Texas lawmakers give Burleson rookie the business in the House

BY DAVE MONTGOMERY | March 26, 2009 | Ft. Worth Star Telegram

AUSTIN — There were barbed wisecracks about his culinary habits, his Dallas roots and his adeptness as a political tactician, but in the end, freshman Rep. Chris Turner of Burleson got the result he wanted as colleagues gave him his first victory on the House floor.

It was the inevitable roasting that rookie lawmakers have to endure to get a bill passed. Freshman Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth, was also skewered by her colleagues in the Senate this week, and Rep. Mark Shelton, R-Fort Worth, another newcomer in the Tarrant County House delegation, is waiting his turn.

But on Wednesday, the good-natured assaults were reserved for Turner. He had the distinction of being the only freshman with a bill on the floor on the first day that the House began voting on legislation, 72 days after the start of the 2009 session.

Turner’s HB1637, designed to expand the pool of workers eligible for unemployment benefits if their hours are reduced, was the last of nine bills on the House calendar. And his colleagues were lying in wait as the first-term Democrat stood at the front of the chamber to try to explain it.

Surrounded by other grinning freshmen, Turner stoically fielded questions that had little to do with the substance of his bill. House members later rewarded Turner with a round of applause after voting 145-0 to advance the bill to the Senate.

Rep. Richard Raymond, D-Laredo, asked Turner whether he recalled a comment from a campaign supporter who said that, if elected, Turner would become “the greatest legislator in the history of this state.”

“For the benefit of the members, would you like to tell us who made that statement?” Raymond asked.

“That was my wife,” Turner said.

Then he added, “But I think she was joking when she said it.”

Rep. Marc Veasey, D-Fort Worth, pressed Turner to reveal that he never fails to stop for kolaches in the town of West along Interstate 35 on the way to Austin. Veasey also asked whether Turner fully disclosed to voters in Tarrant County that he was from Dallas and attended school there.

Turner said that he “probably” disclosed it but that it wasn’t “a regular talking point.”

“That’s probably a good thing,” Veasey said.

Turner, a former aide and campaign manager for U.S. Rep. Chet Edwards, D-Waco, was also grilled about the fact that Edwards got 40,000 more votes in a campaign after Turner departed than when Turner was on the payroll.

A hometown colleague, Rep. Rob Orr, R-Burleson, jokingly asked whether Turner’s bill would affect legislative compensation.

“Do you think you’ve earned your pay since you’ve been here the last 60 days?” Orr asked.

“That’s probably open for discussion,” Turner said, “but I’m trying hard to earn it.”

“Welcome to the Texas House,” Orr responded.

Bill watch
HB1637 would modify the Texas Shared Work Program operated by the Texas Workforce Commission, which distributes unemployment benefits. The program is designed to let employers avoid major layoffs by allowing them to keep workers on the payroll at reduced hours. The workers are then eligible to draw partial unemployment benefits based on the lost wages. There has been no significant opposition.
How to track: Go to www.legis.state.tx.us and search for the bill number and status.