Dewhurst's Run to the Right Falls Short

Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst listens to Sen. Tommy Williams, R-The Woodlands, during the Senate session on April 2, 2013.
Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst listens to Sen. Tommy Williams, R-The Woodlands, during the Senate session on April 2, 2013.

Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst started the session with a list of must-do items he hoped to get out of the 83rd legislative session.

He was hot off a loss in the Republican primaries for U.S. Senate that broke a streak of four statewide victories starting in 1998. And it was evident that fellow Republican Ted Cruz’s success in painting the lieutenant governor as something less than a conservative had left an impression Dewhurst wanted to erase.

He touted proposals for school choice and stricter abortion legislation, among other things, but the 83rd Legislature has left many of his wishes unfulfilled even as potential Republican opponents muster their arguments that they will be the conservative choices in 2014’s primaries.

Early this week, Dewhurst's campaign sent an email to supporters, urging them to urge legislators to pass several pieces of anti-abortion legislation that, as the week comes to an end, appears to have failed. And his push for school choice was swallowed into a diluted but still-pending bill that allows only a limited increase in publicly financed, privately run charter schools. 

Dewhurst supported a redistricting plan that would ensure a near supermajority of Republicans in the Legislature for a decade — pushed by Attorney General Greg Abbott. But that stalled in a House where Republican leaders rely on a shifting political coalition that often requires Democratic support. Abbott proposed ratifying political maps drawn by the courts for last year’s elections, an action that would remove the need to defend the maps drawn by the Legislature and currently contested on two separate fronts. It would remove uncertainty over the issue for both Republicans and Democrats, but House Democrats think they can add a handful of competitive seats if they stick with the court fight. They balked, and the House leadership balked with them.

With a few days left in the session, it appears the Senate helped assemble a budget that addresses several of the major issues promoted by Dewhurst and other top leaders. It’s got $2 billion for water, more than $1 billion in tax cuts, and it restores much of the money cut from public education in 2011 — all without busting the constitutional limit on growth in state spending.

But it hit the Rainy Day Fund for almost $4 billion over the objections of some of the outside conservative groups Dewhurst hoped to win over (the Senate’s original plan would have gone deeper, pulling $5.7 billion from the fund). And it got around the spending limits on a technicality — increasing what the state actually spends without using dollars from the accounts covered by the constitution. Spending will rise — if voters approve in November — but the spending cap will remain intact.

Senators across the spectrum supported the budget, arguing for investments in infrastructure and education as requirements of a strong continuing economy. But conservatives — the people Dewhurst hoped and hopes to appease — were arguing for more restraint, and for taking the infrastructure money away from other state programs instead of from its savings account.

As the session hourglass empties, Dewhurst’s camp has been quietly pushing for a special session — where the clout of Democratic opposition would be blunted. And he himself told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram on Thursday that he has asked the governor to call a special session on the abortion bills, drug testing of welfare recipients, and on legislation allowing concealed handguns on college campuses in Texas.

Barring some special session action, he's got little from the session to shore up his reputation with the same Republican voters who spurned him in last July’s Senate runoff and whom he would face again next year if he seeks re-election — that's his stated intention — or another office.

The potential opponents are conservative enough to foreshadow a genuine race to the political right in any Republican primary contest Dewhurst might choose.

Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson and Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples — the former the author of the state’s concealed handgun law, and the latter the author of a current book promoting border security and a stricter immigration policy — both say they’ll run for lieutenant governor next year, whether or not the incumbent is in the race.

Staples is ducking public comparisons of himself and the incumbent right now — after all, they might end up in different contests. But he’s got the outline of his pitch ready. “The record reflects that I am the most conservative person mentioned in this race,” Staples said at a recent TribLive forum. Both he and Patterson have suggested that Dewhurst, who has been in statewide office since 1999, has been there long enough. “You lose the ability to lead, to motivate, to inspire and to sell,” Patterson said in February.

It would be difficult to get to the right of either one of them. And it’s important because of the outsized role conservative activists play in Republican primaries in Texas. Candidates like Dewhurst and former U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, who lost a 2010 gubernatorial primary to Perry, have discovered the perils of a party election that draws fewer than 10 percent of the eligible voters to the polls.

Should Dewhurst choose to run for the governor’s office — assuming, for a moment, that Perry doesn’t seek re-election — he would likely face Abbott, the attorney general, a Cruz mentor, an ardent basher of the Obama administration and a darling of the right. Perry himself is firmly established — he was the first prominent Texas Republican to sense the rise of the Tea Party and to harness it in his own politics. And it’s been tried: Hutchison demonstrated the hazards of appearing less conservative than the governor in a primary.

There is always the top race. U.S. Sen. John Cornyn has to defend his seat in 2014, should Dewhurst still harbor some deep desire to go to Washington. But the state’s senior senator was the second-most conservative member of that body in 2012, according to a ranking by National Journal. And like Abbott, who had an end-of-year war chest of $18 million, Cornyn would be well financed.

Dewhurst has vast personal wealth, but it would a negligible advantage against a well-financed opponent. By comparison, Staples and Patterson would have a lot of catching up to do before the end of the year, when the primaries begin in earnest.

The lieutenant governor, if he's willing to self-finance, could start a re-election race in 2014 with the most money — unless Perry decided to stay put and Abbott moved his focus to the second prize. But he’d rather start with a financial advantage, and some wins to show off to the conservatives in the Republican Party.

Which Votes Will Haunt Lawmakers?

Lt. Governor David Dewhurst signs a stack of bills during a recess in the Senate session on May 22, 2013.
Lt. Governor David Dewhurst signs a stack of bills during a recess in the Senate session on May 22, 2013.

It will take a while for voters to figure out what the Legislature has inflicted on them, but political consultants are already seeing some wedge issues that could be used against lawmakers in upcoming political races.

First the fine print: Last-minute reversals or gubernatorial vetoes could wipe out or change the outcomes of various proposals and impact how future political messages are crafted.

Many votes, however, could be damaging no matter what ends up on the law books after the Legislature completes its work and leaves town. Take the vote on an amendment by Rep. Jason Isaac, R-Dripping Springs, to a bill (Senate Bill 1459) shoring up the state employee retirement system. The amendment would have denied a proposed pension increase for legislators.

The amendment failed on an 84-59 vote, with some opponents complaining that members didn’t have time to digest its full impact — and pointing out, legitimately, that it might have unintended consequences. But political consultants follow an old political adage: If you’re explaining, you’re losing.

It would be relatively easy to characterize those who opposed the amendment — the 84 who voted to "table" it — as being in favor of giving themselves a fat pension increase. That was, after all, the subject of the floor debate that preceded the vote. If voters take issue with that 12 percent hike in legislative pensions, the vote could cut in either major party primary or in a general election.

Most of the “no” votes came from GOP members, but a lot of Republicans joined Democrats in opposing Isaac's amendment. The list of how each member voted is in the House Journal from May 20; it's Record Vote 988.

Lawmaker pensions are based on the base salary of state district judges, currently at $125,000 but set to rise in the budget to $140,000. That increase in turn would give all current and future pensioners from the Legislature a hike.

Isaac’s amendment would have decoupled the judicial salaries from elected-class pensions, and would have instead tied lawmaker’s pensions to a percentage of the governor’s salary ($150,000) and lowered a multiplier in the retirement formula, effectively cutting pensions by 17 percent.

If the judicial salary increase remains in the state budget and is signed into law by Gov. Rick Perry, of course, a vote in favor of the two-year spending plan could also be characterized as a vote in favor of an increase in lawmaker pensions. Budgets always produce plenty of political advertising fodder, so that won't be the only item used in a campaign.

Here’s another potential landmine: The unsuccessful amendment by Rep. Phil King, R-Weatherford, to the bill aimed at forcing disclosure of so-called dark money. That would be Senate Bill 346, by Sen. Kel Seliger, R-Amarillo, and Rep. Charlie Geren, R-Fort Worth, aimed at shedding light on donations to 501 (c)(4) nonprofits that take part in political campaigns.

King’s amendment would have stripped out language exempting labor unions from provisions of the bill. Proponents of the disclosure legislation said unions were organized under a separate section of the tax code and weren’t being targeted by SB 346. Some conservatives didn’t buy that argument and fought to remove the labor exemption — via amendments by King and by Rep. Charles Perry, R-Lubbock.

Check out Record Vote 807 — the one on King’s amendment — in the House Journal on May 13. This one is fodder for GOP primaries, with conservative challengers wielding it to associate their opponents with organized labor — not necessarily a good association in a GOP primary.

While looking in the journal, you might notice there were four conservative Republicans who reported that the votes originally displayed on the electronic board didn’t reflect their true intentions.

All four switched their initially recorded votes to "no" — siding, for the official records often scrutinized by political researchers, with King.

After Texas Lawmakers Go Home, What's Next for Water?

Water legislation seems to have assumed roughly its final shape. Assuming a few more loose ends get tied up, including Gov. Rick Perry’s signature, Texas will draw $2 billion from its Rainy Day Fund for water-supply projects. Also, in a November referendum, voters will decide whether to sign off on a pair of funds to administer the money.

But there is plenty of action still to come on water, even after lawmakers go home. 

The most immediate issue is a shake-up of the Texas Water Development Board, which will oversee the administration of the extra money. State Sen. Troy Fraser, R-Horseshoe Bay, was the driving force behind a change in the board’s structure. Going forward, as the current plan has it, the agency will be led by three full-time board members, rather than six part-time members. 

The governor would appoint those members, and Fraser said that he expects them to take an active role in visiting communities. As a hypothetical example, “If Dallas is going to be out of water in 20 years and they want to build a reservoir,” Fraser said he wants the new board members out visiting the site and talking to people.

State Rep. Lyle Larson, R-San Antonio, also envisions an active role for the water development board’s leaders. The new water program “will only be as successful … as the leadership of the agency,” he said. “If we’ve got folks that are not actively promoting developing projects across the state of Texas, then I think we’ll struggle in getting some of these projects built in the way that [State Rep. Allan Ritter, R-Nederland, the leading House member behind the water bill] envisioned.”

The role of the executive director will also change. “What now is the executive director will become more likely a CFO,” Fraser said. Overall, however, he said the changes to the agency were “not really that drastic.”

Projects seeking state funding help will also need to be ranked. Prioritization is “obviously the key thing we’ve got to do,” Fraser said. Regional planners, whose work underlies the wish list of projects in the state water plan, are “going to give us a one-through-ten,” he said.

Laura Huffman, head of the Nature Conservancy in Texas, said that the water legislation spells out how to prioritize projects on both regional and state levels, with criteria including the urgency of need, the financial viability of the borrowers and the sustainability of the projects. This should allow Texas to “make sure that high-quality projects are funded first,” she said. “This was never just a blank check.”

Some fear, however, that the prioritization process could go awry as political interests dig in. “I’m fearful that somewhere down the road, these projects will be decided upon political connections and favoritism,” said State Rep. David Simpson, R-Longview, as the House debated Senate Joint Resolution 1, which puts the water fund to the voters.

Josiah Neeley, a policy analyst with the Texas Public Policy Foundation, a conservative think tank, guessed that it could be “a year or more” before the water funds started distributing loans.

Another looming issue for water is the November referendum that creates the funds to administer the water dollars.

Fraser noted that many interest groups, from the Farm Bureau to the Realtors, backed the new water spending. “We’re going to have an army of people promoting this issue,” he said, adding: “Since I’ve been in the Legislature, I’ve never had an issue that has had this much positive approval. … If I go to the grocery store in Marble Falls, that’s all people want to talk about.”

Said Neeley: “It’s going to be this kind of a weird referendum in that the voters are going to decide whether or not to do something that’s going to happen anyway.” House Bill 4 also creates a new water fund, he said, so the real purpose of the referendum is to allow the transfer of $2 billion from the Rainy Day Fund into the water fund without triggering the state’s spending cap.

Asked whether the Tea Party was likely to get involved in the referendum, Neeley said, “It’s quite possible.” That’s because in addition to water, it involves issues related to the constitutional spending limit and the Rainy Day Fund in addition to water, he said.

And two years from now, what will Texas lawmakers think of the great water session of 2013, with its $2 billion spending and creation of special new funds? Much depends, Neeley noted, on the state’s revenue situation — how the Rainy Day Fund is doing, for example — and also on the weather. 

Newsreel: Final Days for Texas Legislature

This week in the Texas Weekly Newsreel: Only a few days are left in the 83rd legislative session and everything is up in the air — including whether lawmakers will come back for more when the session ends on Monday.

Inside Intelligence: About The 83rd Legislature...

For this week’s nonscientific survey of insiders in government and politics, we asked about the clout of partisan groups in the Legislature, about the biggest issues left undone and about how we’ll remember this group of lawmakers.

The power shifts in the Legislature from session to session and as the 83rd regular session draws to a close, we asked the insiders about the clout of the biggest partisan groups in the House and Senate, about the biggest issues left undone and for their ideas about how this particular group of lawmakers will be remembered.

The short form: The Tea Party wing of the GOP is weaker than it was two years ago, in the eyes of the insiders, the moderate wing of that party is stronger, and the Democrats are either unchanged or stronger.

The answers to the other two questions were all over the board, as you can see from the attached full set of comments. Cut them some slack — they answered these questions with a week still left in the session. A sampling of their responses follows. 

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How does the influence of the Tea Party wing of the GOP in the Legislature compare to two years ago?

• "Without occasional confluence with Ds not sure what victories they have to show for their efforts."

• "They seem to have the allegiance with the Democrats on issues but for different reasons. Dewhurst is heavily influenced on legislation by tea party's perspective."

• "Couldn't topple Straus or stop Lege from spending more"

• "Tea Party members of the legislature appear to be on par with last session as to influence. The 'outside groups' appear to have less influence . . . most members of the legislature have apparently grown numb to the noise."

• "There is no place to check 'different.' Hard-wired conservative principles continue to dominate the GOP - but the TEA Party has matured, sobered by Obama's re-election. They Texas TEA Party folks are focused on their roots -- fiscal conservatism, small government, etc. They've mostly stayed on track this session -- which makes them a bit stronger,"

• "Look not further than the rebellion over the Medicaid language and how fast it was pulled when the freshman republican members threatened to vote no."

• "The Tea Party is the number one reason the Ds have any power this session. By creating a three-party system on the floor, the Tea Party gave the minority Ds control of the balance of power. So that's strong influence, although not for them"

• "Not sure how much 'tea party' is a correct description, I think that there are a lot of Repub party primary issues that get attributed to tea party, but are more traditional primary faithful issues than tea party."

• "Stronger - but not by much. There's a core group of conservative House members (8-10) but that's really it."

• "They are more organized and coming after the moderate Repubs this next election."

• "I say overtly weaker but I have sensed a little stronger undertow this session than the rabble-rousing from last session."

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How does the influence of the moderate wing of the GOP in the Legislature compare to two years ago?

• "They governed like the wing with power."

• "Just a tad bit more running room for Speaker's team."

• "Actually understand that they are elected to work with others to confront state challenges. Always have to be watching the bomb throwers in their own party."

• "The center is holding"

• "They are afraid to get out in front on high-profile issues, since if they have to go moderate to get it passed, they risk being primaried, but if they move to the right to get votes there, they lose their identity."

• "What is the moderate wing of the GOP? Best I can tell, even Phil King is no longer conservative enough for some."

• "The moderates are stronger to the extent that Straus has consolidated power in the House. It bears mentioning that 'moderate' is also a relative term in the bizarro world that is the Texas Legislature."

• "It shouldn't be characterized as 'Moderate Wing of the GOP' as much as it should be characterized as leadership effectively promoting traditional conservative values and not wasting time fighting the 'Boogie Man'."

• "Definitely stronger but I believe the moderate wing has been pulled somewhat to the right."

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How does the influence of the Democrats in the Legislature compare to two years ago?

• "I believe TMF has had a good session. He has learned how to govern by deal making and has kept an open line of communication with those in power."

• "Dems are still forced to use the rules since they do not have the numbers. However, they have been helped by the moderate R's often."

• "D's are still treading water."

• "Who? No, give them props for the budget play. Even if it doesn't hold."

• "Much calmer atmosphere but the combination of the libertarian freshman with D's gives them have more impact."

• "As long as Straus is Speaker, they'll stay stronger than their numbers."

• "Really only stronger in the context of being smarter, thereby accomplishing their mission with much less visibility. Seems that there was a deal with leadership to keep bad stuff off the floor if the demos were willing to get along. And it has worked as far as I can tell. The difference between TMF and Jessica, et al on the mic this year and last is huge. But the difference in what has been allowed to get to the floor is likewise substantial. Basically, no controversy in legislation, then no controversy over running the house."

• "The budget demands that the Ds have been able to pull off are impressive considering their inferior numbers."

What’s the biggest issue this Legislature should have addressed and didn’t?

• "Transportation"

• "Tax cuts for biz."

• "Education is NOT fixed; it has NOT been improved in the slightest. We simply MUST get a grip on our educational system and how we plan to educate our work force in the future."

• "The acceptance of funds for Medicaid expansion under Obamacare"

• "Transportation and Medicare--two big issues they utterly failed at solving"

• "Education"

• "Sustainable highway and transportation funding"

• "School vouchers. The Rs will never have this advantage again, so that ship has sailed for good."

• "Ethics"

• "Railroad Commission Sunset - They can't address an agency that brings in billions of dollars to the state?"

What do you think this Legislature is going to be remembered for?

• "That it came after the 82nd, but before the 84th."

• "Having not acted on critical infrastructure needs when there was available revenues."

• "The Kumbayah session."

• "Failing to accept $100 billion dollars for Medicaid expansion"

• "Major water funding"

• "It's successes and its failures to address long term state problems that threaten the states attractiveness to new business expansion and growth."

• "I don't know but I wish I could forget this Legislature."

• "Who remembers any legislature except for us junkies?"

• "By the outsiders: water funding; by the insiders: the session that we didn't have a lt. gov."

• "UT/Perry Fight"

Our thanks to this week’s participants: Cathie Adams, Brandon Aghamalian, Jenny Aghamalian, Jennifer Ahrens, Clyde Alexander, George Allen, David Anthony, Jay Arnold, Charles Bailey, Tom Banning, Dave Beckwith, Rebecca Bernhardt, Andrew Biar, Allen Blakemore, Tom Blanton, Chris Britton, David Cabrales, Lydia Camarillo, William Chapman, Elizabeth Christian, Elna Christopher, John Colyandro, Harold Cook, Kevin Cooper, Beth Cubriel, Randy Cubriel, Denise Davis, Hector De Leon, June Deadrick, Tom Duffy, David Dunn, Richard Dyer, Jeff Eller, Jack Erskine, John Esparza, Wil Galloway, Norman Garza, Dominic Giarratani, Bruce Gibson, Stephanie Gibson, Eric Glenn, Kinnan Golemon, Jim Grace, John Greytok, Jack Gullahorn, Clint Hackney, Anthony Haley, Wayne Hamilton, Bill Hammond, Adam Haynes, Ken Hodges, Steve Holzheauser, Laura Huffman, Deborah Ingersoll, Cal Jillson, Jason Johnson, Mark Jones, Robert Jones, Lisa Kaufman, Robert Kepple, Richard Khouri, Tom Kleinworth, Sandy Kress, Pete Laney, Dick Lavine, James LeBas, Donald Lee, Luke Legate, Leslie Lemon, Richard Levy, Ruben Longoria, Vilma Luna, Matt Mackowiak, Bryan Mayes, J. McCartt, Robert Miller, Mike Moses, Steve Murdock, Nelson Nease, Keats Norfleet, Pat Nugent, Nef Partida, Gardner Pate, Robert Peeler, Tom Phillips, Wayne Pierce, Richard Pineda, Allen Place, Kraege Polan, Gary Polland, Jay Propes, Bill Ratliff, Tim Reeves, Patrick Reinhart, Grant Ruckel, Jason Sabo, Andy Sansom, Jim Sartwelle, Stan Schlueter, Bruce Scott, Robert Scott, Steve Scurlock, Dan Shelley, Bradford Shields, Christopher Shields, Jason Skaggs, Ed Small, Todd Smith, Larry Soward, Dennis Speight, Jason Stanford, Bob Strauser, Colin Strother, Sherry Sylvester, Jay Thompson, Russ Tidwell, Trey Trainor, Ware Wendell, Darren Whitehurst, Seth Winick, Peck Young, Angelo Zottarelli.

The Calendar

Monday, May 27

  • Last day of the 83rd legislative session

Sunday, June 16

  • Last day for governor to sign or veto legislation passed during the session
 

The Week in the Rearview Mirror

A housekeeping bill to make administrative improvements to the Texas Ethics Commission forced House lawmakers into a lot of tough votes this week, and they appear headed for a conference committee to work out differences between the House and Senate versions. Among the elements is a requirement that Railroad Commissioners resign to run for other offices; that lawmakers report when family members have contracts with government entities; that they post their personal financial disclosures online; and that tax-exempt organizations involved in Texas elections reveal the names of their donors.

After debating the issue for months, lawmakers moved forward with a budget deal this week that includes tapping the Rainy Day Fund for $3.9 billion. That should leave the fund with about $8 billion under current projections, or about $1 billion more than the governor says is needed to buttress the state’s bond ratings.  

Gov. Rick Perry hasn’t yet said whether he’s running for re-election — but Attorney General Greg Abbott doesn't appear to be waiting for him to make up his mind. Abbott is collecting résumés and assembling a gubernatorial campaign team. He’s shaking hands, giving speeches and edging his way onto the covers of small-town newspapers across the state. He also just opened a new campaign headquarters, and he’s building up his grassroots infrastructure online, collecting supporters via email blasts, web petitions and increasingly partisan and vociferous social media messaging. Publicly? He’s quiet, waiting until sometime next month to announce his plans.

The lawyers who’ve been litigating the Texas redistricting cases since 2011 have to be back in court in San Antonio when the session ends next week, helping a panel of three federal judges to figure out what should happen next. The state’s case is still being fought on legal fronts there and in Washington, while the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to rule soon on a challenge to a key part of the Voting Rights Act that applies to Texas and other states. At stake: The timing and maps to be used in next year’s elections.

A remarkably expensive meeting of a key legislative committee took place this week: a $22,241.03 affair at an upscale downtown Austin steakhouse for the 15-member House Calendars Committee. It required the use of 34 American Express cards, 11 MasterCards and 20 Visa cards. The committee chairman, state Rep. Todd Hunter, R-Corpus Christi, said there were about 140 people there, and most of them stayed for dinner. “I can tell you that we had some people there that probably did not have an interest in anything specifically, but wanted to meet people,” Hunter said. “But do people work the calendar? Absolutely.”

Political People and their Moves

State Rep. Craig Eiland, D-Galveston, first elected in 1994, won't seek another term in 2014. He made the announcement in a personal privilege speech to the House, becoming the second state representative (the first was Mark Strama, D-Austin) to say during the session that this will be his last term.

Cases of the Maybes:

• Former state Rep. Raul Torres, R-Corpus Christi, says he is seriously considering a run for comptroller, based on his assumption the current Comptroller Susan Combs won't be seeking re-election but will be running for lieutenant governor.

• State Rep. Dan Branch, R-Dallas, won't say, exactly, that he is running for attorney general, but says he has been visiting some "nice counties" on weekends and that people are whispering in his ear. "We have a sitting attorney general. When he makes a decision on what he wants to do next, I've been encouraged to take a look at it."

Abilene Dr. Austin King, husband of state Rep. Susan King, R-Abilene, is the new president-elect of the Texas Medical Association. Dr. Stephen Brotherton of Fort Worth moves out of that post and into the top job. They’ll each serve for a year.

The Association of Texas Professional Educators named Gary Godsey their new executive director. He is current president and CEO of Kansas City-based PKD Foundation, which does medical research and education. Before that, he headed the United Way in Dallas.

Quotes of the Week

Lobby pays. They follow rules. Everybody knows up front. And we even post it, so we are all in compliance.

Rep. Todd Hunter, R-Corpus Christi, on the $22,241.03 end-of-session dinner for his calendars committee

I feel like I have a right to protect my business interests. Part of my job for my clients, which are the associations and their members, is to come down here and try to stand in the way of legislation, some of which is rather impulsive.

Sen. John Carona, R-Dallas, on mixing legislating and personal business

My relationship with Texas Right to Life has been strained, and it’s directly related to Elizabeth Graham and her style of politics. She concocts stories out of things that are not real, publishes them and then tries to get people to donate to her cause by creating a false crisis.

Rep. John Zerwas, R-Richmond, on an obstacle to an end-of-life bill 

I personally don’t think it’s fair to the people, but this is her decision to make.

Sen. Joan Huffman, R-Houston, after Rep. Ruth Jones McClendon, D-San Antonio, began systematically killing Huffman's bills in the House

Let me be clear: I don't trust the Republicans. … It is leadership in both parties that has gotten us in this mess.

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz during floor debate on the Senate budget

They are going to have to expand the cafeteria.

Former Lt. Gov. Bill Ratliff on the proliferation of lobbyists in Austin, in Texas Monthly