Watch a conversation between two Dallas-area lawmakers
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As some Texas House Republicans push to consolidate their party’s grip on power, one Dallas-area Republican said Wednesday that bipartisanship is “what makes our state government work.”
The lawmaker, Rep. Morgan Meyer, who heads the House Ways and Means Committee, spoke in a conversation with a Dallas Democrat, state Sen. Nathan Johnson, at a Texas Tribune event hosted by Dallas College.
Meyer gave the example of the tax relief that passed in the last legislative session, which took the form of a constitutional amendment and required the support of at least two thirds of the legislature. While Republicans hold a majority in each house, the two-thirds majority was only possible with Democratic support.
Meyer added, “That’s why we are able to produce the results that we produce, is by working with Senator Johnson, not yelling at him.”
The conversation with the two Texas lawmakers was held at the Mountain View campus of Dallas College. The Tribune’s politics reporter, James Barragán, as moderator, asked questions about the long-time practice of minority-party members serving as committee chairs, a practice some House Republicans have criticized. The discussion also covered property taxes, banning DEI programs in higher education, and housing affordability.
In the state Senate, the president, Dan Patrick, has said that he will not appoint Democrats to lead committees after the departure of Sen. John Whitmire, the former dean of the chamber, who is now Houston mayor. Johnson challenged Patrick’s decision to block Democrats out of leadership positions.
“There’s a lot of work to be done, where you are going to need input from serious legislators who do their homework,” Johnson said. “We have got to have the input from all people.”
Asked if he would talk to Patrick about this, Johnson continued, “I wish that he would recognize the value of having serious, hard-working level-headed Democrats as chairs.”
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When Barragán pressed Meyer on the issue of Democrats as chairs in the state House, Meyer would only say, “I am supportive of bipartisanship.”
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