Burnt Orange Report

Texas 11 on "Probation"

By Byron LaMasters

I'm sorry, but this is just SOOO high school. The Texas 11 are on probation (Bad. Bad. Bad.) Of course, the rhetoric has turned to race, once again. The Houston Chronicle reports:

The Senate's ugly atmosphere darkened Thursday as Republicans suspended fines and placed their Democratic colleagues on probation through January 2005. The Democrats, mostly minorities, accused the Republicans of segregationist politics.

"We are not second-class senators. We don't represent second-class citizens," said Sen. Leticia Van de Putte of San Antonio, chairwoman of the Senate Democratic Caucus.

"This is a slap in the face to Hispanic and African-American Texans," she said.

Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst dismissed the Democratic senators' criticism as political rhetoric.

"This has nothing to do with race," Dewhurst said. "The mention of race all along has been a desperate attempt by the national Democrat party to hold onto a few seats" in the U.S. House.

"I want this matter behind us, and I want the Senate moving forward."

[...]

The special session began Monday, but the issue of the fines and sanctions has continued to divide the Senate throughout the week. Some Republican senators wanted to revoke the penalties while others wanted to force the Democrats to pay the fines.

Sen. Kyle Janek, R-Houston, Thursday, in what he described as "an act of generosity," offered a motion to suspend the fines and sanctions but put the Democrats on probation until January 2005. If they break a quorum again before that time, they will have to pay the fines.

"I think it is important that we put the issue of enforcement of the sanctions behind us," Janek said.

But the Democrats balked at being put on probation. They contend the fines and sanctions were not legal because they were adopted originally by less than a Senate quorum with no specific power under the Senate rules.

The Senate tone then turned sour as Sen. Rodney Ellis,D-Houston, began preparing an amendment to Janek's resolution to simply eliminate all the fines and sanctions.

Before Ellis could offer that amendment, Sen. Chris Harris, R-Arlington, used a parliamentary procedure to force a vote on Janek's motion. Harris later said he was unaware of Ellis' pending amendment.

Janek's motion passed 13-10, with eight senators absent. Republicans voted for it, and nine Democrats and one Republican voted against.

Sen. Jeff Wentworth, R-San Antonio, said he voted against the motion because "I think they should have paid the fines."

Dewhurst ordered Senate officials to remove barrels in the senators' parking spaces and restore all of their privileges and postage purchases.

The Democrats kept pushing to complain. Sen. Gonzalo Barrientos, D-Austin, announced he wanted to make an extended speech.

While Barrientos left the Senate floor briefly, Sen. Mario Gallegos, D-Houston, tried to speak in his place.

That is when Sen. Tommy Williams, R-The Woodlands, came rushing out of the Senate lounge still chewing food and attempted to make a motion for the Senate to adjourn. Dewhurst turned him down.

Barrientos then announced he would not speak since several of the Republican senators had walked out. The Senate then adjourned until today.

Despite the acrimony, Dewhurst tried to portray the actions as a step toward a return to normalcy in the Senate.

"I was very, very, very interested in getting this matter of penalties and fines behind us. We did today," Dewhurst said.

The Democrats, however, held a news conference to portray the probation vote as an act by Anglo Republican senators to put down minority senators.

Sen. Frank Madla, D-SanAntonio, said he had not been treated this way since "I was a little Mexican boy who had his first taste of what white supremacy was like."

Ellis said redistricting has historically prompted fights between minorities and Anglos.

"We had to fight these battles against Democrats, and now we're fighting against people who happen to be Republican," Ellis said.

I guess that the day or two of civility was enough for everyone involved. I personally feel a little bit uneasy about the Democrats racial rhetoric, but then again, I think that it's justified. Republicans are trying to dilute the voice of minority voters across the state. Max Sandlin, Jim Turner, Nick Lampson, Gene Green, Chris Bell, Chet Edwards, Charlie Stenholm, Lloyd Doggett and Martin Frost win their congressional districts because minority voters join in coalitions with white Democrats to elect them. In every single redistricting map, Republicans divide minorities in some cases and pack them in others. Rodney Ellis is right. Redistricting is a racial issue. It was in the past, it is now, and it will be for generations to come.