DWG
Will Dewhurst change the rule?
Someone needs to explain to Ratliff that he is the one making the mistake.
If Dewhurst suspends the Senate rule, he will take a lot of heat but will ultimately prevail. It's his decision to make.
On the other hand, if Dewhurst doesn't do so and redistricting doesn't happen due to Ratliff's opposition, Ratliff's political career is over. Even if he manages to get re-elected, the Republicans won't give him the time of day, regardless of what party he chooses to run with.
Ratliff has already crossed me once this session, doing his best to kill an important CHL bill (SB 501). It's time for him to get with the program.
I'd primary him myself if I lived there for this one.
On a slightly unrelated note, I went through each name on the record vote for July 8th's passage of HB3 (the redistricting bill) in the state House to get a list of the bad Republicans and not-entirely-bad Democrats there. Here it is for the record:
DEMOCRATS VOTING YEA:
Luna, Vilma (D-Corpus Christi)
Wilson, Ron (D-Houston)
RINOs VOTING NAY:
Hamilton, Mike “Tuffy” (R-Mauriceville)
Hughes, Bryan (R-Mineola)
Hunter, Bob (R-Abilene)
Jones, Delwin (R-Lubbock)
Miller, Sid (R-Stephenville)
DID NOT VOTE:
Craddick, Tom (R-Midland)(not voting, as is prerogative of Speaker)
Merritt, Tommy (R-Longview){present and not voting)
Oliveira, Rene (D-Brownsville)(absent, excused)
Solis, Jim (D-Harlingen)(absent, excused)
Wolens, Steve (D-Dallas)(absent, excused)
Thus the vote was 83 yeas (88 Republicans - the five RINOs + the two Dems - the two present and not voting = 83) and 62 nays (62 Dems + 5 - 2 - 3 excused absences = 62). I'm guessing "excused" means they weren't in Ardmore.
Ratliff joins Democrats to oppose redistrictingRepublican's move could keep Senate from taking up issue
07/15/2003
AUSTIN – A key Republican senator joined with Democrats trying to kill congressional redistricting Monday even as Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst scrambled for support to keep the issue alive.
Sen. Bill Ratliff, R-Mount Pleasant, said proceeding with redistricting would ignite "a vitriolic battle," destroying the Legislature's traditions of bipartisanship and cooperation.
Mr. Dewhurst said lawmakers are "fairly far down in the process" of producing a new congressional map. The GOP lieutenant governor said he would consider abandoning a Senate tradition – requiring a two-thirds vote to take up any measure – if he thinks a majority can agree on a redistricting plan.
"I'll consider all of our options," Mr. Dewhurst said.
If he observes the two-thirds rule, as he had said before Monday he was inclined to do, then opposition from Mr. Ratliff and 10 Democratic senators would kill redistricting.
Although Mr. Dewhurst said Monday's development could prove merely "a bump in the road," Mr. Ratliff at a minimum complicated the redistricting effort, the main reason Gov. Rick Perry called the current special session.
Mr. Ratliff said he joined 10 Democratic senators signing a letter to Mr. Dewhurst stating "unalterable opposition" to bringing up a redistricting map on the Senate floor.
"I don't believe that even a good product of this process justifies the pain, the blood, the sweat, the tears that are going to be necessary in the Senate to get there," Mr. Ratliff said.
He said many of his colleagues "feel that they're going to have to fall on a sword in order to do this, and they're going to suffer from it. ... I don't see any reason to do that."
Democrats hailed Mr. Ratliff. "Once again, Senator Ratliff has demonstrated tremendous courage and character as a public servant," said Sen. Leticia Van de Putte of San Antonio, chairwoman of the Senate Democratic Caucus.
The state Republican Party was quick to point out that the rule has been abandoned on occasion – such as when the Senate took up a state senatorial redistricting plan in 1992.
Mr. Perry and House Speaker Tom Craddick, R-Midland, meanwhile, kept pressuring Mr. Dewhurst for Senate approval of a new congressional map.
"I believe we must give the lieutenant governor the time to sort out his options on the issue for which the session was called," Mr. Perry said.
Bob Richter, a spokesman for Mr. Craddick, said the speaker "still feels like it [redistricting] can be done. He doesn't feel like it's finished."
Mr. Dewhurst said Mr. Ratliff previously told him he'd wait until the Senate Jurisprudence Committee produced a map before deciding whether to support a floor debate on redistricting.
"I think even Senator Ratliff had said several times to you all in the press that he would withhold judgment until a plan came out," Mr. Dewhurst said. "Well, no plan has come out yet. ... He's always assured me that he would wait and withhold judgment until he saw a map and that he would be flexible."
Mr. Ratliff said he had not reneged on a pledge to wait.
"I said I would consider. I did consider," Mr. Ratliff said.
Mr. Ratliff said that if Mr. Dewhurst throws out the two-thirds rule for taking up measures on the Senate floor, "it would be a serious mistake – maybe the most serious mistake he could make."
Mr. Ratliff, who is among the Senate's most senior Republican members and served as lieutenant governor after Gov. George W. Bush became president, warned that the Legislature could turn into "a truly completely partisan operation."
"That rule is the reason why the Texas Legislature has been known for decades as being a place where the two parties can work together," Mr. Ratliff said.
Sen. Gonzalo Barrientos, D-Austin, said the letter to Mr. Dewhurst opposing the redistricting debate was drafted over the weekend.
"This is to advise you that the undersigned members of the Texas Senate are unalterably opposed to the Senate's consideration of a congressional redistricting bill during the 78th Legislature," the letter said. "We will oppose any motion to bring such a redistricting bill to the Senate floor for debate."
Mr. Barrientos said that means those signing will resist taking up redistricting until at least January 2005, when lawmakers return for the next regular session.
Only senators Kenneth Armbrister of Victoria and Frank Madla of San Antonio didn't join their Democratic colleagues and Mr. Ratliff in signing the letter. They have previously said they are undecided on redistricting.
E-mail rtgarrett@dallasnews.com or gjeffers@dallasnews.com
Online at: http://www.dallasnews.com/latestnews/stories/071503dntexredist.4de84.html
