Texas senator discusses financial side of state government
Sen. Harris criticizes University’s political power during SE Campus talk

by Brian Shults, se news editor

    Any rising cost of fees is an example of a university not living within its budget, within what the college represented to the legislature would be its budget,” a Texas state senator said when he spoke on SE Campus recently.

   State Sen. Chris Harris gave a first-hand lesson in government when he criticized the University of Texas political power and the state in his campus speech.

   "The Texas legislature put a cap on tuition. Any fees they charge are for limited purposes, but some universities are using fees for general academic purposes,” he said.

   Harris’ remark was made in reference to a student’s question regarding the soaring cost of fees at some Texas universities. While tuition has largely remained at a fixed cost, the quantity and expense of fees has surged, the student said.

   Harris, who has two children in higher education, was critical of the University of Texas-Austin (UT), for what he deemed a misappropriation of funds.

   “UT recently came under fire because its (financial) system was supposed to disperse money to its other schools like UTA. And there is no excuse for it. They did it because they feel threatened; they don’t want competition,” he said.

   Citing the school’s lobbying power as the reason for being able to oversee funds in a haphazard fashion, Harris explained that UT pays two lobbyists $23,000 a month plus expenses to represent its agenda to the Texas Legislature.

   A lobbyist is an individual or group of individuals hired by a business or special interest group to persuade politicians to push forward with legislation that may be favorable to its agenda and impede any detrimental legislation.

   “UT is so used to being able to do whatever the hell they feel like. They haven’t figured out they work for the people of Texas. They exhibit unbelievable ignorance,” he said.

   A fixture in Texas politics for 18 years, Harris began his career in the Texas House of Representatives, spending six years there before ascending to the Senate.

   In his first political bid, he ran against a well-liked Democratic incumbent who “rightly took me as a joke” because of his lack of experience.

   But while the incumbent and his family went on a vacation across Europe, Harris and his family trudged up to 17,000 citizens’ doors in an effort to capture the seat. He succeeded in unseating the Democrat and has since been undefeated.

   The face of Texas politics has changed since his initial induction, due to recent redistricting and the infiltration of money from special interest groups, Harris said.

   In the upcoming November elections, Harris has decided to abandon District 10 for District 9, which holds a more favorable constituency for his reelection.

   Because of the redrawing of district lines, Harris was placed in a larger minority and Democratic area. He believes District 9 affords him more of his previous constituency, as well as allowing him to run unopposed.

   Turning to the subject of “soft money,” unlimited monies given to candidates by corporations or special interest groups, Harris chided the murky relationship of politics and money.

   “Because of special interest groups, unfortunately, campaigns come down to money,” he said.

   In the past, he has refused donations from particular groups who he believes overstepped their bounds in attempting to influence his public policy, Harris said.

   “They (interest groups) started telling me my political agenda, what I would back and what I wouldn’t back. I told them what they could do with their money,” he said.

   The money filtering into politics was not Harris’ only monetary concern as the chairman of finance.

   “In the next biennium (legislative session), there will be a minimum deficit of $10 billion,” he said.

   The deficit concerned him, particularly the ability for state agencies to “run amok” with taxpayer money.

   After the November gubernatorial, lieutenant governor, Texas Senate and House elections, among others, the composition of the legislative and executive branches of the Texas government will greatly affect the way business is done in Austin, Harris said.

   “The next legislative session is going to be extraordinarily interesting. There will be a lack of true functionality in the upcoming legislature,” he said.

   Because of his dreary expectations, Harris said he wishes the governor and lieutenant governor exhibit the “guts” to call a special session within 30 days to orchestrate state agencies.

   Approximately 6,000-8,000 bills slide across the desks of Texas legislators, compounded with the responsibility of deriving a two-year budget 32 months in advance.

   They must weed through the hectic schedule and develop a workable government within the time frame of 140 days. Much of what is presented during the session is either delayed or forgotten, Harris said.

   Returning to the subject of the November elections, Harris explained the role of governor.

   While the Texas governor does not wield any expansive powers, the position does offer the elected party a strong public voice. Prospective governors are incumbent Republican Rick Perry and political newcomer Democrat Tony Sanchez, Harris said.

   “Sanchez has been unbelievable. If you consider he is someone who has never run for political office and to have achieved the name recognition he has, it’s amazing. He also sounds like a Republican when he talks about taxes. I wish he would change parties and run on the Republican ticket,” he said.

   Harris displayed confidence that Republicans will likely take over the house for the first time in a number of years, but noted that while President Bush was governor he was able to lend clout to other campaigning Republicans.

   “The important thing about Bush is he had coattails. If you were running on a Republican ticket, you could count on 5-15 percent more votes,” he said.

   Bush’s coattails came from his popularity among Texas voters, but even being members of the same party does not necessarily mean disagreements do not arise, Harris said.

   “The only reason Bush was able to say in the 2000 elections he never signed a bill to raise taxes is because of me. He had a pet tax bill he wanted passed, but when it got down to conference committee, I killed it. He still hasn’t called me,” he said.