Coming up this week
Testify in person or in writing on the Texas House voucher bill!
How are we doing, folks? Me, I have a mild cold and the season of fluctuating temperatures means that ALL of my clothing is getting used and my laundry burden is becoming untenable. The brighter news is that between socializing a couple of days in a row and then the mild cold, I haven’t had my mind on politics, just rest and TV. Lady Gaga was great on SNL, btw.
Plenty happened last week, but I would send you to Lone Star Left for a good synopsis of each day. I’m going to use today’s newsletter to look ahead to my areas of interest for the upcoming week.
MONDAY:
9 a.m. Senate State Affairs:
- SB 406 Middleton | et al. - Relating to the required inclusion of a person's sex on a birth certificate and prohibited change of sex on the birth certificate of certain persons.
- SB 893 Johnson | et al. - Relating to criminal offenses for creating and distributing certain misleading images and videos; creating a criminal offense.
- SCR 22 - Hughes Designating the cannon as the official state gun of Texas.
Nice try. Everyone knows the official state gun of Texas is Ted Cruz’s bacon-making machine gun.
2 p.m. Senate Economic Development:
- SCR 12 Hinojosa, Adam - Urging Congress to amend the Internal Revenue Code to make spaceports eligible for tax-exempt private activity bonds.
- SCR 24 King | et al. - Expressing support for the strengthening of our partnership with Israel and for the creation of a Texas Trade and Investment Office in Israel.
TUESDAY:
- HB 3 Buckley | et al. - Relating to the establishment of an education savings account program.
If you have the opportunity to get yourself to Austin on Tuesday, you can sign up to testify against the House school voucher bill. Anyone can! You get two minutes, use them wisely. Registration information is here.
If you can’t make it in person, you can offer written testimony here.
I regret to inform you that Tuesday is also Texas Gun Owners Lobby Day at the capitol, so steel yourself for a lot of dudes wearing all of their weekend-warrior tactical gear and every gun they can cram onto their bodies. Briscoe Cain is an invited speaker at the rally.
8 a.m. Senate Education:
- SB 24 Campbell | et al. Relating to the inclusion of an understanding of communist regimes and ideologies in the essential knowledge and skills for the social studies curriculum for public school students.
Additionally, many Senate bills will receive a second reading on Tuesday during the Senate’s regular session. What does that mean?
The first time a bill is debated on the House floor is called the “second reading.” This is when members debate the bill and propose amendments, which are passed with a simple majority of present and voting members. Each amendment is voted on separately.
These include:
- SJR 34 (LC) Hughes/ et al. Proposing a constitutional amendment protecting the right of parents to raise their children.
- SCR 9 Hughes/ et al. Urging Congress to propose and submit to the states for ratification the "Keep Nine" amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
- SB 18 Hughes/ Bettencourt/ Birdwell/ Campbell/ Creighton/ et al. Relating to prohibiting municipal libraries that host certain [DRAG QUEEN] events from receiving state or other public funding.
- SB 11 Middleton/ Bettencourt/ Birdwell/ Campbell/ Creighton/ et al. Relating to a period of prayer and reading of the Bible or other religious text in public schools.
- SB 10 King/ Bettencourt/ Birdwell/ Campbell/ Creighton/ et al. Relating to the display of the Ten Commandments in public school classrooms.
- SB 13 (CS) Paxton/ Bettencourt/ Birdwell/ Campbell/ Creighton/ et al. Relating to a school district's library materials and catalog, the creation of local school library advisory councils, and parental rights regarding public school library catalogs and access by the parent's child to library materials.
WEDNESDAY:
8 a.m. Senate Health & Human Services
- SB 379 Middleton | et al. Relating to prohibiting the purchase of certain food and drink items under the supplemental nutrition assistance program.
10:30 House Homeland Security, Public Safety & Veterans' Affairs — if you’re invested in police overreach in our communities:
- HB 626 Bell, Cecil
Relating to granting limited state law enforcement authority to certain federal law enforcement officers. - HB 658 Tepper
Relating to the carrying of weapons by community supervision and corrections department officers, juvenile probation officers, and certain retired law enforcement officers and to criminal liability for taking a weapon from certain of those officers.
In other news:
Comptroller Glenn Hegar announced he’s leaving office to become the next chancellor of the Texas A&M University System.
I only bring this up because of the two people who have already said they’re running for the seat: Texas Railroad Commissioner Christi Craddick and one of the most loathsome, meddlesome outsiders in Texas politics, Don Huffines. As unliked as he is, he has managed to push our state government even further right over the past decade through his sheer wealth.
Please pay attention to this race as it happens. Craddick is just as conservative as Hegar was, but she’s probably somewhat reasonable. Huffines is not a reasonable man.
Oh, and Abbott isn’t indicating whether banning THC is a priority or not.
“It’s the kind of thing that we're looking into,” Abbott said at a press conference in Austin. “We need to see more information about what the legislators agree is the correct pathway forward.”
Might be a good time to call your Republican representation and tell them you do not want a ban on THC.
One weird tidbit I’ll mention from last week is that Cody Vasut’s (R-Brazoria County) bill to legalize covenant marriage is actually getting a hearing in the “House Family & Fiduciary Relationships Subcommittee.” Sorry to quote ME:
Covenant marriages are legally binding contracts between two people who have the intent to live together for the rest of their lives. This is basically a type of marriage that makes divorce much more difficult, and it’s only available in three states right now. It’s a great way to trap a woman in an unfulfilling or abusive marriage!
This is the kind of niche bill that I didn’t expect to make it to committee, so it’s noticeable. I don’t love it.
Three Good Things:
I saw my friend Emily J Hynds’ play on Saturday and enjoyed it. We gotta make stuff here, right here, in Houston, Texas.
The night before that I gathered some liberal women from a neighborhood Facebook group that I created a few weeks ago. In person. I felt awkward and overwhelmed, and not necessarily in the right place, but it was nice to be the creator of community for a night.
I’m enjoying one more cold day. Feels like this is the last one.
