A Very Special Speculation

Alt-weeklies strike again. The Austin Chronicle puts two and two together and comes up with a possible reason why Anna Mowery would resign in mid-August: a special session!

It may not be true, but that doesn't stop it from sounding like it makes a truckload of sense. Think about it. Mowery announces she would like to resign, and maybe because she knows Perry is planning on calling a special session in the immediate future and doesn't want to deal with that noise, she puts a specific (and nearby) date on her resignation. This requires Perry to set a special election which, without any special session activity, would essentially be a caretaker position without any actual legislative duties.

Because I was curious and honestly didn't know, I called the Texas Legislative Council and the Legislative Reference Library to check and see if there's anything preventing Perry from calling a special session if a seat isn't filled for whatever reason, even though I was fairly sure a present quorum would be good enough to do some business.

The Legislative Reference Library staff pointed to the state constitution, which says the governor can call a special session for any reason so long as he states the reason for the special session in the proclamation. The staffer also reminded me that Representative Joe Moreno passed away during the 79th Legislature on May 6 of 2005, and the special election to fill the seat wasn't until November 8, 2005. There were of course special sessions in between those dates. So, full speed ahead, if that's the plan, and it could very well be.

The Austin Chronicle also points out that Perry is hunting a book deal in New York City, and for politicians that usually indicates big plans for bigger stages. I know it has been kicked around that Perry isn't interested in the Vice Presidency, but if that isn't it, why would he be openly discussing a special session to divest from Iran and pursuing a book deal which would provide high-profile publicity?

Speculation will get you nowhere, and I of course can't claim with any certainty that Perry fancies himself as VP. I will say, however, that something about the whole conflagration sounds logical. I guess we'll see if the special session fires up around the same time "A Very Perry Texas" is available at finer booksellers everywhere.