Good morning,

Way too many conservative priorities remain locked up in the Capitol; many won’t ever see the light of day. Maybe my dog Freddy can get them out…?

Perhaps it is because legislators fear the lobbyists, bureaucrats, and their colleagues more than they fear the voters?

More on that at the end of today's Texas Minute.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

Friday, May 14, 2021
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• The legislative fate for hundreds of bills was sealed at midnight, as the Texas House passed a critical – if self-imposed – deadline. Among the casualties, reports Jeramy Kitchen, were a number of bills related to the legislative priorities of the Republican Party of Texas.
      
• One of those was House Bill 1399 by Matt Krause (R-Haslet) which would have prohibited physicians from conducting gender transition surgeries or administering puberty blockers on minors. The bill came to the House floor with 48 Republican co-authors. It had passed the House Public Health Committee on April 15, but was not sent to the House Calendars Committee until April 27. The House Calendars Committee, under the direction of Lubbock Republican Dustin Burrows, did not consider the bill until May 10.
      
• Yet at least HB 1399 made it to that far. Conservative activists’ long-sought ban on taxpayer-funded lobbying never had a chance in the Texas House this session. A statewide ban, authored by State Rep. Mayes Middleton (R-Galveston) was heard in the House State Affairs Committee back on March 26, and never budged despite having  42 Republican co-authors. (Its companion in the Senate, authored by State Sen. Bob Hall (R-Edgewood), was referred to the Senate State Affairs Committee on March 3 but never granted a hearing.)
     
• Other “priority” measures of the GOP that died at midnight include bills related to curtailing executive overreach, enhancing medical freedom rights, and protecting monuments.

• When session ends and you ask why your legislative priority died on the calendar, your House member might tell you they ran out of time. That is not true.
      
• The fact is, they ran out the clock.

• Join Brandon Waltens on The Headline live at 11am this morning. He and Jeramy Kitchen will review the status of conservative priorities after last night’s important House deadline. If you cannot participate in the live show, the video archive and podcast will be available shortly after noon.

• The Senate passed five of its six Republican-priority election integrity bills in April, while the House has passed three. Erin Anderson reports that a bipartisan majority of senators has now started moving the House’s legislation, also.
     
• Will the House get to work on election integrity with mere days left in the legislative session?

• The Texas House of Representatives passed legislation prohibiting the state from contracting with companies that discriminate against firearm or ammunition companies. This is a legislative priority of Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, addressing the continued discriminatory practices of an Obama Administration policy. Jeramy Kitchen has the details.
   
• Speaking of firearms… the House and Senate have now appointed lawmakers to a “conference committee” to reconcile the differences between the two chambers’ versions of House Bill 1927, known as constitutional carry. “Constitutional carry” simply means allowing law abiding citizens to exercise their Second Amendment right to “bear” a firearm without a special government permission slip or license.
        
• If the House and Senate differences in HB 1927 are reconciled in time, Texas would become the 21st state to adopt constitutional carry.

• Two impending deadlines come into consideration for legislation you might be tracking with versions that have passed both legislative chambers…
   
• Saturday, May 29: is the last day by which both the House and Senate can distribute copies of conference committee reports on bills.
   
• Sunday, May 30: is the last day either chamber can “adopt” conference committee reports and finally pass the legislation considered.

• School districts across the state are dealing with something that may have been absent for some time: parents involving themselves with school boards. And, as Tera Collum reports, the district’s haven’t been exactly welcoming.

• At 5 p.m. today Texas Scorecard will be premiering: "Saving James - Ending Child Mutilation in Texas."

• This subject of this video may not be suitable for young children.
      
• Watch the premier of “Saving James” at 5 p.m. on the Texas Scorecard Facebook page, or at TexasScorecard.com. 

• Please join me in wishing a very happy Sunday birthday to my dad, Stephen!

Friday Reflection: Not Enough Fear

Fear is powerful. Improperly applied, fear can cause us to make irrational choices without thinking. Properly applied, as defined in Proverbs 9:10: “fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom.” 

A healthy fear is critical to success in all facets of life. Of course, it is very easy to fear the wrong things and that can lead to some very poor outcomes.

We need look no further than politics. I have come to believe that many of the foolish decisions in American government arise from the simple fact too many politicians have too little fear of the voters and taxpayers. 

Looking specifically at the Texas Legislature, the politicians very clearly fear the lobbyists, bureaucrats, and even their colleagues more than they fear their voters and taxpayers at home.  

Were this not so, for example, they would have rushed to end the corporate welfare programs opposed by both parties and an overwhelming majority of citizens. Instead, Republican and Democrat lawmakers have yet again fallen over each other in finding new ways to siphon cash from the taxpayers’ wallets into the pockets of corporate cronies.

And yet… those politicians, those lobbyists, those corporate cronies, they are all just taking advantage of the sycophantic culture we have allowed to fester. If politicians feared the voters more than the lobbyists and their corrupt colleagues, corporate welfare simply wouldn’t exist in Texas.

As citizens, we have failed to inspire sufficient fear in our elected servants. We fawn over “our party’s” politicians like royalty. We’ve allowed them to think they, rather than the citizens, are masters of this republic.

Too many citizens fail to even participate in elections. And even fewer bother to take the steps necessary to hold politicians truly accountable for their actions and inactions. The downward spiral of cause and effect blur, with the result being lawmakers who don’t sufficiently fear the citizenry.

It’s up to us, as citizens, to inspire in our elected servants greater fear than the lobby and the bureaucracy. Rather than accept table scraps, we as citizens must unwaveringly demand that politicians seek our approval and our approval alone.