Texas Tribune 5/18/11Will the Sanctuary Cities Bill Survive Texas Senate?They won’t give names, nor will they engage in a game of hypothetical vote counting, but Senate Democrats will say the coalition forming against the state’s proposed sanctuary cities bill isn’t what observers would expect.
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“There are some Republicans probably that would not like to see that bill come over, while some probably do support it,” said state Sen. Carlos Uresti, D-San Antonio, the chairman of the Senate Hispanic Caucus. “But I think this late in the game, with some of the more important issues, obviously the budget and school finance, it would slow down those other bills.”
If the Senate adheres to tradition and follows its two-thirds rule, Democrats can stop the measure by blocking it from consideration. The Senate debates bills on the floor in the order they come in. Going out of order requires a two-thirds vote. Uresti said he’s confident the 12 Democratic senators will unite against the bill and block it from coming to the floor. Senate Republicans who want to see the bill advance, albeit in an unorthodox way, can do what they did with the budget and strategically set the bill so it comes up on a “House” day. Two days each week, House bills come before Senate bills and the two-thirds vote isn’t necessary.
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If HB 12 dies in the Senate, proponents of the measure will likely look for another bill to serve as a vehicle. Attention could then turn again to Williams. He’s filed SB 9, a homeland security bill loaded with controversial measures, including requiring all law enforcement agencies to adopt the federal Secure Communities program. The bill also would institute stronger penalties for a laundry list of felonies and codify proof-of-citizenship requirements for driver's licenses and state-issued IDs. It would also establish an automatic license-plate reader pilot program for vehicles used by DPS officers.
But Williams said during debate on SB 9 that sanctuary cities is a separate matter and he would not allow the issue to appear as an amendment to SB 9. He reiterated his opposition Monday.
Lets see how much pressure Perry puts on Senate members to get his one of his pet emergency items for him to sign this session.
I hope there are some Senate Rs willing to buck Perry insanity on this one.
:shrug: