Lt. Gov. Patrick Names Senate Committees, Further Punishes Democrats
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - Democrats in the Texas Senate were shoved further aside by the Republican majority Friday as Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick announced committee appointments with the minority party in charge of only two panels.
Patrick, a tea party favorite, had warned he was under no obligation to appoint Democrats to leadership positions.
Sen. John Whitmire of Houston, the longtime head of the Criminal Justice Committee, and Sen. Eddie Lucio of Brownsville, who will lead Intergovernmental Relations, were the only Democrats granted chairmanships.
Lucio's position will be seen as a reward for siding with Republicans on abortion restrictions in 2013, and earlier this week on a rule change that boosted Republican voting power.
Patrick appointed Flower Mound Republican Sen. Jane Nelson as the first female chair of the powerful Finance Committee.
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