Texas Democrats plan to force education votes

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — How the state will pay for public schools will take center stage this week in the political theater known as the Texas Legislature, and it will likely remain there throughout the session.

A very public and somewhat tense conversation between House Appropriations Chairman Jim Pitts and his Democratic vice chair, Sylvester Turner, provided a sneak preview. Turner spoke up after their committee finished its work earlier than expected on Tuesday, the morning after a judge declared their public school finance system unconstitutional.

"There are a lot of things we could discuss, like what happened yesterday afternoon at around 5 o'clock," Turner said as Pitts started to end the meeting.

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"Because I don't think we should be allowing judges to determine legislative priorities. That is not the conservative thing to do," Turner added wryly, prompting laughter from the audience. Rather than reply, Pitts called on a fellow Republican and ended the meeting.


http://www.chron.com/news/texas/article/Texas-Democrats-plan-to-force-education-votes-4266582.php