Grandma goes electric

In fact, the comptroller is more than the state's accountant, tax collector, and revenue estimator. Her predecessors, the late Bob Bullock and John Sharp, masterfully transformed the office into arguably the most powerful in state government. The comptroller has broad authority to scrutinize school districts and government agencies. After exposing shortcomings, the comptroller can then recommend changes that fit his or her political agenda.

As a result, a savvy comptroller can guide the direction of state government even more than the governor and the lieutenant governor can, even though the comptroller's position is not nearly as prestigious. Bullock left the job in 1990 to become lieutenant governor, and Sharp tried unsuccessfully in 1998 to make the same leap.

Rylander's political shrewdness is undeniable. Barry Williamson beat her in the 1992 Republican primary for railroad commissioner, but it was Rylander who had the goods for a scandal on the Democrat in the race, Lena Guerrero, an appointee of then-Gov. Ann Richards. Williamson beat Guerrero after Rylander's defeated campaign let loose of its little secret that Guerrero had lied about having a college degree.

Rylander was undeterred by that 1992 defeat, which came two years after she co-chaired Clayton Williams' unsuccessful run for governor. She ran for railroad commissioner again in 1994 against Mary Scott Nabers, another Richards appointee, and defeated her. Two years later she won easily over Hector Uribe to keep her seat. She returned to campaign mode six months later to run for comptroller.

Frank Cahoon, a Midland oilman who was the only Republican in the Texas Legislature in 1964, says Rylander has followed in the footsteps of other past railroad commissioners. They have used the office as a stepping stone and bled dry the oil industry to get to where they wanted to be, he says.

"I am disappointed when people assume that job, raise money from the industry, and quickly move on to another," Cahoon says. "But I would have to say I am no more disappointed in Carole than I am in several others."

Sharp, eight years after he left the railroad commission, was still able to tap into the oil industry to help fund his unsuccessful 1998 Democratic campaign for lieutenant governor. Cahoon believes those in the oil industry, including Republicans, continued to support Sharp because they always felt he would be a short-timer in the job and therefore did not feel betrayed when he left. "I think we always had it in the back of our minds that he was on a career path aimed at being governor of Texas," he says.

The oil industry saw Rylander differently, Cahoon says. "We viewed Carole as a tremendously energetic person and a great campaigner. I think the general feeling was that she would get on the commission and she'd be pretty hands-on. And even though she didn't know much about the oil industry initially, I do think we believed that she would stay on for a protracted period of time."

Rylander told them as much, both on the campaign trail and when she privately telephoned them for contributions.

"I would say she was an aggressive fund-raiser," Cahoon says. "She is just an aggressive personality in anything she does."

The oil industry happily donated money to her 1998 campaign for comptroller when she asked for it, which may have had more to do with self-preservation than adoration. Rylander continued as a commissioner while campaigning and thus still had a hold over the industry she regulated. Moreover, had she lost the race, she would have been eligible to serve out the remaining four years of her term. The industry couldn't afford to snub her.

As comptroller, she is no longer able to rely on the gusher of oil-industry money to catapult her political career. Now, she can rely on the businesspeople who stand to benefit most from e-Texas.

When Rylander finally unveiled e-Texas during an Austin news conference in November, she did not emphasize the outsourcing aspects as much as she did its electronic-gizmo angle. How do you think e-Texas got its name, anyway?

The goal of e-Texas, according to the first sentence of the comptroller's news release, is "to transform Texas government from its traditional bricks and mortar foundation to a national technological leader that uses bytes, chips, and satellite airwaves to deliver services."

At the news conference Rylander stressed that government needs to work toward the day when Texans can renew their driver's licenses, for example, over the Internet. But a 10-member governor's task force, mandated by the Legislature, is already working on that by developing an experimental Internet site to handle simple government transactions. Ironically, the comptroller's office is helping develop it.

The duplication adds to the debate about Rylander's real motive with e-Texas. "There is no question there are opportunities out there to serve people well by having government use technology and the Internet," says Ed Sills, communications director for the Texas AFL-CIO labor organization. "But we think e-Texas is a stalking-horse for massive privatization proposals."

E-Texas allows Rylander to curtsy to the business sector, which can benefit from further outsourcing. She in turn can benefit politically from businesses rewarding her with financial support.