Good morning, 

Here is today's Texas Minute.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

Tuesday, May 18, 2021
Modify your email preferences.

• Only legislators can take a bill prohibiting taxpayer-funded lobbying and turn it into a free-for-all giving tax-funded lobbyists carte blanche to avoid public disclosure. That is exactly what State Rep. Chris Paddie (R–Marshall) and his State Affairs Committee managed to do with Senate Bill 10 .
     
• Only worse.
      
• SB 10, of course, was the pre-watered down version of a ban on taxpayer-funded lobbying. As passed by the senate, it would only apply to cities and counties; meaning, the original version of SB 10 allowed school districts and other taxing jurisdictions to continue using your money to hire lobbyists to work against your interests.
   
• But even in that limited state, Mr. Paddie and the State Affairs Committee have made it worse. In fact, they made it so bad that the Texas Public Policy Foundation – which rarely offers criticism of the House Republican leadership – felt they had to issue a statement against a measure they previously supported.
       
• As Jeramy Kitchen reports, SB 10 as amended by Paddie and his committee would do two things. First, it purports to expand the bill to all taxing jurisdictions. Sounds good, right? But the more important thing it does is allow all those taxing jurisdictions to hire lobbyists, and gives lawyers working as lobbyists special permission to no longer disclose their lobbying paperwork with the Texas Ethics Commission.
      
• As a reminder, Paddie has strenuously opposed the Republican Party of Texas’ push for a ban on the immoral practice of taxpayer-funded lobbying. 
   
• Yes, Paddie is a “Republican” – just not a conservative. And for whatever reason, House Speaker Dade Phelan put Paddie in charge of the committee dealing with taxpayer-funded lobbying.

• In case you missed it in our weekend reporting, Bexar County Democrats formally censured State Rep. Leo Pacheco (D–San Antonio) for supporting  “constitutional carry” and voting in favor of House Bill 1927. The idea is simple: law-abiding citizens should be allowed to exercise their constitutional right (federal and state) to keep and bear arms without asking the government’s permission.
      
• Yet because Pacheco endorsed Texans exercising their rights without undo government restraint, his local party censured him. Iris Poole has the details.
   
• Mr. Pacheco was among seven Democrats in the House who voted in favor of constitutional carry, but is the only one to have been censured.

• After the Texas House killed legislation last week protecting children from  forced gender reassignment, the Texas Senate yesterday passed another bill protecting kids from the practice. The Texas Senate passed SB 1311 by Bob Hall (R-Edgewood) along party lines. Jacob Asmussen has the details.
     
• Ironically, SB 1311 is stronger than what the Texas House leadership killed last week. Readers will recall that the House leadership killed a similar – though weaker – measure by Matt Krause (R-Haslet), using the procedural trick of setting his bill at a point on their daily agenda that they knew would not be reached ahead of a self-imposed deadline to hear legislation.

• This means the pressure is rising on members of the Texas House to take action even as the clock works against them. The Senate has now twice taken up measures to prohibit genital mutilation on children. The first bill, SB 1646 by Charles Perry (R-Lubbock), has been gathering dust in the Texas House after leaving the Senate on April 28.
       
• Now, sources tell Texas Scorecard, Public Health chair Stephanie Klick (R-North Richland Hills) is being pressured by both activists and House members to quickly move either the Perry bill she has been ignoring, or the Hall bill that passed yesterday. 
      
• A former nurse, Klick has long touted her close relationship with the Austin-based medical lobby – which may not be serving her or Texas children right now. Consider that the Texas Pediatric Society, the Texas Medical Association, and the Texas Academy of Family Physicians all have opposed legislation (here, here, and here) that would protect minor children from sterilization and gender reassignment.
      
• Rep. Klick now has three choices: 1) advance SB 1646 and/or SB 1311 unmolested, 2) water one or both down on the way to the House floor, or 3) ignore the pressure. 

• School district debts in Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio now surpass $7 billion. When you add this to the debts of other local governments in their area, Robert Montoya reports each taxpayer’s share is $69,600.
   
• Change will only come when “citizen advocates” get involved.

Your Federal & State Lawmakers