Dear Friends, As we are staring down the final days of the 88th Session of the TX Legislature, we have a few wins to report, but certainly not enough. Here are some highlights of this past week with 11 days left in the session. I was able to testify on Monday at the Senate HHS Committee on HB 3162 (Klick) which revises the Advanced Directive Act. The bill makes several improvements to the existing code, but primarily, it changes the "10-day rule" for withdrawing life support and treatment to "25 day rule". It also adds a 7 day notification period before the countdown begins. The committee approved the bill immediately after testimony, and the whole Senate passed it yesterday. This is a big win and a long time coming! SB14 (Campbell) is the ban on gender transitioning of minor children. After being stalled in the House two previous times, this one finally passed the House last Friday and is now on it's way to the Governor for signing. Another win thanks to the persistence of grassroots activists. Even 6 Democrats voted for this bill! SB15 (Middleton), requiring collegiate athletes to compete with their original biological sex also passed the House this week. SB17 (Creighton) would prevent DEI practices in hiring and policy at Texas colleges and universities. It is on the scheduled for a vote on the House floor TODAY! SB12 (Hughes) will prevent children from attending drag shows and other sexually explicit performances. It is also scheduled for a vote in the House TODAY! HJR146 (Capriglione) regarding the right to use cash is on life support, in the Senate Business & Commerce Committee. Chair Schwertner is not prioritizing the bill in committee. HB5 (Hunter) which would bring back Chapter 313 type tax subsidies for corporations has been prioritized in the Senate Business & Commerce Committee, and a hearing will be held TODAY! This one is a BAD BILL! Last session Chapter 313 was not renewed and we all rejoiced. Now we have a new program with a new name and it's worse! HB3418 (Canales) is the pilot program for a mileage tax. I was also able to testify against this one this week (AGAIN!). We testified against it in the House and again this week in the Senate. Seven people were signed up to testify. Two were for the vote, seven against. It is currently left pending in committee. SB595 (Kolkhorst) requiring parental permission to conduct psych evaluation or treatment in schools was reported favorably out of the House Committee yesterday. HOWEVER - there is very little time for Calendars Committee to get it scheduled for a vote. HB900 (Patterson) which removes the dirty books from school libraries was also passed favorably out of the Senate Committee yesterday. We have better hopes for it's passage in the Senate because they are not at the mercy of a Calendars Committee! HB20 (Schaefer) was our best hope for meaningful border security and is now dead on a point of order by Dem. Anchia, and sustained by Speaker Phelan. It has been returned to committee where it will remain. Some of the HB20 language was amended onto HB7 and passed in the House, but HB7 as amended has other problems. The bill is now in the Senate Border Security Committee, and we have hopes that the Senate will improve the bill. Texas Scorecard has a very good article, explaining how the bill has been amended and the expected result. HB82 (Spiller) regarding interstate compact and building the wall was laid on the table in lieu of the companion SB 1403 (Parker). This one has passed and been sent to the Governor. As you can see, we have a mixed bag of wins, losses, and bills on life support in the final days. Tax relief is still up in the air as the Senate and House try to hammer out their differences and come up with a plan they can both agree on. The problem with whatever they come up with is that is won't provide much actual long term relief for taxpayers. It's another temporary band aid on the broken system. In this final week - here's what YOU can do to help: Contact Senator Schwerter, and members of the Senate Business & Commerce Committee - Two Requests: Urge him to prioritize HJR146 and KILL HB5 Contact your House members to vote YES on SB12, SB17 and SB595 Contact the Lt. Governor and your Senate members to vote YES on HB900 without amendments. Contact members of the Senate Business & Commerce Committee and YOUR Senator - ask them to vote NO on HB3418. And finally - pray for everyone involved. Pray for wisdom and discernment for those making decisions, pray for strength and courage to do the right thing in the face of peer pressure to do otherwise. Pray for the activists who give their time and treasure to work these issues. I'm in a hotel as I write this, so don't have access to all my home computer files. So you'll have to use your TLO skills and look up phone numbers on your own. You can do it! And if you don't know how to use the TLO.... We have a workshop for that! The next Certified True Texan Weekend Workshops will be June 2 and 3 in Katy, TX. Six classes will be offered, including Citizen Advocate Training where we cover lots of topics on understanding the legislature. Register here! You might ask - why worry about understanding the legislature now that the session is nearly over? It's because the work continues after session ends. During the interim, the committees still meet and take public testimony. It is their job to oversee and implement laws passed previously, so the work doesn't end. TTP Citizen Advocates will remain engaged throughout the interim in any way we can be effective. We will be at the Capitol on Tuesday, May 23rd to carry on the work, but we will not be there for Sine Die on May 29. If special sessions are called, we'll be back to do it all again. Join us on Tuesday for our final day of activism in the 88th Regular Session. Let's meet in the Rotunda at 10 am. Thanks to everyone who participated with us this session. We've seen amazing engagement by so many grassroots activists.! This is why we build the army, so thanks for being a part of it. For Texas! Fran Rhodes, President Contact Information
Governor Abbott
- Governor's office: 512-463-1782 or 800-843-5789
- Chief of Staff Gardner Pate: 512-463-1762
- Policy Advisory Steve Munisteri: 512-463-1830
Lt. Governor Patrick
Speaker Phelan
- Capitol office: 512-463-1000
- District Office in Orange: 409-745-2777
Click below for House and Senate Committees. Then click on the committee of your choice to see members of that Committee. Then click on the name to see their office number and phone number. House Committees Senate Committees |
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