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Archive for the ‘Campaign Finance’ Category

The budget crisis, money in politics, and the corporate welfare to the oil and gas industry

Posted in Campaign Finance, Good Government, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on February 21, 2011 |

The protests in Wisconsin. The passage of the CR in the House in the dead of night over the weekend. And the continued debate over how to balance the Texas $26 billion budget gap. We kept getting told there are no sacred cows- that all have to share in the burden and pain of budget squeezing.

But realpolitik has shown exactly where the real sacred cows are, while corporate tea party crusaders use the budget crises as a reason to bust unions, raid pensions funds, and slash health services and education budgets, they are leaving intact the tax breaks for oil and gas companies.

Let’s talk Texas first:  a new study out this morning by the Texas Tribune showed that Texans want a balanced approach to fixing the budget.  The single most popular answer was a 50/50 split of revenue enhancements and spending cuts.  However, when you asked people what they wanted to cut spending on, the answer was a resounding NO! to educationTexans say no to budget cuts cuts, NO! to health services cuts, NO! to environmental reg cuts. And when asked where to increase revenue, it was equally sticky.  The single most popular options, the only ones which get over 50% support, was to legalize casino gambling and increase alcohol taxes.  But taxing vice can only get us so far.

One of the things not touched by the poll were the enormous tax breaks we give to the natural gas industry, one which the LBB has suggested eliminating, namely a $7.4 billion tax cut to oil and gas companies using “high cost” wells- which generally means one thing: hydro-fracturing. Fracking is used on areas like the Barnett Shale and has been linked to spoiled water, a cancer cluster located in Flower Mound/Dish, and natural gas turning tap water flammable, and a garden hose into a flamethrower.

At the very least, all of the drilling is producing more air pollution than all of the cars and trucks in the Dallas-Forth Worth area. So to add insult to industry, not only is the drilling on the Barnett Shale ruining families’ homes and making people sick, but we are paying the companies billions of dollars in pork to do it, robbing school children and those who need a hand from social services.

And to kick us even more when we’re down, Chesapeake Energy has the audacity to say if their corporate welfare goes away, they’re going to have to curtail drilling on the Barnett Shale.  From the Star-Telegram’s story:

An executive with Chesapeake Energy told members of the Tarrant County legislative delegation Wednesday that the company would consider curtailing activity in Texas if the exemption is discontinued.

“We’d have to look at it on an individual well basis, but I think it’s pretty safe to say that we would reduce our activity in the state of Texas,” Adam Haynes, senior government affairs director for Chesapeake, said after his appearance before lawmakers. “It certainly affects the Barnett Shale, absolutely.” (more…)

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Sunset chairman supporting Railroad Commission overhaul

Posted in Air Quality, Campaign Finance, Good Government, Sunset, tagged , , on February 2, 2011 |

The Sunset Advisory Commission is putting the wheels in motion to overhaul the Texas Railroad Commission (RRC).  And, the chairman of the Sunset Commission is telling two of RRC commissioners that their agency “badly broken.” 

Commissioner Michael Williams, the longest-serving member of the trio, has endorsed the overhaul.

The Sunset Commission has recommended the Railroad Commission be renamed the Texas Oil and Gas Commission and that the three-commissioner structure be replaced with a single commissioner who would be elected to a four-year term that would coincide with the terms of most other statewide elected officials.

Late last year, during the public hearing, several Sunset members expressed concern that railroad commissioners are too chummy with the industry they regulate and that the three-commissioner make-up means that at least one commissioner is campaigning while making decisions affecting the industry that constitutes their largest campaign contribution pool.

Two of the three sitting Texas Railroad commissioners have appealed to the legislative leadership not to push through a restructuring that would likely eliminate both of their jobs.  But Senator Glenn Hegar, chairman, and State Rep. Dennis Bonnen, vice chairman of Sunset, pushed back, telling the Railroad Commissioners that “maintaining the status quo” was never considered by Sunset.

The Sunset recommendations for the state agencies that were up for review during the interim must be incorporated into legislation and taken up this session for the agencies to continue their existence.  The Legislature has the opportunity to make meaningful reforms to the Railroad Commission, however members from either house can modify the recommendations, meaning that the proposed overhaul is not a done deal.  

So if you want to see reforms to the Railroad Commission this session, make a call.  Don’t know who represents you at the Texas legislature, click here.

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By promoting cleaner energy, cleaner government, and cleaner air for all Texans, we hope to provide for a healthy place to live and prosper. We are Public Citizen Texas.

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Dumping on Texas for Fun and Profit

Posted in Campaign Finance, Energy, Nuclear, Radioactive Waste, tagged , , , on January 21, 2011 |

SPECIAL GUEST COLUMN FROM JIM HIGHTOWER
Originally posted at http://www.jimhightower.com/

Thank you, California. And you, too, Florida, Maine, Missouri, and the 32 other states that intend to send a very special gift to Texas – namely, their radioactive waste. Now there’s a gift that truly keeps on giving!

Of course, Texas asked for it. Well, actually, only two Texans. They had the clout to open a private radioactive waste dump in our state. First approved in 2003, the 1,300 acre site, which endangers fresh water aquifers that supply water to thousands of people in West Texas, was originally meant to take waste from just two states. But now – thanks to this pair of insistent Texans – the dump is being opened to 36 more states! (more…)

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Harold Simmons: the political contributor who keeps on giving

Posted in Campaign Finance, Nuclear, Radioactive Waste, tagged , , , , , on January 20, 2011 |

In December Texans for Public Justice reported that Dallas billionaire Harold Simmons had contributed $620,000 to Governor Rick Perry.  TPJ’s publication Lobby Watch questioned how Perry’s appointees could objectively regulate Simmons’ nuclear ambitions. That question looms larger after Simmons gave Perry another $500,000 this in 2010. Having given him a total of $1,120,000, Simmons now ranks as the governor’s No. 2 individual donor.1

And now, Harold Simmons, is the largest benefactor for the new Railroad Commissioner, David Porter.  According to the report filed yesterday with the Texas Ethics Commission, which covered the period from late October until the fundraising moratorium triggered by the 2011 legislative session, Porter’s largest single donation came from Harold Simmons, the owner of Dallas-based Waste Control Specialists, who delivered a check for $25,000 to Porter on Oct. 27. . . .and another check for $25,000 the same day.    Simmons also made contributions to Porter in June to the tune of  $10,000, according to Ethics Commission reports.

I think the giving levels of Harold Simmons warrant watching, especially given the fact that much of his business is regulated by state agencies, and his predilection for spending money late in the election cycle (such as a gift of half a million dollars to Texans for Lawsuit Reform- a notorious tort reform super-PAC), a trick employed by Karl Rove to escape campaign finance scrutiny until an election is looooong over.

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Tom DeLay sentenced to three years in prison

Posted in Campaign Finance, tagged , , , on January 10, 2011 |

Judge Pat Priest has sentenced former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay to three years in prison on the conspiracy charge he was convicted of in November.  Delay was also sentenced to five years in prison on the money laundering conviction but Judge Priest allowed DeLay to accept 10 years of probation instead of more prison time.

He is expected to appeal and the judge set a $10,000 bond, which means DeLay will likely be a free man until his appeal is complete.

The convictions stem from the 2002 Texas state house elections, when DeLay’s state PAC collected $190,000 in corporate donations and sent the money to the Republican National Committee. The RNC then sent a total of $190,000 to seven Republican state house candidates hand-picked by DeLay’s PAC.

Under Texas law, it is illegal for candidates to use corporate money — raised directly or indirectly — for their campaigns.

Public Citizen wants to acknowledge the work done by Craig McDonald, the director of Texans for Public Justice and former director of the Texas office of Public Citizen.  His work on tracking the money was key to the initial investigation of Delay and his PAC.

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Texas may get a lump of radioactive waste in their stocking if billionaire donor to Governor Perry has his way

Posted in Campaign Finance, Good Government, Nuclear, Radioactive Waste, tagged , , , , , , on December 23, 2010 |

UPDATED: Thanks to everyone who commented!  We’ll have a blog wrapup/ news release ASAP.

VIDEO FROM OUR PRESS CONFERENCE !

http://vimeo.com/18128056

And check our flikr photostream here on the blog for non moving pictures from this morning, if that’s more your thing.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled snark, already in progress. 

ORIGINAL POST:

Supervillain Harold Simmons sitting on a pile of radioactive waste

Bond Supervillain and sometimes Grinch Harold Simmons, picture from D magazine

This morning when I woke up my precious 2 year old son, he asked if I could sing him “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch“, and while I was singing and described the Grinch’s moldy, garlicky, spider-infested brain, heart, and soul, I couldn’t stop thinking of Dallas Billionaire Harold Simmons and the unelected bureacrats who decided the holidays were the perfect time to try to permit nuclear waste coming to Texas.  And while I wouldn’t normally touch them with a 39 1/2 foot pole, touch we must.

Whatever your plans for the holidays — putting up decorations, sending cards to friends and family, buying gifts and a much-needed vacation– I’m sure they did not include telling an obscure state commission you don’t want Texas to become the nation’s radioactive waste dump.  But more than any figgy pudding, that is what we must bring, and bring it right here!

Wait… you’re saying you weren’t planning to closely read and comment on a proposed rule that would put a big ole “for sale” sign on our state for anyone with unwanted radioactive waste?

Well that’s exactly what Michael Ford, the governor’s appointed (i.e. unelected) chairman of the Texas Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Compact Commission (i.e. radioactive waste czar), is counting on.

At a meeting announced just hours after the November polls had closed and election winners and losers had been announced, the TLLRWDCC (I know, it’s a mouthful even abbreviated) voted 5-2 to repost a rule that would allow out-of-state radioactive waste generators – primarily nuclear power plants on the coasts and in the midwest – to send  their waste here.

Worse still, the TLLRWDCC managed to post the rule the day after Thanksgiving, ensuring that media and public attention would be minimal. The posting started a 30 day comment period during which the public can let the TLLRWDCC know how they feel about it. So let’s run the numbers and… oh, fabulous, comments are due the day after Christmas! Happy holidays, indeed!

Ford brought up this bad idea last summer, but polls showed a majority of Texans didn’t like the proposal.  Bill White made it an election issue, accusing Governor Perry of making the state a radioactive waste dump to benefit his donor.  So Perry’s Waste Czar pulled the proposal, waiting until day after the election to announce that the process would move forward once more.

But announcing a meeting the day after the election with just 10-days notice for people to travel to Midland (where the capitol press would be unlikely to follow), and then posting the rule itself such that the comment period would meet the literal definition of “the holidays” was only the beginning for Mr. Ford.

A commissioner named Bob Gregory who, like Ford, was appointed by Governor Perry asked that the comment period on this rule be extended to 90 days since a 30 day comment period would transpire during the holidays when most people are too busy to pay much attention to matters of civic engagement. Mr. Ford and 4 other members of the TLLRWDCC voted against Mr. Gregory’s very reasonable solution for this very obvious problem.

The bottom line is that Mr. Ford and several of the commissioners are afraid of public scrutiny. Last spring they received over 2,000 comments from Texans opposed to the rule. That was before the issue made the front pages of newspapers all across the state, so they have good reason to be afraid.

During the holidays many Americans take time to be with family, to exercise their generosity, and to reflect on all they have to be grateful for. Mr. Ford and 4 of the other commissioners have decided to cynically use this to keep the public out of the process on this enormously important matter.

And while you’re getting dumped on, someone will get a really nice Christmas gift this year.

This smacks of a political payback. Harold Simmons, whose company owns this dump, has spread his cash far and wide, giving Governor Perry over $1 million since 2000 (making him the governor’s 2nd largest individual donor) and funding campaigns for every member of the Texas Supreme Court among others. While Simmons gets to make billions off this waste, Texans will get the responsibility for managing it for 10,000 years and cleaning it up — Mr. Simmons’ license expires in just 15 years.

But there is hope. Send your comments to the Compact Commissioners telling them the only good radioactive waste importation rule is one that bans any waste from coming to this state unless there is a national emergency. Tell them lawmakers in Texas bargained for only Vermont and Texas waste, and that’s what the people of Texas expect. And tell them that Christmas isn’t a weapon to be wielded against the public.

The Grinch about to go down a chimney

The Grinch is likely to file a defamation suit against me for comparing him to Harold Simmons.

Please go to www.TexasNuclearSafety.org where you can learn more about this issue and submit comments to the commission, and I hope you’ll give ’em what-for because they certainly deserve it.

Keep Texas from becoming what they want it to: an appalling dump heap overflowing with the most disgraceful assortment of rubbish imaginable, mangled up in tangled up knots. So, Mr. Ford, Mr. Simmons– between the three of you, I think I’d take the seasick crocodile. And the three words that best describe you are as follows, and I quote: Stink. Stank! STUNK!

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Texas will get new 4 Congressional seats – redistricting reform needed, and Lord of the Rings references

Posted in Campaign Finance, Good Government, Redistricting, tagged , , , , , , , , on December 21, 2010 |

Well, it’s official— and let the bloodbath begin.

Texas Tribune graphic of gains in congressional seats

Texas Tribune graphic of gains in congressional seats

Texas has been growing (this we knew), but by enough to mean that we will get 4 new Congressional seats.  Much of our growth has been occurring in suburbs and exurbs, and we’ve been losing relative population in rural areas, so it will be interesting to see how our Congressional and Legislative seats are reapportioned.

How these district lines will be drawn are now up to the Legislature, who will draw the maps that they, themselves, will run in.  Obviously, this creates a serious conflict of interest, as instead of having voters choose their representatives, we have representatives choosing their voters.

Some have guessed that the sudden party switch of the now-tilde-less Rep. Aaron Pena may be due to his desire to run for Congress– getting a seat at the table to carve up a custom-made Congressional seat would certainly make that tempting.  And this is exactly the kind of problem that we have when Legislators draw their own districts.

Given Texas’ troubled history with redistricting, including but not limited to the illegal redistricting plan forced through the Lege by Tom DeLay and the subsequent flight of Democratic lawmakers to Oklahoma, it is time for Texas to do the right thing and move to a system of independent redistricting.

Many states have adopted this vital reform, and Texas has considered this before, including bills in the last Legislative session by Rep. Mark Strama, a Democrat, and Senator Jeff Wentworth, a Republican.

The problem is, partisan politics is getting in the way of what is a bipartisan-supported reform measure.  Neither party wants to give up the possibility of being able to control redistricting, as Democrats believe demographic changes are moving in their favor, and Republicans think they can maintain control over a traditionally conservative state.  As to who is right and who is wrong, I don’t care.  But both parties need to be less like the partisan animals they so often can be, and more like Frodo.  (please forgive my nerd birdwalk here, but it illustrates an important point)

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z58Y55XHCGI]

Frodo didn’t want to get rid of the ring of power, and it corrupted him, but he needed to get rid of it.  Unfortunately, when faced with the choice and standing at the precipice, he failed to make the right choice.  He had to have the ring forcibly taken from him, and cast into the fire.  I hate to compare “the people” to Gollum, but that’s what we have to do– bit the ring of power off of our leaders’ fingers and destroy it forever, so they can deal with more important issues, like, oh, say, $20-$25 billion dollar deficits and such.

Whatever bloodletting occurs over the upcoming redistricting fight (and there will be a fight), it ought to be accompanied by a bipartisan support for an independent, non-partisan redistricting plan.

And for a little bit more fun:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWf3iJjqYCM]

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Drilling for Dollars: How Big Money Plays a Big Role at the Railroad Commission

Posted in Campaign Finance, Sunset, tagged , , , , , , on December 14, 2010 |

 

 

Andy Wilson talking at a press conference on campaign finance in the Railroad Commission at the Texas Capitol

 

Hey folks, here’s our press release about the report I’ve been slaving away over working on. Money’s a problem at the Railroad Commission. How bad? You have no idea. Read on, if you dare, and join us for our 1pm press conference in the Speaker’s press room in the Texas Capitol.

Sweeping changes are needed at the Texas Railroad Commission because of the huge amount of industry money being poured into the campaign coffers of sitting commissioners, a study released today by Public Citizen found.

The report, “Drilling for Dollars: How Big Money Has a Big Influence at the Railroad Commission,” details how fundraising by incumbents increased 688 percent between 2000 and 2008. It also shows that the biggest driver of the increase was donations from individuals associated with the fossil fuel industries – the same industries the commission is charged with regulating.

“We need fundamental reform at the Texas Railroad Commission,” said Andy Wilson, a campaign finance researcher with Public Citizen and one of the authors of the report. “The Legislature needs to change how railroad commissioners are elected or do away with electing commissioners all together.”

Cover of report Drilling for Dollars

The report details where the commissioners’ campaign money is coming from. By 2010, 80 percent of all donations to incumbents were from industry, up from 45 percent in 2000. The volume of donations from industry also increased nearly fivefold, from just over $420,000 in 2000 to more than $2 million in 2008. And while “big money” has always played a role, it has gotten even larger: In 2000, 80 percent of all money came in donations of $1,000 or more; by 2008, it was 85 percent and an astounding 92 percent for 2010.

“The Sunset Advisory Commission called campaign fundraising a ‘possible conflict of interest,’ and that is putting it mildly,” Wilson said. “What we see is the absolute domination of campaign money by the fossil fuel industries in Texas. One of every two dollars raised by sitting railroad commissioners comes from individuals and corporations whose fortunes rest upon the decisions made by the commission. Commissioners may play coy and act innocent – they may not even see themselves as being influenced – but the people writing the checks know exactly what they are doing.”

This is of particular concern to Texans because decisions made at the railroad commission affect them every day. Charged with regulating the oil and gas industry, the Texas Railroad Commission has failed to protect Texas families who live on top of the Barnett Shale. Gas drilling on the shale contributes more to air pollution than all of the cars and trucks in the Dallas-Fort Worth region combined, according to research done while at Southern Methodist University by EPA Region 6 Administrator Al Armindariz. And just this week the EPA issued an endangerment order, ordering gas drillers to clean up contaminated drinking water.

Public Citizen’s report examined and catalogued campaign finance disclosures from the Texas Ethics Commission and identified those individuals and entities who identified themselves as being a part of the fossil fuel industry, a lobbyist or from a law firm. Concerned industry insiders and other public interest advocacy groups identified additional individuals and entities as being members of the industry.

The Texas Railroad Commission is undergoing a sunset review, mandatory every 12 years for every Texas state agency. In a special session of the Legislature in 2009, the review of the railroad commission, along with several other state agencies, was moved up by two years to be done in the 82nd Legislature, which convenes in January. The Sunset Advisory Commission will hear public testimony on the railroad commission on Wednesday at the State Capitol.

A copy of the report can be found at: http://www.citizen.org/drillingfordollars

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By promoting cleaner energy, cleaner government, and cleaner air for all Texans, we hope to provide for a healthy place to live and prosper. We are Public Citizen Texas.

 

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Tom Delay GUILTY

Posted in Campaign Finance, tagged , , , , on November 24, 2010 |

Tom Delay has been convicted of money-laundering by a Travis County jury.

After three days of deliberation in  former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay‘s corruption trial the jury returned a verdict of guilty.

Tom DeLay‘s defense team, presented five witnesses over two days, resting its case last Thursday.

This was in stark contrast to the prosecution’s case, which included more than 30 witnesses in 10 days. The former Houston-area congressman did not testify. Closing arguments in the trial were delivered on Monday, and jurors began deliberation later that day.

Shortly after convening, jurors sent two notes to the judge, asking him about the charges. “Can it constitute money laundering if the money wasn’t procured by illegal means originally?” one note read.  A second note  questioned whether money laundering can involve funds that were not initially accepted for an illegal purpose.   Judge Priest expressed concern about how to answer the jury’s questions without commenting on evidence in the case.  In the end, he declined to answer the question telling the jury to figure it out for themselves.

Earlier today (the third day of deliberation), the jury asked for multiple copies of the transcript of Tom DeLay’s interview with prosecutors in 2005.  Then later during the day, a question from the jury elicited an instruction from the judge that could have been the final blow to DeLay’s defense.  The jury basically asked whether DeLay had to know about a conspiracy to commit money laundering before it began. Visiting District Judge Pat Priest told them no.

At 5 pm today, the jury returned a verdict of guilty on both charges of money laundering and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Currently Delay is out on a previous bond, but his conviction means he faces five years to life in prison on the money laundering charge and two to 20 years on the conspiracy charge.  He also would be eligible for probation.

The sentencing phase of the trial is tentatively scheduled to begin December 20, 2010 and DeLay has chosen to have Senior Judge Pat Priest sentence him.

DeLay’s lawyers intend to appeal the felony criminal conviction.  One thing is clear, he will not be returning to politics anytime soon.

Earlier this year, DeLay tried to get his case moved out of Travis County.  He argued he could not get a fair trial in Austin because of the role he played in the 2003 Texas redistricting efforts.  Obviously the venue change request was denied, and from the outside it seems clear that this Travis County jury took its task to heart, and deliberated fairly and judiciously before bringing back a guilty verdict.

I expect this will be one of our Thanksgiving dinner topics tomorrow.   In the meantime, whether or not you and your loved ones make this a Thanksgiving topic to go along with your holiday turkey (tofurkey for you vegetarions among us) dinner. . . Public Citizen wishes each and every one of you a safe and happy holiday.

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By promoting cleaner energy, cleaner government, and cleaner air for all Texans, we hope to provide for a healthy place to live and prosper. We are Public Citizen Texas.

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Delay jurors, take a lickin’ but keep on tickin’

Posted in Campaign Finance, tagged , , , , on November 24, 2010 |

As Public Citizen’s offices close for the Thanksgiving holiday, the jurors in the money-laundering and conspiracy trial of former U.S. House GOP Majority Leader Tom DeLay had still not come back with a verdict. (more…)

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Delay trial winds down with closing arguments expected on Monday

Posted in Campaign Finance, Good Government, tagged , , , , , , on November 20, 2010 |

Testimony in Tom DeLay‘s money-laundering trial ended on Thursday, without the former House majority leader testifying and neither DeLay’s chief political aide, Jim Ellis, nor John Colyandro, who ran Texans for a Republican Majority, testified because they are being tried later as co-conspirators.  Closing arguments are set for Monday and with any luck we will have a verdict by the end of next week.

In the meantime, let’s recap this week.

Prosecutors in the political money-laundering case against former U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay continued their efforts to build a circumstantial case, but as the sixth day of testimony ended Tuesday, they still had not directly linked DeLay to the alleged scheme.  However, on Wednesday prosecutors presented the jury with statements DeLay made to investigators in 2005, indicating he knew of a $190,000 money swap before it occurred.

(more…)

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Houston Redistricting Hearing

Posted in Campaign Finance, Consumers, Good Government, Texas Legislature, tagged , , , , , on November 13, 2010 |

Come one, come all. The House Committee on Redistricting is taking public testimony at hearings around the state regarding redistricting that will help shape the districts for both the house and senate of the Texas legislature, Texas congressional districts, and districts for the election of judicial officers or of governing bodies or representatives of political subdivisions or state agencies as required by law, including state board of education districts for the next ten years..

The HOUSTON REDISTRICTING HEARING will be held on November 20, 2010 at 10:00 A.M. at University of Houston, Athletic/Alumni Center, O’Quinn Great Hall, 3100 Cullen Boulevard, Houston, TX, 77004.

For more information on redistricting, including links to video of earlier hearings in other communities around the state, see our earlier blog by clicking here

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Austin Redistricting Hearing

Posted in Campaign Finance, tagged , , , on November 10, 2010 |

Come one, come all.  The House Committee on Redistricting is taking public testimony at hearings around the state regarding redistricting that will help shape the districts for both the house and senate of the Texas legislature, Texas congressional districts, and districts for the election of judicial officers or of governing bodies or representatives of political subdivisions or state agencies as required by law, including state board of education districts for the next ten years.  After this mid-cycle election, we can expect a pretty draconian effort on the part of the Republicans to stack the redistricting disproportionately in their favor. 

The AUSTIN REDISTRICTING HEARING will be held on November 17, 2010 at 10:00 A.M. at the Texas State Capitol, Underground Extension, Hearing Room E1.030, in Austin, TX.

For more information on redistricting, including links to video of earlier hearings in other communities around the state, see our earlier blog by clicking here

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Week two of the Delay trial underway

Posted in Campaign Finance, tagged , on November 8, 2010 |

Last week we wrote a little about what was happening in the early days of Tom Delay’s criminal trial.  To recap and then sum up last week, in their opening statements, prosecutors said that Tom DeLay took part in a scheme to illegally channel corporate money into Texas legislative races in order to strengthen his power and influence. 

As a result of DeLay’s scheme, Republicans won a majority in the Texas House and then pushed through a congressional redistricting plan engineered by DeLay that would strengthen the Republican hold on Texas. Republicans won a majority in the Texas House in 2002 and congressional redistricting sent more Texas Republicans to Congress in 2004.

The 2003 redistricting was extremely controversial, particularly because of the role played by Delay. Texas had never undertaken redistricting mid-decade without it being ordered by a court. Legal challenges to the redistricting plan were mounted on several fronts. In 2006, the Supreme Court upheld the statewide redistricting as Constitutional, but struck down Congressional District 23 as being in violation of the Voting Rights Act’s prohibition of racial gerrymandering. (more…)

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Redistricting and the mid-cycle election

Posted in Campaign Finance, Texas Legislature, tagged , , , , , , on November 7, 2010 |

Republican gains in Congress were the major stories for the national media, but it is the party’s gains in down-ballot local state house races that may have created the most lasting protection for the GOP‘s new majority in the House of Representatives.

Once every decade, state legislators begin the process of redrawing congressional districts to reflect changes in population.  A by-product of this process is that it can serve to insulate representatives from future difficult re-elections.

According to the nonpartisan National Conference of State Legislatures, Republicans will now hold about 53 percent of state legislative seats across the country, gaining at least 680 seats this election, the largest gain by either party since the mid 60s.

At issue are two different procedures:
Reapportionment: The number of seats in the U.S. House is fixed by law at 435. Every 10 years, after the Census has counted the population, some states gain House seats, others lose them to reflect shifts in populations.

Redistricting: In most states, state legislators, with advice from expert demographers and lawyers, obligatory input from citizens and with the final say of the governor, draw the new congressional district lines. State legislators draw the maps for 383 of the 435 seats in the House.

In most cases, governors can veto remapping plans and sometimes force legislatures dominated by the opposing party to alter plans to help protect his party’s incumbents.  This will not be the case in Texas this go-round since the Republicans dominate both state houses and hold the governorship.

The remapping takes into account the population shifts within states, the desire to protect incumbents and, of course, partisan advantage. At the margins, partisan mapping, or gerrymandering, can help one party keep a seat or make the party competitive in a place where it hadn’t been before. (In a 2004 decision, the Supreme Court essentially ruled that the partisan gerrymandering doesn’t violate the Constitution.)

In eight states, bipartisan or nonpartisan commissions handle the task.  This is not the case in Texas.

Currently, the House Committee on Redistricting is taking public testimony at hearings around the state regarding redistricting that will help shape the districts for both the house and senate of the Texas legislature and Texas congressional districts.

TexasVox will post information about hearings in your area as the information becomes available.  Click here to read an earlier blog about hearings with links to archived video of hearing around the state that have already happened.  If you are concerned about the impacts of redistricting on your state and congressional representation, plan on attending and testifying.

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By promoting cleaner energy, cleaner government, and cleaner air for all Texans, we hope to provide for a healthy place to live and prosper. We are Public Citizen Texas.

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