#TXLEGE: Schaefer attempts to end rural carve out in Annexation bill; House declines....

"So nation was destroyed by nation, and city by city, for God troubled them with every adversity. 7 But you, be strong and do not let your hands be weak, for your work shall be rewarded!"
2 Chronicles 15:6-7

Well, he tried.

During today's house floor debate on the annexation bill, Matt Schaefer offered an amendment (Note: Amendment #2) that would have made the bill apply to all 254 counties.

It was shot down 58-78.

Here's the damage:

RV# 111 — Unofficial Totals: 58 Yeas, 78 Nays, 1 Present, not voting

Yeas - Anderson, C.; Anderson, R.; Bell; Biedermann; Bohac; Burkett; Burns; Cain; Canales; Cosper; Cyrier; Dean; Elkins; Faircloth; Fallon; Frank; Frullo; Gooden; Guerra; Hefner; Holland; Isaac; Kacal; Keough; King, P.; Klick; Krause; Kuempel; Landgraf; Lang; Lozano; Metcalf; Meyer; Miller; Muñoz; Murphy; Paddie; Phillips; Pickett; Price; Raney; Rinaldi; Roberts; Sanford; Schaefer; Schofield; Schubert; Shaheen; Stephenson; Stickland; Swanson; Thompson, E.; Tinderholt; Uresti; White; Wilson; Wray; Zedler

Nays - Allen; Alonzo; Alvarado; Anchia; Arévalo; Ashby; Bailes; Bernal; Blanco; Bonnen, D.; Bonnen, G.; Burrows; Button; Capriglione; Clardy; Coleman; Collier; Cook; Cortez; Craddick; Dale; Darby; Davis, S.; Davis, Y.; Deshotel; Farrar; Flynn; Geren; Gervin-Hawkins; Giddings; Goldman; Gonzales; González; Gutierrez; Hernandez; Herrero; Hinojosa; Howard; Huberty; Hunter; Israel; Johnson, E.; King, T.; Koop; Larson; Longoria; Martinez; Minjarez; Moody; Morrison; Murr; Nevárez; Oliveira; Oliverson; Ortega; Parker; Paul; Perez; Phelan; Reynolds; Rodriguez, E.; Rodriguez, J.; Romero; Rose; Sheffield; Shine; Simmons; Springer; Stucky; Thierry; Thompson, S.; Turner; VanDeaver; Villalba; Vo; Walle; Workman; Zerwas

Present, not voting - Mr. Speaker(C)

Absent, Excused - Johnson, J.; Lambert; Leach; Neave; Smithee; Wu

Absent - Dukes; Dutton; Guillen; King, K.; Laubenberg; Lucio; Raymond

Note that most of the rural R's (eg. Cecil Bell, Scott Copser, Lance Gooden, Chris Paddie and Four Price) voted for the Schaefer amendment.  That should tell you how this plays in the rural areas.  Unfortunately, it looks like a whole bunch of squish suburban R's took one for the team (lookin' at you Giovanni) took one for the team to kill the amendment.

Bottom Line: As a resident of Travis County, this bill helps us no matter what, but it sucks for the rural folks.