Molly Ivins June 1

AUSTIN — Our gang. The Tarrant County delegation to the Texas Legislature in all its glory. Eleven strong, 14 if you count the three senators who represent chunks of Tarrant along with other counties. If the lines had been drawn a little differently, Tarrant would probably have five Democrats and five Republicans in the House, but some doubtful drawing yielded eight R's and two D's. Our one senator is a D and our three partials are all R's.

As a delegation, they are civil and inclined to teamwork. Unlike some delegations — Houston's is notorious — ours never has internal brawls. If one member proposes a local bill others dislike, it is usually pulled down. If they disagree on an issue, they do so agreeably.

In the House, our players are:

Rep. Toby Goodman, our best and most effective House member. Chair of Juvenile Justice and Family Issues. Quiet. Steady. Skilled. Respected. Open-minded. Listens to everyone. Knows how to get things done without breaking arms. Tacks toward goals. Does not side with Shiite Republicans on hot-flash issues, which gives him added credibility with House D's. Tuff on crime but also understands troubled kids need more than punishment. One to be proud of.

Rep. Kim Brime. Chair of Business and Industry. Pit-bull. Bully. Runs straight downfield and leaves a lot of bodies behind. So sold out to business that when he took a populist position during debate on the tax bill, the entire House started chuckling. Brimer's old deskmate Elliott Naishtat, an Austin liberal, wandered around pretending to be a proud papa. "See, years of sitting next to me and Kim's picked it up by osmosis. Listen to him up there denouncing corporations for ripping off the taxpayers. That's my boy!" With Brimer, you always have to figure out who he's working for.

His worst bill, although he's extremely proud of it, allows taxpayers to be soaked for building professional sports arenas. Brimer claims it's the way to bring the Pan American Games or the Olympics to Texas. Yeah, but it's also part of this ongoing rip-off by team owners who threaten to move elsewhere if the public doesn't pony up tax money to fix up their stadiums. Like, they're not making enough money already.

Best one can say of him is that he's a major player.

Rep. Sue Palmer, such a good freshman (freshmen, like good children, are to be seen but not heard) there is little "read" on her. She did carry one excellent bill to get rid of a nursing home rip-off called the "Medicaid bed" that costs taxpayers a bundle. She worked hard, did everything right, rounded up her votes and passed the bill in the House. Then the nursing home lobby killed it in the Senate. Welcome to the NFL, Ms. Palmer.

Rep. Anna Mowery, usually a good-government Republican, but not much of a player despite five terms in the House. "Her day is past," said one House leader. Some funny votes this session: the kind that make people ask, "Where is her head?" She voted against a campaign finance reform bill, but only because she tried to deal with the sponsor — and had the votes to carry the bill — but he wouldn't deal. "So I went back and voted against the bill. I guess it was kind of small of me," she confessed, "but he made me mad." Happens to them all.

Rep. Bill Carter, not the sharpest knife in the drawer. After years in the House, he knows how to get things done, but is not a major player. Word is he'd like a chairmanship and tried hard this session to show he could handle one if given the chance. But Tarrant already has two chairs, both white R's: San Antonio, by contrast, has only one. Doomed ambition.

Carried a bill to get the chilepequin named the Official State Native Pepper.

Rep. Lon Burnam,

Rep. Kent Grusendorf, R-Arlington, Shiite Republican. Ten years in the House and he still hasn't learned that being mean, nasty and ideological doesn't get you anywhere. Killed off the only campaign finance reform bill of the session.

Big on school vouchers. A perpetual contender for Ten Worst.

Why do y'all keep re-electing this man? He's doing no one any good. His momma never told him it's better to pull your weight than your gun.

Rep. Glenn Lewis, D-Fort Worth, our only black rep, and a pretty good guy. Tarrant's minority history in the Lege is undistinguished and this two-termer is a step up for us. Impressive, but has an odd hitch in his getalong: sometimes carries water for the Good Ol' Boys back in Tarrant. But also fights hard for folks in his district.

Rep. Nancy Moffat, R-Southlake. Look out. This third-termer has a reputation, and it's not good. In the old kindergarten report-card category "Works and Plays Well With Others," Moffat gets a minus. Temper. Snippy. Also, flirtatious mannerisms undermine credibility.

Carries water for developers, including Ross Perot Jr. and the Bum Bright family.

Rep. Todd Smith, R-Euless, semi-moderate, low-profile freshman. Nice guy. Could develop into a player. Too soon to tell.

{THE SENATE:}

Sen. Mike Moncrief, D-Fort Worth, a class act. A civil libertarian and a gentleman. Hard worker, in the office at 7 a.m. Often seen eating alone at a Chinese restaurant with homework spread all over the table. Not long on eloquence or showmanship, but increasingly listened to when he rises on constitutional issues. Willing to take lonely minority, even one-man stands when his sense of justice demands it. Fought parental notification on abortion. Even opponents were impressed.

Could have had leadership position, but Lt. Gov. Bullock felt he wasn't a team player — too independent. Has given Moncrief chairmanship of a special committee, General Investigating, which if used properly can be both powerful and useful. Anti-smoking crusader. Made anti-stalking bill constitutional. Helped pass regulation of HMOs.

In a Senate full of small-bore pols and Shiites, Moncrief towers over most of his colleagues, not with brains, wit or bullying, but with a deceptively gentle rectitude. He does not back off when he believes he is right. One of his strongest weapons — good manners. He never fails to treat people courteously, whether they have come to rail against one of his bills or not. Can make hearings on explosive issues into impressive exercises in democracy, where citizens listen to and learn from one another.

Sen. Chris Harris, R-Arlington, Mr. Special Interest. Takes every lobby trip and freebie going. A family-law attorney, pro-lifer, has carried some smelly bills, but helped out on effort this session to skunk the tobacco lobby. (Tobacco lobsters won anyway.) Senate sponsor of the Brimer stadium bill. Sponsored home equity legislation. After six years in Senate, wants to run for higher office and is setting himself up for a couple of races. One unbelievable special interest bill would prohibit Tarrant County prosecutors from running for judge while working in the district attorney's office — a little job protection for Harris's old friend District Judge James Wilson, who looks to be challenged by Assistant DA Fred Cummmings in '98. Do you like it?

Should be given credit for helping on the HMO regulation bill: had to go against the governor on that.

Sen. Jane Nelson, R-Flower Mound, the pits. .MDBU/A Shiite, .MDNM/ intellectually challenged.MDBU/ enough for twins. .MDNM/Nelson is always the person who doesn't get the joke — and she's so unpopular in the Senate no one ever tells her, "Jane, it's just a joke."

Her worst bill this session: dedicating all state lottery proceeds to education, thus pulling money out of general revenue without providing an additional nickel for the schools. Fiscal folly.

Her self-righteousness and bad manners make getting the "read" on her a painful task. Mention her name to a Senate-sider and it's "Don't get me started" and then they go on for an hour. Has caused dedicated feminists to question whether women ever should have been given the vote. Good point: not corrupt.

Sen. David Sibley, R-Waco, has a sliver of Tarrant in his district. Interesting case. Only dentist-lawyer in the Lege. (Honest: Baylor College of Dentistry and Baylor School of Law.) Bright. Master of legislative process. Carried a good bill to provide health care coverage for almost a million Texas children. Sets up the Texas Healthy Kids Corp., which if it is ever fully funded should save the state a bundle. Last session's tort reform champeen: this session apparently felt it had gone too far and carried bill allowing folks to sue HMOs. So strong Gov. Bush wouldn't sign it, just let it slip into law. A major player.

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Molly Ivins is a columnist for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

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