Voters can make record votes permanent
Voters should approve Prop. 11 which would record final votes on legislation
Sunday, October 28, 2007
by Dan Branch and Juan M. Garcia III
On Nov. 6, Texas voters will have the opportunity to enshrine open government into the Texas Constitution. Proposition 11 on the constitutional ballot would require the Texas House and Senate to record all final votes, publish the votes in their official journals and on the Internet, and maintain the voting records online for at least two years in a format that is searchable by bill number and subject.
As joint authors of House Joint Resolution 19, the legislation that put Proposition 11 on the November ballot, we worked with a bipartisan group of legislators in the House and Senate to give voters the opportunity to advance open government in Texas.
We believe that the voters of Texas deserve to know how their legislators vote on every prospective new law that passes each legislative chamber.
There's been a gradual culture change in the manner in which our Legislature conducts business. Gone are the days in which votes on final passage were saved for Fridays, as designated "Floor Captains" often voted for absent members, safe in the knowledge that most votes weren't documented anyway. Since 1999 the number of regular-session record votes in the House has increased by more than 76 percent. Through the Internet, Texans have free access to online bill tracking of legislation and live video of floor debates and committee proceedings. In 2005, the House passed measures that lowered the threshold for a record vote from a request by any three members to any one member. And this past January the House showed additional support for record votes by adopting rules that require record votes on passage of all final measures.
Texas voters deserve to know how their legislators vote on every prospective new law that passes each legislative chamber.
Without enshrining this reform into the Texas Constitution, however, any future Legislature can reverse this commitment to transparency in government. House and Senate rules are debated and changed each session. Having mandatory record votes in a legislative chamber's rules is good, but having this practice mandated in the Constitution is better. Basic, fundamental law, which is what constitutions are, should require that no legislation that's going to change people's lives should become law without the public knowing how their lawmakers voted. Proposition 11 will provide that every member of the Legislature is held to account for his or her vote on final passage of legislation. Passage of Proposition 11 will make record votes permanent and ensure that record votes will always be a part of our legislative proceedings.
Currently, 41 states mandate record votes. By adopting Proposition 11, Texas will join the vast majority of the state legislatures that require record votes, as well as take our place at the forefront of accountability along with the other 15 states that make voting information accessible to citizens by displaying legislators' votes online.
This is not a bill just for the media, but something that average Texans tell us they want and need. We get calls and letters every day from concerned constituents who are trying to track new legislation that impacts their livelihood, their tax burden or their children's education. The people of Texas want and deserve to know how their representatives vote on laws that affect their lives. It is our hope that the debate over Proposition 11, and the resulting openness if it passes, will empower our citizens to become more engaged in our governing process.
There's nothing Republican or Democrat about requiring basic accountability from our elected policymakers. As our servicemen and women sacrifice so much in Afghanistan and Iraq, we encourage our fellow Texans to take the time to vote for more open government here at home. If the "yes" votes on Proposition 11 prevail, November 6, 2007 will be a date that sets a new high watermark for transparent democracy in Texas.
Juan M. Garcia III, D-Corpus Christi, and Dan Branch, R-Dallas, represent House Districts 32 and 108, respectively.