Texas Constitutional Enforcement filed a friend of the Senate brief in the Paxton impeachment trial, today, by mailing it to Patsy Spaw, the Secretary of the Senate, who for the Paxton impeachment trial is also Clerk of the Court of Impeachment.

At this writing, we have not heard back as to whether the brief will be formally accepted and will become a formal record of the trial.

To read the brief in PDF form and with legal formatting, table of contents, list of authorities, etc., click here.

Here is the text of the heart of the brief:

INTRODUCTION AND SUMMARY OF ARGUMENT

One of the pillars of a republican form of government is found in the Texas Constitution, art. 1, § 2, reading in part:

All political power is inherent in the people, and all free governments are founded on their authority, and instituted for their benefit.

The “prior-term doctrine” rests on this bedrock principle of the Texas Republic.  The doctrine is often referred to as the “forgiveness doctrine,” but is better described as the “voter-sovereignty doctrine.”  Because the doctrine implements a fundamental principle of our republic and our Bill of Rights, it should be applied to reject 19 of the 20 counts against Attorney General Paxton.

Nothing is more important in impeachment proceedings than following the rule of law.  Because the Texas House violated two procedural statutes in impeaching Ken Paxton, all of the impeachment articles are null and void and should be rejected by the Texas Senate.

No law is any good if not enforced, and the proper enforcer of the law violated in the impeachment of Ken Paxton is the Texas Senate, sitting as an impeachment court.

Specifically, the Texas House violated two statutes in their impeachment:

• The Texas impeachment proceeding statute specifying the steps in impeachment. Gov’t Code §665.001.
• The Texas statute requiring that all testimony in Texas House committees be sworn. Gov’t Code § 301.022.

The steps in an impeachment proceeding are to 1) file articles, 2) investigate, then 3) act.  The very word, “proceeding” implies a proper order to impeachment.  The Texas House violated that order by 1) investigating (in secret), 2) filing articles, then 3) acting.  This is not merely an aspirational goal.  Failure to follow the proper order of things is an injustice, just as a hanging first and then a trial would be.

ARGUMENT

I. “PRIOR-TERM DOCTRINE” RESTS ON TEXAS BILL OF RIGHTS

The attorneys for Attorney General Paxton wrote a powerful brief in support of what they call the “prior-term doctrine,” calling for rejection of 19 of the 20 articles because the doctrine applies.

The purpose of this amicus is to point out that the prior-term doctrine is solidly based in Texas Constitution, art. 1, § 2, which says in part:

All political power is inherent in the people, and all free governments are founded on their authority, and instituted for their benefit.

This principle is one of the two columns upon which the republic that is Texas is based.  In Texas, the voters are the boss.  The voters are sovereign.  That is why the doctrine should better be known as the “voter-sovereignty doctrine.”

The Paxton brief on the doctrine established the following about the doctrine:

1.  The doctrine is codified in original form in statute (Tex. Gov’t Code §665.081):

NO REMOVAL FOR ACTS COMMITTED BEFORE ELECTION TO OFFICE.  (a) An officer in this state may not be removed from office for an act the officer may have committed before the officer’s election to office.

2.  The Texas Supreme Court held regarding impeachment of a sheriff that the predecessor statute meant that the official “could not be removed from office during his second term for offenses committed during his first term.” Reeves v. State, 267 S.W. 666, 669 (Tex. 1924).

3.  The Supreme Court further opined that the statute did not apply to constitutional impeachments such as the one in question, but rather applied a modified version of the doctrine, i.e., “when such acts were a matter of public record or otherwise known to the electors and were sanctioned and approved or forgiven by them at the election.” In re Laughlin, 265 S.W.2d 805, 808 (Tex. 1954).

4.  The Supreme Court applied the doctrine twice again after that in constitutional judicial removal cases, once in In re Brown, 512 S.W.2d 317 (Tex. 1974) and again in In re Carillo, 542 S.W.2d 105 (Tex. 1976). While applying the doctrine to Judge Carillo, the Court recognized that the acts before his current term were not known to the public, and therefore acted to remove him.  In Brown, the Court said, “The rationale for the doctrine is the sound reason that the public, as the ultimate judge and jury in a democratic society, can choose to forgive the misconduct of an elected official.” Id. at 321 (emphasis added).

5.  As set forth in the Paxton brief, the Texas Senate, sitting as a Court of Impeachment has applied the doctrine three times, once to the impeachment of a statewide officer, a Land Commissioner.

The bottom line is that the voter-sovereignty/prior-term doctrine has been implemented multiple times by the Texas Senate and the Texas Supreme Court.  Their actions are anchored in one of the core principles of our republic and articulated in the Texas Bill of Rights.

We urge this Court to follow precedent, republican principles, and the Texas Bill of Rights by applying the voter-sovereignty/prior-term doctrine in this case.

II. THE TEXAS HOUSE VIOLATED THE STATUTORY ORDER OF IMPEACHMENT PROCEEDING

The very first section of the Texas Government Code Chapter 665 called IMPEACHMENT AND REMOVAL, lays out the proper order for an impeachment proceeding:

Sec. 665.001.  IMPEACHMENT PROCEEDING.  In this subchapter, “impeachment proceeding” includes:

(1)  presenting an article of impeachment;

(2)  investigating a matter relating to a contemplated impeachment; and

(3)  acting on an article of impeachment.

            The very word, “proceeding” implies a proper order:  1) Present, 2) Investigate, 3) Act.

            The Texas House violated the statutory order of impeachment.  Its order was 1) Investigate (in secret), 2) Present, 3) Act.

Ready, aim, fire is very different from fire, ready, aim.  There are essential governmental reasons why a prior Texas Legislature wrote the statute to proceed in a certain order.  The order adds transparency.  The order provides due process.  The order insures that mistakes are not made.  And, the proper order results in a product worthy of consideration by the Texas Senate.

The Texas House violated the Texas statute on impeachment proceeding.  No law is any good without enforcement.  The proper enforcer of that statute on the Texas House is the Texas Senate.

The Texas Senate should find all articles of impeachment produced contrary to law and therefore null and void.

III. THE TEXAS HOUSE VIOLATED THE STATUTE REQUIRING SWORN TESTIMONY IN THE GENERAL INVESTIGATING COMMITTEE

In the impeachment debate on the Texas House floor on Saturday, May 27, 2023, Representative Matthew Schaefer asked Representative Andrew Murr, Chairman of the General Investigating Committee, the following question:

Chairman Murr, do you know whether any witnesses that spoke to the investigators hired by the committee were placed under oath?

Chairman Murr replied:

No witnesses were placed under oath . . .  (emphasis added)

In the Texas Government Code Chapter 301. LEGISLATIVE ORGANIZATION., §301.022. TESTIOMONY UNDER OATH says:

   (a) All legislative committees shall require witnesses to give testimony under oath, subject to the penalties of perjury.

   (b) The oath required by this section may be waived by any committee except a general investigating committee. (emphasis added).

Those who try to remove the top law enforcement official in Texas from office after sovereign voters have put him in that office, should follow Texas law in doing so, basing its actions only on sworn testimony.

The Texas House violated a statute governing its own behavior, and the only body to enforce Texas law against this House lawbreaking is the Texas Senate.

All the articles of impeachment should be dismissed because they are null and void for lack of sworn testimony as required by Texas law.

CONCLUSION

For the foregoing reasons, this Texas Senate, sitting as a Court of Impeachment should dismiss all articles of impeachment against Ken Paxton.

Respectfully,

Tom Glass

Date:  August 23, 2022

I can’t believe that it is summer, already!  I am told that some folks take vacation during the summer and have a bit more time to read. Here are some summertime reading suggestions to help grow your knowledge about and ability to argue for some of the issues we care about here at Texas Constitutional Enforcement:

Resisting the Great Reset

• The Great Reset and the Struggle for Liberty by Michael Rectenwald
• The Great Reset by Glenn Beck
• Woke Inc by Vivek Ramaswamy
• If it Ain’t Woke Don’t Fix It by Ben Shapiro

Books to be released soon which I have on pre-order:

• Dark Future: Uncovering the Great Reset’s Terrifying Next Phase by Glenn Beck
• You Will Own Nothing by Carol Roth

Documentaries

• Plandemic 3 The Great Awakening – found at plandemicseries.com
• Agenda Twin Pack – found at agendaweekly.com

Border Security

• Overrun by Todd Bensman

Medical Freedom

• Rise of the Fourth Reich by Steve Deace & Daniel Horowitz
• A Plague Upon Our House by Scott Atlas
• The Courage to Face COVID-19 by Peter McCullough & John Leake
• Lies My Gov’t Told Me by Robert W. Malone
• I Do Not Consent by Simone Gold MD JD

Federalism and Pushing Back on Federal Tyranny

• The Founding Fathers' Guide to the Constitution by Brion McClanahan
  Constitution Owners Manual by Michael Maharrey ( Mike Maharrey)
• Compact of the Republic: The League of States and the Constitution
  by David Benner (Dave Benner)
• Sovereign Duty by KrisAnne Hall
• Nullification: How to Resist Federal Tyranny in the 21st Century by Thomas E. Woods, Jr.
• What Degree of Madness? Madison’s Method to Make American STATES Again
  by Joe A. Wolverton, II, J.D.
• County Sheriff: America’s Last Hope by Sheriff Richard Mack
• Stolen Sovereignty by Daniel Horowitz
• Restoring the Lost Constitution by Randy Barnett
  A Brief Enquiry into the Nature and Character of our Federal Government
  by Abel Upshur (see files section for an electronic copy)
• A View of the Constitution of the United States by Tucker St. George
  (see files section for an electronic copy)

Documentaries:

NonCompliant by KrisAnne Hall

NC2: The Sheriff by KrisAnne Hall

Fun Constitutionalist Fiction

For gripping fictional accounts of near-term dystopian futures we are trying to avoid:

• All 7 of Kurt Schlicter’s Kelly Turnbull series, starting with People’s Republic
• A compilation of the late, great Mike Vanderboegh’s book Absolved which was only published incompletely in chapter format online.

From:   Tom Glass, Texas Constitutional Enforcement (txce.org)

To:       Donald J. Trump

Re:       Action needed now to insure effective election law enforcement in big Texas counties in 2024

Unless Governor Abbott adds election integrity enforcement to one of the special sessions he calls this year, there will be no effective enforcement of Texas election law during the 2024 presidential election in the big Texas counties.  I urge you to urge Governor Abbott to add election integrity enforcement as described below to a special session call.

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (CCA) declared in its 2022 State v. Stephens opinion that the Texas Constitution stops the Attorney General (AG) from independently prosecuting any Texas criminal statute including election law.

Two bills (SB 1927 and HB 4026) introduced during the regular Texas legislative session to implement the only solution that can timely solve the problem -- independent, state-level enforcement of election law with a prosecutor office reporting to the Texas judiciary.  But neither passed.

Here is the language of what I have asked Governor Abbott to use to make the call in a special session this year:

• ELECTION INTEGRITY ENFORCEMENT: Legislation to implement independent state level prosecution of election integrity, public integrity, abortion, human smuggling, sedition, and riot in response to and in compliance with the CCA State v Stephens

Explanation:  Without passing this in 2023, there will be no effective enforcement of election law in the big counties of Texas and the Democrats know it.  Texas Republican leadership does not want to explain to Trump why we had the opportunity to get law enforcement in this vital area, but failed to do so.  The bill that was leading the way and should be introduced again is SB 1927 (Hughes).  For a variant on that approach see also HB 4026 (Schofield).

The additions to the jurisdiction for independent state-level prosecution are also items of great importance to the entire state.

Other proposed solutions were proposed and introduced during this session, one of which passed (HB 17), which gives one additional way for a Texas court to remove district attorneys from office.  But that approach will not insure vigorous election law enforcement in 2024.  Only a replacement for the independent, state-level prosecution that the CCA stopped will get the vital job done.

Toward liberty,

Tom Glass
832-472-4726
[email protected]

Final Legislative Status Report (for the Regular Session)

May 30, 2023 (Day After Sine Die of the 88^th Texas Legislature)

All of the pomp and posturing and motions and points of order and hearings and votes are over for the 88^th Texas Legislature.  Here is my report on the thrill of victory and agony of defeat for the Texas Constitutional Enforcement Legislative Agenda.

We started the session with a meeting in Austin to discuss our Legislative Agenda.  How did we do?

If you have not seen the news, we are already in a special session with two issues called so far – property tax and a very narrow border security bill increasing penalties for smuggling and use of stash houses.  The Governor has also said he plans to call multiple special sessions.  I make reference below to a few items we need to address in those sessions, but hope to do a separate piece on what we need to push being added to 2023 special sessions.

Resist the Great Reset and ESG Scoring Destruction of Texas Business

Monetary Stability and Freedom - Right to Use Cash and Cash Substitutes Amendment

I said at the meeting before the session began that since a financial storm seemed imminent that I considered getting constitutional protection to allow Texans to prepare for that in a way that suited them best was one of my personal top priorities.

As the session progressed, four other bills popped up in the monetary stability/freedom space that either needed to be supported, killed, or modified to stop Central Bank Digital Currency Authorization.

Here is a report on all five bills and concepts:

• HJR 146 Capriglione / SJR 67 Parker – Addition to Texas Bill of Rights to recognize natural right to use currency of choice. Resolution: Close, but no cigar.  Glorious victory in the House with 139 – 2 vote, only to be ultimately thwarted by behind the scenes opposition by the Lt. Governor.
• SB 2334 Hughes / HB 4903 Dorazio – Digital warehouse receipts/currency backed by gold and silver in Texas Bullion Depository. Resolution:  Thwarted in both chambers for different reasons.  In Senate, SB 2334 was assigned by the Lt. Governor by design to hostile Senate Finance Chair Joan Huffman, who killed it without a committee vote.  HB 4903 was slow walked in the jam-packed House State Affairs, and placed on last day Calendar, meaning it never got a vote on the House floor.
• SCR 25 Parker -- Texas resolution against Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC). Resolution: Passed Senate, but never heard in House State Affairs.
• SB 895 Johnson / HB 3573 Lambert – Bill to wholesale replace the Texas statute regulating money transmitters like Paypal that was pushed by a consortium of state banking regulators to standardize and “modernize” money transmitter regulation. A word search on bills led me to the bill and I was initially concerned that the bill was paving the way for Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) because it included the term “stablecoin,” which I assumed could include CBDC.  Along the way, Chair Capriglione of the House committee told me that he did not think that was the case, but to be certain, Lois Kolkhorst and Nathan Johnson added a section that explicitly excluded authorization or creation of CBDC in the bill.  I thanked everyone for addressing my biggest concern, but still did not favor the bill because it enabled too much interference in Texas by other state banking supervisors.  Resolution: Sent to governor with anti-CBDC verbiage.
• HB 5011 Capriglione / SB 2075 Paxton – This was the infamous “UCC Update” that looked like it put the CBDC nose under the tent via the capture of a national process designed to make state law as uniform as possible to make it less burdensome and costly for companies to do business in all states. It was this bill that Kristi Noem of South Dakota vetoed with a branding iron after Glenn Beck raised the alarm on his show.  This is the bill that Ron DeSantis worked with the Florida legislature to modify and condemn CBDC.  As soon as I saw that friends who do not support CBDC had introduced the bill, I gave heads up about the issue and political firestorm they were walking into.  Capriglione immediately tweeted language that he planned to amend the bill to insure no support for CBDC could be construed from the updated law.  Resolution:  The bill died quietly without a hearing in either chamber.

I plan to write up resolution language to urge the governor to add monetary stability and freedom bills that protect Texans from inflation and CBDC to the call of the special session.

No plan of battle survives first contact with the enemy and every legislative agenda morphs as different bills get filed and discussions with legislators sharpen the focus.

Here is the way the rest of the Great Reset agenda got rearranged and categorized as things progressed.

Prohibition from Doing Business with Texas or its Subdivisions

• SB 2530 Hughes – Prohibits financial companies that boycott energy companies from doing business with Texas or its subdivisions. Extends SB 19 from last session that applied same to discrimination against firearms and ammunition manufacturers.  Resolution:  Passed Senate but died due to lack of hearing in House State Affairs.

Texas Fund Divestment

• SB 1446 Hughes -- Stops Texas public employee pensions from investing in companies “furthering social, political, or ideological interests.” Interesting, wide ranging, robust, testimony, the morning after most legislators had gotten to sleep at 3 am.  See video of some of the hearing.  Resolution:  Passed the Senate, but died due to errors in paperwork that caused placement on the House Calendar on last day, then recessing over the weekend and chubbing by Democrats.
• SB 1489 Creighton / HB 3619 Burrows – Stops Texas university funds from investing in companies that boycott oil & gas companies. Extends SB 13 from last session that required same of Texas pension systems.  Resolution:  SB 1489 passed Senate. Both bills dead due lack of action by House Higher Ed Republican Chair John Kuempel.

Prohibiting ESG Discrimination

• HB 2837 Schaefer -- Prohibits credit card companies from “surveilling, reporting, or tracking” purchases of firearms or ammunition. Enforced via Attorney General civil suits.  Resolution:  VICTORY!  Sent to governor.
• HB 1239 Oliverson / SB 833 King -- Prohibits insurance companies from denying coverage, discriminating on rates using ESG factors, or targeting disfavored industries. Resolution:  VICTORY!  SB 822 has been sent to governor.  HB 1239 stopped on House floor with point of order, but Senate action led by King saved the day.
• SB 1060 Hughes -- Prohibits ESG related shareholder proposals from being adopted for Texas insurers and insurer holding companies. Resolution:  Passed Senate, but died by being placed on House Calendar too late.
• SB 1607 Kolkhorst -- Prohibits money transmitters like Paypal from fining their customers for their speech. Passed Senate, but died by being placed on House Calendar too late.

Pre-emption of Municipality ESG Implementation

• SB 1860 Hughes / HB 4930 Craddick – Prohibits cities from passing charter amendments that create climate change policies. Resolution:  VICTORY!  Sent to governor.
• SB 1017 Birdwell – Bill preempting political subdivisions from prohibiting gasoline engines. Resolution: VICTORY!  Sent to and signed by governor.

Stopping Social Media Suppression

• HB 3751 Cain / SB 1602 Hughes – Keeps trials against social media under Texas law in Texas, in other words the venue will be in Texas. Resolution: VICTORY! SB 1602 sent to governor.
• HB 3752 Cain / SB 2510 King – Adds statutory damages from social media companies to Texans who have been suppressed. Resolution:   Author of HB 3752 postponed on House floor, killing own bill.  SB 2510 not heard in Senate State Affairs.
• HB 4397 Cain / SB 2509 King – includes suppression of Texans speech on social media in definition of deceptive trade practice, enabling penalties of Deceptive Trade Practices Act (DTPA). Resolution: Both bills died due to lack of hearing in Dem chaired House Business & Industry.

Slipping in the Great Reset via Transportation Policy

We had two wins on defense, led by the able and ever vigilant Terri Hall, who spoke at our Legislative Workshop.

• HB 3418 Canales – proposed using borrowed federal tax dollars to pilot a program to start a mileage tax in Texas. Along with a good number of activists, I testified against, urging the Senate Transportation Committee Chair Robert Nichols and the committee to quoting Barney Fife, “Nip it.  Nip it in the bud!”  Resolution:  VICTORY!  Thanks to Chair Nichols, the bill was indeed nipped.
• HB 71 Canales – proposed adding digital driver’s license capability so that people could have their driver’s license on their phone instead of a card. I and a few other privacy advocates testified against in the House.  Resolution:  VICTORY!  But Senate Transportation Chair Nichols saved us again by refusing to hear the bill.

Call our batting average in Texas Resistance to the Great Reset .412.

Border Security

Ultimately, we had only one victory on border security this session.  We worked with the RPT Legislative Priority Committee head, Kelly Perry to try to implement the three provisions of the priority, and we worked with a good number of other groups and activists, too.

The one victory was the passage of one third of the RPT priority that called for interstate compact authorization on the border.  The bill was SB 1403 by Senator Tan Parker with the assistance of David Spiller in the House.  It has already been signed by the governor.

A few minor bills made it through, but all of the big items on border security, the backing of the governor’s invocation of the self-defense reservation of power provision of Article I, Sec. 10 of the U.S. Constitution, the statutory authorization for Texas law enforcement to engage in tide-turning, game-changing repel at the border, and a new force or unit to deploy in that effort all fell short.  We have a virtual guarantee of a border security call in a special session.  Buckle up!

We accomplished something that has been talked about for over a decade, but never done.  We actually got a comprehensive bill to drafted stop funding taxpayer services for illegal aliens.  That was another third of the RPT Border Security Legislative Priority.  We did not find anyone to sponsor it.  But now we have a draft that can be shopped.

Call our batting average on border security .250.

Medical Freedom and Executive Overreach

Broad prohibitions on mandating vaccinations:

• HB 44 Swanson / SB 303 Hall – Health care providers who participate in Medicaid and the child health plan program “may not refuse to provide health care service” to enrollees based on “refusal or failure to obtain a vaccine or immunization for a particular infectious or communicable disease.” Penalty to a violating provider is disenrollment from the program.  Resolution:  VICTORY!  HB 44 signed in both chambers.
• SB 265 Perry – Requires reporting by physicians about experimental, investigational, and emergency use vaccine or drug-related injuries and adverse events to the federal Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS).  Noncompliance subject to disciplinary action by Texas Medical Board.  Resolution:  Passed Senate. Dead in House Public Health due to lack of hearing.
• SB 1024 Kolkhorst – Hodgepodge bill that tweaks various vaccination matters. Prohibits private and government K-12 and higher ed COVID-19 vax mandates.  Prohibits government mask mandates and lockdowns.  Prohibits health care facilities and employers (with exceptions) from discriminating against COVID-19 unvaxxed.  Resolution:  Passed Senate.  Dead in House State Affairs due to lack of hearing.
• SJR 66 Hall – Addition to Texas Bill of Rights of right to decline medical treatment, including vaccination. Resolution: Dead due to no vote in Senate HHS.

Narrowly focused on COVID-19 vaccination:

• HB 81 Harrison (Pub Health) / SB 177 (HHS) Middleton – The good part of this bill is that it casts the unalienable right to refuse using the language of informed consent, which has good legal precedent to back it up. The legislative finding section of the bill is very good.  The bill stops anyone from taking an adverse action or imposing a penalty of any kind for refusing a COVID-19 vaccination and imposes $5,000 or more damages against health care providers who administer such.  The only problem is the sole application to COVID-19.  Resolution:  SB 177 died in House because placed on Calendar the last day.
• SB 29 Birdwell – Prohibits governmental vaccine mandates, lockdowns, or mask mandates for COVID-19. Resolution:  Minor VICTORY!  Watered down bill with exceptions sent to governor.
• SB 426 Paxton – Prohibits Texas bureaucracies from interfering with doctors prescribing off-label medicines to address COVID-19. Resolution: Dead due to no hearing in House Public Health after passing Senate.
• SB 403 Springer / HB 1313 Burrows – Texas study on adverse reactions of COVID-19 vax. Resolution:  SB 403 died after getting to Calendars too late after passing Senate.

Bills Relating to Practice of Medicine and Patient Rights:

• SB 301 Hall – Texas Medical Board prohibited from disciplinary action against physicians who prescribe ivermectin or hydroxychloroquine and pharmacists are prohibited from disputing or otherwise providing medical advice on the safety of those drugs. Pharmacists are shielded from liability for dispensing the drugs.  Resolution:  Deade to no hearing in House Public Health after passing Senate.
• SB 1583 Hall – Prohibits higher ed that receive public funds from doing “gain-of-function” research and requires all organizations doing “gain-of-function” research in Texas to report it. Resolution:  Dead due to not enough votes to make it to Senate floor.
• SB 666 Hall – Requires standing and prohibits anonymous complaints in the Texas Medical Board disciplinary process and beefs up due process in the disciplinary process. Resolution:  Dead due to no hearing in House Public Health after passing Senate.
• SB 299 Hall – Hospitals must allow care by physician of choice even if physician is not a member of the hospital’s staff, but hospital not liable for damages resulting from treatment provided by the visiting physician. Resolution:  Dead due to no vote in Senate HHS.

Stopping Future Executive Overreach:

• SJR 58 / HB 1104 Birdwell w House lead Slawson – Constitutional amendment requiring legislative involvement after 30 days for large-scale disasters. Implementing HB 1104 statute stops future lockdowns and limits scope of what laws can be suspended.  Note that this is the bill that implements what the governor said early in session he wants to see before he finally declares the COVID-19 emergency over.  Resolution: Dead due to being added to Calendar on last day after passing Senate.
• HB 107 Schaefer – Removes separation-of-power-violating open-ended penalties provision in Texas Disaster Act. Resolution:  Dead due to never getting a hearing in House State Affairs.

Call our batting average on medical freedom and executive overreach .142.

But I am a count-your-blessings kind of guy. The anti-vax discrimination for Medicare and CHIP (HB 44) victory was HUGE!  The bulk of the credit for that victory in the activist community goes to the indefatigable Jackie Schlegel of Texans for Medical Freedom and Michelle Evans and the army she represented at Texans for Vaccine Choice.

Federal Pushback

Neither our Texas Sovereignty Act (HB 384 Cecil Bell / SB 313 Hall) nor a pushback against unconstitutional federal executive orders (HB 262 Swanson / SB 242 Middleton) made it this session. Only one of those bills even got a hearing, SB 242.  Middleton was able to get it out of committee 7 to 3, but he had enough behind the scenes Republican opposition to stop it from making it to the Senate floor.

The only victory in this space this session was the bill that stops Texas state agencies from enforcing federal regulations on oil and gas that do not exist in Texas law, HB 33 by Landgraf with Springer sponsorship in the Senate.

Election Integrity Enforcement

I worked hard on solving the State v Stephenson Court of Criminal Appeals opinion that stopped the Attorney General from having independent, state-level prosecutorial authority in this state.  I argued that the only way we would get effective election integrity enforcement in the big counties of Texas in 2024 was to create a new state-level prosecution office under the judiciary to comply with the CCA opinion.   The bill doing so was SB 1927 by Hughes.

I include SB 1927 in my federal pushback category because while we were re-establishing state level election integrity enforcement, I was working to add state level public integrity enforcement which includes the Texas official enforcement act, which was an integral part of the Texas Sovereignty Act’s teeth.  SB 1927 was also adding state level prosecution of abortion and human smuggling.  I was pushing to add sedition and riot, too.

Mike Schofield has been a player in this effort, too.  He introduced a Texas Rule of Law bill last session to expand the scope of AG state-level prosecutorial authority, and this session, he introduced HB 4026 with an approach similar to Hughes SB 1927.

We definitely need a special session on this one.  I don’t think either Greg Abbott or Dan Patrick want to tell Donald Trump that they had a chance to get effective election law enforcement in the big counties of Texas in 2024, but failed to do so.

Resolution of SB 1927:  Dead due to opposition by Senator Joan Huffman.

Call the batting average in federal pushback this session .200.

A Band of Brothers and Sisters

One of the most wonderful things about going to the Capitol to advocate for liberty issues is getting to meet and hang out with the wonderful brothers and sisters in arms working on conservative issues at the Capitol, too.

The amount of grassroots participation in this session’s legislative process has been greater than any I have ever seen.  I can list groups I have seen this session, but know I will leave some out because of the sheer volume.  Here are some I can remember of the volunteer, citizen advocates:  the members of the RPT Legislative Priorities Committees, North Texas Conservatives, Fredericksburg Tea Party, True Texas Project, Texans for Vaccine Choice, Texans for Medical Freedom, Texas for Liberty, Texas Freedom Coalition, Citizens Defending Freedom Texas, Convention of States, Texas Eagle Forum, and others I know I am forgetting.  And don’t forget the paid staff of the RPT, Texas Values, GOA, NRA, etc.

There is a perpetual war between the swamp in Austin and the grassroots for influence over our legislature.  The grassroots played the game better this session than ever before.  And the impeachment of Paxton has given the low-information GOP primary voter a way to choose between the establishment and the grassroots in the next primary.  To adapt the old joke, we have gone through lots of manure, but we have gotten to ride a few ponies this session and know there are even more if we just keep looking.

Just when we thought it was virtually over at this Texas Legislature, it appears that Speaker Dade Phelan and his team is joining with Democrats to launch a lightening strike on Ken Paxton by bringing up a vote on impeachment to the House floor this afternoon.

This is Deep State action to bring down the most effective Attorney General in the nation in stopping rogue actions by the rogue presidency. Note that Trump is not the only target of the Deep State.  Trump endorsed candidates are also at risk.

This will be a defining vote for distinguishing between establishment state reps and grassroots state reps.

Paxton has maintained that charges against him, ones that were deployed by both his primary and general election opponents only to be rejected by the voters, are incorrect.  He has never been convicted in a court of law for any of this.

Not only is this impeachment a blitzkrieg and bogus, it is a disenfranchisement of the voters and illegal.

The statute under which impeachment is implemented in Texas is the Texas Government Code, Chapter 665. That chapter contains the following:

Sec. 665.081. NO REMOVAL FOR ACTS COMMITTED BEFORE ELECTION TO OFFICE. (a) An officer in this state may not be removed from office for an act the officer may have committed before the officer's election to office.

The charges are nothing new.  The voters were made aware of the charges and rejected them.

Call your State Rep to ask him or her to vote NO on impeachment.  Use this directory to find the number.

Use the links below to email all the Texas House Republicans to urge them to vote NO on impeachment.

First email list

Second email list

SO, I AM GOING TO GO WATCH THE B&C HEARING TOMORROW, AND ASK CHAIR CHARLES SCHWERTNER AGAIN TO HEAR HJR 146.

I HOPE YOU WILL JOIN ME.

End Game Legislative Action Alerts and Status Report

May 20, 2023 (Day 130 of 140 of the 88^th Texas Legislature)

Deadlines are rapidly approaching.  Bills have passed, are dying, and progressing.  For some it will be a close run thing.  Here is the latest from the thick of battle in the end-game.

ACTION TODAY!:  Urge House Calendars to Set These Bills on the House Calendar

Two more daily House calendars are left to get bills voted on in the House before midnight, Tuesday, May 23.  The Monday calendar that gives the best hope of actually getting a vote on the House floor will be set this afternoon or evening.  The Tuesday calendar will probably be set on Monday.

The action item is to email the Calendars Committee, urging immediate placement on the calendar for the following.

If you are able to go to the Capitol, today, visit each Calendars Committee office and fill out a green slip for each.

Important bills in Calendars, ready to be set on the Monday calendar:

• SB 833 King (Oliverson) -- Prohibits insurance companies from denying coverage, discriminating on rates using ESG factors, or targeting disfavored industries.
• SB 1607 Kolkhorst -- Prohibits money transmitters like Paypal from fining their customers for their speech.
• SB 1060 Hughes -- Prohibits ESG related shareholder proposals from being adopted for Texas insurers and insurer holding companies.
• SB 1446 Hughes -- Stops Texas public employee pensions from investing in companies “furthering social, political, or ideological interests.”
• SB 177 – Middleton w Harrison House sponsor -- Casts the unalienable right to refuse using the language of informed consent, which has good legal precedent to back it up. The legislative finding section of the bill is very good.  The bill stops anyone from taking an adverse action or imposing a penalty of any kind for refusing a COVID-19 vaccination and imposes $5,000 or more damages against health care providers who administer such.

Important bills for which paperwork is done and arrival in Calendars is imminent:

• SJR 58 / SB 1104 Birdwell w House lead Slawson – Constitutional amendment requiring legislative involvement after 30 days for large-scale disasters. Implementing HB 1104 statute stops future lockdowns and limits scope of what laws can be suspended.  Note that this is the bill that implements what the governor said early in session he wants to see before he finally declares the COVID-19 emergency over.
• SB 29 Birdwell – Prohibits governmental vaccine mandates, lockdowns, or mask mandates for COVID-19.
• SB 403 Springer – Texas study on adverse reactions of COVID-19 vax. House Calendars Committee Chair Burrows is House sponsor.

The Border Security End-Game and Action Item

On Thursday, Senate Border Security Chair Brian Birdwell unveiled his substantive committee substitute for the only remaining border security vehicle for the session, State Rep Ryan Guillen’s Speaker designated HB 7 and by end of that day.

Chair Birdwell added back a slightly different version of the border trespass felony and for the most part de-emasculated the border unit, but it left out the most important mission for the unit, to repel.  The unit was moved to be part of the Texas Rangers, reporting to the head of the Texas Rangers, up through the directors of the DPS, which reports to the governor.  The county veto and jurisdictional limits that previously existed were removed.

The vital thing to know is that the Texas Constitution in Article 4, Section 7 authorizes the governor to repel using the Texas military when invaded.  But law enforcement, as this new Border Force will be designated, must have statutory authorization to repel.  If we don’t add repel to HB 7, the governor will not have legal authority to use the Texas Border Force to repel and will have to rely on the Texas military to do it.

And, sadly, all legislative findings setting us up with the best constitutional arguments when we are dragged into federal court, are completely missing from the bill.  Significantly, a MALDEF attorney testified at the hearing (as she had in House State Affairs), that MALDEF considered any action Texas takes to secure the border to be immigration enforcement and therefore preempted by US v Arizona.  It is vital that our border security bills have legislative findings making clear that Texas is NOT enforcing immigration law, but rather acting under the self-defense reservation of power of Article I, Section 10 when we are in imminent danger or actually invaded.

So, I have now crafted an amendment to add the authorization to repel to the Border Force and to add legislative findings giving the governor backing from the legislature to take independent action to protect the people of Texas from the cartels.

ACTION:  Use this link to email the Republican Senators and Lieutenant Governor to adopt these two amendments when HB 7 gets to the Senate floor next week.

One note about where we go from here.  The heroic Matt Schaefer, who worked on the speaker bill that the speaker stabbed in the back (HB 20) predicts that point-of-order similar to what killed HB 20 will be used to kill HB 7 when it gets back to the House.  I have told him that the Speaker will get most of the blame for the failure of his own two border security jewels if the point of order does indeed do as Schaefer predicts.  And everyone I have talked to thinks it likely that if HB 7 is killed by the Speaker, that the governor will add border security to the call of the special session we all know is coming for other reasons.

Note that the border interstate compact SB 1403 by Tan Parker and David Spiller has been sent to the governor!

HJR 146 is Hung Up Waiting for Senate Chair Charles Schwertner

After a glorious victory in the House on Wednesday, May 10, 2023 for the right to use currency of choice  HJR 146, I think it likely that the bill is dead in the Senate.  The deadline for the Senate voting on bills from the House is Wednesday, May 24.  Theoretically, it is possible that we could get added if a one more hearing is set on Monday or Tuesday, giving us time for a vote on Wednesday, but that is probably not going to happen.

The roadblock is Senate Business & Commerce Chair Charles Schwertner.  We have been pounding the committee with emails and Senator Schwertner with phone calls.  I have talked to him personally.  Senator Tan Parker has talked to him repeatedly, going so far as to seek the assistance of the Lt Governor, but so far Chair Schwertner has refused to hear HJR 146.

At the end of the session, a crush of bills has hit Chair Schwertner’s committee, and he has to prioritize what bills live and what bills die.  Thursday, he chose to hear the corporate welfare bill, HB 5 instead of HJR 146.  Friday, he heard these 36 bills instead of HJR 146.

ACTION ITEM:  Call Senator Schwertner’s office at 512-463-0105 to ask that he hear HJR 146.  Send emails to each Texas Senator urging quick passage of HJR 146 using this link.  If we don’t get it heard Monday or Tuesday, the bill is dead.  Note that the Senate is going to convene on Sunday afternoon at 4 pm, so theoretically, staff will be in the office in that time frame.

Click here to read more background and rationale and to find a PDF one pager in support of HJR 146.

I plan to start working to ask the governor to add monetary freedom issues, including this bill, digital gold, and CBDC to the special session call.  More on that later.

I will tell you that I feel like the salesman in this cartoon:

Hearings

Given House deadlines, the most important of which is the Tuesday deadline to hear Senate bills on second reading, it is too late for any House hearings next week to do any good.

As stated above, there is slight chance that Senate Business & Commerce will hold a hearing Monday or Tuesday and HJR 146 could be added, but no Senate hearings of substance have been scheduled for next week at this writing.

The Thrill of Victory and the Agony of Defeat - Status on Bills We are Supporting

Medical Freedom

Here are bills that are broad prohibitions on mandating vaccinations:

• HB 44 Swanson / SB 303 Hall – Health care providers who participate in Medicaid and the child health plan program “may not refuse to provide health care service” to enrollees based on “refusal or failure to obtain a vaccine or immunization for a particular infectious or communicable disease.” Penalty to a violating provider is disenrollment from the program.  Status:  HB 44 passed House and vote held on 5/17 in Senate HHS. Puzzlingly, the record does not show it favorably reported, yet, or placed on intent calendar.
• SB 265 Perry – Requires reporting by physicians about experimental, investigational, and emergency use vaccine or drug-related injuries and adverse events to the federal Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS). Noncompliance subject to disciplinary action by Texas Medical Board.  Status:  Passed Senate. Dead in House Public Health due to lack of hearing.
• SB 1024 Kolkhorst – Hodgepodge bill that tweaks various vaccination matters. Prohibits private and government K-12 and higher ed COVID-19 vax mandates.  Prohibits government mask mandates and lockdowns.  Prohibits health care facilities and employers (with exceptions) from discriminating against COVID-19 unvaxxed.  Status:  Passed Senate.  Dead in House State Affairs due to lack of hearing.
• SJR 66 Hall – Addition to Texas Bill of Rights of right to decline medical treatment, including vaccination. Status:  Heard in HHS. Dead due to no vote in HHS.

Here are the bills I know of that are introduced as narrowly focused on COVID-19 vaccination:

• HB 81 Harrison (Pub Health) / SB 177 (HHS) Middleton – The good part of this bill is that it casts the unalienable right to refuse using the language of informed consent, which has good legal precedent to back it up. The legislative finding section of the bill is very good.  The bill stops anyone from taking an adverse action or imposing a penalty of any kind for refusing a COVID-19 vaccination and imposes $5,000 or more damages against health care providers who administer such.  The only problem is the sole application to COVID-19.  Status:  SB 177 passed Senate, has been in House Calendars 9 days since 5/11.
• SB 29 Birdwell – Prohibits governmental vaccine mandates, lockdowns, or mask mandates for COVID-19. Status:  Passed Senate.  Paperwork has been issued.  May make it to Calendars today in time to get a vote in House.
• SB 426 Paxton – Prohibits Texas bureaucracies from interfering with doctors prescribing off-label medicines to address COVID-19. Status: Passed Senate. Referred to House Public Health. Dead due to no hearing in House Public Health.
• SB 403 Springer / HB 1313 Burrows – Texas study on adverse reactions of COVID-19 vax. Status: SB 403 passed Senate. Reported favorably from House Public Health on 5/18. But paperwork not done. Since this is a Calendars Committee Chair bill, if it makes it to him, likely to be placed on House Calendar, but it will be a close-run thing.

Bills Relating to Practice of Medicine and Patient Rights:

• SB 301 Hall – Texas Medical Board prohibited from disciplinary action against physicians who prescribe ivermectin or hydroxychloroquine and pharmacists are prohibited from disputing or otherwise providing medical advice on the safety of those drugs. Pharmacists are shielded from liability for dispensing the drugs.  Status:  Passed Senate.  Dead due to no hearing in House Public Health.
• SB 1583 Hall – Prohibits higher ed that receive public funds from doing “gain-of-function” research and requires all organizations doing “gain-of-function” research in Texas to report it. Status:  Dead due to not enough votes to make it to Senate floor.
• SB 666 Hall – Requires standing and prohibits anonymous complaints in the Texas Medical Board disciplinary process and beefs up due process in the disciplinary process. Status:  Passed Senate. Dead due to no hearing in House Public Health.
• SB 299 Hall – Hospitals must allow care by physician of choice even if physician is not a member of the hospital’s staff, but hospital not liable for damages resulting from treatment provided by the visiting physician. Status:  Dead due to no vote in  Senate HHS.

Stopping Future Executive Overreach:

• SJR 58 / SB 1104 Birdwell w House lead Slawson – Constitutional amendment requiring legislative involvement after 30 days for large-scale disasters. Implementing HB 1104 statute stops future lockdowns and limits scope of what laws can be suspended.  Note that this is the bill that implements what the governor said early in session he wants to see before he finally declares the COVID-19 emergency over.  Status:  Passed Senate. Passed House State Affairs and paperwork distributed, but not yet in Calendars. Will be close-run thing to make it through Calendars and get vote by Tuesday, midnight.
• HB 107 Schaefer – Removes separation-of-power-violating open-ended penalties provision in Texas Disaster Act. Since this bill is dead in the House, am urging Schaefer to add it as amendment to HB 1104 if we can get HB 1104 to the House floor.

Texas Resistance to Great Reset

Prohibition from Doing Business with Texas or its Subdivisions

• SB 2530 Hughes – Prohibits financial companies that boycott energy companies from doing business with Texas or its subdivisions. Extends SB 19 from last session that applied same to discrimination against firearms and ammunition manufacturers.  Status:  Dead due to lack of hearing in House State Affairs.

Texas Fund Divestment

• SB 1446 Hughes -- Stops Texas public employee pensions from investing in companies “furthering social, political, or ideological interests.” Interesting, wide ranging, robust, testimony, the morning after most legislators had gotten to sleep at 3 am.  See video of some of the hearing.  Status:  Passed the Senate.  Errors in paperwork caused arrival in Calendars only yesterday, May 19.  Needs Calendars to act quickly.
• SB 1489 Creighton / HB 3619 Burrows – Stops Texas university funds from investing in companies that boycott oil & gas companies. Extends SB 13 from last session that required same of Texas pension systems.  Status:  SB 1489 passed Senate. Both bills dead due to lack of hearing in House Higher Ed chaired by John Kuempel.

Prohibiting ESG Discrimination

• HB 2837 Schaefer -- Prohibits credit card companies from “surveilling, reporting, or tracking” purchases of firearms or ammunition. Enforced via Attorney General civil suits.  Status:  VICTORY!  Finally passed Senate last night, May 19. On the way to the governor after ministerial steps.
• HB 1239 Oliverson / SB 833 King -- Prohibits insurance companies from denying coverage, discriminating on rates using ESG factors, or targeting disfavored industries. Status:  HB 1239 stopped on House floor with point of order.  Amended SB 833 passed Senate and got to Calendars yesterday, May 19.  Quick action by Calendars needed.
• SB 1060 Hughes -- Prohibits ESG related shareholder proposals from being adopted for Texas insurers and insurer holding companies. Status:  Passed Senate.  Got to Calendars on May 16.  Quick action by Calendars needed.
• SB 1607 Kolkhorst -- Prohibits money transmitters like Paypal from fining their customers for their speech. Status:  Passed Senate.  Errors in paperwork caused arrival in Calendars only yesterday, May 19.  Needs Calendars to act quickly.

Pre-emption of Municipality ESG Implementation

• SB 1860 Hughes / HB 4930 Craddick – Prohibits cities from passing charter amendments that create climate change policies. Status:  VICTORY!  Sent to governor yesterday, May 19.

Stopping Social Media Suppression

• HB 3751 Cain / SB 1602 Hughes – Keeps trials against social media under Texas law in Texas, in other words the venue will be in Texas. Status: VICTORY! SB 1602 sent to governor, May 17.
• HB 3752 Cain / SB 2510 King – Adds statutory damages from social media companies to Texans who have been suppressed. Status:   Author of HB 3752 postponed on House floor, killing own bill.  SB 2510 not heard in Senate State Affairs.
• HB 4397 Cain / SB 2509 King – includes suppression of Texans speech on social media in definition of deceptive trade practice, enabling penalties of Deceptive Trade Practices Act (DTPA). Status: Both bills died due to lack of hearing in Dem chaired House Business & Industry.

Monetary stability/Opposition to CBDC

• HJR 146 Capriglione w Senate sponsor Parker – Addition to Texas Bill of Rights to recognize natural right to use currency of choice. Status:  Passed House 139 – 2.  Likely dead due to lack of hearing in Senate Business & Commerce. (see above)
• SB 2334 Hughes / HB 4903 Dorazio – Digital warehouse receipts/currency backed by gold and silver in Texas Bullion Depository. Status:  SB 2334 killed by Senate Finance Chair Joan Huffman.  HB 4903 was placed on last day Calendar, but now is dead as vehicle.
• SCR 25 Parker -- Texas resolution against Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC). Status: Passed Senate. Dead due to not being heard in House State Affairs.

Election Integrity Enforcement

SB 1927 Hughes – The only bill that will be effective in seeing enforcement of election law in big counties in 2024 and beyond.  Beefs up existing State Prosecutor Office, delegating independent prosecutorial authority for election integrity, public integrity, abortion, and human trafficking.  Status:  Dead due to opposition by Senator Joan Huffman.

Legislative Action Alerts and Status Report

May 13, 2023 (Day 123 of 140 of the 88^th Texas Legislature)

I played basketball in my youth.  The nature of the sport is one of constant action and reaction.  The pace was so fast that I would go into a kind of haze when playing such that I often could not remember what happened after the game was over.  I think I may be in a legislative haze, now.  Just constantly seeing what action is next to advance and score.  Much is happening.  We have lots to do.

Huge Victory in House on HJR 146 Capriglione’s Right to Use Currency of Choice! Now the Senate.

On Wednesday, May 10, 2023, the Texas House cast a historic vote for HJR 146, Giovanni Capriglione’s addition of the right to use currency of choice to the Texas Bill of Rights.  The vote was 139 to 2, far surpassing the 2/3 needed to move a constitutional amendment to a vote of the people.  The Tweet about that victory has gone viral, having been seen 692 thousand times and with over 2100 hundred comments that are overwhelmingly positive.  The vote has gotten a good amount of press, as well.

HJR 146 has now been assigned to Chair Charles Schwertner’s Business & Commerce Committee.  The next step is for Chair Schwertner to hold a hearing on the bill and rapidly vote it to the Senate floor.  Senator Tan Parker is our Senate champion.

ACTION ITEM:  Send emails to each Texas Senator urging quick passage of HJR 146 using this link.  (I am told that by this group’s actions, we delivered more than 100 emails to each member of the House to deliver our victory there.)

Click here to read more background and rationale and to find a PDF one pager in support of HJR 146.

Setback on Border Security and Path Forward to Victory

The most important, comprehensive border security bill, Matt Schaefer’s HB 20 was killed on a point of order this week by the Speaker who had given the bill priority.  Fortunately, we have two vehicles for tide-turning, game-changing action still in play.  One is the other Speaker border bill of HB 7, which has passed the House and has been assigned to the Chair Brian Birdwell’s Senate Border Security Committee.  I have not confirmed it, but I am told by those in the know that Chair Birdwell will be the HB 7 sponsor in the Senate.

In the early morning hours of May 10, the Border Protection Unit (BPU) jumped in emasculated form from HB 20 to HB 7.  Our task in the Senate is to de-emasculate it by substituting a version of HB 7 that will:

• Remove the county veto on deployment of the BPU defending its portion of the border.
• Taking off restrictions on where the BPU can operate in Texas.
• Reinstating building a wall in BPU duties.
• Reinstating a two-tiered employee structure consisting of peace officers with full arrest authority and other “non-commissioned officers” to provide logistical support and less arrest authority in the border area. This idea is vital to rapidly staffing the BPU to meet the challenge.

The other vehicle is the Lois Kolkhorst declaration of imminent danger and cartel invasion with a robust rationale for invoking the power of Texas to defend itself as authorized under Article I, Section 10 (SCR 23).  I consider this to be the most important legislative need on border security this session because it gets Texas ready to respond to a federal challenge to the governor’s independent actions to repel at the border.  It tells the governor that the legislature and the people of Texas have his back as he does what is necessary to protect us.

ACTION ITEM:  Use this link to email Texas House State Affairs Todd Hunter to urge him to rapidly hear and pass SCR 23.

I will be pushing to meet with Chair Brian Birdwell and staff to determine what he is willing to substitute in HB 7.  If we don’t get progress soon on SCR 23, I may urge him to put its essence into HB 7, as well.  Standby for action on this one.

Note that we had a victory this week in getting the border interstate compact from the Senate passed with one minor amendment in the House (SB 1403 Parker w Spiller House sponsor).  That bill implements one third of the RPT Border Security Legislative Priority.  We only need the Senate to concur before going on to the governor.

Hearings The Week of May 15

Monday, May 15:

House State Affairs: (1:30 pm or after House Session, JHR 140, the Reagan Building is on the north side of the Capitol complex.  )

SB 1104 Birdwell w House sponsor Slawson – Fixes some of the separation of powers problems of Texas Disaster Act and Texas Emergency Act.  Prohibits future lockdowns.  Limits what laws can be suspended.  Note that this bill refers to constitutional language that would be created by SJR 58 if passed, but SJR 58 is not currently up for hearing.

I will be supporting passage to the floor, but urging floor amendments to:

• Eliminate open ended criminal penalties in Texas Disaster Act (see HB 107).
• Eliminate lying “force and effect of law” language in Texas Disaster Act equating executive orders with law. I call the attempt to elevate orders to law, “trans-law.”  It is executive orders IDENTIFYING as law, in violation of separation of powers.
• Add mask mandate prohibition (See HB 154).
• Clarify that elements of the Code of Criminal Procedure that protect due course of law cannot be suspended during emergencies.

Click here to provide remote online comments for the record between now and hearing end.

Senate State Affairs:  (Senate Chamber)

HB 2837:  Schaefer w Schwertner Senate sponsor -- Prohibits credit card companies from “surveilling, reporting, or tracking” purchases of firearms or ammunition.  Enforced via Attorney General civil suits.

A number of other interesting bills being heard in this committee:

HB 3506: Caroline Harris w Hughes Senate sponsor – Eliminates the DNA of victims of crime and suspects eliminated of suspicion from criminal DNA databases.

HB 5180: Wilson w Hughes Senate sponsor – Another bill requiring specific election records be made available to public.

HB 1243: Hefner w Hughes Senate sponsor – Takes penalty for illegal voting back up to felony.

Wednesday, May 17:

House State Affairs: (10:30 am or after House session, JHR 140, the Reagan Building is on the north side of the Capitol complex)

SB 330 Hall w House sponsor Schaefer – All hazards grid and critical infrastructure bill including protections against EMP and solar flares.  Senator Hall (and my group Protect the Texas Grid) have been working on this for 5 sessions.  If we can get a quick vote after this hearing, we may actually make it this session.

SJR 35 Birdwell – Constitutional amendment confirming that only citizens can vote.  This passed unanimously out of the Senate.

Note that this hearing will also include several other bills that Texas Constitutional Enforcement is not taking a position on, but will likely be of interest to many of you:

SB 1910 Bettencourt – Beefing up public information law to confirm need for making election records available to the public.  Bill is in context of election integrity wars in Harris County and Matress Mack’s lawsuit against Harris County seeking election records.

SJR 52 Birdwell – Extends sunset of Article V application made in 2017 from 8 years to 16 years. That extends the sunset date from 2025 to 2033.  This is the big bill being promoted by the Convention of States.

Because this is a House committee, you can make online written comments for the record using this link.

Status on Other Bills We are Supporting

Medical Freedom

Here are bills that are broad prohibitions on mandating vaccinations:

• HB 44 Swanson / SB 303 Hall – Health care providers who participate in Medicaid and the child health plan program “may not refuse to provide health care service” to enrollees based on “refusal or failure to obtain a vaccine or immunization for a particular infectious or communicable disease.” Penalty to a violating provider is disenrollment from the program.  Status:  HB 44 passed House and heard and pending in Senate HHS.
• SB 265 Perry – Requires reporting by physicians about experimental, investigational, and emergency use vaccine or drug-related injuries and adverse events to the federal Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS). Noncompliance subject to disciplinary action by Texas Medical Board.  Status:  Passed Senate. Referred to House Public Health. No scheduled hearing, yet.
• SB 1024 Kolkhorst – Hodgepodge bill that tweaks various vaccination matters. Prohibits private and government K-12 and higher ed COVID-19 vax mandates.  Prohibits government mask mandates and lockdowns.  Prohibits health care facilities and employers (with exceptions) from discriminating against COVID-19 unvaxxed.  Status:  Passed Senate.  Referred to House State Affairs. No scheduled hearing, yet.
• SJR 66 Hall – Addition to Texas Bill of Rights of right to decline medical treatment, including vaccination. Status:  Heard in HHS. Left pending.

Here are the bills I know of that are introduced as narrowly focused on COVID-19 vaccination:

• HB 81 Harrison (Pub Health) / SB 177 (HHS) Middleton – The good part of this bill is that it casts the unalienable right to refuse using the language of informed consent, which has good legal precedent to back it up. The legislative finding section of the bill is very good.  The bill stops anyone from taking an adverse action or imposing a penalty of any kind for refusing a COVID-19 vaccination and imposes $5,000 or more damages against health care providers who administer such.  The only problem is the sole application to COVID-19.  Status:  SB 177 passed Senate, out of House Pub Health and in House Calendars. SB 177 only bill eligible to be heard on House floor now.
• SB 29 Birdwell – Prohibits governmental vaccine mandates, lockdowns, or mask mandates for COVID-19. Status:  Passed Senate.  Heard in House State Affairs. Pending vote in House State Affairs.
• SB 426 Paxton – Prohibits Texas bureaucracies from interfering with doctors prescribing off-label medicines to address COVID-19. Status: Passed Senate. Referred to House Public Health. No scheduled hearing, yet.
• SB 403 Springer / HB 1313 Burrows – Texas study on adverse reactions of COVID-19 vax. Status: SB 403 passed Senate. Referred to House Public Health.  HB 1313 heard in Public Health, but no longer eligible to be voted in full House.  Need SB 403 hearing in Public Health.

Bills Relating to Practice of Medicine and Patient Rights:

• SB 301 Hall – Texas Medical Board prohibited from disciplinary action against physicians who prescribe ivermectin or hydroxychloroquine and pharmacists are prohibited from disputing or otherwise providing medical advice on the safety of those drugs. Pharmacists are shielded from liability for dispensing the drugs.  Status:  Passed Senate.  Referred to House Public Health. No scheduled hearing, yet.
• SB 1583 Hall – Prohibits higher ed that receive public funds from doing “gain-of-function” research and requires all organizations doing “gain-of-function” research in Texas to report it. Status:  Taken off Senate intent calendar. Likely dead.
• SB 666 Hall – Requires standing and prohibits anonymous complaints in the Texas Medical Board disciplinary process and beefs up due process in the disciplinary process. Status:  Passed Senate. Unassigned in House.
• SB 299 Hall – Hospitals must allow care by physician of choice even if physician is not a member of the hospital’s staff, but hospital not liable for damages resulting from treatment provided by the visiting physician. Status:  Heard in Senate HHS.

Stopping Future Executive Overreach:

• SJR 58 / HB 1104 Birdwell w House lead Slawson – Constitutional amendment requiring legislative involvement after 30 days for large-scale disasters. Implementing HB 1104 statute stops future lockdowns and limits scope of what laws can be suspended.  Status:  Passed Senate. Referred to House State Affairs. HB 1104 scheduled for hearing Monday.  See above.
• HB 107 Schaefer – Removes separation-of-power-violating open-ended penalties provision in Texas Disaster Act. Since this bill is dead in the House, am urging Schaefer to add it as amendment to HB 1104 if we can get HB 1104 to the House floor.

Texas Resistance to Great Reset

Prohibition from Doing Business with Texas or its Subdivisions

• SB 2530 Hughes – Prohibits financial companies that boycott energy companies from doing business with Texas or its subdivisions. Extends SB 19 from last session that applied same to discrimination against firearms and ammunition manufacturers.  Status:  Passed Senate. Referred to House State Affairs. No scheduled hearing, yet.

Texas Fund Divestment

• SB 1446 Hughes -- Stops Texas public employee pensions from investing in companies “furthering social, political, or ideological interests.” Status:  Passed the Senate.  Heard in House Pensions, Investments & Financial Services. Interesting, wide ranging, robust, testimony, the morning after most legislators had gotten to sleep at 3 am.  See video of some of the hearing.
• SB 1489 Creighton / HB 3619 Burrows – Stops Texas university funds from investing in companies that boycott oil & gas companies. Extends SB 13 from last session that required same of Texas pension systems.  Status:  SB 1489 passed Senate.  The now dead HB 3619 heard in House Higher Ed, but still alive SB 1489 hearing not scheduled, yet.

Prohibiting ESG Discrimination

• HB 2837 Schaefer -- Prohibits credit card companies from “surveilling, reporting, or tracking” purchases of firearms or ammunition. Enforced via Attorney General civil suits.  Status:  Passed House.  Hearing schedule in Senate State Affairs, Wednesday, May 17. See above.
• HB 1239 Oliverson / SB 833 King -- Prohibits insurance companies from denying coverage, discriminating on rates using ESG factors, or targeting disfavored industries. Status:  HB 1239 stopped on House floor with point of order.  Amended SB 833 passed Senate, referred to House Insurance.
• SB 1060 Hughes -- Prohibits ESG related shareholder proposals from being adopted for Texas insurers and insurer holding companies. Status:  Passed Senate. Passed House Insurance. Paperwork languishing for 9 days, so not to Calendars, yet.
• SB 1607 Kolkhorst -- Prohibits money transmitters like Paypal from fining their customers for their speech. Status:  Passed Senate.  Heard to House Pensions, Investments & Financial Services. Waiting on committee vote.

Pre-emption of Municipality ESG Implementation

• SB 1860 Hughes / HB 4930 Craddick – Prohibits cities from passing charter amendments that create climate change policies. Status:  SB 1860 passed Senate and passed as amended in House. Pending Senate concurrence.

Stopping Social Media Suppression

• HB 3751 Cain / SB 1602 Hughes – Keeps trials against social media under Texas law in Texas, in other words the venue will be in Texas. Status: SB 1602 passed Senate, and House Judiciary & Civil Jurisprudence. On House Calendar for Monday, May 15.
• HB 3752 Cain / SB 2510 King – Adds statutory damages from social media companies to Texans who have been suppressed. Status: Author of HB 3752 postponed on House floor, killing own bill.  SB 2510 not heard in committee.  Appears dead.
• HB 4397 Cain / SB 2509 King – includes suppression of Texans speech on social media in definition of deceptive trade practice, enabling penalties of Deceptive Trade Practices Act (DTPA). Status: SB 2509 passed Senate. Referred to House Business & Industry. No scheduled hearing, yet.

Monetary stability/Opposition to CBDC

• HJR 146 Capriglione w Senate sponsor Parker – Addition to Texas Bill of Rights to recognize natural right to use currency of choice. Status: Passed House.  Referred to Senate Business & Commerce. (see above)
• SB 2334 Hughes / HB 4903 Dorazio – Digital warehouse receipts/currency backed by gold and silver in Texas Bullion Depository. Status:  SB 2334 is vehicle forward.  Heard in Senate Finance. Waiting on committee vote. HB 4903 was placed on last day Calendar, but now is dead as vehicle.
• SCR 25 Parker -- Texas resolution against Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC). Status: Passed Senate. Waiting to be heard in House State Affairs.

Election Integrity Enforcement

SB 1927 Hughes – The only bill that will be effective in seeing enforcement of election law in big counties in 2024 and beyond.  Beefs up existing State Prosecutor Office, delegating independent prosecutorial authority for election integrity, public integrity, abortion, and human trafficking.  Status:  Taken off Senate intent calendar.  Needs to be put back on track.  Click here to learn more and email Lieutenant Governor and Republican Senators.

Senate Bills that need a hearing in House State Affairs:

• SCR 23 Kolkhorst w Schaefer in House – Invocation of Article I, Sec 10 self-defense reservation of power to Texas, declaring cartel invasion and imminent danger. Also calls on feds to declare cartels terrorists. (Border Security)
• SJR 58 Birdwell w House lead Slawson – Constitutional amendment requiring legislative involvement after 30 days for large-scale disasters. Implementing HB 1104 by Birdwell statute is being heard Monday, May 15. (see above) It stops future lockdowns and limits scope of what laws can be suspended. (Medical Freedom)
• SB 2530 Hughes – Prohibits financial companies that boycott energy companies from doing business with Texas or its subdivisions. Extends SB 19 from last session that applied same to discrimination against firearms and ammunition manufacturers. (Great Reset)
• SB 1024 Kolkhorst – Hodgepodge bill that tweaks various vaccination matters. Prohibits private and government K-12 and higher ed COVID-19 vax mandates.  Prohibits government mask mandates and lockdowns.  Prohibits health care facilities and employers (with exceptions) from discriminating against COVID-19 unvaxxed. (Medical Freedom)
• SCR 25 Parker – Texas resolution against Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC).

Email the House State Affairs Committee Clerk, Ginny Holloway ([email protected]) to communicate to Chair Todd Hunter that you would like to see timely hearings for these important Senate Bills.

Senate Bills that need a hearing in House Public Health

• SB 301 Hall – Texas Medical Board prohibited from disciplinary action against physicians who prescribe ivermectin or hydroxychloroquine and pharmacists are prohibited from disputing or otherwise providing medical advice on the safety of those drugs. Pharmacists are shielded from liability for dispensing the drugs.
• SB 265 Perry – Requires reporting by physicians about experimental, investigational, and emergency use vaccine or drug-related injuries and adverse events to the federal Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS). Noncompliance subject to disciplinary action by Texas Medical Board.
• SB 403 Springer w House sponsor Burrows – Texas study on adverse reactions of COVID-19 vax.
• SB 426 Paxton – Prohibits Texas bureaucracies from interfering with doctors prescribing off-label medicines to address COVID-19.

Email the House Public Health Committee Clerk, Teri Avery ([email protected]) to communicate to Chair Stephanie Klick that you would like to see timely hearings for these important Senate Bills.

Senate Bills in House Calendars or headed to Calendars that have a chance and need pushing

Senate Bills that Have to Make it onto Calendar by Tue, May 23:

• SB 177 – Middleton w Harrison House sponsor -- Casts the unalienable right to refuse using the language of informed consent, which has good legal precedent to back it up. The legislative finding section of the bill is very good.  The bill stops anyone from taking an adverse action or imposing a penalty of any kind for refusing a COVID-19 vaccination and imposes $5,000 or more damages against health care providers who administer such. 
• SB 1060 Hughes -- Prohibits ESG related shareholder proposals from being adopted for Texas insurers and insurer holding companies.