Curt W. Olson
COlson@TexasBudgetSource.com

The Texas Senate melted late Sunday under the weight of a last-minute filibuster to delay passage of a key fiscal bill.

The fun then crossed over to the House.

State Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth, spoke for about 75 minutes, running out the deadline for bills to pass to get to Gov. Rick Perry,

That prevented Senate Bill 1811 — a bill with $3.5 billion in funding — from passing Sunday evening. The bill is necessary for State Comptroller Susan Combs to certify the 2012-13 budget.

However, the Legislature also needs passage of SB 23 — a bill with $450 million in savings for human service agencies.

SB 1811 was a 350-page bill with several financial matters for the budget, including the school-funding plan.

“For the first time ever we are not funding student population growth,” Davis said as she started her filibuster about 10:45 p.m.

She launched into about 15 minutes of reading letters from constituents. From there, she rattled off a litany of deficiencies with SB 1811 — targeting the school funding gap of $4 billion.

"This is a tool we had to make a stand … and I'm glad I used it on behalf of the people I represent,” Davis reportedly said at a news conference following her filibuster.

Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst was nowhere near as generous. He said he was “disappointed and this now puts state budget in a crisis.”

Unless the House and Senate finish their business Monday, the special session would start Tuesday. Perry could load the session with multiple ideas. The Texas Public Policy Foundation called on Perry to add the health care compact to a special session.

The House passed SB 1811 on an 84-63 vote. It was apparently prepared to pass conference committee reports on instructional materials and SB 23 when things degenerated there, too. Democrats ran out the clock in the House without act on those other bills.