May 15, 2023      8:00 PM

HK: Process legitimacy is long gone in the Senate. The House should not follow the same path

Is misleading the House members and the potential crime of tampering with government documents, as may have happened on SB 14, about to become the new normal? Speaker Phelan faces tough choices

Is the Texas House returning to the bad old days when the last month of the session was routinely filled with mischief, deliberately misleading the body, and bills being illegally changed on their way to the floor?

Two decades ago, then-House Insurance Committee Chair John Smithee, R-Amarillo, once had an entire section of his insurance reform bill “mysteriously disappear” overnight, right before it was brought to the floor.

Forget the substance of the issues for a moment. The two bills pointed out in this column are highly inflammatory, but that is where double dealing typically takes place and the House –which most considered to be the adult in the room – is in jeopardy.

This is not about the substance of the issues; it is about process. If the process is corrupted, then it is government by fiat with no pretense or acknowledgement to the will of the people or the institution. If process is honored, then the will of the House remains a reality.

There are multiple instances of it this session, but for now let’s look at two prima facie examples that House leadership is in trouble.

By Harvey Kronberg

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