Bill Lobbying and Strategy

By Matt Pettus

Policies of Education Decision Making

Dr. Derek Markley

Who does this bill apply to?

My proposed bill would affect students graduating in the Minimum High School

Program in Texas. Texas has three main paths to graduation each with differing

requirements. The Minimum High School Program currently has no second language

requirement, but contains 7 elective classes. I would like to introduce a bill to eliminate

two elective credits and add the requirement of a one year course in a foreign language.

Research has shown that there are great advantages to learning a foreign

language. These include better performance in other subjects, a reduction of the

achievement gap, and better higher order thinking and creativity.

Foreign language learning drastically improves reading skills, English language

literacy, social studies knowledge, and Math skills (Armstrong & Rogers 1997; Saunders

1998; Masciantonio 1977, Raferty 1986; Andrade 1989; Kretschmer & Kretschmer

1998). While Texas has a high graduation rate many students struggle with

comprehensive exams due to a lack of overall academic level. Language learning has

also been found to help students understand English structure and vocabulary(Curtain

& Dahlberg 2004). With these advantages of language learning Texas would see an

increase in standardized test scores and high school comprehensive exam scores.

Many public and private school work to reduce the education achievement gap

between socioeconomic groups within schools. Language learning has been shown to,

regardless of race, gender, and academic achievement level, increase standardized test

scores (Dumas 1999). Foreign language learn has also been shown to change the

trajectory of average students and close the achievement gap (Garfickel &Tabor 1998).
 Higher order thinking and problem solving are often a difficulty in the high school

classroom. Through learning a language students can increase cognitive flexibility,

problem solving, and higher order thinking (Hakuta 1986). Language learning has also

been linked to more creative thinking and an increase in ability to solve problems in new

ways (Cummings 1984). Through the use of language learning students can gain the

higher order skills that modern life demands.

The anticipated reaction to this proposed bill will be that this is the Minimum High

School Program and that students on this track will not need a foreign language class.

Many of these students will not enter universities and will have no use for a foreign

language. In response to this, it is clear that students and the public will always need

higher order thinking, a better understanding of the English language, more creative

thinking, and better problem solving.

It is also clear that Texas has a large segment of the population that are not

native English speakers, some 8 million people or 35% of the total population (U.S.

Census Bureau 2013). Not only this, but the Hispanic population is growing at over

200% and is projected to surpass the English speaking population by 2020 in

Texas(U.S Census Bureau 2014). Speaking a foreign language is going to become a

necessary skill to continue to be an active part of society in Texas.

 State Leadership

House of Representatives

The Texas House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Texas

Legislature. It consists of 150 members each representing an average of 167,000

constituents and they are elected to a two year term. Representatives do not have term

limits and the most senior member is Representative Tom Craddick having been

elected 49 years ago. The current composition of the Texas House of Representatives

is 66% Republican and 33% Democrat.

The leadership structure of the Texas House of Representatives is unlike other

state legislatures. There are no recognized majority and minority leaders. However,

unofficially the Republican Caucus Chairman and the Democratic House Leader are the

leaders of each party and they are elected by their respective caucuses.

The Speaker of the House is the highest ranking member of the House. The

current Speaker of the House is Joe Straus, a republican from San Antonio. He was

first elected to the House in 2005 in a special election to replace Elizabeth Ames Jones

in the 121 district, a district that includes part of San Antonio and many surrounding

areas. He has easily been re-elected ever since. On January 4th, 2009 Joe Straus

unseated the former Speaker of the House, Tom Craddick and has continued to have a

large amount of support in the House. The Speaker of the House’s duties include,

maintaining order in the House, appointing members to committees, and sending bills to

committees. Joe Straus is well known for emphasizing bipartisan cooperation on issues

including budget transparency, education, and water and transportation.

 The Speaker Pro Tempore is a mostly ceremonial position within the Texas

House of Representatives. However, the position does oversee the House on local and

consent bills. This is by tradition and is not mandated by the Texas constitution. This

position is currently filled by Dennis Bonnen, a Republican representing Brazoria

county, Angleton Texas. In 1996 Bonnen ran a close primary election where he came

in second. He easily defeated Dianne Hensley in the second round of balloting. He

then easily beat his Democratic competition, Wade Hoy Weems with more than 60% of

the vote to become the House Representative of District 25. Representative Bonnen

has voted to ban abortion after 20 weeks, increase the medical and licensing

requirements for abortion providers, he voted against taxpayer funded breakfast

programs in public schools, he did not vote on bills to make immunization mandatory for

minors, and voted to require drug testing for those receiving unemployment. In 2014,

Representative Bonnen used the word “coonass” to refer to the children displaced by

hurricane Katrina (Flatow 2014).

The leader of the Republican Party in the Texas House of Representatives is the

Republican Caucus Chair. This position is held by Tan Parker from Flower Mound,

Texas. He represents District 63 and was elected in 2006 to the Texas House of

Representatives. He ran against four opponents in the primary election and unopposed

in the general election. He has served on committees that had jurisdiction over the

state prison system, technology and economic development, and Texas’ fiscal policy.

Representative Parker has worked towards empowering communities with the tools

necessary to utilize available infrastructure, economic development, moving foster

children to permanent homes, and educating parents, teachers and students on signs of

child abuse.

The Democratic House Leader is the leader of the Democratic Party in the Texas

House of Representatives. This position is currently held by Yvonne Davis of Dallas,

the 111th district. She is female and African-American. She was elected in 1992 for

her first term and has continued to win elections since. She has served on the long

term infrastructure planning subcommittee, redistricting committee, transportation, and

ways and means committee. She has voted against conceal and carry of firearms on

college campuses, increasing the requirements for minors to have abortions, and the

authorization of open carry of firearms.

Senate Leadership

The Texas Senate is the upper house of the legislature. It contains 31 senators

from across the state of Texas, each district representing approximately 800,000

constituents. There are no term limits and each term is four years, however in years

ending in 2 all seats are up for reelection. These means some senators will serve two

year terms. Each general election sees about half of the senate seats up for election.

The senate is currently Republican controlled with 20 of 31 seats.

The leadership structure of the Texas Senate is unlike other state legislatures.

There are no recognized majority and minority leaders. The Lieutenant Governor of

Texas is the leader of the Texas Senate and is the one of the most powerful

Governorships in the United States. The President Pro Tempore is the second most
powerful position in the Texas Senate and can be reserved for either party regardless of

a majority or minority.

The Lieutenant Governor of Texas acts as the President of the Senate. The

Lieutenant Governor duties include, appointing committee chairs, assigning committee

members, assigning bills to committees, and presiding over Senate meetings. This

position is currently held by Dan Patrick, a Republican form Houston. He defeated

incumbent David Dewhurst in the primary runoff in 2014 and later won the general

election to become Lieutenant Governor. Dan Patrick is the current vice chair of the

Education Committee. He has voted in favor of allowing firearms in cars on college

campuses, increasing the requirements for abortion clinics, limiting the use of private

drones, and against equal pay for women.

The President Pro Tempore is the second most powerful position in the Texas

Senate. This position is usually held by a senior senator in the senate. The President

Pro Tempore presides over the Texas Senate when the Lieutenant Governor is not

present, or when the senate votes to dissolve into the Committee of the Whole, where

each senator is a member. The current holder of this position is Juan Hinojosa from the

20th district. Senator Hinojosa is a Democrat and he currently serves on the

Agriculture, Water, and Rural Affairs Committee, the Criminal Justice Committee, the

Finance Committee, and Natural Resource and Economic Development Committee. He

has recently voted against the increase of requirements for minors to have abortions,

the authorization of open carry firearms, the authorization of religious organizations to

refuse to perform marriage services, and the prohibition of health plan coverage for

abortions. He also voted in favor of the medical use of cannabis.

 Identification of Possible Opposition

Texas has a long history of opposition to language learning and teaching in any

other language than English. There were attempts in 1893 and again in 1905 to

eliminate the bilingualism in Texas. While these initiatives passed into law they were

not enforceable at the time. In 1918 the legislature passed a more enforceable English

only law saying that there was a need to protect those that died in the Alamo from the

German language, the language of seditious propaganda infiltrating our country. This

law mandated the only language that schools in Texas teach in is English. This

excluded foreign language learning from the curriculum. Many of these provisions

lasted until 1960 (Blanton 2007).

The current Republican Party is xenophobic, racist, and anti-immigration, or at

least complacent with these ideas. The Republican Party has a majority in each house

of the legislature. If the proposed bill is pitched as all high school students must learn

Spanish, there will be no possible way to get this bill passed.

House of Representatives

In the House of Representatives I see one main possibility for opposition in a

leadership role. The Speaker Pro Tempore, Dennis Bonnen, has shown some very

racist tendencies and it is possible that he could link the proposed bill to his racist

ideals. While the bill does not force anyone to speak any particular language, it is very

possible he would see this as an attempt to force the integration of one racial groups

language on white Texans.

Senate

There does not appear to be anyone who is clearly against language learning or

that has expressed opinions that would immediately show them as opposition.

Associations

Texans of Education Reform is a possible opponent. They are a conservative

deep pocket group that wants to privatize schools, offer cheaper online schooling, and

state takeover of failing schools. While their platform does not directly overlap with this

proposed bill, language classes are fundamentally more difficult to give online. Also,

the current lack of language requirements reduces the huddles for charter schools to

offer a state high school diploma. Their major argument against the proposed bill would

be that failing schools need help in fundamental subjects and language courses an

elective class that are not fundamental for student success. The key to countering

these points are the overall advancement of students in English reading, English

literacy, social studies, and math, along with the general enhancement of standardized

test scores.
 S.W.O.T Analysis

Strengths

The major strength of this bill is that there is large public support for education

reform, it does not cost the state additional funding, and there is clear advantages for

language learning. Students in Texas schools are graduating at one of the highest

rates in the United States after years of education reform. Strong results of educational

reform have garnered great public support. Since there are three graduation paths that

are offered and each school has to offer each path, Texas schools already have

language classes offered. There would be no general need to hire more teachers and

each school could decide which language classes to offer. The advantages of language

learning have been shown to be greater ability in English reading, English literacy,

social studies, math skills, problem solving, creative thinking, and cognitive flexibility

(Armstrong & Rogers 1997; Saunders 1998; Masciantonio 1977, Raferty 1986; Andrade

1989; Kretschmer & Kretschmer 1998). These skills can be transferred to many

aspects of academic and personal life and will continue to help students throughout

their lives.

Weaknesses

There are two main weaknesses to this bill. The first is that it is a small change to

the current requirements for graduation. This may be seen as not a big deal, as it

affects only a small portion of the 300,000 graduating high school students each year.
This may cause apathy when we are looking for support. The second weakness could

be in perception. This bill could be seen as a way to encourage Spanish speaking in

Texas.

Opportunities

This proposed bill has the potential to garner bipartisan support due to the well

researched advantages of second language learning. As long as the advantages in

general academics and specific classes are highlighted the bill could pass. This also

could be a chance for leadership in each house to work together towards something

that would be easily seen as a positive education reform.

Treats

The second weakness is that in the current political climate of the United States

this proposed bill could be linked with pro-immigration, pro-latinos, and pro-liberal

ideals. The only way to counter these sentiments would be to focus specifically on the

general advantages seen in students that have foreign language classes. The talking

points must always return to the academic and personal advantages of second

language study.
 Bill Sponsor

This bill would be best introduced into the senate first. It would appear to have

greater support and clearer supporters in the Texas Senate, without any overt

opposition.

Senate Bill Sponsor

Senator Eddie Lucio Jr. - Vice-Chair of the Education Committee, Republican

Senator Eddie Lucio Jr. has had a career focused on education and serving the

underprivileged population. He has passed hundreds of bills and is part of the

leadership of the Education Committee in the Texas Senate. He would be an ideal

sponsor for an education reform bill. He also serves in a district that has high diversity

and 35% of the population speaks a language other than English in the home. For

Senator Lucio this bill would be supported in his district. He could easily use the

advantages of language learning in general academics, as well as the economic gains

based on his diverse district population.

Senator Lucio would also be ideal as bipartisan support would almost be

guaranteed. He is a senior senator and a Republican. Support from Democrats is

much easier to secure for this type of education reform. Senators Gonzalez,

VanDeaver, Garcia, and West all are Democrats that have served in education or have

supported education reforms in Texas. Senators Garcia and West also serve on the

Education Committee and have worked with Senator Lucio before. Each of these

senators also represents a possible co-sponsor.

 How does a Bill Become Law in Texas

Representatives and Senators get ideas for bills from their constituents,

lobbyists, committees that make bill recommendations. The idea is researched to

determine which Texas laws need to be changed. A bill is then written by a legislator,

often with the help of the Texas Legislative Council; who offers bill writing support,

computer support, bill drafting service, and research services.

Once the bill is written it is introduced to that legislator’s branch of the legislature.

However, any bill that raises money for state use, or a tax increase bill must start in the

Texas House of Representatives.

A Representative, or Senator, can introduce any bill in the first 60 days of the

legislative session. After 60 days, any bill other than a local bill or a bill related to a

state of emergency needs a vote of four-fifths of the present legislative members to be

introduced.

Once the bill is introduced, a short description of the bill is written. This is called

the caption and is read aloud so that members know what the bill is about. This is the

first reading and following this the bill is assigned to a committee.

The chair of the committee decides when the committee will meet and what bills

the committee will decide on. The committee can work in several ways. The committee

can hear testimony and take action on bills. The committee can discuss and take action

on bills without having heard testimony and the committee can having a working

session where they discuss, but take no formal action. The Senate can take action at

any meeting, while the House must give 5 days’ notice to allow comments before a

hearing.
 After considering a bill the committee may take no action, or create a report for

the bill. The report will contain the committee vote, a financial note, recommendations,

and a detailed bill analysis. This is printed and distributed to every member of the

house or senate.

We the bill is considered on the floor the bill is read for a second time, only the

caption is read. At this point the chamber debates the bill and any amendments are

added. Amendment must have a two thirds majority. The bill is read for the third time

and if the bill has a majority vote it is passed.

The bill is then rewritten with all amendments added and passed to the other

house. The same process is repeated in the second house and if the bill passes, it is

sent back to the original house with all the new amendments attached. The original

house can accept the bill with new amendments or the house can send the bill to a

conference committee to work out the differences.

The bill is then sent to the governor. He has 10 days to veto the bill. He can sign

the bill into law, allow the bill to pass into law without his signature, or he can veto the

bill. If the bill is vetoed the bill needs two thirds majority vote in each house to override

the veto.
 Necessary Visits

Senate Visits

Senator Larry Taylor, Chair of the Education Committee, Republican

The first meeting that needs to be set up is with Senator Larry Taylor. He is the

Education Committee chair and he needs to know he is the first person we have meet

with. His leadership within the Education Committee will determine if the bill moves

forward. He does not have an education background, but has supported some

education bills in the past. He will be best approached with an appeal to increasing

general academic skills, reducing the education gap, and standardized test score

increases.

Senator Eddie Lucio Jr, Vice-Chair of the Education Committee

Senator Lucio would be a great bill sponsor. He has work for quality education in

Texas and is from a diverse district that would support the bill. Senator Lucio is a

Republican and the Vice-Chair of the Education Committee. He could help insure the

bill moves forward and out of committee. Once again the best approach would be to

highlight the higher standardized test scores and the reduction of the achievement gap.

Senator Donna Campbell, Education Committee.

Senator Campbell is also a doctor of emergency medicine and represent parts of

San Antonio and Austin. She has firsthand experience dealing with language use in a
hospital setting. The advantages of daily use and basic knowledge of a foreign

language along with the academic advantages could be stressed.

The Remainder of the Education Committee with focus on Senators West and Garcia

Each member of the Education Committee is important to discuss the proposed

bill with. However, Senators West and Garcia are members with a minority racial

background that we could gain minority support from. Garcia is a Texan with a Mexican

heritage and years working for quality education. She could be a possible bill sponsor,

but does not have the power that Senator Lucio has. Senator West is an African-

American that represents a diverse district that could use a reduction of the

achievement gap. Both Senators are Democrats and have a history of supporting

education.

Anticipate Path

Since this bill does not need money to be raised, or an increase in taxes, this bill

could start in either chamber. I have selected the senate based on an easier path for

bipartisan support.

The first thing the proposed bill would do is go to the lieutenant governor. He

would decide what committee that the bill would need to go to. In this case the bill is

about public school education and would go to the Education Committee. If the

Education Committee creates a report and votes to allow this bill forward, it would then

go to a floor vote.
 After the floor vote, with any amendment added, the bill would then be passed to

the House of Representatives. The bill would go through a similar round of voting in the

House and if passed in the house would go to the governor to sign.

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