WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:02.799 This week's episode of the trib Cast is supported by 2 00:00:02.839 --> 00:00:06.440 former US Ambassador to Mexico Antonio Garza and the Texas 3 00:00:06.440 --> 00:00:15.839 Managed Care Alliance. Hello and welcome to the second episode 4 00:00:15.960 --> 00:00:19.239 of the trib Cast. I'm Eleanor Klibanoff, a reporter here 5 00:00:19.640 --> 00:00:22.160 and co host of the Trip Cast. I'm joined by 6 00:00:22.239 --> 00:00:26.600 my two other co hosts, politics reporter James Barragan, editor 7 00:00:26.600 --> 00:00:31.160 in chief Matthew Watkins, and our very special guest, Texas 8 00:00:31.160 --> 00:00:35.280 Tribune co founder former executive editor Ross Ramsey from. 9 00:00:35.119 --> 00:00:38.520 The former original trib Cast back in December of two 10 00:00:38.520 --> 00:00:39.439 thousand and nine. 11 00:00:39.520 --> 00:00:44.719 The Podfather, The Podfather horrible. We'd like to apologize for you. 12 00:00:46.159 --> 00:00:48.479 Reboots never as good as the original. But here we are, But. 13 00:00:48.439 --> 00:00:49.359 Here we are. We're trying. 14 00:00:50.320 --> 00:00:53.119 Thank you all for joining us. It is the first 15 00:00:53.119 --> 00:00:56.240 week of session. We're wearing cowboy hats to honor it. 16 00:00:56.880 --> 00:00:58.000 You told me I could take it off. 17 00:00:58.119 --> 00:01:00.359 You could take it off now, Matthew, your narrative fun. 18 00:01:00.399 --> 00:01:02.479 There's a fun part of the table over here. 19 00:01:03.159 --> 00:01:05.879 In the afternoon, I'm getting on an airplane and I 20 00:01:05.959 --> 00:01:09.439 just spent this morning trying to figure out how to 21 00:01:09.480 --> 00:01:14.159 fit cowboy boots into my very constricted suitcase, cowboy boots 22 00:01:14.159 --> 00:01:14.879 in a tuxedo. 23 00:01:15.000 --> 00:01:18.359 And so now the boy boots and a TUXI was 24 00:01:18.480 --> 00:01:19.040 very important. 25 00:01:19.120 --> 00:01:22.000 Matthew is very important up in Washington. 26 00:01:22.400 --> 00:01:24.400 Boots and boats or boots and black ties. 27 00:01:24.439 --> 00:01:24.719 Wow. 28 00:01:24.840 --> 00:01:27.799 Okay, so that is your Texas credentials. You can take 29 00:01:27.840 --> 00:01:29.760 off the hat and still be a proud text. 30 00:01:29.799 --> 00:01:32.159 I will admit that I had to borrow the cowboy boots. 31 00:01:32.159 --> 00:01:35.680 I have brown cowboy boots, but not black ones, so embarrassing. 32 00:01:35.760 --> 00:01:36.079 I didn't. 33 00:01:36.159 --> 00:01:36.959 That is embarrassing. 34 00:01:39.680 --> 00:01:41.799 So if you're not watching on YouTube, join us on 35 00:01:41.799 --> 00:01:43.760 YouTube because we are wearing hats and having a lot 36 00:01:43.760 --> 00:01:44.079 of fun. 37 00:01:45.079 --> 00:01:48.079 Some of us are Matthew Watkins Roast Podcast. 38 00:01:48.560 --> 00:01:51.400 Thank you for joining us. Okay, well, so we are 39 00:01:51.400 --> 00:01:53.560 one day into the legislative session. We're recording this on 40 00:01:53.599 --> 00:01:55.920 Wednesday morning. We have a lot of news to get through. 41 00:01:56.319 --> 00:01:59.000 But before we get to that, James, I mean I 42 00:01:59.040 --> 00:02:01.480 was over in the Capitol yesterday day, big first day 43 00:02:01.519 --> 00:02:04.959 of school energy. Everybody was finding their locker and seeing 44 00:02:05.000 --> 00:02:05.719 their old friends. 45 00:02:05.959 --> 00:02:08.639 You were there. What was the energy under the pink Dome? 46 00:02:08.879 --> 00:02:09.039 Yeah? 47 00:02:09.080 --> 00:02:11.439 I mean usually it is first day of school energy. 48 00:02:11.479 --> 00:02:14.319 As you said, people are finding their old friends. The 49 00:02:14.400 --> 00:02:16.800 new people are very excited. They think they're going to 50 00:02:16.800 --> 00:02:19.719 pass all their bills, Their families are there. Everybody's super 51 00:02:19.719 --> 00:02:22.639 excited because it's the swearing end day. But hanging over 52 00:02:22.680 --> 00:02:24.919 all of this was the Speaker's battle, which I think 53 00:02:25.000 --> 00:02:28.919 everybody knew was going to be a big deal and 54 00:02:29.159 --> 00:02:32.120 was frankly, I think people were not really sure which 55 00:02:32.120 --> 00:02:33.840 way it was going to go, one way or the other. 56 00:02:34.159 --> 00:02:35.879 So that was kind of looming over all of this, 57 00:02:35.919 --> 00:02:38.000 and there was this sort of air of uncertainty. You 58 00:02:38.039 --> 00:02:39.680 asked everybody, you know, how you doing, how are you 59 00:02:39.680 --> 00:02:41.479 feeling there? So we'll see, we don't know what's going 60 00:02:41.520 --> 00:02:43.120 to happen. So it was a little bit different than 61 00:02:43.240 --> 00:02:44.120 other opening days that. 62 00:02:44.520 --> 00:02:45.719 It was like the first day of school. 63 00:02:45.759 --> 00:02:48.639 If the student body president and the football captain said 64 00:02:48.639 --> 00:02:51.360 they were going to have a fistfight in the cafeteria. 65 00:02:51.599 --> 00:02:53.080 Yeah, I'd been talking about it all summer. 66 00:02:53.120 --> 00:02:54.520 So yeah, it's like we all had to elect the 67 00:02:54.520 --> 00:02:58.319 class president on day one. Yeah, with about as much influence, 68 00:02:58.599 --> 00:03:01.919 you know, eventually they would have. So, I mean, the 69 00:03:01.960 --> 00:03:04.479 brief facts are if you want the whole backstory on 70 00:03:04.520 --> 00:03:06.719 the Speaker's race, you know, last week's episode, we got 71 00:03:06.719 --> 00:03:08.560 into it in depth. It's also you can read our 72 00:03:08.560 --> 00:03:11.680 coverage on our website. But to summarize, it essentially came 73 00:03:11.719 --> 00:03:15.080 down to Republican Dustin Burrows of Lubbock, who was seen 74 00:03:15.120 --> 00:03:19.000 as representing the more establishment arm of the party represented 75 00:03:19.120 --> 00:03:22.879 David Cook of Mansfield, seen as representing this more further right, 76 00:03:22.960 --> 00:03:25.960 more insurgent arm of the party. The Democrats also put 77 00:03:25.960 --> 00:03:30.159 forward set of Anna Maria Rodriguez Ramos. It really came 78 00:03:30.199 --> 00:03:33.800 down to Cook and Burrows. Last week, James, You and 79 00:03:33.879 --> 00:03:36.479 Jasper predicted Burrows would get the vote. I decided to 80 00:03:36.520 --> 00:03:39.000 be contrarian and predict. 81 00:03:38.240 --> 00:03:40.439 That Cook would get the votes. Who was right? 82 00:03:40.479 --> 00:03:44.560 What happened, Well, it ended up being Dustin Burrows, and 83 00:03:44.639 --> 00:03:46.159 I think it happened a lot quicker than. 84 00:03:46.080 --> 00:03:47.360 I expected it to go. 85 00:03:47.719 --> 00:03:51.759 It was two rounds and Burrows won with a vote 86 00:03:51.759 --> 00:03:55.199 of eighty five to fifty five with nine people not voting. 87 00:03:56.080 --> 00:03:58.520 But in that first round, the Democrats had a real 88 00:03:58.560 --> 00:04:00.919 opportunity and I'm sure we'll get into this, but Democrats 89 00:04:00.919 --> 00:04:05.159 are a real opportunity to in the second round make 90 00:04:05.240 --> 00:04:07.479 this hurt a little bit more for the Republicans and 91 00:04:07.520 --> 00:04:11.560 really squeeze them and make them make a decision rather 92 00:04:11.680 --> 00:04:14.919 than cast their lot with the boroughs. 93 00:04:14.560 --> 00:04:16.000 Or cook team. 94 00:04:17.279 --> 00:04:19.519 Anna Maria Rodriguez Ramos, as you said, was in that 95 00:04:19.560 --> 00:04:22.600 first round, and because she was in it, and because 96 00:04:22.639 --> 00:04:25.399 twenty three Democrats stuck with her, neither of the two 97 00:04:25.439 --> 00:04:29.000 Republican candidates could get to that seventy six threshold that 98 00:04:29.040 --> 00:04:31.879 would be a simple majority to win the speakers race. 99 00:04:32.439 --> 00:04:35.399 And then there was talk in the chamber of well, 100 00:04:35.519 --> 00:04:38.920 if we can just keep forcing this and keep like 101 00:04:39.079 --> 00:04:42.199 president not voting or white lighting this, we can force 102 00:04:42.279 --> 00:04:44.759 the issue. And there was a question by missus Tis 103 00:04:44.800 --> 00:04:47.759 and Fromie Thompson of Houston of whether if they just 104 00:04:47.839 --> 00:04:53.439 kept going to infinity could they nominate a new candidate, 105 00:04:53.959 --> 00:04:57.279 and the answer was unclear. The answer was sort of 106 00:04:57.360 --> 00:04:59.680 we'd have to ask the parliamentarian. There was no clear 107 00:04:59.720 --> 00:05:01.639 answer in their rules. And so I think that really 108 00:05:01.680 --> 00:05:05.720 influenced how some of those Democrats voted afterwards, because they 109 00:05:05.720 --> 00:05:07.920 were like, do we want to make this keep going 110 00:05:08.000 --> 00:05:11.000 and going and going forever and not have a straight 111 00:05:11.079 --> 00:05:14.399 up answer from the parliamentarian. And I think a lot 112 00:05:14.439 --> 00:05:16.639 of them decided, well, we don't, let's just get on 113 00:05:16.680 --> 00:05:18.680 board the Borough's team and get this over with. I mean, 114 00:05:18.720 --> 00:05:21.759 it still took a lot longer than other speaker votes, 115 00:05:22.639 --> 00:05:24.240 but we were done by I want to say, two 116 00:05:24.360 --> 00:05:24.639 or three. 117 00:05:24.800 --> 00:05:27.879 Yeah, it turns out the Democrats were more united than 118 00:05:27.959 --> 00:05:31.199 maybe we thought, right, forty three Democrats for Burroughs, three 119 00:05:31.240 --> 00:05:35.680 Democrats for Cook, forty three Democrats for Burroughs, thirty six 120 00:05:35.759 --> 00:05:39.480 Republicans for Cook. We now have a speaker again, going 121 00:05:39.519 --> 00:05:41.800 back to the days of Joe Strauss that was elected 122 00:05:41.800 --> 00:05:45.079 by more Democrats than Republicans, which. 123 00:05:46.319 --> 00:05:47.519 Makes a lot of people mad. 124 00:05:47.920 --> 00:05:50.279 Well, you know, in the same something, you know, watching 125 00:05:50.279 --> 00:05:52.560 this from outside, a lot of it had in common 126 00:05:52.639 --> 00:05:55.519 with the Strauss race. You know, this was less about 127 00:05:55.519 --> 00:05:58.399 Republicans and Democrats and more about inside versus outside, and 128 00:05:58.480 --> 00:06:01.839 whether the House is going to be controlled by forces outside, 129 00:06:01.839 --> 00:06:05.319 whether that's money forces, whether that's the Lieutenant governor or 130 00:06:05.360 --> 00:06:07.800 the Senate or you know, or they're going to be 131 00:06:07.839 --> 00:06:10.560 controlled by the House. And you know, one way to 132 00:06:10.600 --> 00:06:14.879 read this vote is that that overcame the partisan differences 133 00:06:14.920 --> 00:06:17.160 between the Democrats and the Republicans and they just voted. 134 00:06:17.199 --> 00:06:18.839 You know, look, we want to run our own show. 135 00:06:19.199 --> 00:06:22.360 We would rather not have this run from some outside 136 00:06:22.639 --> 00:06:26.240 you know, chair somewhere and certainly not by the outside 137 00:06:26.319 --> 00:06:28.639 chair over on the eastern end of the capitol. 138 00:06:29.120 --> 00:06:31.160 Yeah, I think that also is I mean there are 139 00:06:31.240 --> 00:06:34.959 also outside influences that impact like the current establishment we 140 00:06:35.000 --> 00:06:36.519 talk about like some of the when you talk about 141 00:06:36.560 --> 00:06:40.199 some of the packs, like obviously Art is very involved 142 00:06:41.040 --> 00:06:43.560 Texas or the lawsuit Reform are very involved in some 143 00:06:43.639 --> 00:06:45.639 of those leadership people, and they support a lot of 144 00:06:45.680 --> 00:06:48.519 the leadership people. But it's also about and this is 145 00:06:48.560 --> 00:06:51.160 something we talked about last week, but about power and 146 00:06:51.240 --> 00:06:52.839 like the people who are in power and who share 147 00:06:52.879 --> 00:06:55.000 that power with the current leadership team, and a lot 148 00:06:55.040 --> 00:06:56.879 of the people who are on Cook's team are sort 149 00:06:56.879 --> 00:06:59.319 of outside of that power establish it. And obviously they 150 00:06:59.319 --> 00:07:00.959 want a new guy in so they could be part 151 00:07:00.959 --> 00:07:03.480 of that power, right, And I think that's going to 152 00:07:03.519 --> 00:07:05.040 play out a little bit here and that they're going 153 00:07:05.120 --> 00:07:06.600 to continue to be shut out. 154 00:07:06.480 --> 00:07:09.079 Right, So you know, how so how do Borrows get 155 00:07:09.120 --> 00:07:11.759 the Democrats? I mean, you know, there was conversation about 156 00:07:12.079 --> 00:07:15.160 reviving this whole thing and having budget chairs on all 157 00:07:15.199 --> 00:07:19.519 of the substantive committees so that you could give CBO 158 00:07:19.720 --> 00:07:22.639 chair its a I can't remember what called chairman of 159 00:07:22.639 --> 00:07:25.040 the Budget Office or something. You know, anyway, you'd have 160 00:07:25.079 --> 00:07:27.399 a budget chair on like the Agriculture Committee, and you 161 00:07:27.439 --> 00:07:29.240 could give that to a Democrat. You're not giving a 162 00:07:29.319 --> 00:07:32.319 chair to a Democrat, So you're honoring the Republican Party, 163 00:07:32.360 --> 00:07:34.439 but you're giving them a little bit of power, you're 164 00:07:34.439 --> 00:07:37.959 putting them on appropriations. Was there, you know, was there 165 00:07:38.000 --> 00:07:40.800 anything to that? Was there something substantive the Democrats got 166 00:07:40.800 --> 00:07:41.120 out of this. 167 00:07:42.879 --> 00:07:44.759 I don't know if you've heard anything different, Matthew, but 168 00:07:45.000 --> 00:07:47.839 I'm not quite sure how they won over the Democrats. 169 00:07:47.839 --> 00:07:49.800 I'm sure it is some of those things, and we're 170 00:07:49.879 --> 00:07:52.839 sort of actively looking to find out what exactly those 171 00:07:53.120 --> 00:07:56.120 those not promises, but yeah, I mean, I guess their 172 00:07:56.160 --> 00:08:00.360 pledges or promises or agreements or were. But I think 173 00:08:00.399 --> 00:08:02.879 that in the end, the Democrats probably felt that they 174 00:08:02.920 --> 00:08:06.360 had a better shot with Burrows than they had with 175 00:08:06.600 --> 00:08:10.040 Cook overall in terms of getting their legislation pass of 176 00:08:10.160 --> 00:08:13.160 killing legislation that they didn't see as favorable. But I'm 177 00:08:13.160 --> 00:08:15.680 not sure exactly what the details are, And that's one 178 00:08:15.680 --> 00:08:17.639 of the big questions for me, like won them over? 179 00:08:18.360 --> 00:08:22.040 Yeah, I think the big question moving forward is. 180 00:08:23.600 --> 00:08:25.519 This has a lot to do with power, as we 181 00:08:25.600 --> 00:08:28.199 already talked about, but does it have anything to do 182 00:08:28.319 --> 00:08:30.600 with policy and the decisions that are actually going to 183 00:08:30.639 --> 00:08:34.120 be made. I think, you know, rightly or wrongly, David 184 00:08:34.159 --> 00:08:38.120 Cook was associated with the insurgent wing of the House, 185 00:08:39.320 --> 00:08:41.919 wing that has grown in power, and that has been 186 00:08:42.039 --> 00:08:46.399 largely associated with a few, you know, the financial support 187 00:08:46.600 --> 00:08:50.200 of a few billionaires, and you know Tim Dunn being 188 00:08:50.919 --> 00:08:54.799 the most prominent one. And I think I have to 189 00:08:54.879 --> 00:08:59.639 imagine that Democrats part of this motivation was to just 190 00:08:59.799 --> 00:09:04.720 not give that wing a victory, because that wing is 191 00:09:04.759 --> 00:09:07.759 what scares Democrats more than anyone else in the state. 192 00:09:09.120 --> 00:09:11.639 I think there is a question here of you know, 193 00:09:11.720 --> 00:09:14.279 they that wing did not win a victory, you know, 194 00:09:14.360 --> 00:09:17.919 technically by electing the speaker. It's still a very conservative speaker. 195 00:09:18.120 --> 00:09:19.919 And if you look at the things that that wing 196 00:09:20.120 --> 00:09:23.120 has been upset about that they haven't gotten in recent years, 197 00:09:23.320 --> 00:09:27.399 You're talking about school vouchers which Burrows supported. You talked 198 00:09:27.399 --> 00:09:31.480 about Democratic Democrats being allowed to chair some committees in 199 00:09:31.519 --> 00:09:34.559 the House. It seems very possible that that's going to 200 00:09:34.639 --> 00:09:37.559 go away. You talk about like little maybe more under 201 00:09:37.600 --> 00:09:42.120 the radar, things like ending taxpayer funded lobbying, going after 202 00:09:42.200 --> 00:09:45.559 cities and local government's ability to lobby the legislature. Dustin 203 00:09:45.600 --> 00:09:48.600 Burrows was the author of the death Star bill that 204 00:09:48.639 --> 00:09:51.279 we called, people called it last session, which really really 205 00:09:51.320 --> 00:09:54.360 targeted the power of cities. You know, I think there's 206 00:09:54.399 --> 00:09:57.159 a real question about whether that could actually finally make 207 00:09:57.159 --> 00:09:59.519 its way through. I mean, a lot of the things 208 00:09:59.639 --> 00:10:04.279 that that wing has been going for, they might still 209 00:10:04.320 --> 00:10:07.840 get what they want. And they that wing has been 210 00:10:07.879 --> 00:10:11.440 pushing ever since Strauss was elected, probably even before that, 211 00:10:12.279 --> 00:10:15.320 putting intense pressure on that wing of the party. And 212 00:10:15.360 --> 00:10:17.559 they haven't been able to gain control of the House, 213 00:10:17.759 --> 00:10:19.480 but they've been able to push the House in the 214 00:10:19.519 --> 00:10:24.200 direction of that they want it to go very very effectively. 215 00:10:24.799 --> 00:10:29.320 And you know that now basically the choice for Democrats 216 00:10:29.440 --> 00:10:31.759 is essentially two people that want to do the exact 217 00:10:31.799 --> 00:10:34.679 same thing, ones that's associated with that wing and one 218 00:10:34.720 --> 00:10:35.240 that isn't. 219 00:10:35.360 --> 00:10:37.279 And they chose the one that isn't right. 220 00:10:37.279 --> 00:10:39.960 I mean, the gap between like the Democrats who spoke 221 00:10:39.960 --> 00:10:42.799 on behalf of Representative Rodriguez Ramos and like the Texas 222 00:10:42.799 --> 00:10:45.879 that they presented, and the gap between what Burrows and 223 00:10:45.919 --> 00:10:49.840 Cook supporters presented is is vast Burrows and Cook next 224 00:10:49.840 --> 00:10:52.840 to each other look like so similar when you look 225 00:10:52.879 --> 00:10:55.879 at compared to you know, the Democrats were talking about, 226 00:10:55.960 --> 00:11:00.639 you know, expanding abortion access, protecting LGBT Texans like Burrows a. 227 00:11:01.039 --> 00:11:02.879 He is not talking about any of that. And now 228 00:11:02.919 --> 00:11:05.919 to build consensus, he's not going to say how can 229 00:11:05.919 --> 00:11:07.080 I appease the Democrats? 230 00:11:07.559 --> 00:11:10.480 Cerial boxes, the contents on him were about the same. 231 00:11:10.639 --> 00:11:13.120 Absolutely, right, I mean these are the same. It's just 232 00:11:13.159 --> 00:11:15.200 the central market. 233 00:11:17.200 --> 00:11:18.200 And we won't say which is. 234 00:11:21.559 --> 00:11:22.039 You decide. 235 00:11:22.080 --> 00:11:25.200 Well, and this is also a mirror image of the 236 00:11:25.240 --> 00:11:27.639 Paxton Strauss fight. You know, there was a there was 237 00:11:27.679 --> 00:11:30.559 an effort to knock off Strauss, you know, that was 238 00:11:30.679 --> 00:11:32.840 very similar to this. The candidate at the time was 239 00:11:32.840 --> 00:11:36.039 a House member named Ken Paxton and represented by these 240 00:11:36.039 --> 00:11:38.759 outside interests, and they were sort of parading around the 241 00:11:38.879 --> 00:11:41.440 John Reagan Building over here on campus while the Republican 242 00:11:41.480 --> 00:11:44.240 Caucus met, and the caucus decided to go ahead and 243 00:11:44.240 --> 00:11:46.360 go with Strauss. But you know, this has been a 244 00:11:46.399 --> 00:11:48.000 developing fight for a long long time. 245 00:11:48.440 --> 00:11:51.320 Well, let me just throws too, which is like Paxton 246 00:11:51.440 --> 00:11:53.000 also loomed large in this fight. 247 00:11:53.039 --> 00:11:54.240 Now that he's Attorney general. 248 00:11:54.240 --> 00:11:57.639 I mean, the impeach his the House impeachment of him, 249 00:11:57.639 --> 00:11:59.720 which you know, he was eventually cleared by the Senate, 250 00:12:00.639 --> 00:12:03.600 was a huge part of this insurgent wing gaining power. 251 00:12:04.159 --> 00:12:07.279 He also, among others have like sort of threatened this 252 00:12:07.399 --> 00:12:10.960 to primary people who oppose what happens on that front. 253 00:12:10.960 --> 00:12:12.720 On this question, the caucus fight. 254 00:12:12.919 --> 00:12:15.000 Oh, I think that there's no doubt that there's gonna 255 00:12:15.000 --> 00:12:18.039 be a lot of primary challenges for sure. You know, 256 00:12:18.320 --> 00:12:23.120 the RPT chairman has already said that. Some of the lawmakers, 257 00:12:23.120 --> 00:12:27.879 the more conservative lawmakers, have already said that they've said 258 00:12:27.919 --> 00:12:31.279 things like this is war, and they warn't beforehand that. 259 00:12:31.440 --> 00:12:33.279 I mean, that's what Paxton was saying on his two 260 00:12:33.320 --> 00:12:35.600 day statewide tour that if they didn't vote, if they 261 00:12:35.600 --> 00:12:39.600 didn't honor the GOP caucus endorsed nominee, who was David Cook, 262 00:12:39.879 --> 00:12:42.480 that they would be primaried in next year's election. So 263 00:12:42.519 --> 00:12:44.039 I think we will see that for sure. 264 00:12:44.159 --> 00:12:44.720 But I do want to. 265 00:12:44.679 --> 00:12:46.879 Point out too that I agree with you guys, like 266 00:12:46.919 --> 00:12:49.440 both of these guys are very conservative, but I do 267 00:12:49.519 --> 00:12:52.279 think that there needs to be like new language around 268 00:12:52.279 --> 00:12:54.919 what that means, you know, because like they are both conservative, 269 00:12:54.960 --> 00:12:56.840 and I think, you know, Matthew, you were saying they're 270 00:12:56.879 --> 00:12:58.279 the right wing of the party. I think that is 271 00:12:58.399 --> 00:13:01.000 actually the right way to get get to it. They're 272 00:13:01.039 --> 00:13:03.919 like much more socially conservative. Burrows is more of like 273 00:13:03.960 --> 00:13:09.000 the business friendly Republican, but he is also very conservative. 274 00:13:09.080 --> 00:13:11.200 I don't I don't really think it's about a difference 275 00:13:11.200 --> 00:13:13.080 of policy. I really think this is you know, I 276 00:13:13.080 --> 00:13:14.440 think you guys were on it when you were talking 277 00:13:14.440 --> 00:13:16.200 about power in there to go who's who gets to 278 00:13:16.279 --> 00:13:18.919 who gets to run this and who calls the shots here? 279 00:13:19.080 --> 00:13:22.080 And you know, I really do think that the House's 280 00:13:22.159 --> 00:13:25.360 chance of sort of calling its own shots internally is 281 00:13:25.399 --> 00:13:28.159 stronger with Burrows than it would have been outside with 282 00:13:28.159 --> 00:13:30.320 with Cook, because you know Cook, you know, when you 283 00:13:30.440 --> 00:13:34.559 when you analyze that part of the of the or 284 00:13:34.639 --> 00:13:38.639 that faction, you know they were getting instructions from somewhere, 285 00:13:38.720 --> 00:13:41.799 not at the corner of Congress and twelfth, you know. 286 00:13:43.320 --> 00:13:45.840 And and but the result for this, I mean, if 287 00:13:45.840 --> 00:13:47.960 you're looking at this, you know, like we said, if 288 00:13:47.960 --> 00:13:50.120 you're looking at this, you know, if I get this speaker, 289 00:13:50.519 --> 00:13:52.200 this is the result from the Capitol. And if I 290 00:13:52.200 --> 00:13:54.120 get that speaker, this is the result from the Capitol. 291 00:13:54.200 --> 00:13:55.440 I'm not sure that's that different. 292 00:13:55.799 --> 00:13:59.080 I think also, uh, to the point about the primaries 293 00:13:59.120 --> 00:14:04.399 to Burroughs did get mostly support from Democrats and a 294 00:14:04.440 --> 00:14:08.320 few Republicans, and so that to a certain extent, I 295 00:14:08.320 --> 00:14:12.759 think proves the point of the right wing conservatives of 296 00:14:12.799 --> 00:14:15.639 the party right, and so that's why there will be like, 297 00:14:15.679 --> 00:14:17.480 I think both things can be true. 298 00:14:18.600 --> 00:14:22.279 It's also true that in order to get things through 299 00:14:22.279 --> 00:14:25.759 the capital, you need to agree on the policies and 300 00:14:25.799 --> 00:14:28.440 you need to be able to get along right. And 301 00:14:28.759 --> 00:14:32.159 you know, we all remember last session where there was 302 00:14:32.200 --> 00:14:35.320 this massive surplus. Everyone agreed they wanted to spend a 303 00:14:35.320 --> 00:14:39.039 big chunk of that money on property taxes, and Patrick 304 00:14:39.360 --> 00:14:42.840 and Phelan fought the entire legislative session over how to 305 00:14:42.879 --> 00:14:44.759 do that and could not get it done and had 306 00:14:44.759 --> 00:14:47.960 to come back for special sessions in order to get 307 00:14:47.960 --> 00:14:50.799 that pass. And you know, I guess maybe they eventually 308 00:14:50.799 --> 00:14:53.159 did pass something. So maybe we're just talking about like 309 00:14:53.960 --> 00:14:56.919 what's going to happen with our summer vacations. 310 00:14:56.399 --> 00:14:58.919 Like how painful the process is of getting there, right, 311 00:14:59.159 --> 00:15:01.519 which I do you think it it's more indicative of 312 00:15:01.559 --> 00:15:04.120 how that's going to go that we came in without 313 00:15:04.159 --> 00:15:06.919 a speaker, or that it got resolved pretty quickly like 314 00:15:06.960 --> 00:15:09.399 which is more telling to me. 315 00:15:09.480 --> 00:15:12.240 It's more about how can the House and the Senate 316 00:15:12.279 --> 00:15:14.720 get along? Then how can they get along within the House. 317 00:15:14.799 --> 00:15:17.799 I don't really have any doubt in Burrows's ability to 318 00:15:18.039 --> 00:15:21.840 get through get things through the House. It's whether that 319 00:15:21.919 --> 00:15:25.200 can then be reconciled with Dan Patrick, who you know, 320 00:15:25.320 --> 00:15:29.279 put out a pretty you know, salty statement yesterday. He 321 00:15:30.200 --> 00:15:34.320 was clearly advocating for cook in the days ahead of 322 00:15:34.360 --> 00:15:37.600 the session. You know, he's not particularly happy. He can 323 00:15:37.919 --> 00:15:41.559 hold a grudge. I mean, I think you know, the 324 00:15:41.720 --> 00:15:44.480 question is will Burrows be able to sort of mend 325 00:15:44.759 --> 00:15:45.639 that relationship. 326 00:15:46.600 --> 00:15:48.399 I want to talk about the other chamber, but first 327 00:15:48.480 --> 00:15:52.519 let's take a moment to thank our sponsors, Mexico more 328 00:15:52.600 --> 00:15:55.639 than just a neighbor. For timely cross border Insight turned 329 00:15:55.639 --> 00:15:59.200 to former US Ambassador Antonio Garza. Learn more at Tony 330 00:15:59.240 --> 00:16:02.879 Garza dot com and the Texas Managed Care Alliance, which 331 00:16:02.919 --> 00:16:06.440 is working to protect high quality healthcare for Medicaid patients, 332 00:16:06.720 --> 00:16:10.279 insure accountability for taxpayer dollars, and advocate for fair and 333 00:16:10.320 --> 00:16:15.799 competitive contracting policies. More at Texas Managedcare Alliance dot org. 334 00:16:17.120 --> 00:16:19.879 So we do have an entirely other chamber to worry about. 335 00:16:20.720 --> 00:16:23.679 Certainly less sparks on the first day over there. But 336 00:16:24.919 --> 00:16:27.080 Governor Greg Abbott was in the Senate. He gave a 337 00:16:27.080 --> 00:16:31.360 speech in which he addressed his top priorities of stricter 338 00:16:31.440 --> 00:16:35.720 bail laws and school choice, school vouchers, education savings accounts. 339 00:16:37.000 --> 00:16:41.200 And Dan Patrick, speaking to Abbot, said, we passed that 340 00:16:41.240 --> 00:16:44.120 school choice bill five times. We passed that bail bill 341 00:16:44.240 --> 00:16:46.559 five times. I don't know who my partner is going 342 00:16:46.600 --> 00:16:48.799 to be across the Hall, but we passed that bill 343 00:16:49.000 --> 00:16:52.399 many times. Obviously, the Senate is not the sticking point 344 00:16:52.440 --> 00:16:56.440 for those but ross this school choice school vouchers issue 345 00:16:56.440 --> 00:16:58.720 has been floating around a long time. 346 00:16:59.480 --> 00:17:01.559 Is this the session it gets done? 347 00:17:02.519 --> 00:17:05.640 You know? I sure, I think that they won. They 348 00:17:05.680 --> 00:17:08.200 won the primaries. I mean, you know they they basically 349 00:17:08.799 --> 00:17:11.559 made a fist and backed it up, and you know, 350 00:17:11.640 --> 00:17:13.720 the old school politics, it's like, you know, do this 351 00:17:13.880 --> 00:17:16.160 or else and the and they produced the or else. 352 00:17:17.039 --> 00:17:19.640 So everybody who votes against vouchers is in a position 353 00:17:19.720 --> 00:17:23.440 where every Republican, I should say, who votes against vouchers 354 00:17:23.480 --> 00:17:26.920 is in a position where, unless they have a very 355 00:17:27.119 --> 00:17:31.640 very very strong signal from home and or else from home. 356 00:17:31.839 --> 00:17:34.039 You know, if you if you vote for vouchers, we're 357 00:17:34.079 --> 00:17:37.079 going to turn you out. They're going to have to 358 00:17:37.079 --> 00:17:39.480 follow the governor and the Lieutenant governor on knows, particularly 359 00:17:39.519 --> 00:17:41.359 the governor, because he produced a bunch of money and 360 00:17:41.400 --> 00:17:44.839 a bunch of effort that wiped out enough of the 361 00:17:44.839 --> 00:17:47.480 House members that it actually was one of the things 362 00:17:47.480 --> 00:17:50.119 that called into question the speakers race. You know, is 363 00:17:50.160 --> 00:17:53.039 the is the House now controlled by the House like 364 00:17:53.039 --> 00:17:54.759 it always has been. So he's been the you know, 365 00:17:54.799 --> 00:17:57.079 sort of the angry younger sibling right with its middle 366 00:17:57.079 --> 00:17:59.839 fingers up and and there was a moment there where 367 00:17:59.839 --> 00:18:01.359 he's sort of say, are they going to come into 368 00:18:01.359 --> 00:18:03.119 this so cowed that they're going to let the governor 369 00:18:03.160 --> 00:18:05.200 and the Lieutenant governor determine who the speaker is and 370 00:18:05.240 --> 00:18:09.079 what the issues are. But I think that even though 371 00:18:09.200 --> 00:18:11.519 they didn't determine who the speaker is, they have determined 372 00:18:11.559 --> 00:18:13.079 what the issues are and you're gonna get a voucher 373 00:18:13.079 --> 00:18:14.440 bill this time, right. 374 00:18:14.519 --> 00:18:16.319 I Mean, in some ways it's just how power works. 375 00:18:16.319 --> 00:18:18.400 To talk about power is well, and that those people 376 00:18:18.440 --> 00:18:19.200 in other big. 377 00:18:19.119 --> 00:18:21.480 Question may have been solved, you know, by by Glenn Hager. 378 00:18:21.519 --> 00:18:24.359 There's enough money here to do vouchers and also put 379 00:18:24.400 --> 00:18:27.000 a bunch of you know, sort of levening money into 380 00:18:27.079 --> 00:18:29.640 public schools here, so you can say, you know, we 381 00:18:29.720 --> 00:18:32.839 think this is terrible, but also this other thing. So 382 00:18:33.160 --> 00:18:34.519 you know, I think you'll get both of them together. 383 00:18:34.759 --> 00:18:34.960 Yeah. 384 00:18:35.599 --> 00:18:38.720 Yeah, I mean, if they don't pass vouchers, I'll in 385 00:18:38.799 --> 00:18:40.960 twenty twenty five, I'll put this cowboy hat into my 386 00:18:41.039 --> 00:18:42.279 regular wardrobe. 387 00:18:43.240 --> 00:18:46.720 An orange cowboy hat for in your oatmeal for YouTube. 388 00:18:47.279 --> 00:18:48.559 You know, nothing is for sure. 389 00:18:48.759 --> 00:18:52.839 Of course, anything can go weird and crazy, but it 390 00:18:52.839 --> 00:18:55.559 would just be wild to me if they somehow couldn't 391 00:18:55.559 --> 00:18:58.039 get it past. They have the votes, they have a 392 00:18:58.079 --> 00:19:01.839 speaker who supports it, and as we said last week, 393 00:19:01.880 --> 00:19:03.839 I think, you know, if I'm Burrows and I need 394 00:19:03.880 --> 00:19:07.359 to sort of shore up relationships with the other people 395 00:19:07.359 --> 00:19:09.359 in power in this state. One way to really do 396 00:19:09.400 --> 00:19:12.640 that is to get that Boucher bill through the House 397 00:19:12.960 --> 00:19:16.359 very quickly early in the session, to make Greg Abbott happy. 398 00:19:17.000 --> 00:19:19.720 Yeah, and I mean historically the sticking point there has 399 00:19:19.720 --> 00:19:22.440 been rural Republicans who feel like their constituents aren't going 400 00:19:22.480 --> 00:19:25.559 to be served by that Dustin Burrows from Lubbock. You 401 00:19:25.559 --> 00:19:29.519