2013 Legislative Sesssion 3:25 pm Mon January 14, 2013  House
Rule Change Could Weaken Democratic Minority  The Texas House's
Democratic minority was dealt a blow Monday when the House
passed an amendment to the chamber's rules to limit legislators'
ability to derail a bill based on clerical errors. Calling
"points of order” on such errors is a strategy lawmakers have
often used to block measures they oppose.    State Rep. Phil
King, R-Weatherford, authored the amendment to the House rules
to limit abuse of typographical mistakes to kill legislation.
Points of order on those types of mistakes send bills back to
committee to be corrected before they can return to the floor to
be voted on.  “The practice has been to allow bill after bill
after bill to be defeated because a clerk at midnight, a sleepy
and tired 25-year-old, made a typographical error,” King said.
“That’s just not appropriate.”   Several Democrats and one
Republican spoke against the provision, arguing that it weakens
minority power. Rep. Armando