"I want to see if he has his big boy pants on": House Democrat challenges Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick over [View all]

[TexasTowelie]

"I want to see if he has his big boy pants on": House Democrat challenges Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick over legislative staff funding

by James Barragán, Texas Tribune


Another partisan stalemate has broken out in the final days of the second special session called by Gov. Greg Abbott, again imperiling the jobs of 2,100 legislative staffers along with two key conservative priority bills.

On Monday night, Rep. Harold Dutton, D-Houston, abruptly adjourned the House Public Education Committee, which he chairs, without voting on two bills prioritized by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, the leader of the Senate: a bill that would limit how educators can teach social studies and talk about race at Texas public schools, referred to as the "critical race theory bill," and another that would require transgender students to participate in sports based on the gender listed on their birth certificate instead of their gender identity.

"We have gotten to the point now where the Senate has adopted certain principles and practices that I don’t think bode well for this Legislature. I think that what’s happened is we have allowed them to do certain things and they disrespect the House in certain fashions," Dutton said. "It has gotten worse to the point where today, what I am told, is that if we don’t pass these two bills — the [critical race theory] bill and the transgender bill — the Senate is not going to consider trying to fix the funding in Article X. So, I want to see if he has his big boy pants on. This meeting is adjourned."

Article X refers to the section of the state budget that covers funding for the state Legislature and other independent agencies that support its work. Abbott vetoed legislative funding in June in retaliation for the defeat of his priority election and bail reform bills when Democrats first walked out of the House in May during the final days of the regular legislative session.

Read more: https://www.texastribune.org/2021/08/31/texas-dan-patrick-harold-dutton-article-x/