(C) Texas Tribune This story was originally published by Texas Tribune and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . The Blast - April 23, 2025 [1] ['The Texas Tribune'] Date: 2025-04 23 days for the House to pass legislation that originated in the House 40 days until sine die REPUBLICANS FLOAT AN HJR TRIAL BALLOON If you’re like us, you may be thinking The Blast needs to get some new material. But please bear with us. We gotta talk about joint resolutions one more time. At least. As a reminder, it takes roughly 12 House Democrats to play along with Republicans to reach the two-thirds vote necessary to pass a joint resolution for a constitutional amendment. So, for weeks, Democrats have been blocking joint resolutions in order to strike a deal with House leadership. Today, Republicans brought up a potential blockade runner, House Joint Resolution 72, which would allow for a homestead exemption for the primary homes of adults with intellectual or developmental disabilities. Rep. Candy Noble, R-Lucas, is carrying the measure along with a bipartisan team of joint authors and coauthors. A Republican member told The Blast that leadership floated HJR 72 as a trial balloon to see whether Democrats’ hold is on all HJRs or limited to ones that are easy to oppose. “I beg you to put aside partisan politics and vote with our IDD population that are watching today,” Noble told the House, following supportive questioning from Ways and Means Chair Morgan Meyer, R-University Park. Democrats gave Republicans their answer. Democratic Leader Gene Wu of Houston succeeded Meyer at the back mic, beginning by calling it a good resolution and one he supports. “But I called you last night and asked you to just have a brief delay in this bill … and you agreed and you gave me your word that you would delay it just briefly,” Wu said. Once Noble acknowledged that yes, she had told him that, Wu walked away from the back mic as she completed her answer. “After talking with my IDD constituents, I decided to choose them, and I apologize that this did not happen, but it was for them,” Noble said. Ultimately, the House voted 90-2 while 51 pressed their white lights — signaling present, not voting. Fifty Democrats voted present while another seven didn’t register a vote, enough to block it from final passage. A couple moderate Dems went even further. Reps. Terry Canales of Edinburg and Eddie Morales of Eagle Pass voted nay. Moderates Oscar Longoria of Mission and Richard Raymond of Laredo voted aye, as did leadership team player Joe Moody of El Paso. Although the resolution didn’t reach the 100 votes necessary to pass today, the 90 votes in favor are enough to give the House another bite at the apple. The House can still pass it on “third reading,” like regular bills, but it will still need 100 votes to pass. As of now, Noble doesn’t have the votes. The second bite at the apple is a quirk in the rules that doesn’t come up often, although it happened at least five times last session. Democrats also seemed to show that their blockade isn’t limited to House joint resolutions, although it’s not the priority. Before HJR 72, the House gave its initial approval to Senate Bill 5, creating the Dementia Prevention and Research Institute of Texas, a priority of Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick. The House passed it 127-21, but former Speaker Tom Craddick, R-Midland, postponed the accompanying Senate Joint Resolution 3. “We’re not going to vote on it today. We’re going to do like the other constitutional amendments,” Craddick initially said during his SB 5 explanation. “We’re not? We’ve got the votes,” Rep. Senfronia Thompson, D-Houston, told him, caught on the front mic. “Democrats don’t want it,” Craddick said, lowering his voice. “Hey, I’m a Democrat and I want it,” Rep. Richard Raymond, D-Laredo, chimed in. Yet, when it came time for SJR 3, Craddick was handed a red slip and postponed consideration till Monday. In Craddick’s case, he may have had some Democratic support, but he had 21 Republicans against him, exactly as he’d counted ahead of time. Craddick told The Blast he’d told Noble that she didn’t have the votes for HJR 72, but she thought she did. [END] --- [1] Url: https://thetexastribune.beehiiv.com/p/the-blast-april-23-2025-11db21f3773d22fe Published and (C) by Texas Tribune Content appears here under this condition or license: Used with Permission: https://www.texastribune.org/republishing-guidelines/. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/texastribune/