Week 7 89th Texas Legislature

Dear Friends,

I want to start this week's message with a great big THANK YOU to all of you who respond when we ask you to do things.  You are doing the work, and you are making a difference.  Sometimes you copy me on messages you've written or just let me know that you've done the assignment, or you come to Austin on Tuesdays, and y'all make me so proud!

I also need to tell you that even though it may feel like it's not making a difference, it really is.  TTP has gained a strong reputation with Senators and Representatives.  Some of them love us and some despise us, but there's no doubt that they know who we are and they pay attention, and either way - it works for us. If they despise us, they fear us enough to pay attention, and if they love us, they want our help.  Just in the past 2 weeks, I've had FOUR legislative offices reach out to me to connect, get our opinion on things, and ask for support for specific legislation.  That's huge!  YOU ARE MAKING A DIFFERENCE!  So don't get discouraged.

Speaking of discouraging....one of our supporters in a Democrat Senate District tried to schedule a meeting with her Senator for next week when we're at the Capitol.  She was told that neither the Senator, nor any staff member had the "band width" to handle a 10 minute meeting with her.  I find that really sad that an elected representative of the people would just shut out a constituent like that, but it happens.  They could have said not that day but maybe another time, but they just said no time at all - ever.  If you're in that situation, don't despair!  We need to keep pressuring these people, regardless of party or likeability.  Perseverance is everything.

This Week's TTP Tuesday:

Our TTP Tuesday on Feb 25 saw an enthusiastic group of activists delivering position papers to House Representatives. I was not able to attend this week due to a last minute medical situation with the family.  But our Tarrant County Co-Director, Shelia Franklin, stepped up to save the day and took on leadership at the Capitol.  Shelia is always with me at the Capitol every week, and I'm so grateful for her willingness to step into a leadership role.  Thanks to everyone who attended.  We distributed 66 position papers on 2 bills that enhance medical freedom and informed consent.

This Week in the Senate

The Senate continues to move quickly through the process of passing legislation that is on the Governor's priority list.  They are holding committee hearings nearly every day. The hallmark of this week's action is the passage of SB28, Senator Hall's bill about stopping the Lottery Commission from selling lottery tickets via a phone or internet.  This practice is against the Lottery Commission's own rules, but has not been addressed as technology has expanded in our culture.  SB28 puts a stop to it, and also highlighted the fact that the Senate and LG Patrick are taking a close look at the Lottery Commission which seems to have gone rogue.  LG Patrick has said he will shut it down if it's not brought under control. For a good summary of the bill and Senate reactions, check out this article by Texas Scorecard.

Also this week, SB19, Senator Middleton's bill to ban taxpayer funded lobbying was heard in the State Affairs Committee. The bill was left pending in Committee, so we'll want to convince the committee to move it out with a favorable report.  This legislation is, in my opinion, the most important thing we can do this session.  It's been tried for 4 or 5 sessions, and always passes Senate and stalls in the House.  So many other issues could be addressed if we didn't have local governments using our taxpayer funds to hire lobbyists to argue against our best interests.  Texas Policy Research has a really  good article on the subject, with an in depth look at the legislation and it's impact on us as citizens,  If you have not yet discovered Texas Policy Research, you should take a look.  It's our friend, Jeramy Kitchen, formerly with Texans for Fiscal Responsibility, and they do an excellent job of tracking, summarizing, and editorializing priority legislation. 

Mike Olcott has filed HB3257 in the House, an identical bill to SB19, and there is optimism that it will finally pass the House this session.

On Wednesday we sent out a special action alert regarding 4 parental empowerment bills that were scheduled for hearing on Thursday.  All four were left pending in committee, and we'll be urging committee members to move them out of committee and to a floor vote.  If you missed that message, you can read it here.

This Week in the House

As usual, not a lot of activity to report on House actions.  They met Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday and did a lot of honorary resolutions but not much else.  House Committees are staring to get organized, but have not yet held hearings on bills.

The most shocking news from the House this week is action taken by Speaker "Shut Up and Sit Down" Burrows, which is outright unconstitutional.  As you know, they have frequently suspended the rules to vote on a recess for more than 3 days, so that they can adjourn Thursday through the following Tuesday.  Yesterday, the Speaker did it without even having a vote, by standing "at ease" instead of adjourning.  The constitution requires that they not adjourn for more than 3 consecutive days without a vote of the body.  Watch this short video by Rep. Brian Harrison from the House floor as it was happening.  Burrows behavior is absolutely unbelievable to me. And even more astonishing the number of people who go along with it.

NEXT WEEK:

Very excited that next week is our special True Texan Day at the Capitol. Here's what we have planned for you:

11:00 AM-11:30 AM   Arrive at Capitol, meet in Room E2.1002– check in, get packet, name tag

11:30 AM-12:00 PM   Capitol Tour – Group A (last name begins with A-L)

11:45 AM-12:15 PM   Capitol Tour – Group B (last name begins with M-Z)

12:30 PM-1:30 PM   Lunch 

1:30–3:00 PM   Legislative Briefing, Room E2.1002

• Dr. Dawn Buckingham, Texas Land Commissioner
• Various House Reps and Senators will stop by for 5 to 10 minutes
• Includes Ag Commissioner Sid Miller, and a George Lane, AG Paxton's Director of Government Relations

 3:00 PM-4:30 PM   Individual visits with legislators (deliver legislative priorities) – talk with your own Representatives and Senators and/or their staff members.

4:30 PM-5:00 PM   Depart for home

If you are planning to come, and have not already registered,  please do so at this link, so we can be prepared.  We have quite a large group coming, and we want to make sure we have materials for everyone.  If you are registered, you should have received an email on Tuesday with details for the day, and another one will go out on Saturday.

It's going to be a fun day and I'm looking forward to seeing old friends and making new ones.

What YOU can do if you can’t go to the Capitol

1)  Contact YOUR House Representative and ask him/her to sign on as a co-author to Rep. Mike Olcott's HB3257, to ban taxpayer funded lobbying.

2)  Contact Members of the Senate State Affairs Committee - ask them to approve SB19 (ban taxpayer funded lobbying) that was left pending in committee:

3)  Contact Members of the Senate Education K-16 Committee - ask them to approve the following bills that were left pending in committee:

SB371, SB12, SJR12, SB400

4) As always, be in prayer for our legislature, our activists and our efforts.

This week's message is coming out a little later than usual.  It's just been that kind of week!  But at least it's still Friday, right?  I hope you've had a good and productive week, and I'm looking forward to seeing you sometime soon.

Stay engaged!

Fran Rhodes, President.

[email protected]

GET REGISTERED!

Special True Texan Days: True Texas Kids at the Capitol. There’s no fee, but we need to know how many are coming so we can be prepared for you.  Here are the registration links.

SAVE THE DATES!

Tuesday Mar 4 - NO TTP Tuesdays (since we just did our day on Monday)

Tuesday Mar 11 - BIG TXGR engagement day, PLUS Buses from Frisco/Waxahachie; Kerrville/Fredericksburg; Corpus Christi/San Antonio

Tuesday Mar 18 - TTP Tuesdays at the Capitol – including mini-training

Tuesday Mar 25 - TRUE TEXAS KIDS AT THE CAPITOL (rsvp required)

Tuesday April 1 – TTP Tuesdays at the Capitol PLUS Bus from Grapevine/Burleson

Tuesday Apr 8 - TTP Tuesdays at the Capitol

Tuesday Apr 15 - TTP Tuesdays at the Capitol- including mini-training

Tuesday Apr 22 - TTP Tuesdays at the Capitol

Tuesday Apr 29 - TTP Tuesdays at the Capitol

Tuesday May 6 - TTP Tuesdays at the Capitol

Bus Registrations can be found on the TTP Website

We do our best to offer citizens opportunities to be engaged in our State Government in Austin.  Can you help cover some of the costs?  Your donation of $25, $50, or $75 will help us to continue these opportunities.