Rick Perry

James Richard "Rick" Perry (born March 4, 1950) is a Republican politician and the current Governor of Texas. He assumed office in December of 2000 when then-Governor George W. Bush resigned to assume the office of President of the United States, and was elected in 2002 over Democrat Tony Sanchez.

Governorship

Early in his term as governor, Rick Perry worked to reform Texas health care and make it more accessible, increasing health funding by $6 billion and the famous CHIP program (Children's Health Insurance Program) which was designed to insure 500,000 children. Some of these programs have faced funding problems in recent years. He also greatly increased school funding prior to the 2002 election, creating new scholarship programs to help needy children in Texas including $300 million for the Texas GRANT Scholarship Program. A total of $9 billion was allocated to Texas public schools, colleges, and universities and combined with a new emphasis on accountability for both teachers and students.

Related Topics:
CHIP - Texas GRANT Scholarship Program

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Perry's campaign for lieutenant governor and governor rested to a large extent on a tough stance on crime. In June 2002, Perry vetoed a ban on the execution of mentally-retarded inmates. He has also backed block grants for crime programs.

Related Topics:
Crime - June 2002 - Veto - Block grant

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Another important element of Perry's platform has been tort reform; as lieutenant governor he had tried and failed to place a limit on class action awards and allowing plaintiffs to distribute awards among several liable sources. In 2003, Perry sponsored a controversial proposal that capped medical malpractice rewards; this proposal ultimately passed.

Related Topics:
Tort reform - 2003 - Medical malpractice

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Perry, a committed fiscal conservative, has made tax reform and job growth chief aims of his policies as governor. Perry resisted new income and sales taxes, protected the state's Rainy Day fund, balanced the state budget, and worked to reduce property taxes that exploded with inflation in property values in the late 1990s. He has been credited with attracting thousands of jobs to Texas in recent years by cutting payroll and property taxes. His sales tax cuts have attracted new retail to Texas but in recent years his tax relief has come under scrutiny for sapping strength from government programs, particularly education.

Related Topics:
Fiscal conservative - Tax reform - Sales tax - Rainy Day fund - Balanced - Property tax - Inflation

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Perry has faced considerable resistance in balancing fiscal conservatism, education equity, and the politics of school finance. As lieutenant governor, he initially sponsored a controversial school vouchers bill as an alternative to the Robin Hood proposal that was working at the time. In 2004, Perry attacked the same Robin Hood plan as a part of the education system's woes and attempted to get the legislature to finally abolish the system and replace it with one that he believed would encourage greater equity, cost less, not increase property or sales taxes, and not discourage job growth by legalizing video lottery terminals at racetracks and on Indian reservations and higher cigarette taxes.

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A special session of the legislature was convened in May to address the issues, but there was considerable resistance in the house, even from Speaker Tom Craddick. Perry's proposal was attacked by Democrats and many Republicans who represent property-poor districts and was rejected 126-0. During the session, Perry became involved in a heated debate with his own Comptroller, Republican Carole Keeton Strayhorn about the merits of his school finance proposal. Strayhorn will run against Perry in the 2006 primary.http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050618/ap_on_re_us/texas_governor_s_race Another special session was called in June 2005 after Perry vetoed all funding for public schools for the 2007-2008 biennium, stating in a press briefing that "I?m not going to approve an education budget that shortchanges teacher salary increases, textbooks, education technology, and education reforms. And I cannot let $2 billion sit in some bank account when it can go directly to the classroom." Perry's 2006 campaign office stated that "without a special session, about $2 billion that had been intended for teacher pay raises, education reforms and other school priorities would have gone unused instead of going to schools because House Bill 2 didn?t pass." http://www.rickperry.org/news/display.php?id=11 The bill failed to pass in the first session, and was refiled in a second session, in which the bill was defeated 62-79, after 50 amendments were added without discussion or debate.http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/hjrnl/792/pdf/79c2day03final.pdf#page=69

Related Topics:
Tom Craddick - Carole Keeton Strayhorn

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Governor Perry set a record in the 2001 legislative session for the use of the veto: he rejected legislation a total of 82 times, more than any governor in any single legislative session in the history of the state since Reconstruction. Perry's use of the veto drew criticism from both parties in the 2002 gubernatorial campaign, having used the veto only nine fewer times than preceding governor George W. Bush over three legislative sessions and twenty-two more than Ann Richards cast in two sessions.http://texaspolitics.laits.utexas.edu/html/exec/0502.html In the two legislative sessions since the 2001 session, Governor Perry was more conservative in his use of the veto, employing it only 51 times in total.http://texaspolitics.laits.utexas.edu/html/exec/governors/index.html However, as of 2005, he has used the veto more than any other Governor of Texas in a contiguous administration; the only governor who exceeded Perry's total was Republican Bill Clements, facing a Democrat-dominated state government, vetoing legislation 184 times over two nonconsecutive terms to Perry's 132.

Related Topics:
2001 - Veto - Reconstruction - George W. Bush - Ann Richards - As of 2005 - Republican - Bill Clements - Democrat

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Perry has backed states' rights on several occasions, including the ability of states to decide their own policy on the environment and on drugs.

Related Topics:
Environment - Drugs

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In 2005, Perry signed a bill limiting late term abortions and requiring women under the age of 18 to have parental permission for an abortion. Due to the fact that he signed the bill in the gymnasium of Calvary Christian Academy, an evangelical religious school, Perry has come under criticism from abortion advocates and supporters of a church-state separation.

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Perry-isms

As with many public officials, Perry has established a reputation for verbal gaffes during his political career. During his term as Lieutenant Governor, Perry's motorcade was pulled over by a Texas state trooper as his driver was speeding. A video from the trooper's car shows Perry informing the officer of his stature and stating "Why don't you just let us get on down the road?" The video was widely used by Perry's Democratic opponents in 2002 during their unsuccessful attempt to unseat him.

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In June of 2005 Perry was taping a satellite feed interview from Austin with a Houston television station over his legislative agenda. The interview concluded with Perry declining to reveal the details of a legislative package after a reporter pressed him for information. Perry then believed the camera had been turned off. The feed was still live though, and caught Perry making an offhanded remark to the reporter, "Adios, MoFo." Perry later called the reporter to apologize.http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=local&id=3180565

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