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Old 05-10-2011, 05:51 AM
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Jeanfromfillmore Jeanfromfillmore is offline
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Default Texas:Bill targeting so-called sanctuary cities gets passage after debate is shut off

Bill targeting so-called sanctuary cities gets passage after debate is shut off
Rare move to shut off debate becoming less rare, Wentworth finds a home for campus-carry and Obama will visit our city today.
House is in at 9:30. Senate is in at 8 for Local and Uncontested and in at 11 for real.
House Bill 12, the sanctuary cities bill, passed the House late last night, but not before Republicans again moved the previous question — in other words, cut off debate on the measure. From the Statesman’s Tim Eaton: “After hours of negotiations, the debate on HB 12 began about 9 p.m. Republicans were willing to allow the debate to take place. But just before midnight, the bill’s author, Carrollton Republican Burt Solomons, moved to end the debate — with about 30 amendments still pending, according to House leaders — and lawmakers passed the bill.”
• Karen Brooks of the Dallas Morning News caught this ringing endorsement of the sanctuary cities bill from Solomons: “I do feel it’s a good bill if we’re going to have a bill like this.”
• It was the second time in three days that Republicans have moved to cut off debate on a major bill. From my print column in this morning’s Statesman: “Republicans have a huge majority, and voters have given them the tools - and the right - to push their agenda through the House. They were within their rights to cut off debate. But they shouldn’t have to. It is the job of the majority running the House — the speaker, the committee chairmen, the authors of contentious bills — to make their proposals invulnerable to small derailments, or at least to present them early enough in the legislative session to recover from inevitable setbacks. It’s supposed to be difficult to pass a bill, and in a Legislature that always seems to take up difficult issues later in the session than it has to, it’s hard to feel sorry for a member of the majority party who can’t get his goals accomplished without limiting or prematurely ending debates.”
• Sanctuary cities was a hurdle, but don’t think the House is out of the woods. House Bill 400, which would make it easier to cut teacher pay and have larger class sizes in elementary schools, is expected to come back up today. You also have the perpetually delayed fiscal matters bills, such as House Bill 3790 and its 131 amendments. You have a Department of Insurance sunset bill that has drawn 71 amendments. And dozens of bills that have been delayed on the general state calendar in recent days.
House still simmering as key immigration, school bills loom
Members of the Texas House struck a calmer tone Monday after bitter partisan conflict erupted over the weekend and ground work to a halt.
But tension bubbled just under the surface for much of the day as Republicans and Democrats tried to work out an amicable way to deal with a contentious immigration-related bill.
"It's not quite boiling, but it's pretty hot," said Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-San Antonio, noting that members were anxious for much of the day.
But Rep. Larry Gonzales, R-Round Rock, downplayed any tension.
"People are just anxious to get to work," he said. "There is still a calendar full of bills that need to be addressed."
On Saturday, Republicans got steamed that Democrats had once again flummoxed a priority piece of legislation on a technicality. So the Republican supermajority muscled through a contentious lawsuit reform measure without giving Democrats the opportunity to amend or debate the legislation.
That same brute-force approach was an option for passing House Bill 12, the so-called sanctuary cities bill, on Monday. And for much of the day, the two sides retreated into private to try to find a way to allow for a limited debate on the controversial measure.
The bill would bar governmental entities — including cities, counties and school districts — from adopting policies that prohibit law enforcement agencies from enforcing federal immigration laws. The bill also says the state could withhold grants and other funding if those governmental entities refuse to comply.
Before the debate, Democrats talked about wanting to try to change the bill and possibly knock it off the calendar. Meanwhile, Republicans, who have been growing weary of the Democrats' tactics, were eager to pass the measure, which Gov. Rick Perry has said should be a legislative priority.
And after hours of negotiations, the debate on HB 12 began about 9 p.m. Republicans were willing to allow the debate to take place and didn't initially employ the same tactic they used Saturday —though they were expected to limit it later in the night.
After an introduction from the author, Rep. Burt Solomons, R-Carrollton, the first person to get up in opposition was Rep. José Menéndez, D-San Antonio.
If the bill becomes law, he said, "Hispanics will feel like second-class citizens in this state."
Rep. Jose Aliseda, R-Beeville, offered a different perspective.
"My skin is brown. I am Hispanic, and I am not afraid of House Bill 12," he said from the House floor. He said he has never suffered from harassment or racial profiling.
Speaking in support of the bill, Aliseda said it would require law enforcement to follow existing federal law.
As members went back and forth on sanctuary cities, another bill lingered.
Members were still waiting to see if they would also take up — for the third time in two weeks — legislation that would allow school districts to cut teacher pay, impose furloughs and increase class sizes.
A top priority of House Public Education Chairman Rob Eissler, R-The Woodlands, the bill aims to give school districts new management authority in light of the current budget situation.
Teacher groups oppose the measure, saying it is an attempt to permanently strip hard-earned protections for teachers. Democrats twice gummed up passage of the bill by raising parliamentary problems that forced the bill off the floor.
The school bill, HB 400, was slated to return for debate after the sanctuary cities bill.
One of the key components of HB 400 would loosen the current class-size restrictions that limit the number of children per classroom to 22 in early grades.
http://www.statesman.com/news/texas-...s-1465471.html
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