Last week Capitol Insider reported on a pair of open records requests submitted by AgendaWise to the offices of Speaker Joe Straus and Representative Phil King.
These requests have been filled, with each office leaving out emails the other included. These omissions are violations of the Texas Open Records Law.
Since public officials are not policed in filling records requests responses often appear to be dishonest.
In this case, Reps. King and Straus were given requests for the same set of information – all emails between King and one of Straus’ staffers, Patrica Shipton, dating back to November. So, anything one office sends, the other was obligated to include, and vice versa.
Ironically, King emailed the Speaker’s office expressing concern about the poor state of ethics in the House. Contra our state’s Open Records Law, he left this email out of his response to our request.
Another email King failed to turn over to AgendaWise showed him working as the Speaker’s whip of conservatives.
Writing to the Speaker’s office in January about the Tea Party Caucus, King signaled he would be working members and tea party leaders on the Speaker’s much anticipated water bills.
House Bill 4 passed last week without being amended to safeguard the fund from waste, fraud and abuse. The bill that left the House allowed for the creation of a “water infrastructure bank”, a water development slush fund.
In the coming weeks house members will likely be whipped by the Speaker, through King, to finish the job.
The first bill, HB 4, only created the shell of a water development slush fund. The next bill, HB 11, is the one that attempts to fill the slush fund with money from the Rainy Day Fund. King is a co-author of HB 11.
King’s office included a few emails the Speaker’s office omitted.
In one of them, King shared his access to a conservative group’s bill analysis. The conservative group is TCCRI. After sharing this information the Speaker’s office thanked King and asked him, “Will you help us get them good information in the future?”
In this we see any access conservatives give to King is access given to Speaker Straus, and King’s “concerns” are most likely coming from the Speaker himself.
Finally, last month King blind copied the Speaker’s office on an email he sent to Michael Quinn Sullivan, president of the conservative group Empower Texans. King was burned when Shipton replied all on that email chain, thanking “Phil” for copying her on his questioning of Sullivan.
In addition to her thanks, Shipton said, “Can we talk tomorrow on the floor?”
The next morning on the floor King decried “outside groups” and the problems they were causing.