The Blast Bulletin - April 10, 2025

By Renzo Downey and The Texas Tribune Politics Team

Hey, y’all! We’re trying out a shorter “bulletin” format for news that falls outside of our normal Blast times.

TIME KEEPS ON SLIPPIN’, SLIPPIN’, SLIPPIN’ …

All hopes of an early out on budget night have gone out the door.

The House took up the budget around 12:30 p.m., and almost immediately, the debate turned into a tit for tat ignited by a sneaky move spearheaded by Democrats.

The troubles began with an amendment to the very first amendment, an addition by Rep. Mary González, D-Clint, that quietly zeroed out funding for the Texas Lottery Commission and economic development and tourism programs. A couple amendments later, Rep. Erin Zwiener, D-Driftwood, successfully killed an amendment by Rep. Mitch Little, R-Lewisville, to give a 6% pay raise to employees of the attorney general’s office, courtesy of one of those zeroed-out funds.

González and Zwiener’s move caught those conservatives off guard and left them scrambling. A significant chunk of their amendments hinged on drawing down the lotto and economic development funding.

After that, the House turned into a shooting gallery, as conservative Republicans tried killing Democrats’ bills through unsuccessful points of order and a successful vote verification. After Democrats successfully killed an amendment by Rep. Andy Hopper, R-Decatur, the right flank finally caught a break by sniping amendments by Zwiener and Rep. Vikki Goodwin, D-Austin.

The first substantive debate didn’t take place until around 5 p.m., on only the 17th amendment of the day.

By the dinner break, the House had only considered 22 amendments. The House is only on Article II, with eight more articles still to debate. And there’s still the supplemental budget, House Bill 500, to consider.

González’s amended amendment passed 99-46, with leadership-aligned Republicans joining Democrats on that vote, a potential hint at who was trying to shut down the conservatives.

The expectation is that the lotto and economic development funding will be put back into the budget during the conference with the Senate. As the most experienced members know, that’s where the real budget writing takes place.

One Democrat likened the situation to “checkers and chess.”

• Several amendments The Blast and the Tribune were tracking got moved into Article XI, the amendment graveyard. Among the swept amendments were several to neuter education savings accounts and others to codify conservative positions, like on DEI or trans issues.

• We’ve had a couple pranks pulled on the floor so far. Rep. Lacey Hull, R-Houston, and crew left Rep. Nicole Collier, D-Fort Worth, a rubbery, slithery surprise on her chair. Rep. Cody Vasut, R-Angleton, stumbled across another snake.

• Despite the fun moments, tensions have been high on the floor at times. Rep. Briscoe Cain, R-Deer Park, had an offhand comment into the back mic at one point, and Rep. Terry Wilson, R-Georgetown, approached a group of members from the right flank and tried to advise them on how to keep some of their amendments alive. Not all of his advice was well received.

• One of the few substantive changes so far, the House voted to take millions from Medicaid and put it in crisis pregnancy centers. Democratic Reps. Eddie Morales of Eagle Pass, Claudia Ordaz of El Paso and Richard Peña Raymond of Laredo joined Republicans on that vote.

• The Democratic caucus huddled for a meeting at the dinner break.

• Meanwhile, President Donald Trump today endorsed Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick for reelection.

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