#TXLEGE: Bernal Lets Cat out of Bag

"Therefore, putting away lying, “Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor,” for we are members of one another."
Ephesians 4:25

This won't surprise anyone who was paying attention, nevertheless:

#txlege

Just want to point out that the "successful" Session people keep referring to was hallmarked by Republicans in large part adopting Democrat legislative priorities.

Now you have even more reason to just vote for the real thing.

— Diego Bernal (@DiegoBernalTX) October 15, 2019

Well, yeah.

We couldn't have said it better ourselves.

That's why folks were angry.

Even if Dan Patrick claims to have "won" some alleged Super Bowl.

Bottom Line: About time somebody said it....

#TXLEGE: Texans for so-called "Lawsuit Reform" Needs to be SHAMED into supporting First Amendment

"Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons,"
1 Timothy 4:1

Some wretched bills filed by Democrats have attracted national attention.  Under the guise of "nondiscrimination," the bills in question would eviscerate the first amendment.  If such bills were to pass, it would make the Colorado cake baker case look like child's play.

That being said, we noticed something else when we read the bills.

HB 244 (Farrar):

HB 254 (Bernal):

HB 188 (Bernal): 

HB 517 (Israel):

HB 850 (Johnson):

SB 151 (Rodriguez):

In 47 separate places, across 6 bills, Democrats want to enable lawsuits or major regulatory actions (which will inevitably beget lawsuits) based on "perceptions."

Not actions.

Perceptions.

This sort of language is a sea change; the unintended consequences have not been thought through.

Which begs the question: Where, pray tell, is Texans for "Lawsuit Reform" in all this?!?

Besides the obvious first amendment/religious liberty nightmare, these bills are the biggest trial lawyer boondoggle in a generation.  It does not take a genius to see how, if "perception" becomes a valid legal standard, ambulance chasers will bloom.  That's before the "perception" standard is expanded by future legislatures or Democrat judges.

Yet the state's largest so-called "tort reform" group is silent.

It's madness.  Madness that's indefensible from a group that claims to oppose trial lawyer boondoggles.  Indefensible madness that Texans for so-called "Lawsuit Reform" should be forced to either defend or disavow.

Bottom Line: You would think that a so-called "tort reform" organization would oppose trial lawyer boondoggles.  For some reason, that's not the case.  How very, very odd.

#TXLEGE: Villalba auditions for Far Left cash by playing "Rational Republican" martyr

"The tongue of the wise uses knowledge rightly,
But the mouth of fools pours forth foolishness."
Proverbs 15:2

It started with Samantha Bee last month:



It continued with yesterday's barely literate Trib op-ed calling for Trump's impeachment:

But verily I say unto you today, if we do not stop this man now, today, over 500 days into his presidency, we will be equally culpable in what he has planned for our great nation. President Trump thinks you are a fool. He believes you will never abandon him. And he believes that that there is almost nothing that he can do that would cause you to abandon supporting him.

But what he doesn’t know is that you are not a fool. You, like me, are an American. And no man will own your heart and mind like this president thinks he owns you.

Today is the day we take back our America. Today is the day we say “NO” to anyone who revels in abusing those weaker than them for political points.

At first, it seems like this is just Jason Villalba being Jason Villalba.

Then the Texas Observer ties everything together:

At the historic Sunset Station building just east of downtown San Antonio Wednesday night, a couple hundred people gathered to see Tom Steyer in a town hall setting.

Some had gotten texts; others invites on Facebook. Some had no clue who this Tom Steyer guy was; others a faint idea. Most of them had signed on to his Need to Impeach campaign, which he launched in October to build public support for President Trump’s impeachment. He says it has since garnered about 5.5 million signatures and is adding 10,000 more each day.

....

A hedge-fund billionaire and Democratic mega-donor from California, Steyer is the benefactor of the youth voter mobilization project NextGen America, a super PAC that operates in 11 states. He’s developed a reputation for his willingness to spend tens of millions on liberal politics.

So far, Steyer has pumped more than $40 million into Need to Impeach, running ads on TV (including Fox News) and building up a staff of 40 people.

Soo...Jason Villalba just "happens" to publish an op-ed calling for Trump's impeachment on the same day that the far-left billionaire who's funding the Trump impeachment drive just "happens" to be in Texas.

Hmm....

Couldn't be.

Oh wait:

I look forward to seeing more honest Republican leaders like @JasonVillalba step up and call for impeachment. https://t.co/fIHQtMCAGC

— Tom Steyer (@TomSteyer) July 18, 2018

Get a room.

Bottom Line: We'll just warn our friends on the left that if they buy Jason Villalba, they own Jason Villalba.

#TXLEGE: Huberty LYING about School Finance and Property Tax Relief....

"They speak idly everyone with his neighbor;
With flattering lips and a double heart they speak."
Psalm 12:2

[Note: The committee hearing can be viewed here; our testimony can be viewed at the 1 hour 20 minute mark.]

We attended this afternoon's house Public Education committee and testified against Dan Huberty's terrible school finance bill.  This is a substantively similar bill to the bad policy wrapped in a sleazy process bill Huberty pursued during the regular session.  We suppose it's to Huberty's mild credit that at least he's no longer shadily attempting to push it under the radar while the public is focused on other issues.

But the fundamental problem about the bill hasn't changed: It pours a lot of money into the bureaucracy without structurally reforming the system or providing relief to taxpayers.

And, when Huberty attempts to portray this bill as a property tax relief bill, he's telling a bald-faced lie.

In theory, the legislature could write a school finance bill that included property tax relief.  It could be accomplished through a mechanism called a rate compression."  Huberty's bill doesn't have a rate compression.

Furthermore, the argument that some members of the house have made about the state picking up a bigger percentage of the tab for education spending isn't entirely crazy.  We say that primarily because the state collects revenue through sales taxes while local school districts levy property taxes.  But any increase in state expenditures needs to be met with a corresponding decrease in local expenditures and Huberty's bill doesn't do that.

For this website to get to a yes on a school finance bill, we would need to see either structural reforms so the system better serves children or meaningful property tax relief; Huberty's bill does neither.

Bottom Line: This is not a tax relief bill.  This is a spending bill.  And every time Dan Huberty tries to claim otherwise, he's lying.

-----

Another interesting note about house leadership's priorities during the special session is that THIS bill also got a hearing today:

HB 197        Bernal                  
Relating to the bilingual education allotment provided under the public school finance system.

Bilingual education is a horrible idea that harms the people it claims to help and Dan Huberty heard a bill to put more money into it this afternoon.  Furthermore, during consideration of Bernal's bill, Huberty said that he had integrated its principles into his own school finance bill.  This is happening.

Julian Castro Latest Ethics Questions

MySAPolitics.com reveals new details about the municipal governance cesspool that is San Antonio:

Mayor Julian Castro, Council members Cris Medina and Diego Bernal had the most alleged violations at over 200 each.

The Sworn Complaints allege 41 instances of accepting donations from corporations. Corporate donations are, if done knowingly, a 3rd degree felony offense. All nine complaints alleged these offenses. Well known names include MacDonalds, Inc., Holiday Inns, Inc. and Texas Associaton of Realtors.

The Texas Ethics Advisory Board (TEAB) reports that more than fifteen more Sworn Complaints will be initiated on the corporations who contributed to the council members campaigns. Pending the results of the TEC investigations, the TEAB will refer any felonies to Bexar County District Attorney Susan Reed.

Another frequent complaint was the diversion of campaign funds to personal use. If confirmed, this would make Mayor Castro and Council members Cris Medina and Diego Bernal and others civilly liable to the State of Texas including court costs. [Emphasis Added]

Other frequent alleged violations of State law included failure to report out of state travel, filing late reports and having serious contribution balance discrepancies – unaccounted for money.

Read the whole thing here.

San Antonio Recalls Generate More National Attention

Via National Review:

If San Antonio grassroots conservative activists have their way, Julian Castro’s career in politics could be cut abruptly short. Organizers of an effort to recall the mayor say their push is picking up steam, and tell National Review that they’re confident they have a shot at voting the mayor out of office. They’re targeting him because of the passage of an anti-LGBT discrimination ordinance that conservatives worry will hamstring freedom of speech and religion. (Katrina Trinko laid out concerns about the ordinance here.)