Texas universities comply with Abbott's questionable hiring freeze
Public university officials in Texas are worried that a temporary state hiring freeze ordered by Gov. Greg Abbott will make it impossible to offer certain summer classes. Various state agencies are trying to figure out whether some vacant positions might be exempt. Community colleges aren’t sure whether the directive applies to them at all.
More broadly, it’s doubtful that Abbott has the legal authority to impose a hiring freeze at the universities in the first place, lawyers say. The Texas Constitution and state law mainly grant the governor authority to make appointments to boards and commissions and to veto legislation. But he is free to speak from the bully pulpit, and no university or agency official has publicly questioned the hiring freeze, which is intended to save $200 million while burnishing Abbott’s conservative bona fides.
“The governor can tell them to freeze hiring, but it has no legal weight,” said Buck Wood, a lawyer in Austin who formerly held a high-level position in the Texas comptroller’s office and who is experienced in education, regulatory and other aspects of state law. “The Texas governorship is one of the weakest governorships around.”
Linda Eads, a former Texas deputy attorney general who is now a Southern Methodist University law professor, agreed. “It is the Legislature that has power over the universities, not the governor. The Texas Constitution does not give the governor that kind of authority,” she said.
Read more: http://www.mystatesman.com/news/state--regional-govt--politics/texas-universities-comply-with-abbott-questionable-hiring-freeze/QddLblNTy7keHrmQJP68IN/
