Naked City

State Rep. Terry Keel (Photo By John Anderson)

House Democrats who pick their battles chose not to pick one over expanding the powers of a House investigating committee, despite initial concerns that Republicans would use their authority to go after Travis Co. District Attorney Ronnie Earle.

State Rep. Terry Keel, R-Austin, who wrote the proposal into a new set of House rules adopted last week, assured his colleagues that no ulterior motives were at play in broadening the jurisdictional reach of the House General Investigating and Ethics Committee. Under the new rules, a five-member committee will have jurisdiction over "the conduct and ethical standards" of state and local elected officials and employees.

The Democrats had good reason to question what was driving the measure. Earle, a Democrat and frequent target of GOP scorn, has spent the last two years investigating whether illegal corporate contributions were used to ensure a GOP majority in the 2002 election cycle. House Speaker Tom Craddick is a focus of the investigation but has not been indicted.

Nevertheless, Earle offered a politically correct response to the rule change, saying he supported it. In the end, the proposal stirred little debate on the House floor when it came up for discussion, save El Paso Rep. Paul Moreno's suspicions that the committee would try to take down the district attorney. Keel replied that as a former assistant district attorney who served under Earle, he would never target his former boss. "Ronnie Earle is my mentor [who has been] perhaps the biggest influence in my life other than my father," Keel said. "I discussed this change with Ronnie Earle, and he has in fact applauded the change."

Apart from the Keel measure, the biggest change in newly adopted House and Senate rules has drawn high praise from public interest groups and open-government advocates. New rules call for shedding more light on how members vote on legislation, which the public will be able to access – that is, access more easily than in previous sessions – on the state's Web site (www.capitol.state.tx.us). In the past, legislators have been able to escape public scrutiny with voice votes that arent recorded into the public record. Also, the House changes will allow any one legislator (as opposed to three) to request record votes on legislation.