Local News: Representative Fred Brown is on the Couch

Brown Lands on the Couch
By Janet Phelps

From the Bryan-College Station Eagle

State Rep. Fred Brown was among 10 legislators who made the 'Furniture' category in the July issue of Texas Monthly magazine's semi-annual Best and Worst Legislators feature.

The College Station Republican on Tuesday brushed off the magazine as a liberally-slanted publication after editors put him in the category of being as useless as furniture.

"You've got to be kidding me," Brown said upon hearing of his designation. "I've had a great legislative session. I got all the legislation passed that was important to our district, and because I'm not liberal enough to get noticed by Texas Monthly is no concern of mine because as long as I keep my constituents happy in Bryan-College Station and do what they expect me to, I'm doing well."

The term "furniture," as explained in the magazine, refers to lawmakers who are inactive --"indistinguishable from their desks, chairs and inkwells" -- and the least consequential.

The magazine has compiled listings since 1973 after each legislative session. Other local representatives have been named on the list, although this is Brown's first turn.

In 2007, Sen. Steve Ogden, R-Bryan, and Rep. Lois Kolkhorst, R-Brenham, both were cited as among the "best."

The lists are compiled by Paul Burka, Texas Monthly's senior executive editor, and Patricia Kilday Hart. They cover the House and Senate, respectively.

Burka said Brown, who has served in the House of Representatives since 1999, has been active in the past on issues that are important to him, but "there wasn't anything like that this time."

Burka said he and Hart typically make their own lists of people who are contenders for the furniture list, then "I'll just go around and check a little bit," he said.

One peremptory challenge is enough to keep someone off the list, he said.

Brown said he had "no idea" why he was named.

"The Texas Monthly is pretty liberal, so for them to say nice things about a conservative is pretty unusual," Brown said, adding that he maintained that belief despite the fact half of the legislators on the furniture list are democrats.

Brown pointed to several bills he authored or sponsored during the past session -- one that will allow night classes at colleges and another that will extend victim confidentiality in child sexual abuse cases to civil courts. A third bill that would have required university health care centers to accept private insurance was vetoed by Gov. Rick Perry.

Although Brown said there were "about nine" pieces of legislation he helped to craft or pass that would positively affect his constituents, he could name only three and referred other questions to a staff member.

Brown pointed to high marks he received from Texans for Fiscal Responsibility, which maintains the Empower Texans Web site. The group recently gave him a high score on its Fiscal Responsibility Index with a score of 90 out of 100.

Burka, who has posted several responses from lawmakers and readers on his Texas Monthly blog, responded online to a critic who called the listings as "little more than a front for left-wing ideological agendas."

"We have liberal readers, and we have conservative readers. Each of these groups expect[s] us to be fair. The Best and Worst Legislators story could not have flourished for 36 years if our audience perceived us to be biased in one direction or the other," he wrote.

On Tuesday, Burka said both 'furniture' and 'worst legislators' are bad spots to land on, but most lawmakers prefer to be named 'worst' over the title Brown was given.

"To me it's hard to distinguish between them. I think in terms of being able to argue against it -- it's easier to argue against the worst list," he said, adding, "I don't know that I'd want to be on either one."

Published on Wednesday, June 24, 2009