Non-inclusive conference committees just aren't the Texas way

Dos Centavos www.LaRazaUnida.com: Guerra: Non-inclusive conference committees just aren't the Texas way: "House Bill 2 is a total overhaul of how Texas funds schools, and House Bill 3 will dramatically alter the state's taxing system. Both chambers approved different versions of each bill, so Speaker Tom Craddick and Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst named five members from their respective chambers to conference committees that will hammer out compromise versions of each of the bills.

Conference committee appointments are particularly powerful because, behind closed doors, the conferees decide which parts of which bills end up on the final drafts that cannot be amended.

But of the 20 conferees named to those two committees, only two are minority lawmakers, and only one — Sen. Judith Zaffirini of Laredo, who was named to the tax bill rewrite panel — is Hispanic."