Texas Lawmakers Wrap Up Their Latest Session

Tuesday, May 29th 2007, 7:16 am

By: News On 6

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) _ After last-minute budget squabbles and an attempted rebellion against House Speaker Tom Craddick, the Legislature stumbled to the finish line early Tuesday without a change at the top.

The Senate adjourned in the early evening, and the House went until the midnight deadline with a last-ditch round of tense debate over water, border security and electric deregulation.

The embattled Craddick finished the 140-day session as the man in charge of the House. He cocked his head back and laughed as he chatted with some Republican supporters in the House chamber toward the end of the day.

Democrats and Republicans alike complain that Craddick has ruled with an iron fist. They say his win-at-all-cost style often forces them to vote against the interests of their own districts.

Opponents tried all weekend to oust him from power, with no success. Craddick refused to allow the opposition bring up a motion for a vote to ``vacate the chair.''

Craddick is currently the longest-serving House member and the first Republican speaker since Reconstruction, having taken over in 2003 after the GOP won a majority of House seats.

Frustrated by their failed attempts to overthrow Craddick, dozens of angry House members stormed out of the chamber in protest in the early morning hours Monday.

``This man is sitting here violating every rule of the House, every rule of parliamentary procedure to keep himself in office, and it's wrong,'' said Rep. Pat Haggerty, a Republican.

A prepared statement from Craddick's office chided those it said were trying to divert the House from important matters and trying to drag lawmakers into a speaker's race.

Despite some 11th-hour fights and threats in the Senate to filibuster the budget bill, the House and Senate signed off late Sunday night and early Monday on a compromise $153 billion two-year spending plan, the state's largest ever.