July 26, 2005
Hochberg Amendment Passes!!!
By Phillip Martin
The vote was 76-67, giving Democrats and over a dozen moderate Republicans the biggest victory over the leadership in several years. It just goes to show that when we work together with bipartisan support, anything can happen.
BUT, as many have noted, we're not through yet.
We must, must, must encourage all those who voted for the Hochberg amendment to make sure it stays in HB2, and then to pass HB2 on both second and third reading. There are also many other important issues concerning school finance reform that we have not addressed, including issues concerning privatization, the school start date, and the time of school board elections. Future amendemts will look at these issues, and, hopefully, they can build off of the momentum of the Hochberg vote so that we can continue to bring real education reform to our public schools.
Stay tuned for more updates, including a detailed analysis of what's in the Hochberg amendment, as they develop throughout the afternoon. Also, per K-T's request, here are the 14 Republicans who joined with every House Democrat to pass the Hochberg amendment:
Brown (Fred), Casteel, Geren, Goodman, Goolsby, Griggs, Haggerty, Hamilton, Hunter, Jones (Delwin), Kuempel, Merritt, Pitts, Reyna.
Posted by Phillip Martin at July 26, 2005 04:01 PM
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We're all celebrating right now, as we should be, but remember, this was second reading -- all Hochberg supporters MUST stay put. Time to show Craddick, et al. that democracy is a group thing.
Sounds like the Republicans are so desperate to go home that they voted for a good idea.
Instead of calling it a Republican defeat, let's call it a Democratic victory. All the D's and 14 R's voted for the amendment.
Assuming Craddick doesn't win a re-vote later today, we should congratulate Hochberg and all the others for pulling this off.
Do we have a list of those 14 Rs or maybe if it's online?
Fred Brown, Casteel, Geren, Goodman, Goolsby, Griggs, Haggerty, Hamilton, Hunter, Delwin Jones, Kuempel, Merritt, Pitts, Reyna
Ah, Casteel, I'm happy to see her name there (though a bit suprised that Hilderbran isn't), though I'm sure she is marching her way towards a primary challenge, one in which I'd work for her if she was.
Reyna had to be one of the 14Rs. Mesquite school district benefits from Robin Hood. She's still a wingnut, but at least she is listening to school board, superintendents, and concerned constituents. I wonder if McCall would have voted for the amendment if his vote were needed.
Chairman Pitts?! Well, he's still the chairman - for now.
