Austin -- Senator José Rodríguez issued the following statement upon adjournment of the Texas Senate, which voted today to change its rules in a way that limits minority power, dismissing over 60 years of tradition meant to protect the minority and encourage debate and compromise.
The Senate rule necessitating a two-thirds vote of the members present to bring a bill up for floor debate has been an honored tradition for over half a century. Among other benefits, it is generally acknowledged that the rule fosters civility, a willingness to compromise, and a spirit of bipartisanship. This is not a tradition we should abandon lightly. We are making a dramatic deviation from our history and creating a precedent for future legislators that may damage the role and operation of the Senate for generations. As members of the Senate, our state's upper chamber, we have taken pride in holding ourselves above partisanship and the ability to focus on the best interests of Texas.
However, today's rule change means that we no longer have to strive for consensus, and the majority can effectively ignore one-third of this body. Which third will be ignored when this rule change is adopted? The Senators who comprise the Senate Hispanic Caucus and the Senate Democratic Caucus represent nearly 60 percent of all Hispanics and African Americans in Texas. These Senators will be unable to prevent a bill from coming to the floor. One-third of us in this body also represent minority-majority districts. One-third of us are elected by ethnic and racial minorities, and we strive our very best to give those minorities a voice in the Texas Legislature.
Without the traditional two-thirds rule, our voice and their voice will be diminished. No longer will the Senators that represent the vast majority of African Americans, Hispanics, and Asians in Texas be able to stop legislation that could be viewed as trampling their rights. We saw this before in 2011, with passage of the state's voter identification legislation. Senate Bill 14 passed without consideration of the two-thirds rule, and the law was found to be retrogressive and in violation of the Voting Rights Act by not only one but two federal courts. In fact, the removal of the two-thirds rule's tradition for S.B. 14 was cited in the judge's opinion striking down the law as a violation of the Voting Rights Act and the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment as intentionally discriminatory. In the opinion, the judge stated:
While the rule may not be enforced for insignificant matters, and has been suspended by agreement for politically sensitive votes, it is unprecedented to suspend that rule for contentious legislation as important as SB 14. Senator Uresti testified that the rule had been in place at least five decades and he had never seen it waived for any other major legislation, and Senator Ellis considered it a 100-year honored tradition.
What lessons did we learn from this? Apparently, none. Instead, the majority of members in this body are choosing to double down on the retrogression of minority representation and essentially minimizing the rule in a manner that legislators who represent minority interests cannot use it.
Some may say this change in tradition has nothing to do with minority rights or racial politics and that it's just a partisan maneuver. This is the same excuse we have used to justify every action that undermines minority voting rights. We have used this excuse every redistricting cycle and then the courts strike down the map—and yet we do it again the next round. It's not just politics when you change a rule in place for over half a century that ensures minority legislators and legislators representing majority-minority districts have a say when it comes to bringing a bill to the floor.
Of course, in this context, we know that "minority" doesn't just mean racial and ethnic minorities. The protection afforded by upholding the two-thirds rule is important for non-partisan reasons. For instance, the minority can be a divide between urban and rural members, especially when it comes to issues like water, roads, rural schools, and expansion of gambling. It's for reasons like this that members of this body, Republican and Democrat alike, have opposed efforts to repeal the two-thirds rule in the past.
As history shows, a piece of legislation doesn't often split this body purely on partisan grounds; instead, most often, members have negotiated with one another and arrived at a consensus that benefitted all Texans. Quite simply, when minority voices have a place in the discussion, the public benefits by passage of better public policy. There are countless examples of how the two-thirds rule has benefited Texas by creating better and more thoughtful legislation. One clear example is when Lt. Gov. Patrick worked to pass House Bill 5 last session. Because of the two-thirds rule, it resulted in then-Senator Patrick working with Democrats to make the bill better.
Now it's been said by some in this body that the two-thirds rule has been used to obstruct and impede legislation that the Republican majority wants to pass. This has been the main argument for changing the two-thirds rule. Let's think about this. In contrast to H.B. 5, the 2011 voter identification bill (S.B. 14) was enacted without the two-thirds rule. What was the result? A strictly partisan vote. Subsequently, the legislation has been struck down by two federal courts¾with judges appointed by Republican Presidents¾as violation of the Voting Rights Act and the U.S. Constitution. If there had been a two-thirds rule and a reason for working with one another, perhaps we could have crafted a law that would have passed constitutional muster.
Now, by eliminating the need for any real bipartisan compromise, we are doing Texas a terrible disservice. No longer will the majority be required to deliberate thoughtfully about the myriad issues that will come before this body; rather, they are willingly abdicating their responsibility to lead and turning it over to their political caucus—or consolidating that power in the President of the Texas Senate.
So, as we begin to usher in this era of trampling the will of the minority, what impact will it have on our democracy? Nearly four in five Americans in June—78 percent—disapprove of the way Congress is handling its job, marking the 45th consecutive month that more than two-thirds of Americans have given Congress a thumbs down. Americans' high level of disapproval is less about what Congress is doing rather than what Congress isn't doing: putting aside partisan bickering and working together to get things done. Unfortunately, the Texas Senate is going down the path of Congress.
By forcing this rule change, the majority is escalating partisanship to a new level. They are so concerned with getting an agenda accomplished and making good on campaign promises that they are willing to burn down the institutions and the traditions that made the Texas Senate one of the greatest deliberative bodies in the country¾traditions that have built a strong Texas.
For these reasons, I voted against the changes in the Senate rules that alter the two-thirds rule to a three-fifths rule.