As legislative session heats up, rift deepens between Straus, Patrick
The differences in ideology and style between hard-line conservative Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and traditional Republican House Speaker Joe Straus are nothing new. This legislative session, however, the divide has widened to include disagreements over some of the basic mechanics of managing state finances.
Texas, for instance, has been without a state auditor for more than a year because Patrick and Straus haven’t agreed on a replacement. For the first time, the Texas House and the Senate have used different starting points to calculate their proposed state budgets, meaning they cannot agree on how to view the current budget, much less how to shape the next one. Patrick and Straus have even sparred over whether to release a routine report on government efficiency.
“All of those elements have happened before. It’s just they haven’t happened all at once,” said Dale Craymer, executive director of the business-backed think tank Texas Taxpayers and Research Association. “The House and Senate are two very different bodies, structurally and politically. And the political differences are probably greater this session than they have been before.”
The discord comes as significant decisions loom over whether to ban so-called sanctuary cities; how to fix the state’s widely criticized public education system and its social services for vulnerable children; and whether to regulate public bathrooms. On the only bill the Legislature is required to pass, the state budget, the two chambers’ initial proposals were $7.9 billion apart.
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