Capitol Happenings
Is there to be no end to the partisan bickering in our state house. Dmocrat White lost by a narrow margin in her bid for a House seat and asked for a recount. She lost the recount and accepted the loss. Republican Heflin lost his bid for reelection, called for a recount and lost that also. Now three Republicans, Heflin, Stick and Opeila are asking the House to overturn the election results and give them those House seats they lost.Chairman Craddick has said he will appoint one House member to be judge and appoint a committee to hear testimony when the session starts in January. Let's hope this will be an open hearing and we can see how politics work in Texas.
The capitol is in mass confusion as incumbents move to more prestigious offices based on seniority and Freshmen get the leavings. The Speaker has already given away Chairman Heflin's office and his seat as Chair of Appropriations. Rep. Jim Pitts has been named to that position. The four day orientation for the new House members has started. The first two days are closed to the public so freshmen won't be embarrassed by asking dumb questions. During the first day the Speaker addressed the group. Next up it was the Lt. Governor's turn to give his version of what to expect during thier tenure as legislators. Then, can you believe this, MIchael Dell was allowed to address the group to tout what he and his company, Dell Computers, has done for education in Texas. Does it smell like Dell Computers will be getting a sizeable government contract in the very near future?
We have turned our Failure To Yield Bill over to Representative Hunter from Abilene. His district has been hard hit by Failure To yield fatalities and injuries to motorcyclists. He will make the requested changes in the Bill and file it for us. You Abilene Riders let him know how much you appreciate his help with this issue and work with him to get it passed.
We had planned to ask Rep. Pitts to Author our helmet Bill. He was there from the start and we hoped to have the pleasure of working with him during an all or nothing battle. His promotion to Appropriation Chair tosses out any chance of that as his authorship would guarantee passage in both Houses. We have some staff members working on a draft to give us a clean Bill like the House gave us to start with. It will be worded in such a way that if we lose the battle it would automatically reinstate the adult helmet law.
Haven't managed to nail down Chairman Smithee on our insurance Bill yet. Spoke with the Legislative Aide of Warrior, Rep. Pat Rose today concerning that issue. We asked that she pull up a copy of our insurance Bill from last session and the recently passed SB 423 for him to read. We will get back with him next weeK and see if he would be interested in the Bill. Working with them we will continue to try and draft a Bill that Rep. Smithee will Coauthor or tell us it will get a hearing.
Legislative information tomorrow.
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Have I done that which I can do to the best of my ability?
HELL NO !! - but I'm trying.
Sputnik
