Carona earns praise - and No. 2 Senate slot

Dallas Republican calls for focused debates, keeping two-thirds rule

May 29, 2007

By TERRENCE STUTZ

CAPITOL JOURNALAUSTIN – GOP Sen. John Carona of Dallas was dubbed a "legislative manhole cover" Monday – but he didn't mind.

The moniker reflected his toughness in getting bills passed this year, said Sen. Kim Brimer, R-Fort Worth, who joined other colleagues in electing Mr. Carona to the chamber's No 2 post, ending a standout year for a Republican at the center of transportation issues.

Although the post of Senate president pro tempore is mostly ceremonial and bestowed on a senator on the basis of seniority, Mr. Carona will be second in line of succession for the governor, behind only the lieutenant governor.

After supporting speeches by other senators – some poking fun at his love of the Godfather movies and some lauding his performance as chairman of the transportation and homeland-security committee – Mr. Carona was elected to the post without opposition.

He called for preserving the Senate's so-called two-thirds rule, which requires the approval of two-thirds of the chamber before any bill can be debated.

The 11 Democrats in the 31-member Senate used the rule to block action on a GOP-backed voter ID bill this year – spurring some Republicans to call for the requirement to be eliminated.

The rule "protects us all against blind partisanship, and there is not one of us in this chamber who has served a term or more that doesn't realize how that rule has benefited us as many times as it didn't."

Mr. Carona, 51, a Dallas business executive who runs a national realty-management firm, also encouraged senators to keep debates focused on issues, not personalities or politics.

"We owe the public more just a series of 31-0 votes," he said. "Differing opinions are actually a good thing, and discussion makes it all the wiser."

Citing the courage of a Republican president who battled the "robber barons" of his day – Teddy Roosevelt – Mr. Carona said he the Legislature must be wary of big special interest.

"A new generation of robber barons may be back before us today ... and to handle them will take courageous leadership," he said.

Sen. Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo, praised Mr. Carona's work as chairman of the Senate transportation committee, where he was responsible for shepherding several bills that will reshape transportation planning in Texas and curb questionable policies of the state transportation commission that have angered lawmakers.

"He took on the powerful transportation commission and dared to say what many others had only thought before," Ms. Zaffirini said.

This year was the first time Mr. Carona chaired a Senate committee, and he also wrote the constitutional amendment requiring record votes in the Legislature.

He was elected to the Senate in 1990 after serving three terms in the House.