Some Things Are Easier to Say On the Way Out ...

State Senator Jon Lindsay, signing off in his March 2006 Newsletter to constituents:

The Senate has a longstanding tradition of requiring bills to have a two-thirds margin of support in order to pass. The House of Representatives, on the other hand, requires a simple majority.

Recently, there has been a movement by some to change this Senate rule. Each session a "blocker bill" is passed out of committee and placed at the top of the Senate's Agenda. Subsequently, 21 "ayes" or two-thirds of the members of the Senate must vote to bring up a bill for consideration on the floor.

I support keeping the two-thirds tradition in place as it forces members to work toward consensus and often protects the position of conservatives. Requiring two-thirds of the members present to support a bill makes it difficult to pass legislation and easier to kill it, which is not necessarily a bad thing. For example, in 2005, a majority of senators supported an effort to allow electronic bingo in Texas. The two-thirds rule prevented expanded gambling from passing the Senate.

This Senate rule gives a faction of members a voice in the process, whether it be members from the party out of favor or those in a rural versus urban fight. It has worked well and contributed to the reputation of the Senate as a deliberative body. I favor keeping the two-thirds rule in place.

Meanwhile, the Texas Observer has a decent story on the very "movement" Lindsay referred to. Remember when local newspapers covered local stories with such attention? Just sayin' is all.

SIDENOTE: More Lindsay, demonstrating how totally off kilter today's rightwing crowd has become:

IMMIGRATION The bottom line is that the federal government should handle immigration issues. Texas cannot afford to be a major player in immigration without a huge tax increase.

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CLASSROOM DOLLARS MANDATE
The Governor in August issued a directive for the Texas Education Agency to mandate that school districts spend no less than 65% of their funding on actual classroom expenses. The goal is to reduce administrative costs and spend the money on computers and technology, science lab equipment, classroom materials and supplies, and teacher salaries. This is a positive goal; however, we have to remember the role our librarians, school nurses, counselors and security personnel all play in the well-being and school environment of our children. Placing arbitrary limits on these areas needs to be re-examined and should be locally decided.