Transparency Takes A Hit In the Texas House
This Week in the Texas Legislature: Tantrums, vouchers, and the war on SNAP.
https://www.lonestarleft.com/p/transparency-takes-a-hit-in-the-house
A few weeks ago (or days ago?—it’s all running together at this point), the House Committee on Appropriations passed a budget bill, even though the line-by-line discussions and decisions were held off camera. We all laughed at Brian Harrison (R-HD10) because he threw a temper tantrum. But we laughed because he behaved like a petulant child, rather than a professional adult. A broken clock is right twice a day.
Today, on the 81st day of the 140-day Legislative session, Republicans attempted to hold an off-camera meeting for the voucher bill, despite being in a committee room.
It’s somewhat common for hearings to be held in the nearby Agricultural Museum without live-stream cameras. However, in recent years, I have no recollection of important hearings on key Republican priorities being held in committee rooms without cameras.
Luckily, CBS Austin was there to live stream most of it. (They cut out in the end.)
Democrats raised a stink about this hearing’s lack of transparency. Rightfully, so.
It got me thinking. What if Republicans thought it was cool to hold a secret meeting because Democrats didn’t object to the Appropriations SubCommittee hearings happening off-screen?
If we want total transparency, we should expect every single hearing to be broadcast. Otherwise, Republicans will try to pull a stunt like they did today.