Posted on 09/11/2003 9:14:51 PM PDT by Theodore R.
Perry's timing of 3rd session saves hassles
Thursday, September 11, 2003
Gov. Rick Perry left almost three weeks between the second and third special sessions for two reasons, even though the election clock for 2004 is ticking.
First, Perry didn't want to rob attention from the effort to pass Proposition 12 on Saturday's ballot. That's the constitutional amendment to cut back on the noneconomic damages that injured parties can collect in civil lawsuits.
By waiting to begin the third session on Monday, Perry and wife Anita were free to campaign for the amendment.
Second, Perry wanted to fill various positions, including promoting Geoff Connor to secretary of state, without having his appointees immediately facing Senate confirmation in a special session.
By making the appointments while the Legislature was gone, the appointees could take office and serve at least until the next regular session in 2005. They'll face a vote in the Senate at that time.
Had Perry named them while the Legislature was in session, failure of any of them to get Senate confirmation by that session's end would have killed those appointments.
Interim appointees used to be able to serve until the next regularly scheduled session unless the Senate actively chose to take them up and "bust" them during a special session.
But a 1990 opinion from then-Attorney General Jim Mattox said the Texas Constitution might require all appointees to be cleared at the next session — regular or special — and failure to do so would bust them.
Key senators pointed out there were often hundreds of appointments needing confirmation, far too many for careful consideration in a special session, particularly if it lasted less than 30 days.
A clarifying amendment was put on the ballot in 1990 that Texas voters strongly endorsed. It formalized the ability for agency officials appointed between sessions to serve until the next regular session, unless the Senate chooses to consider them in a special session.
Any interim appointees not confirmed by the end of the next regular session are considered busted and ineligible for reappointment to that position.
Some thought that part of Perry's motive for naming the appointees while the Legislature was out was because Sen. Gonzalo Barrientos, D-Austin, was dragging his feet.
A tradition called "senatorial courtesy" allows any senator to object to an appointee from his or her district. Other senators almost always honor the senator's request, even if they disagree with it, and reject that appointee. Thus the governor usually pre-clears appointees with the senator who represents the appointee's home.
As the senator from the capital city, where many potential appointees live, Barrientos has more appointees to clear than other senators. He has angered previous governors with his sometimes painfully slow "advise and consent" process.
But Barrientos denied he had unduly slowed down Perry's recent appointments.
Perry's new appointees now will serve until at the least the 2005 regular session without having to worry about Senate clearance.
Dave McNeely's column appears Thursdays. Contact him at (512) 445-3644 or dmcneely@statesman.com.
So, query -- where ARE the Sandmen, now that their presence would be desirable? Never mind that, even, where is the law enforcement mechanism in that famously stern law-enforcing state?
All right, which part of the city/area?
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