On August 23, 1999, the Houston Chronicle ran the following editorial.

A recent survey found that few Texans are familiar with what went on in the Legislative session that ended May 31. That finding should not be surprising. Few legislators really knew what was in the bills at the time they voted for them.

During the session, the Legislature passed 1,638 bills, many of them in the closing days and hours. All but a handful escaped a veto by Gov. George W. Bush and became law.

Thousands of bills introduced in this session died in committee and never made it to the floor for a vote. Many bills that did make it to the floor failed to gain majorities in both House and Senate. Even if senators and representatives had read night and day, they could not read the texts of more than a small fraction of the bills introduced.

The 1,638 bill that did gain majorities in both houses ranged from fairly simple municipal housekeeping matters to highly technical bills on telephone rates, electricity deregulation and school finance. The texts of these bills tended to change from day to day, and it was impossible for legislators and their staffs to monitor more than a few of the most important bills. In the days and weeks after the session, state officials and concerned citizens frantically paged through the new laws searching for surprises known only to members of a special interest and handful of legislators.

The compressed session, the complexity of the legislation and the dense, arcane language in which the bills are written conspire to produce a situation in which most legislators are ignorant of, or only vaguely familiar with, the content of most of the bills they vote to approve. As a result, legislators come to rely on the advice of highly paid, influential and unelected lobbyists.

The most influential of these lobbyists - which tend to be the ones who raise the most money for the powerful lieutenant governor and key legislators - can decide the fate of a bill in the Legislature, either advancing it to the floor or killing it with a few words whispered in a few ears.

While some lobbyists serve volunteer organizations that seek to promote what they regard as the broad public interest, the most powerful lobbyists serve well-financed clients that can pay their fees, which can total $1 million for a single lobbyist's services during a single session.

As long as the public pays little attention to legislative matters, and as long as the legislators are willing to cast their votes for bills they know little or nothing about, ultimate power will reside in the Capitol's lobby rather than with the people's elected representatives.

Initiative for Texas, Austin, TX 78741  **   (512) 447-2086  **   email: mikeford@quik.com

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