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Senator Nelson Named Key Player of 2007 Legislature
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By Mike Haley, Capital Inside
Jane Nelson is a conservative Republican, but Democrat John
Sharp and his allies in a $3 billion cancer research initiative knew
from the start that she was the state senator they needed to have as
their sponsor in the Capitol's east wing.
There were other very capable senators who'd offered to lead that effort.
But Nelson was the only candidate in the mind of the former comptroller who'd
spearheaded the initiative with high-profile support from Governor Rick Perry,
cyclist Lance Armstrong and others including Ways and Means Chairman Jim Keffer,
the House author.
It wasn't simply because Nelson is an experienced lawmaker who happens to chair the
Senate Health & Human Services Committee. Sharp and company turned to Nelson because
they knew she'd have her heart in the fight with the competitive spirit to win it. And she
did just that - shepherding the package with bipartisan support despite opposition from a
half-dozen Republican colleagues who didn't like the idea of financing the deal with borrowed
funds from bonds.
Nelson saw the cancer initiative as a labor of love that she views now as one of
the most important pieces of legislation she's ever passed if not the crowning
achievement of a 14-year Senate career. That's saying a lot when you consider the
long list of major legislation that she's initiated and led into law.
An ex-teacher who did a stint on the State Board of Education before joining the
Senate, Nelson is a mother of five who's been a student of a process that she appears
to have mastered through a mix of inimitable tenacity, passion, hard work and the
ability to sweet-talk one minute and to run over those who dare to get in her way the
next if that's what it takes. Nelson passed two out of every three bills that she had her
name on as author this year including a Medicaid reform package that escaped the House a
few hours before it melted down on the session's final weekend.
But Nelson had significant impact at times when her name wasn't on legislation as the lead
author. She was the first lawmaker to sound the alarm publicly on the governor's order
mandating HPV vaccines for sixth-grade girls - and that stopped the surprise move right in
its tracks for all practical purposes before legislation was filed and approved to make the roadblock official.
Nelson no longer has to tell anyone how much she despises the idea of expanded gambling in Texas.
All she had to do was bring her pink tennis shoes with her into the upper chamber in the final days of the
session to let it be known she would filibuster gambling legislation if it came up on the floor. Needless
to say, gambling was not an issue in the upper chamber as time ticked away.
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