Governors have no power - in fact, State legislatures have no power - to end Federal agencies and laws. He has helped people like my own Lamar Smith and Rep’s Gohmert, Hensarling, and Ted Poe to build coalitions to oppose the laws that make these agencies so powerful. They’ve been able to get the extra National Guardsmen and have their deployment extended. It’s a work in progress, as we’ve seen with the budget, this year.
Where he can’t get rid of the EPA, for instance, he strengthened our State environmental licensing agency. The EPA came after the coal plants and refineries this year, but the Governor protested and urged the companies to continue business as usual. Unfortunately, many of the private companies caved.
He’s ensured that the appointees to all sorts of agencies in the State are conservative.
For example, the teacher’s union wants to end our elected State Board of Education and replace it with an appointed group of academics. Governor Perry has consistently appointed the most conservative members to Chair the SBOE. The Senate Dems have made sure that the last 2 were not given consent, but they only meet every 2 years. When the leg adjourned, the Governor appointed another conservative this year. She will have nearly 2 years to lead the Board as they pick out textbooks (that influence the books published for the whole Nation) and determining the curriculum for our schools.