This is an urgent status update and ACTION ALERT on the Texas Sovereignty Act (HB 796).

As we speak there is a non-transparent, behind-the-scenes-effort to gut the Texas Sovereignty Act that the Texas Constitutional Enforcement group met to draft in 2016 and on its fifth session, has passed the Texas House and had a Senate hearing.

The effort, which I am told is coming out of the Lieutenant Governor’s office, but I suspect is instigated by Senator Brian Birdwell, seeks to completely replace the comprehensive Texas Sovereignty Act with the language of SB 707 which was a bill to say that future Texas legislatures can pass resolutions to push back on “federal directives,” if passed with a majority in one chamber and two thirds of the other chamber. The only action directed by SB 707 if such a resolution passes is that state officials are prohibited from assisting the feds on that directive.

The RPT End Federal Overreach Legislative Priority Committee considered both the Texas Sovereignty Act (HB 796) and SB 707 early in the session, endorsing HB 796 and declining to endorse SB 707. The reasoning was that the legislature can already pass resolutions and legislation without SB 707, so the bill is virtually useless. Worse, the addition of the 2/3 majority of one chamber makes it even harder to push back on the feds than it is if we pass nothing.

It is this SB 707 emperor-without-clothes-bill that the Lieutenant Governor reportedly is pushing Senate sponsor Bob Hall to use to kill HB 796 and for Senate State Affairs Chair Bryan Hughes to enforce by refusing to hold a committee vote on HB 796, but only the gutted shell with SB 707 language. In the hearing on HB 796 yesterday, Senator Brian Birdwell spent half an hour critiquing the bill, and refused to solicit any feedback on his opposition.

From my perspective, and I think, Senator Hall’s perspective, we are not opposed to Birdwell’s comments about 1) insuring that the language of the bill urges the legislative interpreters to consider the intent of all the amendments to the Constitution, 2) changing the standing committee’s quorum statement to avoid potential domination by one chamber over another, and 3) to remove the required two thirds majority for recission that had been grafted in via a committee sub. But toward the end, Birdwell’s real agenda comes out, saying that he does not support the underlying philosophy of the Texas Sovereignty Act, preferring the useless SB 707.

In the comments Senator Birdwell made in the hearing, he restated his position that Texas does not have the authority to pass a law to make it illegal to cross our border with Mexico between ports of entry, based on the same federal judicial supremacy philosophy with which he opposes HB 796. In a special session in 2023, because the rest of the Republican Senators disagreed with that, the Lieutenant Governor ended up having to move the Texas law to criminalize illegal crossing out of Chair Birdwell’s committee to get it passed, and in the end, Birdwell was the sole Republican voting against the bill.

This appears to me to be the same situation, Senator Birdwell historically has the respect of his colleagues on constitutional issues (and he has mine, as well), and I suspect he is the source of the back-room opposition to HB 796. I think that this situation needs to be exposed and that the people of Texas need a vote on an intact HB 796. I suspect that when we do, we will see that once again, Senator Birdwell is out of step with his Republican colleagues and the people of Texas in an area of vital importance to the future liberty of Texans from centralized tyranny.

So, the ACTIONS needed are to:

• Urge the Lieutenant Governor to allow a vote on an intact HB 796, using this link. (See below what I sent using the link.)

• Urge Chair Bryan Hughes to allow a rapid committee vote on an intact HB 796,

• Urge the Senate State Affairs Committee members to vote for an intact HB 796.

• Urge Cecil Bell, the House author to stand firm and refuse to concur with the gutting of his bill if it comes that way back to the House. Bell, should instead seek a vote of nonconcurrence in the House, so that conferees can actually get a good bill and not a destructive one passed, this session.

• Use this link to send one email to Senate State Affairs Chair Hughes, the Republicans on Senate State Affairs (including Bob Hall, but excluding Senator Birdwell, and House Sponsor Cecil Bell. (See below what I sent using the link.)

BTW, one of the pieces of evidence that the Lieutenant Governor has been swayed for now to gut HB 796 is the very fact that the Birdwell opened up for public view the half hour debate with Hall over the bill in committee.  The Senate historically (urged by the Lieutenant Governor) tries to iron out such disagreements behind the scenes instead of in public. The fact that this push-back by Birdwell was allowed is a signal of Lieutenant Governor approval for Birdwell’s opposition.

I hope that we can persuade the Lieutenant Governor that like on the border last session, he should go with a proper understanding of the power of Texas under the U.S. Constitution, rather than taking the subservient role that Birdwell advocates.

Also BTW, I have been urged that I should take something, rather than nothing in this process. My own words of “Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good,” were thrown back at me. I was also advised that if we at least pass something this session, it will be easier to come back next session to get it better.

But SB 707 is not good, and it is not progress. It moves us backward. I am unwilling to abandon the work of a decade for going the wrong direction without a fight. Part of the problem we have always faced is just getting our lawmakers and statewide elected officials to engage in thinking about and commenting and acting on these issues. To back off now robs us of the very rare chance to engage our elected officials on this. To back off now, allows our vital and valid ideas to be rejected in secret with reasoning or debate.

We have come too far to kill ourselves right before we have victory. I hope you will join me in once again, asking for what we want, and not settling for being ignored.

Toward liberty,

Tom Glass
832-472-4726
txce.org
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This is what I sent to the Lieutenant Governor using this link:

Subject: Please Don’t Kill the Texas Sovereignty Act (HB 796)!

This is to request that the Lieutenant Governor urge that the Senate State Affairs Committee vote out either the original HB 796 or the committee substitute introduced to the committee yesterday, May 15.

We understand that Senator Birdwell is urging the wholesale replacement of HB 796 with language from SB 707, and we are very much opposed to this killing action.

The Republican Party of Texas End Federal Overreach Legislative Priority Committee evaluated both HB 796 and SB 707 early in the session and endorsed HB 796 and declined to endorse SB 707.

The rationale for opposing SB 707 is that first, by requiring future legislatures to have a two-thirds vote in one chamber or the other to pass a resolution to resist unconstitutional directives, it actually makes it harder to resist federal overreach than it is, today.

Even if that is fixed, SB 707 merely restates what future legislators can already do -- pass legislation declaring disagreement with federal action. SB 707, at best, is a useless waste of time, and at worst, gets in the way of resisting federal overreach.

By stark contrast, HB 796 is a comprehensive way for Texans to come together, outside the press of the legislative session, and work together to push back on federal overreach, stating the reasons why.

I will point out that last session, Senator Birdwell's hesitancy to push back on the feds and stand up for Texas led you and the Senate to have to work around him to get legislation passed to make it illegal under Texas law to cross the Mexico-Texas border.

We believe that the people of Texas (as evidenced by the RPT making End Federal Overreach a Legislative Priority) want the Texas legislature to resist federal overreach and that every other Republican Senator joins them in this effort.

Please, do not allow Senator Birdwell to derail the vital Republican and Texan priority to protect the rights of Texans and sovereignty of Texas.

This is what I sent to Chair Hughes, the State Affairs Committee, and House author, Cecil Bell using this link:

Subject: Please Don’t Kill the Texas Sovereignty Act (HB 796)!

We are being told that there is a push to completely replace HB 796 with the language of SB 707 in Senate State Affairs. This is to urge you to push for a vote and vote for the original HB 796, or the committee sub already submitted by Senator Hall and to not approve its replacement with SB 707.

SB 707 actually moves us backward on resisting federal overreach by setting the bar that two-thirds in one of two chambers to pass resolutions pushing back. And, even if that is fixed, SB 707 merely states what the legislature can already do, which is to pass legislation to push back against the feds.

HB 796 is a comprehensive way for Texans to come together, outside the press of the legislative session, and work together to push back on federal overreach, stating the reasons why.

I note that the Republican Party of Texas End Federal Overreach Legislative Priority endorsed HB 796 as its premier bill fulfilling the End Federal Overreach priority and rejected SB 707 as backwards movement toward that goal.