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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Sully- who wrote (4384)	8/6/2003 3:07:26 AM
From: Sully-	Respond to of 793689

Dewhurst considers legal action against Dems By R.G. RATCLIFFE and RACHEL GRAVES Copyright 2003 Houston Chronicle AUSTIN -- Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst said Tuesday he will consider legal action to force the return of 11 Democratic state senators who left the Capitol to block a Republican congressional redistricting bill. "If you don't come back in a timely fashion, we're going to be forced to look at other options, including legal options. Don't put us into that position," Dewhurst said. "There is no excuse to break a quorum." But the lieutenant governor refused to discuss what he meant by legal options other than to say the state Constitution and Senate rules gives the Senate sergeant at arms authority to arrest runaway senators to restore a quorum. "There are a number of things we can do to compel the attendance of absent members," Dewhurst said. Dewhurst ruled out any possibility of trying to declare the senators' seats vacant or expel them from the Senate. "In no way am I making any threats to anyone," he said. Eleven of the Senate's 12 Democrats went to Albuquerque, N.M., on July 28 on the eve of the second special session Gov. Rick Perry called to consider congressional redistricting. They were cautious in their response to Dewhurst's comment, saying their own lawyers are looking into whether legal action could be taken to force them back to the capital. "The lieutenant governor has a right to explore all of his options," said Sen. Royce West of Dallas. "We'll take it day by day." The question of how far the Senate sergeant could go in tracking down and arresting the runaway members was clouded this week by a ruling in a lawsuit over an earlier House quorum break. Attorney General Greg Abbott on Tuesday said he will appeal the ruling by visiting State District Judge Charles Campbell that the Texas Department of Public Safety lacks the legal authority to arrest state House members who break a quorum. Fifty-five House Democrats broke quorum in May to kill a redistricting plan, and the House majority authorized the use of the DPS to track them down. No arrests occurred, but Rep. Lon Burnam, D-Fort Worth, has sued, saying it was an abuse of power. The issue of DPS arrest authority may be moot anyway, since the House and Senate Democrats holed up in other states, beyond DPS jurisdiction. Perry, U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Sugar Land, and other Republicans are pushing a redrawing of congressional districts in a way that likely would increase the number of Republicans in the state's delegation to the U.S. House of Representatives. The state now sends 17 Democrats and 15 Republicans to the House. Republicans argue that is unfair, since the GOP controls both chambers of the state Legislature and holds all statewide offices. Redistricting first failed in the regular session earlier this year when the House Democrats broke quorum. The issue also was defeated in a special session last month because a Senate rule was in effect requiring a two-thirds vote to debate a bill. The senate Democrats left after Dewhurst, who presides over the Senate, said he would not put the two-thirds rule into effect in the second special session. In a related matter Tuesday, Dewhurst, Perry and House Speaker Tom Craddick announced they had resolved one of the issues that Perry had put on the special session call with redistricting -- the financing of $167 million in Medicaid reimbursements for doctors and hospitals. Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn had questioned whether the federal money was properly spent through a provision in the state budget. Perry had wanted legislation clarifying the issue, but instead he obtained an opinion from Abbott saying the state budget provision was legal. "This is good news, and it demonstrates that even as Democrat senators abdicate their responsibilities, those of us who remain in Austin are working to achieve the public good," Perry said. But Democrats said Perry and other Republican leaders knew they did not have to change the law to spend the money, that they fought state spending on children's health programs in the regular session and now are using children's health care as an excuse for the special session on redistricting. "He's holding up children as shields," said Rep. Jim Dunnam of Waco, chairman of the House Democratic Caucus. "That is so disappointing, so hypocritical that he has a newfound religion for children." Perry said Texas taxpayers want the runaway Democrats to return to Austin, do their job and lose the redistricting fight if they must. Another Republican criticism was deflated Tuesday in an opinion from the Texas Ethics Commission, which oversees election and campaign rules. State Republican Chairman Susan Weddington last week suggested that the Democrats may have taken an illegal corporate contribution by flying to New Mexico on an airplane owned by the First National Bank of Edinburg. South Texas businessman David Rogers owns the bank. Senate Democratic Caucus Chair Leticia Van de Putte of San Antonio asked Karen Lundquist, executive director of the Texas Ethics Commission, whether it was legal for the caucus to accept airplane travel that was a corporate contribution. Lundquist responded in a letter that "a legislative caucus is not prohibited from accepting contributions from corporations." In Albuquerque, the Democrats' main message of the day Tuesday involved Perry's cuts in funding to the American GI Forum, a Hispanic veterans group. The senators said Perry slashed the group's state support in retaliation for its members' opposition to redistricting. Forum members from across Texas and New Mexico traveled to Albuquerque on Tuesday to express their support for the senators. Perry responded that the GI Forum was not singled out for cuts. "Their complaint should be looked at in the light that all those grants are being looked at, not just GI Forum," he said. "They're not being treated any differently from anybody else." Ratcliffe reported from Austin, Graves from Albuquerque. chron.com