Inside Texas Politics Talks Four Lessons and Practical
- Slides: 42
Inside Texas Politics Talks: “Four Lessons (and Practical Solutions) for Addressing Polarization in Texas. ” Brandon Rottinghaus Professor of Political Science
2019 #TXLege Party Medians
More Conservative 1, 00 0, 80 0, 60 0, 40 Moderate 0, 20 0, 00 1987 2001 2009 -0, 40 Senate House More Liberal -0, 20 2017
More Liberal More Conservative
Changes in the #TXlege • Texas politics mirroring national politics – Party switching (WD 40 s in 1980 s) – Party purity, party activists – Gerrymandering* • New media allows for Members to avoid party, public is now able to see more of what the Lege does
Historical Data, Lessons, and Solutions
Average Polarization Between Parties Less Legislation Passes
Average Polarization Between Parties Less Legislation Passes
Party Unity and Bill Passage More Unity Leads to More Bills Passed
“Mothers Day Massacre”
Party Unity and Bill Passage More Unity Leads to More Bills Passed
Lesson 1: Unify the Majority Caucus
Rules Matter • The formal rules in the House and Senate which place firm deadlines on when each chamber must pass legislation in order for it to be legitimate bring, in the words of columnist Dave Mc. Neely, some “order to the chaos. ” • Speaker Laney set rules to back up the whole process, setting deadlines for bills to have cleared committees. These rules bring order but also compacted timelines for action.
The real enemy is the calendar. A long time capitol observer noted, “The second-oldest line in the building is, “The process isn’t designed to pass legislation, but to kill it. ”
Lesson 2: Lift (Some) Restrictive Rules and Deadlines
Lesson 3: Limit POOs (and other legislative distractions)
Consider (gasp!) limiting members to introducing only 3 bills.
Governor’s “Win” Rate
Lesson 4: “Aim Small, Miss Small”
Other Good Advice Decades of The Texas Legislature
“She could find common ground between heaven and hell. ”
“From opening day on, he drove the Senate to handle the big issues early, as if he had a premonition of disaster. ”
“Toughness is good, shrillness and criticism are not, and humor is essential. ”