Bill Tracker: A Very Special SB 482

Sure, the session's over. But that doesn't mean there won't be a special one. Today I look at one bill that might bring the Lege back to stomp the yard, as the kids might say: SB 482.

SB 482 was colloquially referred to as "the energy bill," and if things like "market correction" make you all excited inside, then 482 is your kind of legislation. The essential original function of the bill was to place the oversight on electricity prices with the Public Utility Commission, and provide tools for prosecuting price gougers. I'm not saying anything directly here, but TXU wasn't crazy about the bill in general. Some provisions also threatened to endanger TXU's merger/buyout. After several revisions and amendments, it became something else entirely, and it was killed via point of order on Monday.

Democratic leader Jim Dunnam was the axeman, and he outlined why: basically, the bill no longer did anything it had started out doing. Representative Phil King and other Republicans threw up their hands and claimed that Democrats were killing the System Benefit Fund by killing the bill, which of course, as Dunnam pointed out, already exists and only needed to be funded, which it now is. Further, Dunnam explained that a clause was added to the rate cut in the bill which would make it so that no one would actually be eligible for it.

Burka points to this bill as one that may bring the boys back to town. He points out that Perry needs to reclaim a little of the ground he lost this session, and he might be able to do that with a special session or two. I don't know that calling a special session will really do Perry any good; he may do more additional damage to himself and the party by calling them back to Austin than even a totally successful special session could repair to begin with.

The rumblings about a special session had already begun amid the Speaker turmoil. The Galveston County Daily News reported that, as of Monday morning, Perry felt as if the Lege had "not finished the people's work." There may be more on SB 482, and I'm not sure which version will show up on the return trip.