republican State Rep. Tom Oliverson of Cypress echoed the Cain sentiment several hours later with a budget amendment that would have punished private companies that take postilions of opposition against legislation that's proposed in Texas or any other state. Oliverson pulled the proposal down without a vote after using as a platform to express his exasperations for corporations that get involved in politics.
GOP Speaker Dade Phelan's team appeared to be in total control of the floor debate on Senate Bill 1 - a plan that would spend about $250 billion over two years with nearly $40 billion more still up for grabs in federal stimulus funding for the COVID-19 pandemic courtesy of President Joe Biden and the Democrats in Congress.
The House's 67 Democrats rallied behind an amendment that would have set the stage for an expansion of Medicaid in Texas if Republicans hadn't torpedoed it on an 80-68 vote. State Rep. Lyle Larson of San Antonio was the only Republicans to side with the Democrats on Medicaid. The Democrats in the House could get another shot in separate legislation that has bipartisan support.
Republicans tacked an amendment by GOP State Rep. Matt Krause of Fort Worth to the appropriations bill that would shift $20 million at the Texas Health and Human Services Commission from technology to an alternatives to abortion program. The Krause amendment prevailed 88-58 with a number of Democrats from border areas siding with the Republicans.
School choice received an icy reception in the House today with an 115-29 vote for an amendment by Democratic State Rep. Abel Herrero of Corpus Christi that would prohibit the use of state funds on private school vouchers, education saving accounts and tax credit scholarships in the new spending plan.
Democrats used technical objections to muzzle a pair of amendments from far right field by rookie Republican State Rep. Bryan Slaton of Royse City. One of Slaton's torpedoed proposals would have prohibited the expenditure of COVID-19 relief funds on people who are in the country illegally. A second Slaton amendment that a point of order derailed would have barred state spending to help children transition to the opposite sex.
"Money appropriated for the Foundation School Program by this Act may not be used to affirm a child ’s perception of the child ’s biological sex if that perception is inconsistent with the child ’s biological sex as determined by the child ’s sex organs, chromosomes, and endogenous hormone profiles," the Slaton amendment read.
Democrats zapped an amendment by freshman Republican State Rep. Jeff Cason of Bedford that would have banned state outlays on the promotion of critical theory about race in public schools.
more to come ... |
