Craddick ads widen GOP rift
He blasts school finance plan; Dewhurst aides call spots 'misleading'
08:08 AM CDT on Friday, August 12, 2005
By ROBERT T. GARRETT and KAREN BROOKS / The Dallas Morning News
AUSTIN – House Speaker Tom Craddick, pitching the Legislature's struggle over school finance into a full war among the Capitol's top Republicans, hits the airwaves today to blast a "watered-down" Senate plan and defend himself against accusations that he's a quitter.
House Speaker Tom Craddick says the Senate's school finance bill lacks 'real reform.' His unprecedented ad campaign was paid for by his own re-election funds. The unprecedented ad campaign, paid for by the speaker's own re-election funds, turned frustration over the impasse into a public intraparty brawl.
But Mr. Craddick's aides said his office had heard from too many voters asking why the speaker wants to shut down the special legislative session.
"He's heard feedback from people all over the state that weren't really sure what was going on here in Austin, and he wanted to make sure they understood that," said Craddick spokesman Chris Cutrone. "He just wanted to make sure they understood his statements and that they were clear."
Aides to Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst angrily slapped back Thursday, before the ads even hit the airwaves.
"Speaker Craddick's time and energy would be better spent on solving the state's educational needs than on unprecedented and misleading advertisements," said Mr. Dewhurst's spokesman, Mark Miner. "The Senate's bill ... provides real reform in our schools, additional pay for teachers and puts additional funds in classrooms which are tied to accountability."
To Mr. Craddick and his top Republican lieutenants, the bill lacks "real reform." And he pledges in the ad to fight for such education initiatives.
"As speaker, I don't believe the House should be a party to passing legislation that doesn't contain proper education reforms such as more local control and accountability," Mr. Craddick says in the ads. "In the event that the Texas Supreme Court issues an opinion requiring some action, the Legislature will make the necessary adjustments. However, we will not continue to put more money into a system without the reforms to fix it."
Mr. Craddick's aides declined to specify where or how long the ads would run, or how much they cost.
Lawmakers have been fighting over school finance and taxes all year, trying to craft a plan that complies with a court ruling demanding more funding for schools. But in this, the second special session of the summer on the issues, the two have drifted further apart, particularly when the House resoundingly voted down two major pieces of legislation two weeks ago.
Mr. Craddick then declared last week that the special session was a waste of time and money and urged that the House and Senate wait for guidance from the Texas Supreme Court.
Mr. Dewhurst has repeatedly urged the speaker and the House to reconsider the school and tax bills, pushing his chamber to pass a fresh version this week. And Gov. Rick Perry has been running radio ads across the state touting the need for the Legislature to solve the problem before the courts fix it.
Pressure from all sides, along with the overtime sessions, has frayed nerves. Education groups have continually bashed the proposals as falling far short of what the courts have ordered for schools. The property-tax relief promised by Mr. Perry and other top GOP leaders has yet to materialize. And Democrats and others noted that the tax-swap plans would mean a higher overall tax burden for all but the wealthiest Texans.
Mr. Craddick has maintained that the latest Senate version of an education-overhaul bill won't pass the House unless it makes more sweeping changes to the public-school system. But the speaker, perhaps sensitive to charges that the House had given up, had a special committee considering the bill Thursday.
Dallas Republican Rep. Dan Branch, a member of the committee, said House members particularly want limits on "Robin Hood" sharing of wealthy school districts' property tax revenue and a mandate that 65 percent of school funds be spent in the classroom.
Mr. Craddick denied being stung by criticism after he called for ending the summer's second special session because it was "unproductive" and a waste of time and money.
The special panel was also attempting Thursday to resurrect a tax-swap bill similar to what the governor offered last month.
Even without the hostility that flared Thursday, though, the prospects for agreement were dim, in part because of the dwindling time left in the special session.
"We haven't had the votes" to pass a tax bill in the House, the speaker admitted. "We're trying to see if they're out there."
The resurrected tax bill would, like others, trade a cut in school property taxes for increases in sales taxes and cigarette taxes, and the closing of loopholes in the state's business franchise tax.
Rep. Jim Keffer, the House's chief tax writer, said he rejected pleas from Mr. Craddick's aides that he again handle the bill.
"It would be sort of foolish for me to carry something that had been defeated," the Eastland Republican said.
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