Texas lawmakers are back to work in Austin. And they’ve got a lot of work to do. The state has a record-breaking surplus that needs attention, along with plenty of other long-term problems like lack of water and low teacher pay.
The Legislature’s decisions impact the daily lives of Texans. That’s why any concern that the Legislature won’t act with transparency must be addressed.
Recently, state Senate Secretary Patsy Spaw told our colleague that press will not be permitted on the Senate floor, continuing a policy that began during the pandemic.
Is this Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s way of saying he’s still worried about COVID-19? We doubt it. Instead, it looks like a play to kill a longstanding Senate tradition in the name of secrecy and insider dealing.
The state House allowed the press back as soon as vaccines were widely available in April of 2021, demonstrating the sort of openness that Texans deserve to expect from their government.
A spokesperson for Speaker of the House Dade Phelan told The Texas Tribune that “the chamber will continue to follow the long-standing practice of allowing credentialed media in designated areas on the House floor.”
Almost two years later, the Senate refuses to follow suit. Why?
Spaw says the press will be permitted in the Senate gallery along with everyone else, but has yet to give our newsroom colleague an answer as to why the policy is still in place.
This decision will limit public insight into the inner workings on the chamber floor. And this is not the first time. Back in 2017, the Senate limited journalists’ ability to speak to lawmakers along the side rails of the chamber, another long-standing tradition. That was presented as a rule to increase “decorum” on the chamber floor. We are trying not to laugh.
It was a sham then, and it is now. The public deserves independent insight into the Senate’s work, and Texas leaders for generations recognized that came from permitting the press access. The flow of information is especially important in a time when politicians use their social media accounts to instantly spin the facts. Many senators also rely on the access to the press to get the word out about important votes.
Donnis Baggett, executive vice president of the Texas Press Association, told us the rule “works to the detriment of timely and mutually beneficial conversations between senators and reporters.”
Given the track record of Patrick and other Republican leaders to avoid outside scrutiny like the plague, it’s no wonder a pandemic-era restriction will be extended.
But senators who still respect the body’s traditions as well as the need for transparency ought to push back.
With a $33 billion surplus on the line, Texans should think twice about trusting a room full of politicians left to their own devices.
The Dallas Morning News
