Rep. Sid Miller got a tough break this morning when Rep. Burt Solomons effectively killed two of his bills on the local and consent calendar. The reason: Miller killed a major energy bill Solomon had been working on all session on a point of order. (There’s an interesting back story to this - questions if whether Craddick, who voted against the bill in committee and is heavily invested in the industry, gave Miller the point of order).

To kill a local and consent bill, another rep has to stay at the opposing microphone for 10 minutes, which Solomons did twice. Trying to make light of it, Miller walked around for a while with a target on his back that said “Burt’s target.” He eventually took it off for fear of antagonizing Solomons, the Chair of State Affairs. “I just hope its over now,” said Miller. “I hope he doesn’t keep a grudge the rest of session.”

When I asked Solomons if he had seen the target he said, “I wonder if he put it there so I could see him more clearly from a helicopter?”

Miller passed a bill last night that allows Texans to hunt feral hogs from helicopters.