Texas lawmakers work down to the wire_53005

Posted: 5/27/05

Texas lawmakers work down to the wire

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

AUSTIN–Several key decisions are coming down to the scheduled end of the legislative session May 30.

Texas lawmakers defeated a school voucher program and put a ban on gay marriage on the Nov. 8 general election ballot, but proposals dealing with imprisonment without parole, increasing gambling venues and school finance remained unresolved at press time.

Gay marriage amendment

Legislators voted to put a constitutional amendment on the November ballot that, if approved, would make same-sex marriages illegal in Texas and prohibit recognition of gay unions from other states.

Though Texas law already outlaws same-sex marriage, proponents of the amendment said groups are gathering to challenge the current situation. An amendment to the constitution would solidify and protect the law, they say. Opponents say this is repetitive legislation that discriminates against homosexual couples.

“We have consistently at the Christian Life Commission held that marriage is for males and females,” said Phil Strickland, director of public policy and moral concerns agency of the Baptist General Convention of Texas. “Forms of marriage outside that are biblically inappropriate. We continue to look at this specific proposal to see if it has some unintended consequences.”

The November vote will follow a wave of gay marriage legislation that has swept across the nation. Thirty-nine states have legal bans in place, but court cases are challenging the laws in at least 13 of those states. Fifteen states have constitutional amendments, while six others like Texas are considering one.

School vouchers

The Texas House of Representatives narrowly defeated a proposal that would have provided vouchers for a select group of students to receive state money to attend a school of their choice. Those young people were to come from low-income and at-risk schools in seven large urban school districts.

Faith-based organizations

Lawmakers also created a Faith Advisory Board for the governor and a liaison position between the state government and faith-based organizations that are improving their respective communities, a notion the CLC supported. This person and organization will help faith-based groups with technical assistance and be a data collection agency.

Gambling

Senators squelched an initial proposal to allow slot-style video lottery machines at horse tracks, dog tracks, Indian reservations and in-county gaming districts approved by voters. Sen. Ken Armbrister, D-Victoria, however, planned to reintroduce the plan May 25 as part of legislation to reauthorize the Texas Lottery Commission.

Suzii Paynter, director of citizenship and public policy for the Christian Life Commission, said expanded gambling appears to be dead for this session. The House would have to approve of any expansion, but it has defeated any such proposal eight straight times.

Criminal justice issues

The House also approved a bill by a 104-37 vote that would give juries the option of sending individuals to prison without the possibility of parole. The legislation now goes to the Senate, which appears poised to approve it and send it to Gov. Rick Perry.

Currently juries do not “have a choice,” Paynter said. “They either had to give them the death sentence or life, expecting them to get out in 40 years. We're not against the death penalty, but for choices” in sentencing.

In other criminal justice issues, legislators passed a bill that would shorten probation periods for some felons and expand supervision and treatment programs. The proposal will go to Perry.

This move should help individuals after they are released from prison, Paynter said. Many churches involved in restorative justice ministry have seen the difficulties former inmates face after their release. Increased support following a person's release should help them reintegrate into society.

For example, former inmates need a picture identification to get a job, but it may take them six weeks to go through that process, Paynter said. The new system would provide an identification card.

Children's issues

The Child Protective Services-related issues remained in a joint committee of the House and the Senate. With CPS still recovering from 2003 budget cuts, lawmakers were trying to decide how to best provide care for children under state care.

Paynter said the committee was trying to figure how much it can do and how much should be privatized. Another issue that may resurface is a ban on gay and bisexual foster parents.

School finance

School finance remains the most unresolved of all the major issues before the legislature this session.

After weeks of no apparent progress, lawmakers appeared to be making slow headway May 24, but faced a tough road to wrap it up before the scheduled end of the session.

Though both sides of the debate indicate they are close to an agreement, they do not agree on several issues, including testing high school students and teacher compensation.

Another obstacle is designing a tax strategy for supporting public schools. The joint House and Senate committee working on the issue was attempting to lower property taxes while increasing sales tax and a business franchise tax. House members want a higher sales tax than senators, but a lower business franchise tax.

The legislative ideas represent an improvement for Texas education, but do not upgrade it dramatically, Strickland said.

The proposed ideas provide “moderate support” for public schools, but do not meet the complete need there.

“The issue is coming down to the last day of the session,” he said. “If they reach an agreement about funding, Texas will have provided moderate support for public education in Texas and will change the funding lines, bring some relief to property taxes.

“If the legislation fails in the session, we will once again go into special session to see if we can get to some sort of agreement.”