Sorry, Honey. I’ve had a hard legislative session: One thing stood out
amid the
pomp and circumstance at last Saturday’s short-lived gubernatorial
inauguration
of Sen. Gonzalo Barrientos – the rain. Emblematic of many of his
legislative efforts this session, the rain and threatening skies forced
the
opening entertainment to move inside and likely kept some supporters
from
attending.
For Barrientos, it was another affront in a session that has seen
many. In
fact, considering his removal from the chair of the Nominations
Committee by
Lt. Gov. Bob Bullock, the Senate’s newfound conservatism, and
the bevy
of bills targeted at Austin, the 53-year-old liberal Democrat is quick
to call
this the most difficult session in his two decades as a legislator.
“There’s so many [Austin-bashing] bills I’ve been trying to keep up
with,” he
remarked last week. “I’ve had to spend about 50% to 75% of my time
dealing with
Austin, when I wish I’d spent more time concentrating on school
drop-outs,
education, providing money for different sectors of society which need
income
help, like the disabled, the elderly, and state employees.”
He’s also had to ward off criticism from political observers, who
have berated
Barrientos’ low profile on highly publicized bills, many of which have
already
breezed past the Senate.
“I’ve been very involved in tort reform, welfare reform, and gun
control, but
the concealed weapons thing came up fairly early in the session,” he
says. “We
were out there. We were trying to make our amendments, but we lost. We
got six
to eight votes, max. Well, what do you do? All right, you filibuster.
It
doesn’t do any good at that point in the session. You’re gonna wear
yourself
out.”
Despite the setbacks, he added the most amendments (30) to Senate
Bill 1, also
known as the Education Code Revision Bill. Many of the amendments are
aimed at
increasing parental involvement in the educational process and nearly
doubling
funds – by $19 million – for youth support programs like Communities In
Schools.
Barrientos’ phased annexation bill, SB 1395, which passed the
Senate
unanimously on May 4, may be the most visible part of his agenda. The
antidote
to Rep. Susan Combs’ (R-Austin) “anti-annexation” bill,
Barrientos’ plan
will delay an area’s annexation while still permitting the city to
collect
sales taxes from the area. Other bills filed by Barrientos would force
the city
to de-annex the Harris Branch Municipal Utility District (MUD) and to
annex the
Maple Run MUD, thus costing city taxpayers millions of dollars (see
“Austin
City Limited,” April 7 issue of the Chronicle).
Barrientos says his best accomplishment this session was his
appointment as
governor for a day, an honor bestowed upon each Senate President Pro
Tempore.
With money raised for the inaugural gala, he awarded $40,000 worth of
scholarships to several area high school students.
“In the last two sessions, I passed more legislation than any other
senator.
But this time, I’m having to do most [of my work] through amendments.
But you
can’t worry about that. You deal with the hand you’re dealt and then
make
things happen. I’ve tried to do that within the realm of reality.”
– Alex de Marban
BIG DOGS EAT FIRST: The end of the session must be near, because
activity in
the lobbyists’ mosh pit outside the House and Senate chambers has
definitely
increased. Developer Gary Bradley was at the Capitol again last
week,
working on yet another plan to get the public to subsidize his
ventures. This
time, Bradley, who owns a small part of the Houston Rockets,
wants to
use tax money to pay for pro sports facilities. Bradley and Texas
Professional
Sports Association lobbyist Cal Varner, have been virtual
Siamese twins
at the Capitol of late. Another frequent visitor: Dallas Cowboys boss
Jerry
Jones. Bradley wants a bigger arena for the Rockets. Jones wants to
enlarge
Texas Stadium. The pair are pushing SB 1346 by Sen. Royce West (D-Dallas). The bill passed the Senate and is now being considered by
the
House.
Bradley also wants autonomy for his Circle C development. Under SB
1700 by
Sen. Jeff Wentworth (R-San Antonio), Bradley’s development would
become
an independent water district, which would remove the project from
Austin’s
development restrictions. At a recent press conference, Austin City
Councilmember Gus Garcia denounced the bill, saying, “the issue is that
one
greedy developer doesn’t want to be controlled by anybody.” The new
district
would have sole authority to regulate water quality standards in the
8,000
acres covered by the legislation. The bill is currently in the Senate
State
Affairs committee.
Another lobbyist in the pit last week was University of Texas
Chancellor William (“Dollar Bill”) Cunningham. Your reporter
asked
Cunningham about a recent report from an Australian group which alleges
that
the Indonesian army and Freeport-McMoRan personnel were involved
in the
murders of 29 local villagers near the company’s gold mine in Irian
Jaya.
Cunningham, who sits on Freeport’s board, refused to answer any
questions. “You
haven’t been fair,” was the only reason the chancellor would give.
HOW MUCH YA GOT?: No one knows how much the pending “takings”
legislation could
cost state taxpayers, and Attorney General Dan Morales is doing
his best
to avoid answering the question. Morales’ agency would be in charge of
defending the state against landowners seeking compensation for
property value
taken by state regulations. But when asked by the Texas Center for
Policy
Studies (TCPS) to produce documents showing how much it would cost
to
defend the state, Morales, who has filed a lawsuit against the federal
government over endangered species regulations, refused to do so. TCPS
may sue
to get the info. The takings legislation, SB 14 by Sen. Teel
Bivins (R-Amarillo), passed the Senate, and could reach the House floor this
week.
NOT SO COLOR-BLIND: By a 108-37 margin, the House on Sunday morning
passed its
version of the public education code – sans vouchers, but with a very
permissive “home-rule” charter provision still intact. A floor
amendment that
would have provided for a voucher pilot program for low-income children
was
soundly defeated by a much wider margin than anticipated (83-63)
despite some
intense lobbying on the part of Gov. George W. Bush, who stumped
for
vouchers during the campaign.
Interestingly, support for vouchers seemed to plummet when home rule
was
approved. In fact, home-rule school districts may very well take center
stage
in conference committee instead of the well-publicized voucher issue.
The fact
that African American and Hispanic members of the House voted
unanimously on
Thursday to oppose home-rule school districts, which they believe could
quietly
usher in a new era of segregation and discrimination, may provide some
insight
as to why.
The next day, the Chronicle obtained a list that had been
compiled of
the 15 white lawmakers who had voted with the minorities against home
rule.
“This is a great target tool. It will help with governor,” read
a note
at the bottom of the list. On the “target” list were Reps. Allen
Place, Mark
Stiles, and Tom Uher – none of whom is exactly a political
pushover.
A few hours later, the minority caucus issued its own list of white
lawmakers
who had voted for home rule, noting the low percentages of minorities
in most
of their districts. Conference committee deliberations, now underway,
should
prove quite interesting. – Roseana Auten
This article appears in May 12 • 1995 and May 12 • 1995 (Cover).