Local GOP lawmakers looking to next session
They will be returning to a Legislature still dominated by the GOP, but rocked by inroads made by Democrats trading on the popularity of President-elect Barack Obama, who swept the national polls Nov. 4.
Texas legislators convene in Austin Jan. 13 to tackle a slew of issues, including the state budget, school finance, property taxes, the recession and the ongoing recovery from Hurricane Ike, which slammed the Gulf Coast in August and left thousands homeless and out of work.
At the top of the list for Sen. Troy Fraser, R-Horseshoe Bay, is the biennial budget. Since the Legislature meets every two years, the House and Senate must hammer out a two-year budget.
“Everything is going to be driven by the budget,” Fraser told The Daily Tribune.
As a member of the Senate Finance Committee, he will be heavily involved in the process, he said. His chief of staff Janice McCoy said hammering out the state’s budget will involve hours of committee meetings that include hearings in which state agencies outline their financial wish lists.
The finance and House Appropriations Committee must determine what to fund, what to reduce and possibly what to cut, McCoy said.
“Some decisions are court-driven,” she said. “The courts may say ‘You have to fund this.’ So, the state has to fund it. Some are driven by the number of people who sign up for it, such as the children’s healthcare insurance.”
Fraser said the economic woes on Wall Street spreading across the nation have more people signing up for programs such as the Children’s Health Insurance Plan and Medicaid.
If those numbers increase, it will have an impact on the amount of money the state must set aside for them, he said.
“Hurricane Ike has also left the state with a possible $4-$8 billion obligation,” he said. “That will also be something we have to consider.”
Rep. Jimmie Don Aycock, R-Killeen, said the Legislature will also take another look at public school finance, which in turn means also putting a spotlight on the way the state levies taxes. Currently, schools district rely heavily on local property taxes.
“You can’t decouple the tax policy and the school funding policy,” he said.
Other things Aycock said would get his attention is transportation, water and higher education.
Along with the budget issues, Fraser will also continue working on improving Texas’ business climate.
As the chairman of the Senate Business and Commerce Committee, Fraser has considerable influence on the rules and regulations Texas businesses and companies deal with. McCoy said the senator will continue efforts to position the Lone Star State as a good place for economic growth.
“The national economic crisis, while not having a great impact on Texas, is starting to,” she said. “From his office’s perspective as chairman of the Business and Commerce Committee, I think he’ll continue to focus on how to make Texas a good place to do business. Which in turn will help create more jobs.”
Meanwhile, Democratic leaders Wednesday talked up their legislative gains and local and judicial victories as important steps toward winning back statewide offices, but Republicans were confident that Texas remains red — for now.
The GOP holds all statewide elected posts, as it has since 1999, when Republican George W. Bush was governor.
“Democrats are still having trouble closing the deal at the statewide level,” said Hans Klingler, state Republican Party spokesman, pointing to the Texas court races, U.S. Senate race and other offices that the GOP won Tuesday night.
Democrats targeted three Texas Supreme Court races in particular. The party poured some $800,000 into television advertising for those races and the individual candidates raised respectable amounts of money, but Democrats couldn’t oust the GOP incumbents.
In the presidential race, Republican John McCain easily won in the state over Democratic President-elect Barack Obama despite voter excitement for Obama in urban areas and South Texas that Democrats had hoped would help their down-ballot candidates. Support for McCain surged elsewhere in the state.
East Texas Democratic state Rep. Chuck Hopson blamed “the McCain tsunami” in his region for his House election remaining too close to call Wednesday.
“It was people voting against Obama,” Hopson said.
Bright spots for the Democrats were at least three Texas House seats and the state Senate seat they won, though neither gain gives the party control of a legislative chamber. State Democratic Chairman Boyd Richie pointed to several Harris County offices his party captured and the 24 of 27 judicial races it won in that county.
“We gained over 600,000 more votes statewide, up and down the ballot, compared to 2004,” Richie added. “I’m looking forward to statewide success in 2010.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
daniel@thepicayune.com