Texas’ 79th Legislature: How’d we do?

Our state enjoyed (yes, enjoyed) a conservative majority in the Senate, the House, and a conservative governor for the 2005 legislative session. In these vigorous months, they considered about 9,000 bills and approved 4,000 of those. A few issues made national news; the “raunchy cheerleader” bill was ridiculed on national comedy shows (it was not approved, by the way), and a proposed marriage protection amendment became part of a national trend. They passed a 19 percent increase in the state budget and failed to pass a school finance bill. Some key moral issues were also prominent. Let’s look at how those matters were handled.

Gambling

This was a lively and underreported issue this year. Several bills were offered that would have expanded gambling in one way or another; electronic bingo, video slots, casinos, and Indian casinos were a few of the bright ideas intended to solve budget shortfalls. All failed. The gambling industry sunk millions into lobbying and demonstrations intended to con lawmakers into replacing responsible budgeting with false hope. They’ll be back. Never forget that they can spend millions, tens of millions in winning this fight and still make billions after they win. They are guaranteed to make billions; no one else is likely to be happy with expanded gambling.

The Republicans were better on gambling than the Democrats. That said, the Republican leadership was open, if not enthusiastic about the wispy prospects of gambling revenue. This bottom-line thinking is the beginning of all sorts of sorrow. Maybe we can trust a leader’s intent more readily than his judgment. It will be the same fight in 2007 as it was in 2005. If there is a special session on school finance, gambling will come up again this year as a solution to our financial needs.

Abortion

A parental consent bill has been sent to the governor and he plans to sign it. This law requires a parent’s approval for a minor child’s abortion, kind of like for ear piercing. There is a judicial by-pass that allows a judge to approve in the event that the child risks abuse from her parents. Of course this loophole can stretch as wide as judicial imagination. The bill also restricts late-term abortions except to save a woman’s life or when the baby has serious brain damage.

The law won’t save many babies but it is important because it is common sense and indicates a growing cultural revulsion for abortion on demand. The law will also uplift the role of parents in the lives of their own children. It also will save some babies and their young mothers. It’s a good step, though small.

Marriage

A proposed constitutional amendment banning homosexual “marriage” and civil unions was not strongly contested. There was some question as to whether our lawmakers would understand the importance of including marriage-like civil unions in the ban. Our state is conservative enough that the amendment will probably pass amidst some loud chest-beating by radicals. We need this to protect our laws from the agendas of creative judges who would inevitably overturn our Defense of Marriage Act.

This amendment can also further pave the way for a federal marriage amendment. Shameful though it is to say, an amendment is our only defense against the federal judiciary. They have already intervened in state law (Lawrence v. Texas) and have proved unpredictable in handling the clear reading of the Constitution. We need to clarify that for them. Texas will do her part next November if you do yours.

Child Protective Services

This important work by our state was in desperate condition. An overhaul during the 79th Legislature resulted in significantly more staff and outsourcing some parts of the administrative process.

A failed effort to ban homosexuals from being foster parents was an interesting sidelight. Supporters of reform did not favor the ban, fearing it would tie up more crucial changes in an anti-discrimination court battle. Maybe they are right. The foster care system has become an indirect way of mainstreaming homosexual “families,” though. When homosexual celebrities adopt, the whole nation coos adoringly. If we continue to operate legally as though homosexual behavior is genetically based and morally neutral, the truth of the issue will be shouted down. It’s a very dangerous experiment.

Correspondent
Gary Ledbetter
Southern Baptist Texan
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