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Meet The Harry Reid Of Texas

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Conventional political wisdom holds that Texas is a deep red state home to some of the most conservative politicians in the country. However, many outside the Lone Star State, including most if not all Washington and New York-based pundits, are unaware that the Texas House of Representatives is controlled by a left-of-center speaker, Joe Straus (R-San Antonio), who came into power in 2009 by ousting his conservative predecessor with a coalition of Democrats and a handful of moderate and left-of-center Republicans. Now, with the biennial 2015 session of the Texas legislature fast approaching, it is looking like Texas, despite unified Republican control of state government, may soon experience legislative gridlock similar to that currently on display in the U.S. Congress.

While the Texas House is controlled by Straus, widely seen as moderate if not liberal, the Texas Senate is controlled by a conservative majority and is all but guaranteed to be presided over in 2015 by a Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, one of the most conservative lawmakers in the state, which is saying something in Texas. Just as numerous bills and pro-growth reforms have been passed by Speaker John Boehner’s House, only to languish in Harry Reid’s Senate, next year could provide an analogous situation in Austin, in which the state senate passes a host of conservative reforms – such as tax relief and school choice – only to see them die in Speaker Straus’s House. Straus’s acolytes are already making clear that the Texas House will be a graveyard for conservative and free market reforms passed by the senate.

During a speech last month in Dallas, state Rep. Jason Villalba (R-Dallas), a vocal ally of Straus, declared that the 2015 Texas Senate will be “the most conservative in state history.” Villalba didn’t mean that as a compliment. He also issued a warning that next year Texans should expect “a number of bills that come from the Senate and go to the House and I think that’s where you’re going to see them die.”

Speaker Boehner and U.S. House Republicans have passed nearly 300 bills, only to see Harry Reid let them die due to Democratic opposition or because he wants to shield vulnerable senators like Kay Hagan (D-N.C.), Mary Landrieu (D-La.), and Mark Begich (D-Alaska) from having to take a public position on issues that pit the interests of their constituents against the agenda of the White House and progressive activists. The Texas legislature is shaping up to have a similar dynamic in 2015, except it will be senate-passed legislation and reforms getting quashed in Straus’s House.

In the aforementioned Dallas speech, Rep. Villalba detailed specifically how Speaker Straus and company plan to obstruct senate-passed reforms, explaining that the House Calendars Committee is where conservative bills will be strangled in the cradle.

“Calendars decides what bills get to the floor for a vote,” said Villalba. “I can tell you right now most bills die in Calendars… because Calendars is, again, loyal to the speaker."

Got that, Texas senators? Don’t even think about trying to make the state more economically competitive with Speaker Straus in charge of the House. But it doesn’t have to be this way. In fact, one Texas representative, considered to be one of the GOP’s top rising stars, not just in Texas but the nation, is challenging Straus to be speaker in 2015.

Early this year, Rep. Scott Turner (R-Frisco) announced he will challenge Straus for the speakership, which legislators will vote on before convening the 84th session of the Texas legislature in January. Turner, who was elected to the state house in 2012, spent nine seasons in the NFL, playing for the Denver Broncos, San Diego Chargers, and Washington Redskins before entering the business world. Turner is a riveting public speaker who inspires and energizes audiences. Unlike another gifted orator who currently resides a 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Turner is a conservative, so much so that his voting record has earned him a perfect 100 score on the Empower Texans Fiscal Responsibility Index.

While any challenge to Straus would be an uphill battle, many Austin political insiders concede that if any lawmaker could knock him off, it’s Turner. Helping Turner is the fact that Straus has seen the ranks of his supporters in the House dwindle over the past year. Half a dozen Straus supporters decided to retire and have been replaced with conservatives. Five Straus allies lost in the June primaries to more conservative challengers.

The outcome of Turner’s challenge to Straus will have major consequences for the state. While Texas has relatively low taxes and a business tax climate superior to most states, it is not without challenges. The state’s gross receipts tax, known as the Margin Tax, is a major hindrance to the state realizing its full economic potential. This is a tax that economists of all political stripes agree is one of the most economically damaging ways to raise revenue. It is a highly complex tax assessed on different industries in different ways. The compliance costs of this tax for some companies are greater than their liability and even businesses that fail to turn a profit still have to pay it. Rep. Turner introduced legislation in 2013 to do away with this onerous levy, but the bill died with Straus at the helm.

Additionally, while Texas is a relatively well-governed state, as the Texas Public Policy Foundation has documented, it still spends too much. Texas state spending has increased nearly nine percent faster than the rate of population and inflation since 2004, costing taxpayers and extra $8 billion this year alone. It’s important for the state’s future that lawmakers put spending on a more sustainable trajectory, which Straus and his friends have proven incapable of.

Texas voters have been putting conservatives in statewide office for years and continue to do so. In a few short months we’ll find out if Texas will have a new House Speaker who is in sync with the state’s electorate, or if the Texas version of Harry Reid will continue to obstruct in Austin.

Patrick Gleason is Director of State Affairs at Americans for Tax Reform and a Senior Fellow at the Nashville-based Beacon Center of Tennessee. Follow Patrick on Twitter @PatrickMGleason