Almost nothing makes people more angry than finding out only certain people get privileges, while the masses have to suffer in silence. Well, prepare to get ticked off. A state law in Texas, created to protect lawmakers riding on horseback to the Capitol in the 1800’s, affords lawmakers immunity during the legislative session.

The oldest book I could find with the statute was 1859, but the kind ladies at the Capitol research library were able to find a clipping from 1845, when Texas became a state. Here’s what it says (in the statute from 1859 and in the statute now):

Art. 1.21. PRIVILEGE OF LEGISLATORS
Senators and Representatives shall, except in cases of treason, felony or breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest during the session of the Legislature, and in going to and returning from the same, allowing one day for every twenty miles such member may reside from the place at which the Legislature is convened.

The statute clearly harks back to the 1800’s when it took a whole day to travel 20 miles. However, since the law hasn’t been changed - a lawmaker from Amarillo enjoys this same immunity 24 days before and after session (to allow for the long buggy ride back home).

Oh, and in case you didn’t know, a ticket is considered an “arrest.” That means Governor Perry had every right to tell the DPS trooper in 2000 “just let us get on down the road” when his driver was stopped for speeding in Dripping Springs. He was simply invoking his immunity protection.

I’m talking about this because a DPS sergeant is coming under fire from his superiors for giving a speeding ticket to Sen. Ogden’s wife last Friday afternoon when she was going 12 miles over the speed limit. Apparently, this 13 year veteran of the agency is now getting “schooled” in policy, which means “you better never ticket the chair of the Senate Finance committee again.” Another DPS insider told me Ogden is the last guy they would want to anger, considering he got a law passed last session that requires all law enforcement officials pass physical tests - this happened after he saw some trooper with “a few extra pounds” hanging around the Capitol.

To his credit, Sen. Ogden did not even mention who he was during the traffic stop and called the agency today when he got an e-mail from the sergeant’s family, detailing the criticism he was facing. “I told them not to criticize him for simply doing his job,” he said.

You can check out the story here.

Here’s an update on the status of the legislative session, according to the Texas Public Policy Foundation. Monday was the halfway mark for the 140-day session. As of today, more than 7,000 bills have been filed. The Senate has passed 81 bills, while the House takes up its first bills today. Last session, a total of 6,190 bills were filed; by this point, the House had passed 328 bills and five constitutional amendments, while the Senate had approved 423 bills and three constitutional amendments.

The comptroller has put up a website that allows you to track where state money is going. There are seven different ways to track state spending and the website says it is updated nightly. Enjoy!

Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst is going to be inducted in to the Texas Rodeo Cowboy Hall of Fame. He will be winning the Western Heritage Award… which comes right before the “Rodeo Couple” award is handed out. Yee-ha Davey boy!

The Senate Democrats have signed a letter to the Lt. Gov., asking he call as Committee of the Whole (what they did with the Voter ID debate) to take up the issue of accepting stimulus dollars. This comes after Governor Perry publicly rejected the $555 million that would have gone to unemployment insurance.  The letter states that the legislature must override the Governor on his decision, considering the chairman of the Texas Workforce Commission has even recommended they take the money, saying the fund will be facing a $750 million shortfall by September.

As of now, the TWC is paying out $60 million a week in unemployment benefits.

We have Sen. Ogden (Chair of Senate Finance) on our show this week and we’ll be talking about that stimulus money and the role it will play in getting a budget out on time (in addition to other issues).

While House members were in the middle of honoring former Rep. Buddy West who passed away, Gov. Perry made an appearance on the House Floor. For the most part, it looked like it was just greeting his colleagues…but he did stop by me and ask when he would be on our Session ‘09 In Depth show (he said it while our cameras were rolling). So, stay tuned for an update on that.

Apparently, the Voter ID bill passed out of the Senate Committee as a Whole on Wednesday is stirring up some concerns on both sides of the aisle in the House. I talked to a Republican yesterday who supports the measure, but doesn’t like the way the Senate changed the rules to get it passed. I also heard Straus saying people had some concerns about the bill, though he didn’t expand on it much. So, if you think it was ugly in the Senate..wait til it gets the House.

There are 7 other states that request a photo ID at the polls, though there are provisions if someone doesn’t have that ID with them. You can check out the list and every state’s voting rules here.

A bunch of cowboy hat -wearing troopers just stormed through the Senate chamber into the lobby. I followed, but it turns out to be a false alarm. The trooper told me everyone has an alarm button in their office in case some crazy person breaks in and apparently voter ID debates could bring out just those people.

The Senate gallery is nearly empty now, as the Senate continues a debate that could keep going all week. The 150 people who showed up to publicly testify must have decided their right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness was more important than the right to have or not have a photo ID when showing up to vote. Even the Senators who have been most passionate about this topic seem ready to call it a night.

Sen. Gallegos listening to expert testimony