The Fallout
January 10th, 2007 at 4:37 pm
Now that the House revolt against Speaker Tom Craddick (R-Midland) has failed, the line is forming at the legislative guillotine. When committee assignments are announced in a few weeks, the revolt’s Republican ringleaders likely will find themselves on the rather obscure committees. For instance, Rep. Jim Pitts, who ran for speaker against Craddick, has about as good a chance of chairing the House Appropriations Committee again as Saddam Hussein.
But committee assignments are only one method of punishment at Craddick’s disposal. A speaker can block a lawmakers’ bills from passing or axe a legislator’s pork barrel spending from the state budget. In that sense, it’s not just the lawmaker’s political career that suffers, but also the area he or she represents. As resentment against Craddick has swelled, the areas of the state likely to benefit under his leadership have dwindled fast. Midland, of course, is still golden, but probably not neighboring Odessa; Buddy West (R-Odessa) voted for a secret ballot (against Craddick) in yesterday’s critical roll call. The sparsely populated Panhandle, whose reps all supported Craddick down the line, should be getting more state funding than it can handle. East Texas, though, home to the rebellious GOPers Tommy Merritt and Bryan Hughes, and to several Democrats who all opposed Craddick will likely not fare as well. And then there are the perennially downtrodden in Craddick’s House: El Paso, the Valley, Austin, parts of Houston. (Although the support of five Valley Democrats may soften Craddick’s heart a bit when it comes to the border.) The biggest loser may be North Texas, home to both Republicans who filed to run for speaker (Pitts and Plano Rep. Brian McCall). Or maybe it’s Corpus Christi, whose entire House delegation was among the 27 lawmakers who voted against Craddick in the final, uncontested speaker’s election.
At this rate, most of the state’s infrastructure will soon be centered in Midland.
