| After insisting for months that the Voter ID bill carried a fiscal note of zero, it appears Senate Republicans are changing their tune. Chairman Steve Ogden offered up a $2 million rider that was contingent on the passage of the bill. Ogden was admitting what Republicans have been hiding for a long, long time. If Voter ID does manage to pass, the State will be obligated to spend millions of dollars to educate people about the changes. Even then, of course, thousands of people will fall through the cracks and be denied their right to vote. On Monday, Ogden ended the Republicans' ongoing charade that Voter ID would cost the state nothing. But then, as Sen. John Whitmire (D-Houston) pointed out, he tried to have it both ways. From Patricia Kildray Hart's excellent reporting on TexasMonthly.com If Vote ID passes, “prudence would dictate that we provide the Secretary of State with additional funds to make sure everyone in the state of Texas knows the new rules (requiring identification at the polls),” Ogden reasoned. “Will the fiscal note for the bill still be zero?” asked John Whitmire. Royce West suggested that the rider indicated the true cost of Voter ID was $2 million. Ogden said he believed the fiscal note, but “I just think they (the Secretary of State’s office) need more (money).” “That doesn’t sound like the chairman I know,” West said. “Nobody’s perfect,” Ogden quipped. The proposal prompted a testy exchange when Voter ID advocate Tommy Williams observed that “the very people who are complaining (about costs of the bill) are opposing what appears to be very generous funding.” “What’s absurd is that someone is trying to have it both ways,” Whitmire shot back.
Eventually Senate Republicans will have to come clean and level with Texans about the true costs of Voter ID. They claim that a significant amount of legal voters will not be barred from voting. They claim (most of the time, at least) that the Secretary of State's office will not need millions of dollars in funding to educate voters about the dramatic changes. Our job, as Democrats, is to make sure the truth comes out. It is good to see Sen. Whitmire and Sen. West working to make sure that happens. |
