TXLege - Page 3

Nobody likes paying taxes. But unlike the rest of us, once every two years, the Texas Legislature gets the chance to do something about it.

The bill passed by the Texas Senate this week calls for the creation of criminal penalties for state, county, or local officials who chose to ignore federal immigration law. The bill also creates a provision whereby the official could be removed from office if they fail to enforce the law.

The Texas State Senate unanimously passed one of the emergency items declared by Governor Greg Abbott for the 85th Texas legislative session. Ethics reform has passed its first major hurdle and now is headed to the Texas House.

Texas state senators passed a bill to punish sanctuary cities, counties, and colleges, that fail to cooperate with federal immigration officials. The passage came on a straight party-line vote, 21-10.

Despite the loss of state law enforcement grants, Travis County Sheriff Sally Hernandez followed through and released 39 criminal aliens during the first two days of her sanctuary policy.

Hundreds of protesters opposed to an anti-sanctuary city and campus bill descended on the Texas Capitol on Thursday. Shouts of “Governor Abbott is a fascist” and applause and shouts broke the normal decorum of the Senate Gallery.

Texas legislators are sticking to their guns and are coming after cities and campuses in Texas that declare themselves havens for illegal aliens. They vow to put an end to the illegal sheltering and punish those who do it.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott declared ending sanctuary cities to be an emergency item for the 85th session of the Texas Legislature.

Governor Greg Abbott addressed members of the Texas House and Senate in his State of the State Address on Tuesday and laid out his emergency items, including banning sanctuary cities, reforming the embattled agency responsible for safeguarding children, calling for a Convention of States to address overreaches by the federal government, and ethics reform governing elected officials.

Texas State Representative Dawnna Dukes (D-Austin) has reportedly been indicted on 13 felony counts of corruption. She is also accused of two misdemeanors.

A Texas sheriff dubbed “Sanctuary Sally” by her opponent during her election campaign, appears to be ready to live up to her campaign promise to not enforce the law regarding criminal illegal aliens.

A Texas state representative filed a bill today that would require voters to be affiliated with a political party of their choice. The purpose is to deter people not affiliated with that party from voting in primary elections.

A freshman Texas legislator filed a bill that would result in a physician losing their license if they perform an elective abortion.

A Texas state senator has filed a comprehensive bill which, among other things, is aimed to prevent local governments in the Lone Star State from misleading voters with deceptive ballot language.

One Texas lawmaker’s bill, if passed during the 2017 legislative session, stands to derail school choice options for failing campuses by taking them down a progressive community schools path and bypassing existing options that include re-purposing a campus as a public charter school.

The transgender bathroom battle is being hit straight-on in the Lone Star State. A state senator has pre-filed a bill which she says “seeks to put an end to a controversy that began in Washington D.C.”

A bill pre-filed in the Texas Legislature on December 28 would put teeth into circumventing a “faithless elector.” Any attempt by an elector to cast a vote for anyone other than the candidates that received the popular vote in the Lone Star State would be void. Moreover, casting the void vote would immediately create a vacancy in the elector’s position.

The Speaker of the Texas House is joining with Governor Greg Abbott and Lt. Governor Dan Patrick in calling for an end to Sanctuary Cities in the Lone Star State.

“Speaker Straus will work with fellow House Members, Governor Abbott and law enforcement to ensure that there are no sanctuary cities in Texas,” said Jason Embry, communications director for Speaker Straus, in an email to Breitbart Texas.

Texas House leadership squashed education reform legislation that would have sped up the time to “repurpose” chronically failing public schools during the recent 84th Legislature. Instead, they aggressively pushed for progressive community schools.

One hundred forty people have committed suicide in Texas county jails over the past five years. This disturbing trend was revealed in the wake of the hanging suicide of Sandra Bland in the Waller County jail two weeks ago.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott is taking the Texas success story on the road. Next week, the Governor will visit New York City to meet with business leaders as part of his on-going effort to attract even more business to the Lone Star State.

On Tuesday, Texas Senator and conservative powerhouse Konni Burton (R-Colleyville) announced via Twitter that Texans for Fiscal Responsibility named her “Taxpayer Champion.”

Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed House Concurrent Resolution 85 authorizing the posthumous award of the Texas Legislative Medal of Honor to “American Sniper” hero, U.S. Navy Chief Petty Officer Chris Kyle. The murdered former Navy Seal was a Texas native who served four tours of duty in Iraq and has been recognized as the “most lethal” sniper in U.S. military history.

Governor Greg Abbott signed HB 910, the Texas Open Carry Bill for Concealed Handgun Holders, into law. The law becomes effective on January 1, 2016.

The Texas House and Senate have adopted the Conference Committee report and passed the open carry bill from both houses. HB 910 will now go on to Governor Greg Abbott to be signed into law.

A woman allegedly claiming to be the wife of Texas State Senator Carlos Uresti (D-San Antonio) was arrested and charged with harassment. The Austin woman has been sending letters and packages to the Senator of a harassing and sexually explicit nature and failed to stop after receiving a cease and desist letter. The woman was charged with a Class B misdemeanor and could spend up to 180 days in jail and a possible fine of up to $2,000.

Dan Golvach, told a Texas Senate Border Security subcommittee last week that what he has learned from his son’s murder by an illegal alien is it is “glaringly evident, that the federal government does not seem to be very invested in securing the border.” His testimony came during National Crime Victim’s Rights Week which was observed April 19th – 25th. Other witnesses urged Texas legislators to pass an interstate compact bill because the federal government has failed to do their job “to protect our families.” They testified about the “catastrophic loss” they have faced because of a porous border.

The Texas Senate passed Senate Bill 4 (SB 4), the tax credit scholarship bill that will allow low income and special needs families who are in failing public schools to get assistance to pay for private tuition. SB 4 was authored by State Senator Larry Taylor (R-Friendswood) and passed with bipartisan support. The final vote of 18-12 was taken on Tuesday, April 21.

AUSTIN, Texas – The Texas House of Representatives has given final passage to the bill that would allow holders of Concealed Handgun Licenses (CHL) to openly carry their handgun. The vote passed third reading by a vote of 101-42.

The Texas House of Representatives has passed a bill on to second reading that would allow people with Concealed Handgun Licenses to openly carry handguns. The bill (HB 910) came to a vote after several hours of contentious debate over amendments and parliamentary procedural issues. The bill was approved by a vote of 96-35.

The Texas Senate appears to be moving slowly on a pair of border security bills, one of which has already passed the House. Border security legislation was set as an “Emergency Item” by Texas Governor Greg Abbott during his State of the State Address where he laid out his legislative agenda for the 84th session of the Texas Legislature. Approximately thirty days later, the Texas House passed HB 11 relating to border security and forwarded that bill to the Senate.

It was standing room only in a marathon meeting on the Texas House floor. Six proposed early childhood education bills were presented and debated before the House Committee on Public Education on Tuesday, March 10. The biggest issue of the day was half-day versus full-day of pre-Kindergarten (pre-K), although a frontrunner emerged in House Bill 4 (HB 4) authored by Rep. Dan Huberty (R-Houston).