Perry’s Power
Vince Leibowitz | Feb 23, 2007 | Comments 0
The Dallas Morning News dedicated an awful lot of ink this morning to whether or not Governor Perry is as powerful as he thinks he is.
I find that entertaining in and of itself since Texas’ executive spot is one of the weakest in the nation in spite of additional money and power Perry was given control over during the 2003 Legislative Session.
The DMN points to three of Perry’s Executive Orders as examples:
In three well-publicized executive orders, Mr. Perry has directed 65 percent of school districts’ spending into the classroom, faster consideration of coal plant permits, and vaccinations against the cancer-causing and sexually spread human papillomavirus.
When the 65 percent one came out, I scoffed at that one for a lot of reasons. And, of course, the coal plant one sucks. I’ve been supportive of the HPV order, but the fact remains that Perry very well may have lacked the authoritiy for all of these:
But barring a bona fide emergency, there is no language in state law that gives the governor authority to tell a state agency what to do, legal experts said. And Texas’ constitution makes the governor one of the weakest in the nation.
Of course, I’ve always thought that this needed some strenghtening. However, it is dangerous given that if you have someone like Perry in office, it’s like a box of chocolates and you never know what you’re going to get. If he had real authority, he could issue even worse executive orders.
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