Candice Shapiro
Office: (512) 463-0367
Mobile: (512) 799-8685
Candice.shapiro@house.state.tx.us
April 18, 2007
Branch Passes Constitutional Amendment to Require Recorded Votes
HJR 19 Heads to the Senate on Course to the November Ballot
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Austin American-Statesman |
(AUSTIN) - Tuesday, the Texas House of Representatives advanced open government in Texas government by passing a proposed constitutional amendment calling for roll call on-the-record votes on the passage of all major legislation. The joint resolution by Rep. Dan Branch (R-Dallas) will require a record vote on final passage of a bill or resolution, other than ceremonial matters. In addition, it mandates that all record votes be posted in the respective chamber's journal and are made accessible on the Internet.
“It was a good day for advancing open government," Branch said. "Constituents want and deserve to know how their representatives vote on laws that affect their lives. This constitutional amendment gives Texans the opportunity to voice their opinion on the need for record votes, and with their approval, make them a permanent part of our operating procedures. Basic, fundamental law, which is what constitutions are, should provide that no piece of legislation that's going to change peoples' lives should leave this chamber without the public knowing how their lawmakers voted."
After extended and spirited debate, the measure passed with the support of 142 House members. In 2005, the House passed measures that lowered the threshold for a recorded vote from a request of any three members to any one member. This past January, the House showed additional support for record votes by adding them to the House rules, but without a change to the constitution, the new policy on recorded votes could be easily changed.
Branch also authored HB 83, which makes the same changes in statute, rather then the constitution, but postponed it once the constitutional amendment passed. "Why go for a triple, when the House hit a homerun," Branch quipped.
Rep. Branch, a member of the House Appropriations, Public Education and Calendars committees, is in his third-term representing House District 108, which includes Downtown, Uptown, Near East and North Dallas, including the Town of Highland Park and the City of University Park.
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