Posted on 07/25/2003 9:04:35 PM PDT by deport
GOP effort to redraw districts is crushed
In possible 2nd session, Democrats will have to try a new strategy
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Friday, July 25, 2003
Score the Texas Democrats, who haven't won much of anything in a long time, as the winners of the second go-round in the redistricting rodeo bucking its way through the state Capitol.
Republican Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst declared Friday that this round, on the most partisan of issues, is over.
"We didn't have the votes to bring it up," Dewhurst said. "And so, in essence, redistricting in this session is dead."
The fight is expected to move to a third round shortly after the special session ends Tuesday.
The first Democratic victory, during the regular legislative session that ended in June, was keyed by a House boycott that blocked action. The next battle could be highlighted by a quorum-busting boycott by 11 Democratic senators.
At the heart of the battle is the GOP's desire for more seats in the state's 32-member U.S. House delegation. Although they haven't won a statewide race in years, Democrats still hold a 17-15 margin in the congressional delegation. The House districts were drawn by federal judges in 2001 after the Legislature couldn't agree on a plan.
A House-approved map and a version OK'd by a Senate committee could give Republicans a majority — perhaps as many as 21 — of the U.S. House seats.
In the Senate, the rules will change in the Republicans' favor if there's another special session because Dewhurst has said he will skirt the Senate tradition of requiring a two-thirds vote to bring bills to the floor for action.
The GOP has a 19-12 edge in the Senate, two short of what's needed for two-thirds. And Sen. Bill Ratliff, R-Mount Pleasant, is siding with the Democrats.
With 18 votes, and possible support from Sen. Ken Armbrister, D-Victoria, the GOP would have more than the 16 votes needed for the simple majority to get a redistricting map to the Senate floor in the next special session.
But while that change would tilt the game in the Republicans' favor, another potential change could make it much easier for Democratic senators to skip town.
When House members fled to Ardmore, Okla., in May, House officials sent the Department of Public Safety in search of them. A lawsuit sparked by that action has produced a preliminary ruling by a state district judge saying that the DPS cannot hunt down AWOL lawmakers.
Although the Texas Constitution gives the Legislature the power to compel attendance, it leaves it to each chamber to decide on enforcement.
Austin attorney Keith Hampton, advising Senate Democrats, has told them that the Senate's GOP leadership cannot have them arrested and returned to establish a quorum.
"They can just go home," Hampton said. "I don't think one member or one group of members could exercise any force against the others."
Attorney General Greg Abbott's office is expected to ask state District Judge Charles Campbell on Monday to narrow or change his ruling on the use of law enforcement agencies, and Abbott has said he will appeal the decision.
Hampton also thinks the Senate's sergeant-at-arms cannot use his staff or hire private investigators to track down senators.
"If the senators aren't doing what the people want, then the people can throw them out of office," he said.
Senate Democrats indicated Friday that they have not decided whether to bust a quorum during the next session. Senate Democratic Caucus Chairwoman Leticia Van de Putte of San Antonio said there is no doubt they have the numbers — at least 11 — to do so.
"Resolve is a very powerful emotion," she said.
Dewhurst, repeating several times that the two-thirds vote tradition has been skirted 15 to 20 times in the past, didn't want to get into a discussion about a possible boycott.
"I hope here in the Texas Senate that some of our members don't find themselves in the partisanship that was employed in the regular session in the House," Dewhurst said.
The lieutenant governor said the GOP leadership is intent on getting new maps.
"I know that (Gov. Rick Perry) believes it is fair to have lines drawn that more appropriately reflect the voting trends here in the state, and he is willing to call a second special session, and — I've not spoken with him about a third — or a third. Sooner or later, we're going to have a new plan," he said, "and it's my ardent hope that we work together now, as soon as we can, rather than, as I said before, in September or late August."
Perry spokeswoman Kathy Walt said Friday: "The governor has made no final decision on whether there will be a second special session."
Dewhurst said Perry has decided, and even told him when it would be.
"I'm going to leave that up to him to announce," Dewhurst said.
And while Dewhurst was urging Democrats to participate in the process, several of them were making other plans.
"I'll go home and mow my lawn," said Sen. Chuy Hinojosa, D-McAllen.
Sen. Gonzalo Barrientos, D-Austin, said no final decision has been made, but preparations are in the works.
"One has to think strategically. At what point — psychological and otherwise — would be a good point," he said. "We certainly are not going to get caught on the floor of the Senate with the doors locked."
Barrientos was referring to the possibility that Perry could call another special session to begin immediately after the end of this one, a move that could catch Democrats in the chamber before they have a chance to flee.
Dewhurst: Redistricting dead this special session
By NATALIE GOTT
Associated PressAUSTIN -- Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst confirmed today that congressional redistricting will not be debated or voted on by the full Senate before the term ends next week because of a lack of support but he vowed that "sooner or later" a new plan will get approved.
"In essence, redistricting in this session is dead," said Dewhurst, who presides over the Senate. "We will continue to do everything we can to bring everyone together."
A bloc of 11 Democrats and one Republican have been holding firm in opposing redistricting in the Senate. That's enough to keep the bill from coming up for debate under Senate rules.
Republican Gov. Rick Perry, however, is expected to call a second special legislative session on the issue and Dewhurst said he expects Perry to call it "sooner than later." The current 30-day special session ends Tuesday.
A GOP-controlled Senate committee approved a redistricting map this week that appears as though it could give Texas Republicans an additional seven seats in the congressional delegation that is now dominated by Democrats 17-15. The bill stalled in the Senate after the vote.
The Republican-dominated Texas House already approved its own redistricting map that could give Texas Republicans as many as 21 seats.
Lawmakers failed to draw district lines during the 2001 legislative session, so the current plan was drawn by federal judges. Republicans, led by U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, have been pushing the effort to redraw congressional lines, saying current voting trends show Texas Republicans should have more seats in Congress.
Dewhurst, a Republican, said he is encouraging senators to work together to come up with a plan that is fair to all Texans.
He said if Perry is willing to call lawmakers back for a second or possibly third legislative session "sooner or later, we're going to have a new plan and it's my ardent hope that we work together now as soon as we can."
Dewhurst has said that in the second session he would remove a rule requiring two-thirds of the 31-member Senate to agree to bring a bill up for debate so that support from only a majority of senators would be needed to debate the bill.
Democrats, outnumbered by Republicans in the Senate 19-12, are now weighing their options on what to do if another session is called.
"Each individual senator has to make their decision based on what happens if the governor calls a second special session," said Sen. Leticia Van de Putte, chairwoman of the Senate Democratic Caucus.
One of their options includes boycotting the Texas Senate to break a quorum so a redistricting bill cannot be debated. Two-thirds of the Senate, or 21 members, must be present for the lawmakers to take up business in the chamber.
Van de Putte said the Democrats will be in contact with each other over the weekend but some say they are ready to break the quorum.
"If they go, I go. That's it," said Sen. Mario Gallegos, D-Houston. "If the majority of my colleagues say they need to go, then we go."
More than 50 Democrats in the Texas House fled the state when a redistricting bill was taken up during the regular legislative session, breaking a quorum in that chamber and killing the bill.
Texas Department of Public Safety troopers were ordered to search for the Democrats when they broke the quorum, but almost all of the Democrats fled to Ardmore, Okla., where the officers couldn't arrest them because they were in another state.
A judge since has indicated DPS shouldn't have been used to find House members. He is expected to issue a formal order soon.
Dewhurst said his office is seeking advice from the state attorney general's office on whether the DPS could be involved in a search if Democrats flee. He also said there are a number of different options he could take, but he did not give details.
Gallegos said if the judge ultimately signs the order saying the DPS cannot arrest the lawmakers and the Democrats decide to break the quorum, he is going to stay home.
"I'd rather do my quorum breaking from the House," Gallegos said.
Will third time be remap charm?
07/26/2003
AUSTIN – As the battle over congressional redistricting deadlocked a second time, with no resolution in sight, both sides paused Friday to calculate the political risks of a third go-around.
"This is for all the marbles," said Democratic pollster Jeff Montgomery. "It's for keeps. And there will be no turning back."
Democrats used the Senate's traditional requirement of a bipartisan consensus and a key Republican senator's defection to thwart passage of a new congressional map in the special session. House Democrats staged a boycott in May to block a new plan during the regular session that ended June 2.
On Friday, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst pronounced the GOP's remap effort dead in the special session that began June 30 and will end Tuesday.
"We didn't have the votes to bring it up," Mr. Dewhurst said, though he reiterated that Republicans probably would in a second special session because he wouldn't require a two-thirds vote, as is customary, for a bill to be brought up on the Senate floor.
A spokeswoman said Gov. Rick Perry has not decided yet to call another session.
Strategists have advised Mr. Perry to first make sure there is agreement within his own Republican Party on a new congressional map and enough time for it to clear federal review and be in place for next year's elections.
Meanwhile, 11 Democratic senators waited for Mr. Perry to make a decision before they consider whether to show up for a second special session.
"It's premature to discuss any location or where we would possibly go because the decision has not been made," said Sen. Leticia Van De Putte, D-San Antonio and chairwoman of the Senate Democratic Caucus. She said Democrats would discuss a boycott this weekend.
Political scientists and polltakers agreed that few voters care deeply yet about the prolonged redistricting battle, though they differed about whether the public eventually will punish one side or the other.
"It's an activist fight," said Bruce Buchanan, a political science professor at the University of Texas at Austin. "The mass public does not have a way to relate to how redistricting is affecting their interest."
Mr. Buchanan said he was surprised that Republicans and Democrats are not spending advertising dollars to sway the public to their side.
Democrats packed field hearings with critics of the push for a new redistricting plan by such Washington Republicans as U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay of Sugar Land and senior White House adviser Karl Rove.
For instance, at seven meetings the Senate held across the state, 89 percent of the 2,620 witnesses opposed any change in the congressional maps drawn by federal judges two years ago, after the Legislature failed to produce a plan.
Ordinary Texans may not be aware of the redistricting battle at all, said Mr. Montgomery and Mike Baselice, a GOP pollster in Austin.
However, Cal Jillson, political science professor at Southern Methodist University, said he thinks a good many voters are watching the spectacle at least sporadically and with casual interest.
"The public is sitting back, sort of bemused at this point," Dr. Jillson said. "It's having a hard time sorting out fact from fiction. Republicans say it's a matter of fairness, that they've got 58 percent of the vote in this state. ... Democrats say this is a heinous act of political hardball."
Although Dr. Jillson predicted a second session would bring "a partisan explosion" that could damage one party or the other, Mr. Baselice, who polls for Mr. Perry, said "the downsides are minimal" for Republicans and probably for Democrats, too.
"I don't know how it's going to stack up against other issues," Mr. Baselice said.
"Probably, it's not that powerful a deal. ... I wish I could sit here and tell you here's somebody that lost an election because of redistricting ... because of the way they voted or how they conducted themselves during the debate. I can't think of one."
The public views redistricting "as a political issue," which doesn't affect paychecks or quality of life, he said.
Mr. Montgomery, the Democratic pollster, and SMU's Dr. Jillson said they were surprised that Mr. Perry had called the first special session without having made sure beforehand that a map would pass.
"This has been a fairly ineffectual performance by the Republican leadership in Austin," Dr. Jillson said.
Mr. Montgomery said Mr. Perry had "mediocre" rankings with the public in a recent survey. But he attributed the lack of enthusiasm for the governor to the state's $9.9 billion budget shortfall and Mr. Perry's low profile during the recent regular session, not to his handling of redistricting.
Dr. Jillson said Republicans could get too greedy, drawing a map to boost their current 15 seats to as many as 22 of the 32 seats in the state's congressional delegation, only to have it overturned by federal judges on the grounds that it diluted minority voters' voices.
"When the adrenalines starts to flow, as it is down there now, it's hard for these guys not to overreach," he said.
GOP consultant Mr. Baselice said "you're going to hear that type of rhetoric," but it won't be persuasive with voters.
"I don't think anybody's trying to get back at Democrats for their gerrymander districts that were partisanly drawn in the 1990s and in the 1980s," he said.
Mr. Montgomery said assessments of damage are premature.
"This opera is only in the second act, and perhaps about to go into the third act," he said. "There's any number of scenarios that might play out."
E-mail rtgarrett@dallasnews.com
So why did he require the 2/3 vote in this session?
Because Texas Republicans have been dumber than dirt and have let the filthy Democrats run all over them. In fairness, the Democrats have received a lot of support from the media, but the Republicans should have known that would happen from the start.
But a new session will start next week, and Lieutenant Governor Dewhurst is going to waive the 2/3rds rule to bring up legislation in that session.
Because Texas Republicans have been dumber than dirt and have let the filthy Democrats run all over them. In fairness, the Democrats have received a lot of support from the media, but the Republicans should have known that would happen from the start.
I think Dewhurst didn't want to appear heavy handed in the first session. Anyway, what's the rush?
No! The Lieutenant Governor can decide to waive the 2/3rds rule to introduce legislation. In Texas, the Lieutenant Governor is considered to be more powerful than the Governor. David Dewhurst was just playing nice for the first special session. In a second special session, the gloves will come off.
Great analogy!
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