Burnt Orange Report

The DeLay Rule in the Texas House

By Byron LaMasters

I figured that this would be proposed by someone:

Rep. Paul Moreno, D-El Paso, caused a hush to fall over the House chamber Thursday when he proposed a rule that would require the Texas speaker or a committee chairman who is indicted to step down from that leadership role.

Republican House Speaker Tom Craddick has had records subpoenaed as part of a Travis County grand jury investigation, which has indicted three people — but not Craddick — in connection with 2002 legislative election spending.

After fairly lengthy debate, Moreno withdrew the proposal.

It would have been nice if Moreno could have gotten a recorded vote out of the issue, but remember, this is the Texas legislature. Speaking of recorded votes, the state house voted to change the rules on recorded votes in a non-recorded voice vote. I'm with Greg on this. It's still a farce.

Also via the Statesman is news of the date set for the special election to fill the seat of Elizabeth Ames Jones. The filing deadline is January 18th, and the election will be February 5th.