( - promoted by Matt Glazer)
The debate can be summed up with Branch's own words, "we can always out sunshine ourselves". Yesterday the House passed House Joint Resolution (HJR) 19, a constitutional amendment that requires each chamber of the legislature to take a record vote on final passage of a bill other than certain local bills, of a resolution proposing or ratifying a constitutional amendment, or of any other nonceremonial resolution, and to publish the record vote on the Internet.
Nobody opposes this first step. The constitutional amendment passed 142 to 0. The problem is, why only third reading? Why stop here?
We are going to require the Secretary of State to spend millions of dollars to put an amendment into our growing state constitution (over 400 amendments and counting). Instead of doing the minimum, our state must shine the spotlight at the heart of the debate. As Mark Veasey pointed out, all the action is in the second reading.
"Do we really want to ask the voters to approve something and then have an election process that's going to cost money, when most of the real debate is [over]?" said Rep. Marc Veasey, D-Fort Worth.
It's true. The third reading of a bill is hampered with restrictions and barriers to debate. To amend a bill in third reading it takes a 2/3 majority, but in second reading it only takes a simple majority. Where do you think the amendment process happens? Just think back to the long night we call the budget debate. Democrats and Republican offered over 100 amendments until early the next morning all in second reading.
As Karen Brooks pointed out at the Dallas Morning News:
Legislation is typically debated and voted on for two consecutive days. If a bill passes the preliminary vote on the first day, it's almost certain to survive final passage.
Bills rarely die on final passage, though it's not unprecedented. Last week, a bill that would have required anyone to give a police officer their name and address on demand - even those who weren't being arrested - passed easily on a voice vote on the first day of debate.
I need to give a nod to the Morning News because of their hard work on this issue. The Dallas Morning News has been in the thick of this debate since 2003-- listening to Texans, law makers, and testifying.
Texans deserve to see the process and witness the debate. They deserve time to see how their representative voted and why and encourage them to change their mind before third reading.
If we are going to take the time to educate voters on an issue, put HJR 19 on a ballot, and mobilize voters, let's go the distance. Information is key to healthy democracy, and we need to outshine Dan Branch's empty gesture.
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