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Straus: Length of session “just right”
House Speaker Joe Straus, speaking to reporters after the House adjourned this afternoon, said the two-day length of the special session “was just right.”
He said the fact that two measures on Gov. Rick Perry’s agenda passed but the third did not reflected the fact that in a very short special session, members wanted to come in and “pass the bare necessities” — things that should have been addressed during the regular session.
“I don’t think they were looking to delve very far into substantive policy matters,” he said.
The Legislature passed a bill keeping alive several state agencies and another that would allow the state to issue $2 billion in transportation bonds, but did not pass a measure that would have extended the state’s authority to enter into long-term contracts with private companies to build and operate toll roads.
When asked whether the governor had put pressure on him, Straus said: “None at all.”
Straus, a San Antonio Republican, said that he will be home for the Fourth of July and then has a family trip planned shortly after that — a trip, he joked, that probably won’t last much longer than the special session.
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By Joe
July 3, 2009 1:15 PM | Link to this
Andy is correct. it’s unfair for the governor, the leiutenant governor and anyone else on the so called inside to be able to plan (in advance) for there Fourth of July holiday when everyone else was kept guessing. Everyone else had to cancel travel plans, find other child care arrangements, reschedule court depositions, ect., and put their lives on hold at Rick Perry’s whim. And Peggy, this all could have been done at any time without risking anyones plans to celebrate freedom with their families.
By Peggy Venable
July 3, 2009 7:54 AM | Link to this
This was an efficient session, and legislators did what needed to be done.l They deserve a vacation after a busy year. I anticipate some leaders may be attending tea parties, others enjoying well-deserved Fourth of July celebrations.
Andy, if Capitol staff are left in limbo, it is simply their own speculation. It’s time to celebrate what freedom we still enjoy and pay tribute to our forefathers and those brave men and women who today continue to fight for freedom.
By anonymouse
July 2, 2009 10:43 PM | Link to this
what? why is it odd that anyone has, as you like to phrase it in quotes, “plans”? don’t you? is that odd? and, this “thousands of others members of the capitol community”, who are you talking about?
it looks like you have some grief but it’s really hard to know, considering how crypitcally you wrote your comment.
i’m sure those questions and comments are not “just right” with what you meant … but then again … who knows?
By Andy
July 2, 2009 9:22 PM | Link to this
Isn’t it odd how all the insiders like Dewhurst, Straus and Perry all have “plans” made for the Fourth, while the thousands of other members of the capitol community were left in limbo, waiting for Perry to drop the special session bomb? How is that “just right” Speaker Straus?