The Texas House of Representatives sent a message of pragmatism and cooperation Tuesday by re-electing Rep. Joe Straus, R-San Antonio, as Speaker of the House.
Who could believe that Texas, a state that epitomizes hard-headedness and acts as a breeding ground for far-right thought, would set such a premium on compromise to get things done?
In the midterm elections, an influx of right wing and Tea Party Republicans overran the elections and overtook state houses and governor’s mansions across the country, and Texas was no exception. And, after two Democrats switched to caucusing with the Republican party (a la Jumpin’ Jim Jeffords) in the weeks following, Republicans amassed a 101-49, filibuster-proof majority in the Texas House. The swarm of new Republicans in the House vowed to unseat Straus, who they believed was too moderate to represent the solid right House as speaker. They nominated their own candidate, ultra-conservative and Tea Party darling Ken Paxton, R-McKinney, for speaker. During much of the lame duck session, it looked like Paxton had a strong chance of unseating Straus.
In a record vote pursued by Rep. Leo Berman, R-Tyler, Straus was re-elected as speaker by a lopsided 132-15 margin, awarding him a second term as Speaker of the Texas House. To anyone outside the House, and some in it, Straus’ resounding re-election seemed odd and out of place. And, for that matter, Straus is largely out of place in the House.
At first glance, Joe Straus seems to be the anti-Texan, a moderate respected on both sides of the aisle for his respectful discourse and bipartisan legislation. He speaks softly (but powerfully) and demands, above all, decorum in his House. He has served four terms as Texas representative in the 121st district, a district primarily made up of Hispanic voters, a traditionally Democratic voting bloc. Straus is an anomaly in the house, a politician who can transcend party lines to get elected and to get effective legislation passed. And right now, that is exactly what Texas needs
The buildup to the 82nd Texas legislative session focused increasingly on the ballooning budget deficit, which state Comptroller Susan Combs set at $15 billion for the next two years. And, with most Texans unwilling to pay higher taxes and/or dip into the state’s rainy day fund, the legislators have some serious belt tightening to do. The Texas legislation will need to step it up a notch to make sure the budget deficit storm is quelled in the next two years. Veteran politicians need to lead the way in walking the fine line between cutting enough government waste and tapering the effects of said budget cuts.
Veteran politicians, however, are abounding in the high levels of Texas Government. Rick Perry is entering an unprecedented third full term as Texas governor, as is Lt. Governor David Dewhurst. A recent Dallas Morning News article pegged Perry, Dewhurst, and Joe Straus as analogous to True Grit characters Rooster Cogburn, Mattie Ross, and Ranger LaBoeuf, respectively, out on an arduous mission to corral the state deficit. And Straus, a modest, duty-driven Ranger like LaBoeuf, is the right choice to bring down the Tom Chaney, aka the swelling deficit, of this session.
Unlike his predecessor, the hard-lined and oft-tyrannical Tom Craddick of Midland, Straus largely lets the house do its will, rarely allowing himself or lobbying groups to interfere with pieces of legislation before the House. His common sense approach to the House, coupled with his ability to get effective legislation passed, brought his Republican colleagues to align with Democrats in overthrowing Craddick and electing Straus, the anti-Craddick, speaker. And, while his laissez-faire approach to speaker duties may connote passivity, Straus has proven himself a strong force in the house, establishing the rainy day fund and easing property taxes in his first term as speaker.
Moreover, his clear head and demand for civility in his chamber assures that Texas can move past the vitriol of Washington and work to get smart legislation passed in the House. And, with budget cuts an inherently touchy issue, he can make sure cooler heads prevail in the fight to reign in big spending. He also understands the power of bipartisanship in getting effective bills passed. While the Republicans hold a filibuster-proof majority in the House, their margin in the Senate remains stagnant at 19-12 Republican to Democrat. Joe Straus understands that and is going to make sure that bills born in the House have enough bipartisan support to get through the Senate. Even though he downplays his own power as speaker, he still gets to set the legislative agenda, and that means keeping out radical and unnecessary legislation that will only be shot down in the Senate, wasting valuable time for the entire Congress.
Texas has a valuable opportunity to serve as a model for conquering the problem of government debt that is plaguing state governments across the country and, especially, in Washington. Just as Texas held strong and established itself as the most business-friendly state during the economic collapse of the past few years, so can the Lone Star state shake the norm of swelling deficits and once again be a case study in prudent government reform. And Joe Straus, a soft-spoken and strikingly effective legislator, can become a model for the Republican Party, not a “party of no,” but a party of let’s-roll-up-our-sleeves-and-get-this-done.
SOURCES:
2. http://www.austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/Issue/story?oid=oid:1134896
6. http://www.texastribune.org/directory/districts/tx-house/121/
7. http://www.fyi.legis.state.tx.us/fyiwebdocs/HTML/house/dist121/r1.htm
8. http://lubbockonline.com/local-news/2011-01-11/state-faces-722-billion-budget-deficit
9. http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7375326.html
10. http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/texassouthwest/stories/011011dntexbig3.5dcb81.html
11. http://www.texastribune.org/directory/tom-craddick/
12. http://www.house.state.tx.us/members/speaker/#biography
13. http://www.cbo.gov/doc.cfm?index=11999
14. http://www.allbusiness.com/marketing/market-research/409023-1.htm
