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To: Pilsner
Any bill can be introduced and passed in a special session in Texas,


How so? Not arguing just trying to understand.....
68 posted on 09/12/2003 4:46:18 PM PDT by deport
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To: deport
Any bill can be introduced and passed in a special session in Texas...

How so? Not arguing just trying to understand.....

Members in the Texas House or Senate file proposed bills with the clerk of their respective house. The Speaker (House) or Lt. Governor (Senate) then sends the bill to the appropriate committee and about hundred steps later (if all goes well) the bill is passed by both houses and goes to the Governor.

They saying goes that there are hundreds of ways a bill can die in the legislature, but only one way to pass it. In a special session there is simply one additional way to kill a bill, by raising a "point of order" that the bill is not authorized in the call of the special session by the Governor. A well founded point of order kills a bill, or at least send it back to point where it went out of order. Since a bill that is outside of the call is always out of order it would be dead.

Now that I think about it, it might be possible for the leadership to play a few games even in a special session. I was in the House Gallery in 1987 when a Republican raised a valid point order that a bill was not being brought up at its proper time (I don't recall why it had to be after or before a certain time, but it did). The Democrat Speaker, Gib Lewis, tried to ignore the member raising the point, but finally the shouts were too loud and he recognized him. The member made his point of order and Gib said:

"Oh yeah? Why don't you come up here and see what time my watch says. Overruled" (BANG went his 4' gavel)

Memories like make me contemptuous of Democrat cries about Republican heavy handedness. They're just pissed that they are not the ones banging the gavels for partisan advantage.

83 posted on 09/12/2003 7:32:24 PM PDT by Pilsner
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