Fresh off his inauguration, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (Tea Party-Houston) pushed through a change in the Senate rules that will make it easier for the Republican majority to pass legislation.  For decades, the Texas Senate had a 2/3rds rule requiring the votes of at least 21 of the 31 Texas Senators to bring a bill up for debate on the Senate floor.  Senate Republicans pushed through a rule changing the super-majority requirement to 3/5ths.  Now only 19 votes will be required to bring legislation to the Senate floor.  Conveniently, the Republicans control 20 seats in the chamber.  The Houston Chronicle reports:

The vote was mostly along party lines, with state Sen. Eddie Lucio, D-Brownsville, voting for the change and Sen. Craig Estes, R-Wichita Falls, not voting. The two thirds rule, which had been in place since 1947, has enjoyed support from both sides of the aisle over the years, as a way to maintain the collegiality of the chamber, as well as provide political cover for lawmakers on controversial bills that fail to gain a vote. Democrats warned that the change will breed partisan discord that will make the chamber do business more like Washington, which is a frequent target for criticism. They voiced opposition to the bill during a two-hour debate, the longest public discussion of Senate rules in decades.

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