Although Republicans have a super-majority in the Texas legislature, we still have checks and balances. No party or person is supposed to have excessive power so that we have a balanced and representative decision-making process. Lately, the Republicans who moved to Texas from other states have had much to say about this structure. Dan Patrick is one of them.
Yesterday, our Lt. Governor took to Twitter X to blame Dade Phelan for the lack of movement on school vouchers and the border bill. The last day of the special session is Tuesday (four days from now). Vouchers are dead. The $1.5 billion for a border wall that Abbott asked for is dead. The “Show Me Your Papers” bill is on the line. And it should go without saying teacher pay raises are dead.
This very public tiff between Dan Patrick and Dade Phelan started with Patrick, then after a back-and-forth, ended with him taking to middle-school insults.
So, the House passed HB4, the “Show Me Your Papers” bill last week. They also passed HB6, which was $1.5 billion for the border wall. After those were passed in the House, they were sent to the Senate.
HB4 was heard in the Senate Committee on Border Security. It has to be debated on the full Senate floor, passed, and then sent back to the House to be read and voted on a third time before it can be sent back to the Governor. The House stood at ease, and Speaker Phelan told them to expect an email to return on Monday or Tuesday. Remember, Tuesday is the last day. The Senate is supposed to gavel back in on Sunday afternoon.
However, by looking at the exchange between Patrick and Phelan, it will probably not pass.
Border wall funding.
After the House passed HB6, they sent it to the Senate, and I guess the Senate didn’t like it because the Senate Committee on Finance had a hearing for another border wall funding bill, SB6. This bill was $1.6 billion and had $40 million set for the conspiracy theories regarding Colony Ridge.
Ironically, all of the Jade Helm 2.0 Colony Ridge conspiracies were debunked once again on Tuesday.
Later that afternoon, the Senate debated SB6, and Democrats attempted to add an amendment to take the $40 million for Colony Ridge out of the bill. The author of the bill, Joan Huffman, declined the amendment, and all of the Republicans voted against it.
Dade Phelan responds.
My favorite words from his statement are “baseless” and “desperate.” From what I’ve heard, the two leaders of each chamber haven’t even spoken to each other once this special session. Greg Abbott should have known this was going to happen. Everyone else knew it would happen. Their fighting is good for Texas because they get much less harmful legislation passed.
You better believe Dan Patrick replied. And it was hilarious.
“Mr. Speaker, you have become nothing more than hot air.” Haha. This is a leader in our government talking to another leader in our government, and they’re both in the same party. Republicans are too emotional to govern, especially Dan Patrick.
“I don’t pay attention to you anymore and neither does anyone else. You’ve become the teacher character from the “Peanuts” series. When you talk, all we hear is, “Wah wah woh wah wah.” - Dan Patrick.
I know you’re thinking, “How is this real life?”
We have to look on the bright side. They’re destroying themselves. This will only benefit Democrats in the long run. Stock up on the popcorn and enjoy it.
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Hahaha!!