Early this session Springer was spotted at a karaoke bar in Austin flipping the double bird to an audience of lawmakers and staffers as he belted the lyrics to “Zombie,” by the Cranberries, a warning about the ruinous effects of pointless hostility. That’s Springer in a nutshell. His actions give offense. His affect says, “Who, me?”
Springer “is not smart enough to be a go-to for Dan Patrick or cagey enough to play the lobby,” said one lobbyist. So he’s stuck as a legislative bottom-feeder, pushing initiatives more influential senators wouldn’t touch. This session he targeted renewable-energy producers with punitive taxes. He tried to bar the children of undocumented migrants from attending public school, unless the federal government pays for them.
On the rare occasions when Springer had a serious bill to offer, he seemed bored. At a hearing he was asked by a fellow Republican if his Second Look Act would allow prisoners who had committed violent crimes as teenagers automatic parole later in life. To anyone who had read the bill’s few pages, the answer was no. But Springer said it would. His response alarmed others on the committee, and the bill died.
He seemed to be motivated by personal animosity more than a desire to make good policy. In late May he singlehandedly bounced 22 bills from the Local and Uncontested calendar, reserved for uncontroversial bills. This was an assertion of Springer’s power. But a closer examination of what he tried to kill just made Springer seem smaller. One bill, later resuscitated, would have helped day care employees participate in local active-shooter trainings. Who, me?
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