I just got an e-mail from the Texas Moratorium Network that claims Perry has threatened to veto a bill that passed the House and prohibits the state from seeking the death penalty in Law of Parties cases. Perry apparently said he would sign it if that provision was removed and the bill just ensured that there were separate trials in Law of Parties cases (i.e, Kenneth Foster).  

I asked the Governor’s press office if this was true and I was told they aren’t privy to his personal life and cannot confirm or deny this claim.

In the debate over stimulus money, Texas House members are making sure to stay in their seats, as every vote counts in this debate. Rep. Mark Strama is pushing the body to pass a bill that accepts $555 million in stimulus money slated for unemployment insurance.

A fight erupted when Rep. Legler introduced an amendment that would mandate drug tests for those who apply for unemployment benefits. Dunnam called it “insult to injury” if a person loses their job and then “has to tell their children they have to pee in a cup to prove they don’t use drugs.” Strama offered up an amendment to Legler’s amendment, making the usefulness of drug tests a study - essentially neutering the drug test amendment.

The vote on Strama’s amendment was so close, they did a roll call. They then voted to to do a re-vote and then a roll call on that decision. Finally, Strama’s amendment to the amendment passed and its his first victory for a bill that may or may not pass the House and could be vetoed as soon as it hits the Governor’s desk.

Fun times.

With less than 2 weeks left in the legislative session, lawmakers will stop at nothing to make their voices louder than their opponents. Today, Rep. Betty Brown who is carrying the voter ID bill in the House scheduled a press conference during their lunch break in the speaker’s committee room. It turns out the Democratic caucus, which strongly opposes that legislation, decided to hold a meeting there as well.

While the press waits inside to see who will win the war, Democrats are sending in “place holders” to declare victory over this first battle of the House voter ID debate..

UPDATE: The dems have won for now. Brown came in and watched them for a minute with an unhappy look on her face as they bashed voter I.D. and then she left.

Journalists in Texas have suffered a couple of tough blows in the House.

Rep. Diane Patrick (R-Arlington) has carried two bills this session that would limit the media’s access to school employees’ personal and criminal information. These bills are a direct backlash to the state fingerprint registry mandated by tough-on-crime lawmakers two years ago. Every school employee, campus volunteer and district contractor must now register with a centralized registry, maintained by the Department of Public Services. The registry verifies each employee’s identity and tracks that employee’s personal criminal history.

The database was intended to stop child molesters from coming in contact with Texas school children, but it doesn’t stop there. It also tracks each employee’s ongoing criminal history, sex offender-related or otherwise, so if you were fingerprinted in 2008 and are charged with driving while intoxicated in 2009, then your school district automatically would be notified of your new conviction.

KXAN was among the media outlets that requested that conviction information compiled on Austin Independent School District teachers be released for review. AISD balked, saying that the criminal histories of teachers were not appropriate for disclosure. In Austin, 250 teachers had a criminal history, not all of the charges rising to a level that would be of concern for parents or the media. It was hard to tell that, however, if the district was unwilling to release even basic information for the media to review.

Teachers were shocked and outraged that the media now knew their personal criminal histories. It’s no surprise, then, that teacher groups moved quickly this session to shut off the media’s access to employee information in the state database. That measure passed the House today, in House Bill 3419. But, unfortunately, lawmakers took it one step further. Under House Bill 2491, public employees’ records are completely sanitized. No longer will reporters or parents be able to take a teacher’s birth date, plug it into a criminal database and determine whether a public school employee who deals with children on a daily basis has any type of criminal convictions.

So in the same week journalists got a partial shield law in Texas, we’re also faced with new laws that make their jobs harder. As you might expect, none of us in the 4th Estate have been very happy about this: here; here ; and here.

Teacher groups claimed that the disclosure of birth dates would lead to identity theft. Somebody better tell everyone on Facebook. It’s tough when lawmakers stop the media from acting in the public’s interest. Here’s hoping the Senate finds a better balance between a teacher’s right to privacy and the media’s ability to protect the public’s interests.

As the budget conference committee comes to a compromise between the House and Senate versions of the budget, Rep. Rick Hardcastle’s attitude is getting a little gloomier. The committee is considering closing down two state schools, one in Pyote and one in Vernon, Hardcastle’s district. The TYC lock-up in Vernon employees about 150 people.

“This isn’t about re-election for me,” said Hardcastle. “It’s about not getting shot. About half of those employees drive by my house every day on their way to work.”

The committee tabled those ideas and will tackle them either over the weekend or next week.

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.

The blame for the hold up on passing bills is always “they’re just up there chubbin,’” which in legislative terms means “stalling.” However, one Rep. has decided to carry around the actual definition of chubbing on a little piece of paper in his pocket. When someone accuses another of chubbing, he shows them this definition from the urban dictionary.

Rep. Berman has said it before, but he told me the other day that he plans to announce his candidacy for Governor after session - in the first week of June. The reason for this: no bills have been passed that deal with illegal immigration. I know one group that won’t vote for him, but another one that likely will.

Our first “Wild Bill of the Week,” relating to the ability to hunt hogs from helicopters is on the House Calendar for debate today. Out of the thousands of bills filed, this one has a good chance of actually getting heard in the House since its not too far into the calendar. Rep. Sid Miller wasn’t thrilled when he found out he won the award - so I don’t think I’ll be getting much love for the wild bill this week (you’ll have to tune in Sunday morning at 9:30 to see what it is!).

Miller even made these stickers to pork up his support base for the bill.

  The bottom part written in yellow says, “Pigs can’t fly, but hunters can!”

I just talked to a teary eyed Rep. Charlie Geren who told me that things are looking good for Rep. Kuempel who is still under a medically induced coma at Brackenridge. According to Geren, the doctors are slowly bringing him out of the coma and they’re only seeing about 5-10 percent heart damage. The big question is how his brain will be once he is brought of the coma. Hopes are high that he’ll be o.k.