The Senators are back on the floor after their closed-door meeting, and Democrats are laying siege to Tommy Williams, R-The Woodlands, the author of Senate Resolution 14, which would abandon the “two-thirds rule” of the Senate specifically for the voter ID debate (see previous posts below for explanation; redistricting has been dropped from the resolution). It’s getting heated, albeit not quite to the level of the near-fisticuffs on the floor that happened over the voter ID issue last session between Lt. Gov. Dewhurst and Sen. John Whitmire of Houston. In fact, while everyone else is bickering, Whitmire and Dewhurst are having what appears to be a chummy conversation behind Dewhurst’s desk on the dais.
AMAZING: Now Williams and Royce West, D-Dallas, are now actually debating voter ID rather than the actual two-thirds rule. That means, in effect, they are debating a bill that isn’t actually before the Senate and without any rules.
UPDATE: The Dems are now trying to kill the resolution by amending it to death, and making a point in the process. They have offered up four amendments so far, each saying basically, “if we’re going to create a special class of bills exempt from the two-thirds rule, why don’t we include more important issues like children’s health insurance, the rising unemployment rate, veterans’ benefits,” et cetera. Each amendment has been shot down so far.
This article appears in January 9 • 2009.