The Legislative Cocktail Hour: Golf carts on the highway and changes to the Rainy Day

There is no doubt it has been a tough week. But while our hearts are broken and spread from Boston to West, Tex., let us allow our minds to wander for a minute or two back up towards the Capitol where we’ve just passed the first 100 days of the session and things are still ridiculous.

Gov. Perry: Texting and Driving? Whatever!

Gov. Rick Perry has once again threatened to veto a bill that would make texting while driving a statewide ban claiming it’s “government micromanagement.”

You know when I’m not ok with government micromanagement? When it comes to things like transvaginal ultrasounds.

You know when I AM ok with government micromanagement? When the person driving next to me is looking up Taylor Swift lyrics on their iPhone while hurtling down Congress Ave.

Bein’ a Little Gay in Texas

An anti-sodomy law that was declared unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court over a decade ago may finally be stripped from the books. On Wednesday, the Senate Criminal Justice committee voted to repeal the law and sent it to the rest of the Senate for a vote.

The law, which makes homosexual conduct illegal, has been largely unenforced because, you know, it was declared unconstitutional. However it has caused confusion as recently as 2009 when two men in El Paso were arrested for kissing.

What?!?

Is this what we spend our time and resources defending against? Are they going to start arresting fourth graders who kiss each other on dares? (Or, in some cases, for a fruit punch Capri Sun because your mother would never let you have them and always made you drink 100% juice drinks and it was infuriating?) Gah!

Driving Golf Carts on the Highway

Remember when you were a kid and you would go with your dad to the driving range only because you would get a Milky Way and maybe drive the golf cart? Well this bill is just as exciting, albeit about thousand times more dangerous.

A bill allowing golf carts on the highway passed the House this week. But, before you go trading in your fixed gear for the thrill of the open road, it comes with a bunch of provisions. First, you have to live in a county that border the Red River, the Guadalupe or contains a barrier island the Gulf of Mexico. Second, the highway cannot have a speed limit greater than 35 mph.

I still don’t understand why we can’t have golf carts in Travis County. Traffic is so bad you rarely get above 35 mph and when you do, a little golf cart humming along would be an adorable distraction. Especially if the person driving the golf cart was looking up Taylor Swift lyrics on their iPhone.

Rainy Day Fund, an Update

A few weeks ago we discussed how the Senate had approved a plan to use some $6 billion (with a B!) of the Rainy Day Fund to pay for water infrastructure across the state. We made some puns about water, “The money flowed through!” “Lawmakers are making it rain!” “Waves of applause!” Fun was had by all.

Gov. Perry is urging lawmakers to cut a bit of that $6 billion so that the Rainy Day Fund has a reserve of at least $7 billion dollars in the case of a natural disaster. He's also noting that it will help keep the state receiving favorable bond ratings from Wall Street.

Redistricting Maps to be Made Permanent

In 2011, the Republican-controlled legislature re-drew the maps that defined where people voted. You may recall that because Texas is one of the states that must get all their redistricting maps approved by the U.S. Justice Department per the Voting Rights Act. Well they did and the Justice Department was all, “These new maps are hella racist.” Then Attorney General Greg Abbott got mad and everyone else got mad and Obama won anyway and blah blah blah.

Well, a committee voted on Thursday to decide whether or not to make those interim maps permanent. Perhaps the last thing you want to do to prove to federal government that you’re not racist is defy the federal government while doing something racist.

Ridiculousness aside, this is one of those weeks where we need to hug our loved ones a little closer, smile to strangers and remember that no matter where we were born, we’re all Texans. See y'all next week!

Will Perry veto a texting and driving bill?

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San Antonio leads Texas on ending horse-drawn carriage rides by 2030

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Horses will no longer pull carriages on the streets of downtown San Antonio.

San Antonio has pulled off something that the rest of Texas has yet to do, but it didn't come without some contentious conversations. City Council has unanimously voted (with one abstention) to phase out the use of horse-drawn carriages over the next five years. That means by January 1, 2030, there will be none on the streets at all; instead, there will be electric carriages.

These plans have been in the making since 2022 — if not always at the same level of intensity — when District 2 Councilmember Jalen McKee-Rodriguez and District 3 Councilmember Phyllis Viagran wrote up some concerns about the horses' wellbeing. A special session at the end of October 2024 hinted to San Antonians that the end for this practice was neigh — sorry, nigh — and the final vote was made on December 12. In addition to accepting the plan, it extended its timeframe by two years.

The initial proposal included worries about the horses' exposure to traffic and pollution, as well how their presence might exacerbate those issues for the environment at large by slowing traffic. It also raised concerns about the effects of standing or walking on hard surfaces for too long, or spending time in extreme weather.

At the December 12 meeting, San Antonians gave impassioned speeches about animal welfare — both to call attention to the need for better conditions and to defend the reputations and jobs of current horse drivers — but it wasn't the first time the council heard from the public about the issue.

In a prior city survey, 50,476 respondents weighed in. Of those respondents, 51.98 percent said they liked the idea to "Transition horse-drawn carriages to electric carriages and pedicabs and ban horse drawn carriages completely." There were alternative solutions listed, but respondents were less drawn to them.

A cultural divide emerged in the data and continued in the December meeting: some people avoided the carriages because they worried about the treatment of the horses, while others enjoyed them because of their historical echoes and living legacy. Many speakers in favor of the plan used this to form their argument, raising questions about history versus progress.

More tangible objections to the plan hinged on the businesses — specifically five companies — and jobs that would be lost, which was the main factor behind extending the adjustment period.

Discussions about the particulars of the electric vehicles are still to come, as confirmed in the discussion near the end of the meeting. Councilmember Jalen McKee-Rodriguez addressed concerns about what would happen to the horses, mentioning the Brady Hunter Foundation as a future partner in finding them rescue homes.

Some council members also brought up rhetorical questions about animal exploitation by groups like Sea World, the San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo, military and police forces, and even various groups in the Fiesta parade, although these did not come with a formal motion to pick the issues up.

This decision could have a ripple effect on other Texas cities. Dallas has recently considered a similar ban, but it appears to have stalled; Austin's attempts at a ban have been unsuccessful, but according to the Austin-American Statesman, only one operator is permitted to bring horses downtown. She declines to do so because the long hours are unfair to her and the horses. Houston does have horse-drawn carriages, and there seems to be little conversation about banning them.

Cities like Chicago and Salt Lake City have led the charge in the United States with some of the most prominent successful bans. Other cities around the world with bans include Brussels and Guadalajara, which both switched to electric models. Bans that have been around for years, like Guadalajara's and Prague's, still aren't out of the woods — people are still pushing back on the decision, so it sounds like San Antonio still has much work cut out for it.

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