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
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