81st Legislative Session

http://www.austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/Issue/story?oid=oid%3A678059

What exactly the takes place at the Texas Legislative sessions has often confused me. Upon finding this article I gained some insight into what will take place at 81st session of the Texas Legislature. On the table for discussion this year is; how the state plans to deal with the damage from Hurricane Ike, how the fallout from the nations economy will affect Texas, and issues with the next governor election.

The next race for governor’s office isn’t until 2010. It seems a bit early to worry about that but it seems it will be a hot issue at the session this year. The article states, “Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison's potential resignation to run for governor could initiate a domino effect of jockeying and angling for higher office, leaving the session bereft of leadership.” After reading this I realized why the sessions would want to discuss this, without the leadership in place very little can be accomplished.

It seems that the issues of the margins tax and gas tax have been raised before and with little result. Senator Kirk Watson was quoted as saying, “Are we gonna fix some of the things we said we were gonna fix last time?” Apparently the sessions aren’t as fruitful as some members believe they should be. Now that I have read this article I can watch and see if the issues I care about are addressed, like hurricane damage and taxes, or if the session spends their time arguing about the problem of leadership that wont be relevant for a year.