The Ten Best and (Groan) The Ten Worst Legislators
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Repeated the flip-flop on abortion. First threatened to filibuster if an abortion amendment went on a bill; later proposed that it be added to the exact same bill. Was the reason for his about-face a change of heart? No. A compromise? No. Just a silly game—a chance to embarrass a House member he didn’t like. Said an unashamed Washington, “I don’t like the abortion amendment, but I like to see Brad Wright squirm even more.”
To the despair of his former admirers, Washington came late to committee or left early; often he didn’t come at all. Spent more time tending to his troubled Houston law practice than he did at the Capitol. Unwilling to adapt to Senate dynamics; might as well have worn sandwich boards proclaiming “Not a Player.” Schooled in the swirling alliances of the House floor, he was reluctant to go one-one-one in clubby Senate fashion; alienated heavies like Grant Jones, whom he sneeringly interrupted in a committee contretemps. Even when he won, as when he softened the state’s wiretap authority, he was flying solo, filibustering.
Came to life in the final weeks of the session with a slew of floor amendments, bill tags, and filibusters—all one-man shows, of course. Ultimately showed he could dazzle 10 per cent of the time, but two weeks of something and eighteen weeks of nothing is enough to land any senator on the Worst list. Mourned one erstwhile fan, It’s like putting a million dollars in a non interest-bearing account.”
Ron Wilson
31, Democrat, Houston
Bad legislators fall into three classes: those who have no talent, those who have talent and don’t use it, those who have talent and misuse it. The third category is by far the worst—and the most tragic. Ron Wilson has the intelligence and the instinct for how the process works to be a major force in the House. But the right ammunition is of no use when it is always fired at the wrong targets.
Knew the arcane House rules better than any other member-clutched them under his arm in a blue loose-leaf binder as he wandered the floor-but used them to show off rather than as they are meant to be used: to police wrongdoing and affect policy. Clobbered an uncontested landlord-tenant bil with a point of order about some incorrect underlining. Delighted in taunting freshman who made routine motions to suspend the rules; toyed with them by asking for the name and number of the rules they were trying to suspend. But random shots can be ricochet. After Wilson knocked a package of nine uncontested bills off a hurry-up calendar with another purely technical point of order, he learned that the bills had been sought by Houston power broker (and occasional Wilson benefactor) Walter Mischer. “Why didn’t you tell me?” Wilson demanded of a colleague. “Why didn’t you ask?” came the reply. The ensuing delay in passing the bills cost Mischer’s business $300,000.
His own agenda was all symbolism (making Martin Luther King’s birthday a state holiday, excoriating South Africa), no substance. Attempted to graft anti South Africa amendments onto anything and everything, which sounds harmless enough, except that Wilson—whose bill package is pitifully meager—finds so little time for legislation that might actually help his urban constituency.
The sad part was that since Craig Washington’s departure from the House, Ron Wilson was the closest thing to a leader the black members had—and he let them down. As a member of the powerful Calendars Committee that scheduled bills for debate, he failed to help other blacks get their bills heard; indeed, he was mostly a no-show. He split the Black Caucus in two with his insistence on piece-of-the-pie politics that helped kill the horse-racing bill. He has led by example, but it was the wrong example. Hispanics, once far behind blacks in the house packing order, now are far ahead, mainly because they eschew the tactics espoused by Ron Wilson. His time has passed, his only legacy the dying words of Willie Stark in All the Kings Men, that it all could have been different.
Special Awards
Clarence Darrow
Excellence in Debate Award
Senator JOHN WHITMIRE, Houston. Offered to pass an amendment to add pleasure boats to the list of property (like homesteads) that is exempt from court foreclosures. “Is anyone in the state of Texas for this amendment?” asked an incredulous Senator Bob Glasglow. “Me,” replied Whitmire.
Sydney Carton
Memorial Award
As Dickens wrote, “It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to, than I have ever known.” To Senator LINDON WILLIAMS, Houston, who after a long and undistinguished career, gave up his seat to become a lowly (but well-paid) justice of the peace.
Honorable Mention
Pity JOHN MONTFORD (Conservative Democrat, Lubbock), the hardworking Senate sponsor of the water plan. No one should have to had to spend so much time with that awful quintet the House sent to negotiate the final package. Their inflexibility sabotaged Montford’s chances of making the Ten Best list; gave him a Purple Heart instead. The rest of the second ten, all of them House members:
Lloyd Criss, Democrat, La Marque
Bruce Gibson, conservative Democrat, Cleburne
Juan Hinojosa, Democrat, McAllen
Lee Jackson, Republican, Dallas
Ray Keller, Republican, Duncanville
Pete Laney, Conservative Democrat, Hale Center
Frank Madla, Democrat, San Antonio
Jesse Oliver, Democrat, Dallas
Jack Vowell, Republican, El Paso
Dishonorable Mention
Of all sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these: “Is Mr. Hudson on the floor of the House?” When that question booms out over the House speakers, you can bet that another important piece of legislation is in jeopardy because SAM HUDSON (Democrat, Dallas) has missed a crucial vote. Two years ago his absence was fatal to the horse-racing bill. This year he missed the key vote on indigent health care during the special session, even though it was probably the most important vote for his South Dallas constituency that he will ever be called upon to cast. Only a tie-breaking vote by Speaker Lewis saved the bill—and Sam’s hide.
How bad was KELLY GODWIN (Republican, Odessa)? The folks back home had to hire the fellow he defeated as a lobbyist in order to get representation. His problem: hypocrisy. He begged for more state spending in his district (home of much-beleaguered UT-Permian Basin) but when it came to raising the money to pay for it, Godwin was an unrepentant no.
Best Nickname
“Grunt” Jones. For GRANT JONES of Abilene, chairman of the all-powerful Senate Finance Committee. Jones mastered a mumble that was perfectly clear to his committee underlings, though remaining inaudible to an audience of bureaucrats and lobbyists desperate to learn what was happening to their pet projects in state budget.
Furniture
The term “furniture” first came into use around the Legislature to describe members who, by virtue of their indifference or ineffectiveness, were indistinguishable from their desks, chairs, and spittoons. It is now used, casually, and more generally, to identify the most inconsequential members. Our furniture list for the 69th Legislature:
New Furniture
Bill Blackwood
Bill Carter
Eldon Edge
Ron Givens
Used Furniture
Talmadge Heflin
Don Lee
Paul Hilbert
John Whitmire
Squeaky Furniture
Pete Patterson
Al Price
Irma Rangel
Antique Furniture
Tony Garcia
Sam Hudson
Lou Nelle Sutton
Petrified Wood
Charles Finnell
Boss of the year House Division
Charles “Goose” Finnell, Holliday. Asked his staff out to lunch and informed them that they would all have to take a large cut in pay. Then he made them pay for their lunches.
Boss of the year Senate Division
Carlos Truan, Corpus Christi. Immediately after Truan passed his bill to guarantee teachers a duty-free lunch period, one of his aides contended that she was fired for taking a full hour for lunch.
Best Observation
Bill Finck, Lobbyist, San Antonio
Perusing a copy of bills scheduled for debate that day, Finck said, “You know, the Republic has survived for a hundred and fifty years without a single one of these bills becoming law.”
Most Improved
Senator John Leedom, Republican, Dallas
A worst just four years ago as the Senate’s abominable no-man, Leedom has become a valuable member of the Senate. He has accentuated the positive side of his conservatism by finding ways to save money for the state that no one else even dreamed of. Just how far he has come was evident during the special session, when he went to the House to urge Republicans not to kill indigent health care. Said Leedom: “There’s a difference between being conservative and being stupid.”
Best Columnist
Anne Cooper, Republican, San Marcos
In a world where everything gets magnified, especially one’s self-importance, Cooper’s reports from the field had a refreshing human quality. Our favorite excerpt:
“Some of the letters [on the horse-racing issue] were quite strongly worded, but the threats dealt only with my possible reelection and not with my life, so that was a relief. Next time we have a really controversial issue, I hope someone who doesn’t care one way or the other will drop me a note to that effect.”
H. Ross Perot Back to Basics Award
To Austin representatives BOB RICHARDSON, who missed every subcommittee meeting of the Department on Aging budget and then angered colleagues by going over the budget line by line in full committee, question even the most paltry increases. Finally reaching the line that marked the grand total, he demanded, “Why is this increase so much greater than any of the others?”
Dumbest Argument
Betty Denton, Waco.
Jumped into a heated debate over teacher competency tests, a crucial part of last summer’s education reform package, to argue that the tests should be eliminated because they had been written by “an out-of-state, Yankee company.”
Smartest Argument
Bill Hammond, Dallas
Following Denton at the microphone, Hammond quickly responded, “That’s probably the most ridiculous reason to be for or against this proposition.”
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