House Rule Change Could Weaken Democratic Minority
The Texas House's Democratic minority was dealt a blow Monday when the House passed an amendment to the chamber's rules to limit legislators' ability to derail a bill based on clerical errors. Calling "points of order” on such errors is a strategy lawmakers have often used to block measures they oppose.
State Rep. Phil King, R-Weatherford, authored the amendment to the House rules to limit abuse of typographical mistakes to kill legislation. Points of order on those types of mistakes send bills back to committee to be corrected before they can return to the floor to be voted ...
Comments (10)
Karen Spivey-Cummings via Texas Tribune on Facebook
Typical of the GOP.
James Wilson via Texas Tribune on Facebook
I think this rule change simply encourages less precision and lower quality work in the legislative process. If you can't get your bills handled correctly in committee, you need a new clerk. Or the member needs a better legislative education.
Bill Eaves via Texas Tribune on Facebook
Maybe it's a good thing that David Simpson didn't run for speaker.....wrong vote David......
Gillian Parrillo via Texas Tribune on Facebook
Another pass for a poor educational system
Joey Halbert via Texas Tribune on Facebook
Great move in my opinion. Killing legislation based on a typo is silly.
Betty DuBose Hamilton via Texas Tribune on Facebook
And then I am reminded of a lax slip up that was FOUND by Senator Biden's staff. I watched his speech on the floor. The house had passed a bill that allowed "any AGENT of a Representative (or elected official)" to request personal information from the IRS without appropriate safeguards. Senator Biden threw a fit and the senate sent the bill back to the House. They were already on Thanksgiving break, so they had to come back (a day early, I think) to recall that bill and re-do it. Thank goodness that staff member was on the ball and caught that or ANYONE who worked in a government office would have access to our personal records. Examining those bills must be a very tiring and thankless job!
WUSRPH
I hate to be a killjoy to the conspiracy theorists "GOPs guts Dems" folks, but this "new" rule is based on one adopted back when Pete Laney was speaker (remember him--the last Democratic speaker). It was dropped out of the rules for the following session because some Republicans objected that it allowed the Democrats, who were then in control of the House, to run over legitimate opposition to a bill. I assume the reporter did not know because she was probably in elementary school when all that happen…but a few of the Democratic members of the House were here long enough ago to have voted for the rule back then…. The more things change...the more....It was a good rule back then and it is a good rule now.
Gritsforbreakfast
I can't really tell from this story what they did. Very few points of order relate to "typos" - what points of order, if any, will still be allowed?
Hard to believe just three Rs had enough perspective to oppose this. It wasn't that long ago Dems controlled the Lege and it was mostly Rs raising points of order. A decade from now things may flip again. Like the 2/3 rule in the Senate, this doesn't just protect partisan minorities but also along nonpartisan axes like rural vs. urban members. Unless they truly limited the change to typos - which isn't really what most points of order are about - this was a shortsighted vote.
j. davis
Is it a typographical error if the word "not" inadvertently included in a sentence in a bill?
(October 11, 2007)--A quirk of the law in Arkansas now allows people of any age to get married, even toddlers.
The law that went into effect this summer was intended to set 18 as the minimum age for marriage, but was to include an exception for pregnant minors to marry if their parents consent.
Instead there was an extraneous "not" in the printed version which had the effect of saying anybody under 18 who was not pregnant could get married with the parents consent.
On the other hand, a 17-year-old girl who was pregnant was denied a license.
Her mother sued and a judge allowed the marriage and ordered the state to fix the law.
Arkansas' governor wanted to leave it up to a commission that's authorized to correct typos in legislation, but the judge said the "not" had actually changed the law.
He says it's going to be up to the legislature to make it right.
Hannah Katz
David Simpson voted with the Democrats? Write that one down.