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County's 2 new legislators open session
Published January 14, 2009
AUSTIN — As the sun filtered through the wooden blinds, filling the stately Texas Senate chamber with light, state Sen. Joan Huffman sat at her desk with her son, Luke, and her husband, Keith, at her side.
After Galveston-Houston Archbishop Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo delivered a prayer to end Tuesday’s Senate session, Huffman answered questions from the media, greeted well-wishers and talked about how she now has to transition from a candidate to a state senator.
“It’s wonderful to be here,” said Huffman, beaming a smile. “This is such a historic chamber. I’m here to work.”
Huffman, R-Southside Place, along with state Rep. Randy Weber, R-Pearland, joined for the first time with Brazoria County’s two other legislators, state Rep. Dennis Bonnen, R-Angleton, and state Sen. Mike Jackson, R-Shoreacres, to kick off the 81st regular session of the Texas Legislature.
The session will last 140 days.
As Weber sat at his desk surrounded by his family in the House of Representatives chamber, his parents, Norman and Jeanne Weber, sat outside the brass rails surrounding the floor. Norman Weber often employed a cane to close the wooden blinds to help blot the sun out of other viewers’ eyes.
“I never thought this would happen,” said Norman Weber, a longtime Pearland resident. “Words just can’t describe it.”
After Randy Weber took his oath of office along with the other 149 representatives, he went to his office tucked in a labyrinth of hallways extending from the Capitol building. When he walked through the door, his staffers said he now was the “Honorable” Randy Weber since he took the oath Tuesday.
“I’m now honorable, huh?” he said with a laugh. “Well, I‘ve been called a lot.”
Weber won his post in November and replaces state Rep. Mike O’Day, R-Pearland, who chose not to seek a second term.
Weber spent his day surrounded by family, including his wife, Brenda, and children, Kristin Rowe, Kyle Weber and Keith Weber. The new Pearland representative hoped to enjoy some time with them in Austin before he has to start authoring bills and casting votes on the floor.
As the new session begins, Weber said it will take a while for things to get moving as the House now has a new House speaker in Rep. Joe Straus, R-San Antonio.
“From what I’ve heard, we’re going to start slow,” Randy Weber said.
The next few weeks, the speaker and legislators will hammer out rules for the session before committee appointments are made, he said.
Huffman said the first week also would be slow in the upper chamber, both with creating the rules for the session and because many legislators will be leaving Austin to attend President-elect Barack Obama’s inauguration next week. Huffman said she has not had a lot of time to get ready for her new position after she won a special election in December to replace state Sen. Kyle Janek, who resigned in June.
“I actually still haven’t seen a calendar yet,” Huffman said with a laugh.
While Huffman and Weber enjoyed their first day in Austin, the House elected Straus by acclamation to the speaker’s post as there was no other candidate. Straus replaces Tom Craddick, R-Midland, who had served as speaker since 2003.
As he took the gavel in his hand for the first time, Straus said he wanted the 81st regular session to be built on bipartisanship between the House’s 76 Republicans and 74 Democrats.
That cooperation will bring about stronger, better laws for Texas, he said.
“Collaboration is the key to success in this session,” Straus said. “The Texas House of Representatives cannot conduct its business if it is divided. We will create an atmosphere where everyone can and will be heard.”
After starting his seventh legislative session flanked by with his wife and children, Bonnen got to work Tuesday, filing a resolution seeking to have the Texas toad named the state’s official amphibian. Bonnen filed a similar measure last session trying to bestow the title on the blind salamander after prodding from Danbury Elementary fourth-grade students looking to learn about how a bill becomes law.
After that measure failed, Danbury Elementary librarian Ace Filipp asked if the bill could be filed again, this time hoping the Texas toad stands a better chance of winning the official designation, Bonnen’s staff members said. Danbury Elementary students again will track the bill’s progress to learn about the Legislature.
“They’re going to help monitor the legislation to learn about the process,” Bonnen said.
As Huffman stood in her office talking about her first day Tuesday, men and women in business suits representing advocacy groups and lobbyists bustled through the office, trying to meet her and shake her hand.
“This is the first day of the session,” Huffman said. “Seeing a lot of visitors.”
Weber said he walked around and talked to a lot of other legislators, trying to get to know the people he could be sitting next to in a committee or on the opposite side of legislation. Shifting from a candidate to a new legislator brought with it an excitement, he said.
“I’ve moved from that level of anticipation to an anticipation of getting to work,” Weber said.
John Tompkins is senior reporter for The Facts. Contact him at (979) 237-0149.
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