Review of what happened during the 7th week of the 88th Legislature

I hope you're sitting down because you are not going to like what I have to report this week.

The House Speaker (Dade Phelan) introduced his priorities (you absolutely must read them) for the 88th Legislative Session. And folks, they have NOTHING to do with anything we asked our elected representatives to do.

When asked about them, Texas GOP Chairman Matt Rinaldi stated, “I have no comment, because I’m trying to figure out whether or not it was a joke.” Sorry to say Mr Chairman...this is very real and should be a huge wakeup call to all Texans.

Okay, so far we have the Speaker of the House completely ignoring the priorities of Governor Abbott, Lt Governor Patrick, The Republican Party of Texas, and we the people. So what about the long time establishment guy I'm running to replace here in District 33? Yeah, let's talk about his priorities for a minute. After all, he ran on being a conservative Republican...right? Let's take a look, shall we?

Here's the link directly to the search for his list of filed legislation. I'll be brief with this list but you'll want to see this for yourself. Why? Because it looks like he's busy, but who is he really working for?

HB 697 - Relating to seller's disclosures regarding fuel gas piping in residential real property.
HB 1195 - Relating to the authority of a county to require photo identification to file certain documents with the county clerk.
HB 1256 - Relating to seller's disclosure notice concerning special districts in which residential real property is located.
HB 1257 - Relating to a seller's notice of special district ad valorem taxes or assessments on newly constructed residential real properties.
HB 1357 - Relating to Medicaid reimbursement for certain medication-assisted treatments for opioid or substance use disorder.
HB 1514 - Relating to protesting changes to municipal zoning regulations and boundaries.
- If this passes, it'll turn Texas into a developer's playground!
HB 1674 - Relating to certain sales or purported sales of homestead property that are classified as loans.
HB 1675 - Relating to a border operations training program for peace officers employed by local law enforcement agencies.
HB 1836 - Relating to the pledge of allegiance to the state flag.
HB 1852 - Relating to the authority of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to issue an order to create a special district.
HB 1916 - Relating to county approval for improvement projects of certain conservation and reclamation districts.
HB 2200 - Relating to the sale of spirit coolers by certain alcoholic beverage permittees.
HB 2297 - Relating to compensation and leave for certain peace officers.
HB 2299 - Relating to increasing the criminal penalty for election fraud.
- His only filing that has anything to do with our legislative priorities and its a duplicate of HB 2192 filed by Rep Murr the previous week.
HB 2405 - Relating to photo identification for certain debit or credit card transactions.
HB 2419 - Relating to disclosure under the public information law of information related to a competitive matter involving the provision of cable, Internet, or broadband services by a public power utility.
HB 2777 - Relating to the contracting authority of the Parks and Wildlife Department.
HB 2783 - Relating to reporting of the names of the directors of water supply or sewer service corporations; authorizing an administrative penalty.
HB 2784 - Relating to the issuance of certain bonds by municipal utility districts.
HB 2785 - Relating to county plat approval requirements related to fire protection for certain residential subdivisions.
HB 2789 - Relating to regulation of accessory dwelling units by political subdivisions.

Wouldn't it be nice if he just wore a patch on his suit jacket that shows who is sponsors are? That way we would know who we're competing against for his attention. Because honestly, his priorities don't line up with anything I heard from anyone when I was knocking on doors, making calls, and meeting people on the streets. They aren't even in line with the Republican Party of Texas!

Things to do now:

Call his office and let him know you are disappointed with his broken promises
If you are not in district 33, contact your Rep and tell them to not support HB1514 as it is anti-Texas legislation. You can also add in any of the other bills listed above you don't agree with.
If you want to help my campaign...please consider donating. As you can see, I'm up against the PACs and lobbyists who control his strings, so I'll need all the help I can get this time.

For God, Country...and Texas!

Dennis