HD33 Legislative Priorities Report - Week 4
I've been talking to lots of folks about bills filed by our HD33 Incumbent this session, and every one of them thinks information about a particular bill should be shared with ALL Texans. So I'm sharing it here.
But first let's recap the session so far. While several bills have been filed on our remaining seven Legislative Priorities by a handful of Republican Representatives, like Slaton, Slawson, Harrison, Toth, Troxclair, Vasut, and Cain, so far, our HD33 Incumbent has yet to file a single bill on these priorities. (You might also recall, the Legislative Priority of Banning Democrat Committee Chairs, was killed not by Democrats, but fellow Republicans, in the first week of the session!)
Our HD33 incumbent has filed 8 bills so far. Five of them relate to real estate (and I'll get into one of those bills later). The other three include a companion to a bill first filed by Senator Hall at the request of the Rockwall County Clerk concerning identification, a bill for a border operations training program for law enforcement, and a bill about Medicaid reimbursement for treatment for opiod or substance abuse disorders.
Except for one of the real estate bills I'll discuss in a moment, these don't sound so bad...except none of them deal with any of the Republican legislative priorities.
Look, I don't have a problem with him filing items relating to real estate, after all that is his profession. If I had won the 2022 Primary and general election, I would have bills filed about cybersecurity since that is my profession and area of expertise.
Attention, Republican lawmakers! This doesn’t have to be an "either-or" situation. We're asking for "BOTH/AND".
If you consider something a priority, that is where you START, to give those bills the best chance at getting to a vote during the session. As Republicans and citizens, our job does not end when the person with an "R" behind their name gets elected. Once they are in office, we need to ensure they are doing the will of We the People. And if they aren't, we need to apply pressure until they do.
But I'll need your help to do that. Not just in HD33 but all over Texas. So let's talk about HB1514 and I'll explain why it's upsetting everyone I've talked to about it.
Simply put, it takes power away from the people and puts it into the hands of local elected officials (and the developers who influence those officials). Attention: Citizens of Frisco who are concerned about a new Universal theme park - are you listening?
This bill will make it harder for citizens to fight proposed zoning changes.
As the law is currently written, a zoning protest in a municipality must be written and signed by the owners of at least 20 percent of either: (1) the area of the lots or land covered by the proposed change; or (2) the area of the lots or land immediately adjoining the area covered by the proposed change and extending 200 feet from that area.
But Holland's bill increases that 20% up to 50%.
Think about it. It's hard enough just getting 20% of the people to the polls to vote...now imagine trying to get 50% of them to sign something to protest an adjacent zoning change! It'll never happen and HD33 incumbent Holland knows it.
If HB-1514 passes, it'll turn Texas into a developer’s playground! They'll be able to woo, entice, and influence local officials all over the state with promises of increased tax revenues and booming economies without so much as a care to what it would actually do to those towns and communities where the people are fighting to keep Texas from California-style excessive development. HB-1514 makes it easier for the developers, and harder for you and me, and it needs to be defeated.
What can we do about this?
Contact your State Reps and Senators and ask them to oppose this piece of anti-Texas legislation. During the 2022 Primary campaign, Holland was quick to point out that I moved to Texas from California and Texans didn't want to elect a former Californian as their state rep...yet I'm the one sounding the alarm to protect Texas while he's filing bills like HB 1514 that actively work to turn our state into a copy of California.
I hope this information has been useful. If you'd like to sit down over a cup of coffee, lunch, or a glass of wine to discuss...check my calendar on this website to catch me at a meeting, or email me at dennis@londonfortexas.org.
It still boggles my mind how someone who is so proud of being a 6th generation Texan and all that his family did for the Rockwall area, could do this not only to his hometown but to ALL of Texas. What a shame.