Senator Eliot Shapleigh - El Paso, Texas

Gov. Rick Perry

Although Gov. Rick Perry was re-elected with a minority of the vote, he is pursuing a policy that aims to expand the weak executive powers the state constitution gave his office.

Trying to impose his will without public debate, the governor has been firing off executive orders in all directions. However, the results have been as unimpressive as his recent percentage of the electorate.

Two of his bolder orders are under attack on different battlefields:

In state court, District Judge Stephen Yelenosky in Austin issued a temporary injunction disallowing the swift consideration of applications to build coal-fired power plants. He instructed the state's administrative law judge to reconsider requests by plant opponents for a delay so they could build their case. He also expressed doubt that the governor has the legal authority to require a state agency to abide by his orders. The ruling could lead to challenges of the HPV vaccinations on the same legal grounds.

On another front, the Texas House Public Health Committee sent on for debate a bill that would overturn Perry's executive order requiring mandatory vaccinations of girls to prevent cervical cancer-causing HPV virus. The bill, sponsored by 90 of the 150 House members, would make it difficult for the governor to institute a mandatory vaccination program. Lawmakers also asked Attorney General Greg Abbott for an opinion on whether Perry's executive orders carry the force of law.

In another setback for the governor, vaccine-maker Merck abandoned its lobbying campaign to make the Gardasil HPV vaccine required. Instead, Merck will work to make it accessible to women on a voluntary basis. Because Merck gave Perry campaign contributions and employed the governor's former chief of staff as a lobbyist, Perry's order, though reasonable public policy, looks less like a public blow against cancer than a private quid pro quo.

On both the coal plant and vaccination issues, Perry's attempt to rule by fiat created discord, particularly within his own party and political supporters. Much as he might like to emulate his predecessor, President George W. Bush, he is simply not vested with the power to play decider.

Environmental lawyer Jim Blackburn described Perry's coal plant executive order as "a grab of power that is unprecedented, and it's wrong." On the vaccination order, state Rep. Brian McCall, R-Plano, claimed the governor sought to expand his powers in a manner unprecedented in Texas history.

During Bush's tenure as governor, he successfully worked as a conciliator with Democratic majorities in both houses of the Legislature. Perry has neither the constitutional authority nor the charisma to run roughshod over the Legislature. His heavyhanded attempt to require the HPV vaccinations might backfire and hurt Texas women by provoking a law that prevents such a program for years to come.

If executive orders are Perry's attempt to increase his appeal as a candidate for higher office, he and his brain trust should stop and reconsider.