TYC: 11th Hour Reform or Midnight Sunset

Sen. Hinojosa and Rep. McClendon: TYC and TJPC, to merge or not to merge?

Thursday morning could see a big vote on the fate of the widely-criticized Texas Youth Commission and the less unpopular Texas Juvenile Probation Commission.

Over in the House, Rep. Ruth Jones McClendon, D-San Antonio, has three bills under consideration. House Bill 3689, which House Corrections Committee staff say should be on tomorrow's agenda, would abolish TYC and TJPC, replacing them with the Texas Juvenile Justice Department. HB 3687 and HB 3688 are paired shell bills, keeping TYC and TJPC separate but placing both under a newly-established juvenile justice improvement plan committee. The fate of those two bills depends on what happens in the morning.

While HB 3689 is closest to what the Sunset Commission recommended, they may not be what finally happens. McClendon and Sen. Juan "Chuy" Hinojosa, D-McAllen, (who is carrying the Senate TYC Sunset bill) were two of the five 'nay' votes in Sunset on the unified agency proposal. As the lead TYC reformer in 2007, lawmakers may take their lead to their opposition to the change and dedication to giving last session's reforms a chance to run their course. It all depends on how radical a rewrite comes out of last Friday's committee work session.