04.20.07
Moratorium, Schmoratorium
How many different kind of toll moratorium bills are we going to get passed through one chamber or the other this session? With amendments and exceptions for this county, that RMA or this toll entity. It should be clear to anyone who’s paid attention to this debate for the last four or five months that these are bad deals. It’s not a problem, necessarily, if individual Senators, Representatives and local officials want to sign-off and allow these rip-offs to continue. The only caveat should be that everyone should know that those elected officials are the one’s that are responsible for allowing the scheme to be built, by naming it something like the Ogden/Krusee Trans-Texas Corridor. Of course if Sen. Ogden can get the TTC stopped then he’s would have nothing to worry about.
For more on yesterday’s moratorium vote just click on this link and you can see all the items about yesterdays vote (30 – 0) on SB 1267. As stated before here several times this comment to the Move It! post on the moratorium pretty much sums up where we stand.
Gov. Rick Perry, however, opposes the moratorium, and Nichols conceded that a veto could kill the bill should the measure reach Perry’s desk.
Time’s a wastin’. There is time to override and the governor can only hold a bill ten days (Sundays excepted) without signing or vetoing or it becomes law. To get it overridden the bill would have to be to the governor in early to mid-May. No matter which moratorium bill we’re talking about (HB 1892 or SB 1267/HB2772) there’s still a long way to go. It still has to get through the other chamber, conference committee, be vetoed and then go back through both chambers to have the veto overridden before session ends. At this point, in the end, it seems that this is how it will all shake out: Get one of these bills all the way through both chambers and to the governor, but late enough that the veto can’t be overridden, therefore giving many Republicans cover allowing them to say they voted for the moratorium even though it doesn’t become law.
Eye on Williamson » Time’s A Wastin’ said,
April 23, 2007 at 1:33 pm
[...] gets done this session they’ll be happy. With the gas tax indexing bill stuck, and the moratorium bills needing to get through one chamber or the other before May 16th, so the governor’s veto can [...]
Eye on Williamson » The Toll Road Moratorium(s) - Where We Stand said,
May 3, 2007 at 11:15 am
[...] initial impression after the moratorium initially passed the House was this: At this point, in the end, it seems that this is how it will all shake out: Get one of these bills [...]