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May 19, 2015      2:24 PM

Anti-union bill in jeopardy in the Texas House

Bill does not win sufficient support to suspend posting rules for a hearing in State Affairs Committee

A bill that would outlaw the ability to government employees to have their union dues automatically deducted from their paychecks ran into a serious problem in the Texas House Tuesday afternoon.

As State Affairs Committee Chairman Rep. Byron Cook, R-Corsicana, was asking the House to suspend the posting rules so that SB 1968 could get a hearing before Saturday's deadline, Rep. Sylvester Turner, D-Houston, challenged the motion. Saturday is the last day for Senate bills to be kicked out of House committees.

Because the motion to suspend the rules requires a two-thirds vote of members who are present, a pretty dramatic verification of the vote was conducted. A few names had to be stricken when it was discovered some representatives were not present.

In the end, the vote was 91 to 48 in favor of suspending the rules so that a hearing could happen, but that’s not enough.

After the verification, Rep. Cook was asked by Quorum Report whether that meant the bill is dead.

By Scott Braddock