Your pressure on Amarillo’s state Senator Kel Seliger has paid big dividends and you, those who took action, deserve a thank you from all Texans.
As I told you last week and in Monday’s morning update, “Seliger is now the person in Austin most standing in the way of authentic property tax reform by being the one GOP vote to stand with the Democrat caucus to keep property tax reform, SB 2, from coming up for a vote in the Senate.”
SD31’s Kel Seliger
Your pressure has lead to “the lone Republican holdout to marquee property tax legislation fell on his sword Monday and allowed debate on the matter to move forward,” according to the Austin American-Statesman’s reporting.
In Seliger’s typical self-important arrogant nature he made the action of backing down and voting to allow Senate Bill 2 to come forward for a vote as all about how, in doing so, he was saving the “traditions and reputation” of the Texas Senate as a “deliberative body.”
Despite an anti-Republican, anti-Dan Patrick media narrative against setting aside the tradition for the tax bill, there is little sacrosanct about the Senate’s blocker-bill gimmick used daily to keep bills from getting a vote unless 19 members vote to so to do. It’s a gimmick designed not to be deliberative but to keep senators, political incumbents mind you, from having to cast votes on a lot of bills that might be noticed by voters come election time.
These type of rules are created for one reason: To prevent political incumbents from having to cast a lot of controversial votes they’d rather not have on the record.
Put it another way: The state media and Austin insiders treat the vote threshold scheme, in-place only since the 1940’s, as some great tradition. It was, however, never created to protect a minority party as many claim as there was no significant number of GOP senators for the first 40 years of the tradition.
These rules are created for one reason: To prevent political incumbents from having to cast a lot of controversial votes they’d rather not have on the record. In other words, such rules exist to make the body less deliberative and this is as true in Austin as in Washington, D.C.
Seliger backs down to save rule that doesn’t deserve saving
As I told you last week and in Monday’s morning update, “Seliger is now the person in Austin most standing in the way of authentic property tax reform by being the one GOP vote to stand with the Democrat caucus to keep property tax reform, SB 2, from coming up for a vote in the Senate.”
SD31’s Kel Seliger
Your pressure has lead to “the lone Republican holdout to marquee property tax legislation fell on his sword Monday and allowed debate on the matter to move forward,” according to the Austin American-Statesman’s reporting.
In Seliger’s typical self-important arrogant nature he made the action of backing down and voting to allow Senate Bill 2 to come forward for a vote as all about how, in doing so, he was saving the “traditions and reputation” of the Texas Senate as a “deliberative body.”
Despite an anti-Republican, anti-Dan Patrick media narrative against setting aside the tradition for the tax bill, there is little sacrosanct about the Senate’s blocker-bill gimmick used daily to keep bills from getting a vote unless 19 members vote to so to do. It’s a gimmick designed not to be deliberative but to keep senators, political incumbents mind you, from having to cast votes on a lot of bills that might be noticed by voters come election time.
These type of rules are created for one reason: To prevent political incumbents from having to cast a lot of controversial votes they’d rather not have on the record.
Put it another way: The state media and Austin insiders treat the vote threshold scheme, in-place only since the 1940’s, as some great tradition. It was, however, never created to protect a minority party as many claim as there was no significant number of GOP senators for the first 40 years of the tradition.
These rules are created for one reason: To prevent political incumbents from having to cast a lot of controversial votes they’d rather not have on the record. In other words, such rules exist to make the body less deliberative and this is as true in Austin as in Washington, D.C.