Texas Senate changes vote procedure, eliminates open government and other committees
FOIFT2015-01-22T22:37:42-06:00By Morgan Smith The Texas Tribune Originally published Jan. 21, 2015 With a new lieutenant governor installed for the first time in over a decade Wednesday — and over the cries of Democrats — the Texas Senate voted to break from an almost 70-year tradition intended to encourage compromise among its 31 members. Now the approval of only 19 senators instead of 21 will be required to bring legislation to the floor for debate. The change — passed on a vote of 20-10 — has the practical effect of allowing Republicans to consider a bill without a single vote from one of [...]