The Election Law Blog, which is a good blog to follow for election law news, has provided this Congressional Research Service report on how to perform basic legislative history. For those of us who are interested in politics, this is a good guide for how to perform the research for the background information on the legislation we’re interested in.
The Politics of the Filibuster
The Texas Legislature has been in session all weekend, and today is the final day of the session. If the session does not pass SB 1811, which is required to provide for school funding, they will be in special session this summer. So, last night a Ft. Worth Democrat spent an hour and 15 minutes, until the midnight deadline, speaking against the bill (Sources: Morning News, Star-Telegram, Statesman). This may not be a record in terms of filibusters, but it had the intended effect: the Senate will need 25 Senators to support bringing the bill up today in order to pass it on the final day of session. Regardless of whether one agrees or disagrees with Sen. Davis, the filibuster is a necessary tool to protect minority interests. It always disturbs me when people talk of eliminating the filibuster or attempting to change supermajority requirements in order to easily move legislation through the process. Legislating should not be an easy process; there should be bumps in the road; there should be something to slow the process down so that we can ensure that people are not getting the shaft. And yes, there may be misuses and abuses of the filibuster, etc., but those concerns should not trump the necessity of protecting minority interests and opinions.
