Craddick presses bills; House takes up finance system overhaul Tuesday

10:45 PM CST on Monday, March 7, 2005

By TERRENCE STUTZ and KAREN BROOKS / The Dallas Morning News

AUSTIN — House Speaker Tom Craddick put on a full-court press Monday to secure enough votes to pass a massive school finance overhaul and property tax cut package, the most important legislation of his two terms leading the House.

After issuing unusually personal pleas at a closed-door meeting of GOP lawmakers Sunday night and offering extra transportation funds to entice reluctant rural Republicans, Mr. Craddick appeared to have won the necessary votes. House debate on the first part of the schools package starts today.

Republicans were feeling the pressure to back the two bills.

"Speaker Craddick was stronger than horseradish," Rep. Dan Branch, R-Dallas, said of the packed Sunday meeting. "He made a clear and convincing case for the bill and the need to move the process forward. This is the signature piece of legislation for the session for most of us."

Mr. Craddick, who also met with most of the 40 House committee chairs on Monday, was upbeat about the chances for the first bill, which changes school-funding formulas. Asked whether he had enough votes to pass it, he replied: "I think so. We're still working with the members, and we've had a good response."

The second part, which would cut property taxes and increase other levies, remained short of the necessary votes, largely because of a proposed 1.1 percent payroll tax.

Few of the House's 63 Democrats are expected to support the GOP plan, but with 87 Republicans, the leadership could withstand a few defections.

Democratic leaders plan to offer a substitute bill, along with several other amendments.

"We're getting almost unanimous support for our plan from superintendents, school board members and teachers," said Rep. Jim Dunnam of Waco, the House Democratic Caucus chairman.

The Democrats' proposal would increase teacher pay and raise overall funding for schools by $5 billion over the next two years – $2 billion more than the GOP plan. Democrats contend their measure would cut taxes more for most homeowners, though businesses would pay more.

Leading business and education groups lobbied House members during the weekend and all day Monday as the showdown on the House floor approached.

Business groups generally back the education bill, which includes changes such as merit pay for teachers and online student testing. But they were split over the payroll tax in the second bill.

A coalition of business leaders that includes several high-dollar GOP contributors offered support.

"Improving education must be the No. 1 goal of any education finance plan," said Schulenburg businessman Charles McMahen, a former bank executive who is chairing the coalition, Texas Businesses for Education Excellence. "More money into the system, without a specific focus on encouraging excellence, is a bad investment that will do little to advance our children's learning."

But school districts and education groups representing teachers, administrators and parents continued their fight against the legislation, saying public schools would gain little. They swamped House members with phone calls and e-mails during the weekend.

"We regrettably must ask you to vote no on the bill when it comes up for debate," interim Dallas Superintendent Larry Groppel wrote in a letter to House members from the area. His arguments against the measure were repeated by superintendents across the state.

For Mr. Craddick and the GOP leadership, the last-minute concessions to rural Republicans may have secured victory.

Panhandle Rep. Warren Chisum said the lawmakers were "absolutely on the fence" about the bill until its sponsor, Rep. Kent Grusendorf of Arlington, agreed to include more than $100 million in additional funding for school buses in their districts.

Mr. Grusendorf agreed to accept an amendment during the floor debate this week that would distribute transportation money based on the miles that buses travel, which can surpass 100 miles a day in some rural areas.

"It was close to a deal-breaker," said Mr. Chisum, R-Pampa, describing how important the transportation funding was in negotiations over the bill. "That is a big, big deal for us."

Two Republicans who were inclined to vote no on the education and property tax cut bills – Reps. Brian McCall of Plano and Charlie Geren of Fort Worth – said significant changes are needed to get their votes.

"We need to get real and significant buy-in from local communities," Mr. McCall said. "This bill doesn't do that. It also doesn't deliver long-term financial support for school districts and teachers."

Mr. Geren said he cannot support an incentive-pay program unless teachers – especially in poorer districts – first get a pay raise. Mr. Grusendorf's bill would not increase base teacher salaries.

Mr. Geren also objected to a provision that scales back how much money can be taken from wealthy districts under provisions in the law.

At the Sunday evening GOP caucus meeting, said Rep. Bill Zedler of Arlington, Mr. Craddick left no doubt how strong he felt about passing the bill.

"Basically, [the message] was that we've been put into leadership, and this is obviously something that has gone on a long time and is begging for a solution," Mr. Zedler said. "And that we need to, in essence, rise up to the challenge and get a good bill through."

Mr. Craddick had members voice "each and every concern" about the bill at the meeting, Mr. Zedler said. "He said, 'Let's address these right now.' "

E-mail tstutz@dallasnews.com and kmbrooks@dallasnews.com