February 7, 2007

Fourteen Senators Take Aim at Governor's
Order with Freshman's Bill to Stop Vaccine

By Mike Hailey
Capitol Inside Editor

More than a dozen Republican state senators have joined forces behind legislation that a freshman colleague has filed in an attempt to strike down Governor Rick Perry's executive order requiring all sixth-grade Texas girls to be immunized against the human papilloma virus that causes cervical cancer.

State Senator Glenn Heger, a Katy Republican who's been a member of the upper chamber for less than a month, has enlisted the support of 13 fellow Senate members as co-sponsors for Senate Bill 438, which he filed less than four days after Perry caught Texas and the nation by surprise with the HPV vaccination decree.

Hegar's bill seeks to amend the Texas Education Code with a provision that would prevent the state from requiring the HPV vaccine as a prerequisite for admission to any elementary or secondary school in the state. "This subsection preempts all contrary executive orders of the governor," the Hegar bill says.

Hegar, who spent two terms in the Texas House before winning an open Senate seat last year, submitted the measure for consideration during the regular session despite assertions by the governor's office that legislators lack the authority to reverse the executive order. Hegar - ironically - represents the Senate seat that Democrat Ken Armbrister of Victoria gave up last year before signing on as Perry's legislative director for the 2007 session.

Perry held his ground Tuesday amid a tidal wave of criticism that seemed to escalate instead of starting to die down. During a State of the State to a joint session of the House and Senate, the Republican governor said that he understood the concerns that many legislators share about the HPV vaccine. But Perry indicated that he was prepared to weather the storm amid his belief that the executive order will ultimately save lives.

All but six of the Senate's 20 Republican members have added their names to the bill. The co-sponsors include State Senators Jane Nelson of Lewisville and Florence Shapiro of Plano - who chair the Health and Human Services Committee and the Senate Education Committee respectively. The Senate's two medical doctors - State Senators Bob Deuell of Greenville and Kyle Janek of Houston - are co-sponsoring the proposed prohibition on mandatory HPV vaccinations as well.

The list of co-sponsors also includes State Senators Kip Averitt of Waco, Kim Brimer of Fort Worth, John Carona of Dallas, Kevin Eltife of Tyler, Troy Fraser of Horseshoe Bay, Chris Harris of Arlington, Dan Patrick of Houston, Jeff Wentworth of San Antonio and Tommy Williams of The Woodlands. Wentworth, Fraser, Carona, Brimer and Averitt are all committee chairs. Like Hegar, Patrick is also a Senate rookie less than a month into his first term.

While the collection of names on the Hegar bill is impressive, it's not enough to ensure that the measure will clear the upper chamber, where two-thirds support among the Senate's 31 members is needed to pass legislation. Even if Hegar wins the support of the half-dozen Republican members who haven't signed on as co-sponsors at this point, he will need at least one vote from a Democrat to suspend the two-thirds rule before the bill can be heard on the Senate floor.

Perry's sparked a political tempest within his own party when he issued the order near the close of of business on Friday. Republicans from the statehouse to the grassroots are angry that the governor issued the vaccination mandate without giving the Legislature a chance to debate it. Conservatives see the directive as an affront to parental rights - and they're concerned that it will send the wrong message to young people about having sex at an early age. The virus is spread through sexual relations. Critics of Perry's decision contend that the governor jumped the gun when no emergency existed - and they are worried that the Gardisil vaccine that's used to combat HPV hasn't been sufficiently tested after being approved by the federal government for use by physicians less than eight months ago.

Members of both parties are pointing to the governor's close ties to former legislator Mike Toomey, an ex-chief of staff who's one of the three lobbyists in Texas for the company that manufactures and sells the HPV vaccine, as a possible motive behind the mandate served up by Perry. But rank and file Democrats appear to be split on the issue - and some of the most influential Democratic lawmakers in Austin are applauding the policy that Perry sought to establish in the gubernatorial decree despite their suspicions about the controversial move.

Hegar, nonetheless, appears confident that he will win Senate approval for SB 438 and that he will have the votes to override a possible veto if necessary. More than a dozen House members have reportedly offered to co-sponsor the Hegar bill if clears the upper chamber.

Hegar was appointed by Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst as vice-chair of the Government Organization Committee after being sworn into his first Senate term last month. He's also a member of the Criminal Justice, Nominations and Natural Resources committees and serves on the Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Affairs & Coastal Resources as well.