Fellow Nacogdoches County Democrats,
REMINDER: Thurs, June 30th-Public hearing for proposed county redistricting layout at the County Courthouse Annex, beginning at 6:00.
Since it has been a few weeks since our last solid state legislature update, the state Democratic Party has provided a good overview of all of the craziness going on in Austin (see below). Any one of these items is enough of a reason for us to continue working toward electing Democrats to the Texas legislature.
Sincerely,
Stephen Wright, Chairman
Nacogdoches County Democratic Party
stephen.wright15@gmail.com
(936) 560-0781
Dear fellow Democrat,
While the leader of the Republican Caucus is playing hooky in the Bahamas, Democratic lawmakers are working to save public schools from devastating budget cuts.
The Democratic Party’s commitment to public education was greeted by a brief moment of sanity by Republicans recently when many of them voted to accept an amendment by Rep. Donna Howard that would allocate billions of dollars from the state’s Rainy Day Fund to our schools. Unfortunately, Tea Party extremists vocally objected to the commonsense proposal and Republicans are now trying to strip the amendment out of the bill before it becomes law.
It’s a real shame that Texas Republicans are seeing nothing but dollar signs in what is actually a series of unfair budget cuts to the tune of $4 billion from public education. Texas Democrats recognize that our children are our state’s most precious resource and valuable source of talent; an investment in our children’s education is an investment in our state’s future economic and social freedoms.
Republicans have made it clear: they choose political pandering above our children, above our future. A 2012 victory for Democrats can’t come fast enough.
Thank you,
Ruben Hernandez
Executive Director
Texas Democratic Party
Articles: June 13 to June 23, 2011
LAWSUIT FILED TO HALT TEXAS ABORTION SONOGRAM LAW
Dallas Morning News—June 13, 2011
The national Center for Reproductive Rights filed a federal lawsuit Monday to halt implementation of the requirements that women wanting an abortion must have a sonogram and hear a detailed description of the fetus. The group called the mandates patronizing and an intrusion into the doctor-patient relationship. “When you go to the doctor, you expect to be given information that is relevant to your particular medical decisions and circumstances, not to be held hostage and subjected to an anti-choice agenda,” said Nancy Northup, the center’s president…. The center filed the suit in Austin on behalf of doctors and clinics, saying the law violates their speech and due process rights by forcing physicians to deliver “politically motivated communications to women.” The doctors must provide certain information, even if it is against the wishes of their patients, which the suits says is a breach of medical ethics.
PROTESTORS WARN HISPANICS ‘WILL REMEMBER’
El Paso Times—June 15, 2011
Protestors of a Republican-backed bill that would allow local police to enforce federal immigration law on Wednesday acknowledged that they may be fighting a losing battle. But they warned that Hispanics will consider the anti-sanctuary city legislation, which passed the state Senate on Tuesday and is now on its way to the House, a personal attack and will remember it in the coming elections. Hispanics, the state’s fastest growing population, have long been considered the sleeping giant in elections because they do not vote in proportion to their population. Immigration rights advocates such as Fernando Garcia, director for the El Paso-based Border Network for Human Rights, who led a more than 300 person rally at the Capitol on Wednesday, believe the legislation may be a wake-up call for Hispanics.
DAY OF PRAYER VIOLATES SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE
Houston Chronicle—June 16, 2011
We [Houston clergy] believe in a healthy boundary between church and state. Out of respect for the state, we believe that it should represent all citizens equally and without preference for religious or philosophical tradition. Out of respect for religious communities, we believe that they should foster faithful ways of living without favoring one political party over another. Keeping the church and state separate allows each to thrive and upholds our proud national tradition of empowering citizens to worship freely and vote conscientiously. We are concerned that our governor has crossed the line by organizing a religious event rather than focusing on the people’s business in Austin. We also express concern that the day of prayer and fasting at Reliant Stadium is not an inclusive event. As clergy leaders in the nation’s fourth-largest city, we take pride in Houston’s vibrant and diverse religious landscape. Our religious communities include Bahais, Buddhists, Christians, Hindus, Jews, Muslims, Sikhs, Unitarian Universalists and many other faith traditions. Our city is also home to committed agnostics and atheists, with whom we share common cause as fellow Houstonians. Houston has long been known as a live-and-let-live city where all are respected and welcomed. It troubles us that the governor’s prayer event is not open to everyone. In the publicized materials, the governor has made it clear that only Christians of a particular kind are welcome to pray in a certain way.
HOW TODAY’S CONSERVATISM LOST TOUCH WITH REALITY
Time—June 16, 2011
“Conservatism is true.” That’s what George Will told me when I interviewed him as an eager student many years ago. His formulation might have been a touch arrogant, but Will’s basic point was intelligent. Conservatism, he explained, was rooted in reality. Unlike the abstract theories of Marxism and socialism, it started not from an imagined society but from the world as it actually exists. From Aristotle to Edmund Burke, the greatest conservative thinkers have said that to change societies, one must understand them, accept them as they are and help them evolve. Watching this election campaign, one wonders what has happened to that tradition. Conservatives now espouse ideas drawn from abstract principles with little regard to the realities of America’s present or past. This is a tragedy, because conservatism has an important role to play in modernizing the U.S.
POLL: OBAMA ALMOST AS POPULAR AS PERRY IN TEXAS
The Texas Tribune—June 16, 2011
Likely voters in Texas approve of President Barack Obama almost as much as they approve of Gov. Rick Perry, according to the third and final release of poll results from the Texas Lyceum, a nonprofit, nonpartisan group of civic leaders. Since October, when the last Lyceum survey was conducted, Perry’s approval rating has remained steady at 54 percent, while Obama’s has increased from 47 to 51 percent. Even though Obama’s handling of the national economy specifically — which is the top concern of Texans, according to Tuesday’s findings — dropped to 46 percent, this percentage was eight points lower in October, at 38 percent.
EDITORIAL: LEGISLATURE’S ‘SANCTUARY CITY’ BILL HEADS IN BAD DIRECTION
Dallas Morning News—June 16, 2011
Supporters of the so-called sanctuary city ban in the Legislature picked up steam by getting their bill through the Senate this week. They say their proposal would tamp down illegal immigration and nab al-Qaeda agents and drug runners. It’s more likely the bill (SB 9) would lead to a state of confusion and mischief. The legislation, now in the House, may look benign. It says Texas cities and counties may not bar employees, such as police officers, from “inquiring into the immigration status of a person lawfully detained” in a criminal investigation. Supporters have ignored police chiefs who say that their current policies work fine and that the new law would throw untried expectations at street officers who already have their hands full.
BILLS PILE UP AS GOV. RICK PERRY FLIRTS WITH WHITE HOUSE RUN
Corpus Christi Caller—June 16, 2011
Gov. Rick Perry has 1,170 pieces of legislation either awaiting his signature or a veto stamp, and just three days left to make the choice…. The remaining legislation includes most of the state budget for 2012-2013. Spending for public schools is still being considered in the ongoing special legislative session. “He went from just paying partial attention to the Legislature to paying zero attention as he’s kicking off his presidential non-campaign,” said Rep. Jessica Farrar, the leader of the House Democrats. “I do hope he can find some time in his busy schedule to do what he’s paid to do, which is to sign this budget.”
TEXAS HOUSE OKS LOWER PAY, FURLOUGHS FOR TEACHERS
Houston Chronicle—June 17, 2011
Texas lawmakers took another step on Thursday toward empowering school districts to furlough educators and to cut their pay in the name of saving money and jobs. They also retreated from their earlier willingness to use excess money from the state’s rainy day fund to help pay the costs of student enrollment growth – projected to be about 170,000 children during the next two years. Republicans argued that a severe budget shortfall obligated lawmakers to give school districts more flexibility to make schools more efficient while cutting public schools by at least $4 billion under current funding formulas. Democrats countered that lawmakers were shortchanging their commitment to public education and picking a fight with educators. Voting 81-55, the House approved Senate Bill 8, the school reform package. All Democrats voted against the bill. They were joined by 11 Republicans.
PERRY VETOS TEXTING WHILE DRIVING BAN, 22 OTHER BILLS
Austin American-Statesman—June 17, 2011
A statewide ban on texting while driving was among 23 bills that Gov. Rick Perry killed with vetoes on Friday, the second-smallest number for a legislative session in the decade he has served as Texas’ governor…. Among those was House Bill 242, which would have enacted a statewide ban on texting while driving. At least three cities, including Austin, have already banned such texting, and the state already bans texting in school zones. Perry said that texting while driving “is reckless and irresponsible” but that he saw the bill as “a government effort to micromanage the behavior of adults.” Perry also vetoed HB 2327, which would have allowed buses to use the shoulders to avoid rush-hour traffic. He vetoed a similar bill two years ago. In a statement, Perry said that allowing buses to use shoulders “would leave no emergency lane, confuse drivers as to the purpose of highway shoulders, and endanger motorists, emergency personnel and transit bus passengers.”
CONGRESSIONAL REDISTRICTING PLAN WINS FINAL APPROVAL IN AUSTIN
Fort Worth Star-Telegram—June 20, 2011
Texas lawmakers on Monday completed their once-a-decade task on redistricting by approving a new map for the state’s expanded congressional delegation. The Republican-led Santé voted 19-12 along party lines to accept House amendments and send the plan to Gov. Rick Perry, who is expected to approve it. Redistricting plans for the state House and Senate and the State Board of Education were approved during the Legislature’s regular session. The politically-charged issue now moves into another contentious phase as state officials brace for inevitable court challenges. The Texas attorney general must also file for pre-clearance from either the U.S. Justice Department or a three-judge panel in Washington, D.C., before the plans can take effect.
TEXAS DEFERS ITS RESPONSIBILITIES MORE THAN PERRY WOULD HAVE AMERICA BELIEVE
Austin American-Statesman—June 20, 2011
“In Texas, we believe that you can’t defer tough decisions for tomorrow’s generation,” Perry told Republican activists in New Orleans on Saturday. “And unlike Washington, we don’t have some foreign creditor to finance deficit spending.” You’ve got to give him that second part. The two-year state budget that lawmakers wrote this year is balanced, and it doesn’t rely on foreign creditors. The first part of Perry’s statement, however, isn’t so simple. Texas may not be deferring tough decisions to tomorrow’s generation, but it is deferring them to tomorrow’s Legislature.
RICK PERRY: WHY HIS TEXAS RECORD IS MUCH WORSE THAN YOU THINK
New Republic – June 21, 2011
Following his media blitz, few articles have cast a skeptic’s eye on the governor’s Texas record. “Texas Governor Calls for Halt of Economic Ruin” read one recent Bloomberg headline. The narrative is appealing: Small-town guy becomes Texas governor and makes (the economy) good—all by sticking to conservative principles. But while Texas remains “open for business”—the slogan of his successful re-election campaign in 2010—the state’s Legislature is in the process of a going-out-of-business sale. The Texas budget for the next two years is a mess of accounting tricks and gutted programs, thanks to an unprecedented budget shortfall. The state’s business tax has not only been unpopular, it also doesn’t generate nearly enough revenue. Operating at a structural deficit, the state has even begun to attack funding in the once-hallowed ground of education. And while Perry has spent a good bit of June on his non-campaign-campaign, state lawmakers from both parties are fighting tooth-and-nail to legislate around his dictums.
THE LAST SEVEN DAYS: A SPECIAL SESSION UPDATE
The Texas Tribune – June 22, 2011
With the special session constitutionally limited to 30 days, lawmakers have just a week left to resolve the bills on the call — and a lot of loose ends to wrap up. Gov. Rick Perry has sole discretion over the special session agenda — and he’s put a variety of topics on it, from sanctuary cities and health reform to, as late as this week, an anti-groping bill aimed at the Transportation Security Administration.
STUDENTS, FEDERAL MEMO COMPLICATE “SANCTUARY CITIES”
The Texas Tribune – June 23, 2011
Two bills, SB9 by state Sen. Tommy Williams, R-The Woodlands, and HB9 by state Rep. Burt Solomons, R-Carrollton, would prevent local governments and law enforcement agencies from enacting policies that prohibit officers or other employees from questioning the immigration status of a person arrested or lawfully detained. On Monday, state Rep. Byron Cook, R-Corsicana, the chairman of the House State Affairs Committee, oversaw a public hearing where dozens of students gave testimony, some through tear-choked sobs, admitting they were illegal immigrants. They included Karla Resendiz, who recently graduated with honors with a pharmacy degree from the University of Texas at Austin. She pleaded to the committee to reconsider passing the bill out of committee. Later, Cook said he had concerns over what the bill could mean for people like Resendiz.
HISPANIC COLLEGE DEGREES GETTING A PUSH
San Antonio Express-News – June 23, 2011
State Rep. Joaquín Castro, D-San Antonio, and Excelencia in Education, a Washington-based nonprofit, announced a partnership Wednesday to boost college degree attainment among Latinos, which lags behind other groups’ despite their booming population. Called Ensuring America’s Future, the initiative aims to identify and expand programs that work for Latinos, such as taking dual enrollment classes in high school. For the U.S. to regain its top global ranking for college degree attainment, Latinos will need to earn 3.3 million additional degrees by 2020, tripling the pace they are going now, said Sarita Brown, co-founder and president of Excelencia.
