Sen. Jane Nelson, shown with Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst at a February Denton County GOP event. (Michael Ainsworth/Staff photographer)
Update at 4:03 p.m.: I’ve corrected original post to clarify that the Senate Finance Committee chief serves on, but is not co-chair, of the Legislative Budget Board. The lieutenant governor gets that plum assignment.
Original item at 2:27 p.m.:Sen. Jane Nelson on Tuesday became the first woman to preside over a budget-writing committee of the Texas Legislature.
The Senate Finance Committee, which writes a version of the two-year budget and vets all tax legislation, met to receive a briefing on state finances.
“Finance,” as it’s called, is decidedly male territory. While it has three new Republican members, all are men. As was true last session, males outnumber females, 12 to 3.
But the influential committee’s all-important gavel is now in a woman’s hand. By tradition, that will make Nelson the co-chairman of a House-Senate conference committee that at session’s end hashes out the budget’s final contours. And when the Legislature is not in session, she will serve on the Legislative Budget Board, a group of 10 key lawmakers. With the governor’s assent, it can shift money among line items.
Last week, Nelson joked with reporters about breaking a glass ceiling in state budget writing.
“We’re going to do it right!” she said.
At Tuesday’s hearing, two female senators, Democrat Sylvia Garcia of Houston and Republican Donna Campbell of New Braunfels, sat on the dais with the 13 members present — even though Garcia and Campbell aren’t members. Nelson had invited all senators to attend. They heard officials from the comptroller’s office and budget board present an overview of Texas’ fiscal condition. In a word, it’s good. If it were a nation, Texas would have the world’s 12th largest economy, ranking just behind Canada and ahead of Australia, said John Heleman of the comptroller’s office.
Nelson let out a whistle.
Sen. Eddie Lucio Jr., D-Brownsville, right, shown at a hearing last month in South Texas about unaccompanied child migrants. (AP Photo/The Monitor, Gabe Hernandez)
Earlier, she let senators make opening remarks.
Garcia quickly noted the obvious — Nelson’s gender and her ascent to a budget chairmanship.
“I believe you are the first woman to do so,” Garcia said. “Viva la mujer!”
The Finance Committee is “a little light on women,” said Sen. Joan Huffman, a Houston Republican who has served one session on the panel.
She said Nelson earned her chops, logging 22 years in the Senate after serving two terms on the state Board of Education.
“Girlfriend, you worked your way to get this position,” Huffman said. “All those years on state board, all those years on [the Senate] Health and Human Services [Committee,] trying to get the state to do the right thing.”
Democratic Sen. Eddie Lucio Jr. of Brownsville joined in the celebration — with a bit of ham.
“I must say you’re the best looking chair we’ve had since then, by far,” said Lucio, 68, noting that he has served on Finance since 1991.
He hastily added he’s sure Nelson also will be the panel’s hardest-working leader of modern times.