Floor Pass

On Saturday morning, the House showed just how far the criminal justice debate in Texas has come.

The House passed SB 213, the sunset bill for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. The measure reauthorizes the agency with a few major changes, including an amendment to prioritize closure of certain private prisons.

That’s a remarkable development. Not long ago, many legislators wanted to build more prisons, especially privately operated prisons. But on Saturday an amendment by conservative Weatherford Republican Phil King will require the department to prioritize closing the most costly private prisons over less-expensive ones (in a “cost-benefit analysis,” as King put it).

Quite a few Republicans have embraced a smart-on-crime approach and believe that mass incarceration, especially of nonviolent offenders, is not only fiscally irresponsible, but doesn’t reduce crime. Tan Parker (R-Flower Mound), chair of the House Corrections Committee, said, “It is our intention here to be fiscally responsible. … I believe it is very important that we close at least two facilities, if not more.”

“Thankfully, it’s a good situation that we find ourselves in Texas, that crime is on the decline,” he said.

The sunset bill, authored by Rep. Walter T. “Four” Price (R-Amarillo), was approved by a voice vote and also encourages the department to establish a clear “re-entry” plan to transition inmates back into society.

The floor debate did include a few tense moments, including an exchange between Rep. Marisa Marquez (D-El Paso) and Price. Marquez’ amendment, which would have required the TDCJ to report how much it costs to hold inmates in solitary confinement, was defeated. Her amendment was to be the first discussed, but she withdrew it to consult with Price. After some negotiation, she brought it back onto the floor. “We have discussed the amendment in detail, and we have revised it,” Price said. But a few seconds later, he added: “I’m going to be voting no, but I want to leave this to the will of the House.”

Marquez explained that she wants the TDCJ to report how much the state pays per inmate so Texas can find a way to minimize the money spent on solitary. “But I don’t want to do that if we don’t have information,” she added. “So what this amendment does, is it looks for that information.”

After the amendment was defeated, Marquez told the Observer, “I should’ve called for a record vote” instead of a voice vote. “I think that would’ve changed a lot of people’s minds. I think many of the Republican leadership voted with me, as I could look up, because they could understand that we are in a financial crisis and that we’re looking at every different agency, asking them to cut.”

“We have an agency that has continued to be irresponsible in reporting those types of numbers and the cost per ad-seg inmate in our institutions,” she said.

In addition to Marquez’ financial qualms, there is strong evidence that keeping prisoners in solitary confinement for long periods of time can be destructive to the psyche.

Marquez continued, “I think it’s unfortunate that the…issues of mental health, medical care, probation and parole have not hit this floor this session.”

The Lead:
Lawmakers are giving up their Saturday—the first chamber weekend workday of the session—to debate a slew of controversial gun bills.

The gun day fun day festivities include legislation that would decrease the classroom hours required to get a concealed handgun license, allow licensed gun owners to bring guns onto higher education campuses, designate some public school workers as gun-carrying school marshals, and nullify any federal gun laws from being enforced in Texas. That’s just a few.

Many of the bills are expected to pass in the House, but may have difficulty getting ahead in the Senate according to the Dallas Morning News.

Yesterday’s Headlines:
1. The House voted yesterday to continue the Texas Economic Development Act, a program created in 2001 that allows school districts to offer property tax cuts to businesses. According to the Texas Tribune, critics of the program say it allows school districts to “pick winners in the marketplace and is not worth the resulting increase in jobs and investment.”

2. The Dallas Morning News reports the House tentatively approved a bill that would help the fight against the West Nile Virus by letting local health officials enter abandoned or uninhabited and foreclosed properties to treat standing water, where mosquitos breed. The bill still needs a two-thirds vote in the House on its final reading to become effective immediately.

3. Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst announced on the Senate floor that, despite hours of closed-door negotiations, there weren’t enough votes on Friday to pass House Bill 5, the sweeping test reform bill championed by Sen. Dan Patrick that reduces standardized testing and changes graduation requirements. Dewhurst said later he intends to bring the bill up in the Senate on Monday, according to the Quorum Report (article subscription only).

Line of the Day:
“If he believes the answer to violent crime is not prosecuting felons and fugitives, not prosecuting gun crimes but going after the constitutional rights of law abiding citizens, I would like to invite the vice president to engage in an hour-long conversation and debate.” —U.S. Senator Ted Cruz’s open invitation to Vice President Joe Biden at Friday’s NRA National Convention in Houston.

What We’re Watching Today:
1. Guns.

2. Before the gun show begins, the House is slated to hear a sunset bill that would keep the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, and a few other law enforcement agencies, running for 12 more years. There are 27 pre-filed amendments to the bill that could change how the agencies run.

3. Two House committees are also working weekend overtime: Ways and Means and Corrections.

The Lead:

The House Committee on Homeland Security and Public Safety met yesterday to begin legislative investigation  into the West fertilizer plant disaster. Lawmakers took no action yesterday, but speculated on emergency management procedures that took place and how they might have been improved. Many state agency officials testified that, in safety management of the plant before the explosion, they had been doing exactly what the law requires them to do.

“Everything changes from here on out, period,” committee chair Joe Pickett (D-El Paso) told reporters, according to the Texas Tribune. “I don’t think it’s a law that’s necessary, it’s an attitude.”

Yesterday’s Headlines:

1. Five members of GetEqual Texas, a pro-LGBT rights group, were arrested yesterday at the Capitol as they protested the holdup of SB 237, banning job discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity, which hasn’t been given a committee vote. Their offense? Overstaying their welcome in conservative legislators’ offices. The members have been charged with criminal trespassing.

2. The House passed a measure capping the use of dedicated funds to certify the budget at $4 billion, part of a movement to ensure money collected for specific purposes gets spent properly. In the past, the Legislature usually devotes about $5 billion from dedicated to balance the budget.

Line of the Day:

“The NRA doesn’t do pep rallies. … We’re engaged in a long battle that will take years. We know it’s not over.” —Andrew Arulan­andam, NRA Director of Public Affairs. The National Rifle Association holds a national convention this weekend in Houston that is expected to draw 700,000 of the nation’s most gung-ho gun owners.

What We’re Watching Today:

1. Rep. Ruth Jones McClendon’s HB 3238 syringe exchange pilot program bill is up on the House floor. The bill is supported by such groups as Mothers Against Teen Violence, and could help ensure safe needle use to prevent the spread of disease.

2. The Senate could hear HB 5, which relates to high school graduation requirements. Check out the Observer‘s coverage of the bill’s passage in the House and in Senate committee.