#TXLEGE: Kolkhorst's WAY Too Little, WAY to Late Sexual Misconduct "Policy"....

"It is an abomination for kings to commit wickedness,
For a throne is established by righteousness."
Proverbs 16:12

[Note: You can read what we said last December about the house's new policy here; you can read what we said about the Senate's lack of interest in this topic here and here.]

Nope, not even close:

The Texas Senate has adopted a new sexual harassment policy that mandates in-person anti-sexual harassment training for senators and offers more details on specific steps for reporting inappropriate behavior.

The Senate’s policy, which was sent out to Senate staffers on Wednesday, was expanded from a one-page document to a more extensive set of guidelines that provide detailed examples of what constitutes sexual harassment and more thoroughly explain the ways victims can get help through internal and external complaint processes.

The revisions come months after the The Texas Tribune detailed a wide range of harassment in state politics and the scant protections offered to victims through the chambers' policies, and after The Daily Beast detailed accounts of sexual assault in the Legislature. Those accounts included specific allegations against Democratic state Sens. Borris Miles of Houston and Carlos Uresti of San Antonio. Both have denied the allegations.

Like in the House — where lawmakers revised the chamber’s policy in December — the Senate’s training can’t be required of individual lawmakers, some of whom were behind the worst behavior recounted to the Tribune.

In a letter to her colleagues obtained by the Tribune, Senate Administration Chair Lois Kolkhorst, R-Brenham, indicated a list of lawmakers who have completed the training would be available to the public. But the chamber’s policy does not appear to set any sort of immediate deadline for current elected officials.

Instead, the revised policy indicates that in-person training will be offered every two years and that new employees must complete an online training within the first 30 days of their employment.

The policy was also revised to specifically state that senators will not be involved in investigating other senators, leaving investigations to the chamber's human resources director and "impartial attorneys."

But questions remain about how senators, who ultimately answer to voters back home, could be disciplined if they are found to have sexually harassed someone.

[Note: Emphasis added.]

What a joke.

So-called "training requirements" don't change behavior.   "Training" is about protecting employers from liability.  To change behavior, you need meaningful consequences.

Then there's the fact that Borris Miles seems to be getting away with everything.  Obviously, Uresti gave them an easy out.  But what about Miles?!?

As far as consequences are concerned, the two most important ones are loss of committee chairmanship and expulsion.

Of course, that's the whole point of our convention resolution.

On the other hand, at least Craig Estes lost his primary.

Bottom Line: The whole situation is disgusting....

#TXLEGE: Israel throws shade on #atxcouncil's "Sick Leave" entitlement; Evan Smith admits Joe Straus is a Liberal

"When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice;
But when a wicked man rules, the people groan."
Proverbs 29:2

We attended this afternoon's Trib event with Paul Workman and Celia Israel:



Most of the event was fairly predictable.  Israel and Workman discussed school finance, immigration, and guns where each said what one would expect someone with their respective partisan affiliations to say.  A couple moments, however, did stand out.

During the discussion of the City of Austin's...contentious...relationship with the Legislature, Israel bemoaned the sloppiness of the city's approach to the "sick leave" entitlement.  Israel suggested that a slower, more deliberative, approach to the ordinance could have given it stronger legs when it hits the legislature.  Specifically, Israel said council "gave Paul Workman a softball."  She's right, you know.

During Q&A, we asked both about their thought's on the city's recent stunt over the CodeNext petition.  Unfortunately, neither one was familiar enough with the statute in question to comment.  We're kicking ourselves over that one because we considered printing it out and handing it to both of them before the event, but we didn't do so.

The best moment came from Evan Smith.  During the discussion of the speaker's race, Workman expressed confidence the next speaker would be more conservative than Joe Straus.  We didn't write down the exact quote, but Evan Smith's response can roughly be paraphrased as "Well, that's kinda a matter of physics.  The only house Republican to the left of Joe Straus is Sarah Davis."  Gee Evan, good to hear you finally admit that Joe Straus is a liberal!

Bottom Line: Nothing earth shattering happened, but some interesting tidbits and a good event to have attended.

#TXLEGE, #atxcouncil: The Costs and Consequences of Municipal "sick leave" Entitlements

"Is it not lawful for me to do as I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good?!?"
Matthew 20:15

We attended this afternoon's TPPF event: The Cost and Consequences of Mandating Paid Sick Leave.  The event discussed the municipal entitlement the Austin City Council invented out of thin air last February.  Since Austin passed its ordinance, the tentacles are spreading to San Antonio and Dallas.

Tina Greider-Cannon of the Austin Chamber discussed how there were only 19 days between posting the language of the ordinance and final passage.  That schedule made it impossible to do a real economic impact study.  Cannon furthermore illustrated how, even using the advocates bogus numbers, there was still going to be a net economic impact of at least $140 million.  She also mentioned that unionized businesses are carved out of the ordinance.

Don "Skeeter" Miller of the County Line restaurant called the Austin entitlement an "administrative nightmare."   To simply consolidate the hours of employees who work at stores both inside and outside the city limits is a daunting task.  He also said it would kill their ability to do flexible scheduling for employees.  Miller said the minimum cost of the Austin ordinance would be $200,000 per year.

Annie Spilman of the National Federation of Independent Businesses made an interesting point about the vagueness of the ordinance.  She suggested it could set employers up for "stings" by various outside groups.  Rather than fight a city working in cahoots with the outside groups, employers natural tendency will be to settle.  Obviously, this is another form of shakedown.

The most interesting speaker was Paul Workman.  Workman talked about how the Austin ordinance was part of a national effort to push socialist economic policies at the local level.  Workman pointed out that this was part of a trend along with several other bad city of Austin policies.  This was the most perceptive we've seen Workman speak about the groups pushing this nonsense, and we were glad to see it.

Of course, the problem is that this is not our first rodeo with Paul Workman.  Paul Workman has been filing bills to reign in the city of Austin for years.  Those bills never seem to go anywhere.  We asked Workman about that during Q&A.  Workman said that because of the new speaker, those bills will start moving.  Of course, this brings up certain obvious questions about Workman's previous speaker decisions.  But, at this point, dwelling on the past won't accomplish anything moving forward.

Bottom Line: Municipal entitlements are a nightmare for any number of reasons.

#TXLEGE: House Democrats' Stunt Illustrates Potential Unintended Consequences of Abbott "School Safety' Proposal

"Wherefore, be ye not unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is."
Ephesians 5:17

Our initial reaction to Governor Abbott's "school safety" proposal was that it sounded expensive and vague.  We were already planning to discuss how it was littered with potential unintended consequences.  But the house Democrat caucus illustrated our point better than we ever could:

.@GregAbbott_TX just called for the passage of Rep. @moodyforelpaso legislation from last session, HB 866, creating a lethal violence protective order #txlege

— TX House Dem Caucus (@TexasHDC) May 30, 2018

Empower Texans explains Moody's bill:

Moody’s bill is a far-reaching anti-gun bill that stomps on the Second Amendment. If adopted, any household member or a prosecuting attorney could file an application asking a court to confiscate a person’s firearms. The court could then order all of the person’s firearms be seized, without a hearing and without notice to the accused.

The order could then be extended for up to two years without the case ever being submitted to a jury, and without any right of appeal. The accused would only be entitled to a hearing before a judge just 14 days after their firearms were initially seized, allowing little time for the person to find an attorney to represent them. At that hearing, the court would be required to take into account the accused person’s history of not just convictions but also arrests under a variety of laws, including any misdemeanor involving violence.

Notably, Moody’s bill calls on the court to issue its initial “ex parte” confiscation order if it finds “reasonable cause” to do so. That standard is even less than the probable cause standard required for police to place a person under arrest.

s “Put simply, Moody’s legislation is in complete contradiction with the very notion of “due process” and must be opposed by any legislator who takes their oath to the United States and Texas constitutions seriously,” said Tony McDonald, general counsel to Empower Texans.

Obviously, Moody's bill wasn't Abbott's intention.  But Abbott's proposal was vague enough that Moody's bill could conceivably fit.  We can't blame the Democrats for trying.

Therein lies the rub: Nobody objects to keeping firearms out of the hands of genuinely dangerous people.  But the process by which we make that determination is key.  The history of abuses based on specious 'mental health' grounds, backed by the force of government, isn't exactly pretty.

As it relates to 'mental health': Whatever proposal is ultimately adopted needs to be very carefully vetted by a team of lawyers.  And it needs to be done publicly.  This is one of those cases where the precise language of the statute is very important.

Then there's the fact that the legislature passed four allegedly 'major' mental health bills last session: What, specifically, would a new round of 'mental health' legislation accomplish that wasn't addressed in the last round?!?

Then there's the fact that Abbott's call for schools to install 'active shooter' alarms sounds like a boondoggle waiting to happen.  Somebody's going to get a big contract.  And it'll probably be one of the usual suspects.

Bottom Line: The Democrats just did us an unintentional favor; let's heed the lesson....

#atxcouncil: Where we're at on CodeNext....

"As a dog returns to his own vomit,
So a fool repeats his folly."
Proverbs 26:11

We testified at yesterday's city council Code Next hearing.  We're not particularly interested in arguing over the topic [Note: NO FACEBOOK MESSAGES].  But if you want to know how we feel at this point, here you go:



Highlights:

• Disappointed and Pessimistic.

• "I have always supported the goals of Code Next."

• "I think Code Next offered a unique opportunity to lower housing costs, improve our transportation situation, and do so in a way that's consistent with our environmental goals."
• Note: Past tense.

• "Unfortunately, it doesn't really look like that's happening."

• "In it's current design, Code Next is...a bad policy wrapped in an even worse process."

• "Frankly, I'm disgusted by the whole thing."

• Policy: "[D]raft 3 (and everything we've seen up to this point) basically entrenches the current code in slightly different language."
• "It's not really fundamentally changing anything."
• Concerned about possible working conditions/wage and benefit mandates getting added late in the process.

• Process: "That stunt you guys pulled last Thursday, you should be ashamed."
• "That was an appallingly lawless act."
• "The state statute is crystal clear."
• "This is the initial adoption of a zoning ordinance."
• "State law on this topic could not be more clear."
• "Honestly, the six of you who voted the way you did on that petition campaign should be criminally prosecuted."
• "[T]hat will obviously never happen in this county."

• Pessimistic and Disappointed.

Rick Perry?!? Crony Capitalism?!? Surely you jest....

"It is an abomination to kings to commit wickedness: for the throne is stablished by justice."
Proverbs 16:12

As someone who watched both the good and the bad of Rick Perry up close for many years, this is one of the least surprising stories of all time:

WASHINGTON (AP) — At a West Virginia rally on tax cuts, President Donald Trump veered off on a subject that likely puzzled most of his audience.

“Nine of your people just came up to me outside. ‘Could you talk about 202?'” he said. “We’ll be looking at that 202. You know what a 202 is? We’re trying.”

One person who undoubtedly knew what Trump was talking about last month was Jeff Miller, an energy lobbyist with whom the president had dined the night before. Miller had been hired by FirstEnergy Solutions, a bankrupt power company that relies on coal and nuclear energy to produce electricity. His assignment: push the Trump administration to use a so-called 202 order — named for a provision of the Federal Power Act — to secure a bailout worth billions of dollars.

....

Miller is among them. A well-connected GOP fundraiser, he served in the past as an adviser to California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and to Texas Gov. Rick Perry, also a close friend. He ran Perry’s unsuccessful presidential campaign in 2016. And when Trump tapped Perry to lead the Energy Department, Miller shepherded his friend through confirmation, sitting behind him, next to the nominee’s wife, at the Senate hearing.

When Perry came to Washington, Miller did, too. He launched his firm, Miller Strategies, early last year and began lobbying his friend and other Washington officials.

....

Obst says the two began working closely together when Perry and Pence held leadership roles at the Republican Governors Association several years ago. “He’s very influential in Washington, a leading fundraiser,” Obst said of Miller in a brief interview.

Now, after 14 months in business, the 43-year-old has collected more than $3.2 million from a roster of clients that includes several of the nation’s largest energy companies, among them Southern Co., a nuclear power plant operator headquartered in Atlanta, and Texas-based Valero Energy, according to federal filings.

In fairness to Perry, no final decision has been made.  If this article can embarrass Perry into doing the right thing, so much the better.  But the fact that the process has even gotten this far is revealing.

Then there's the fact that this is such a typical Rick Perry move.  This is the Rick Perry of the Trans-Texas Corridor.  This is the Rick Perry of the HPV vaccine mandate.

Bottom Line: We like Rick.  But sometimes he acts like a typical Texas politician.  This is one.

#atxcouncil: Adler busted Gaslighting about Job Growth

"A false witness shall not be unpunished: and he that speaketh lies, shall perish."
Proverbs 19:9

LOL, via politifact:

Austin’s mayor made a best-in-the-nation claim about local job gains that made us wonder.

Steve Adler, who seeks a second term in November 2018, was asked on KLBJ-AM’s morning May 8, 2018, "Todd and Don Show" about ending "the red tape and paperwork that businesses have to go through just to expand in this city."

Adler replied: "You ought to minimize the bureaucracy as much as you can. But we’re doing something right in this city, you guys have to admit, right? We’re creating more jobs than any other city in the country. We have an economy that’s on fire. I mean, we’re doing something right," Adler said, going on to agree that he also wasn’t trying to take personal credit for the gains.

....

Adler told the morning radio hosts that Austin is creating more jobs than any other U.S. city.

To the contrary, federal figures show the five-county Austin metropolitan area (not Austin alone) trails some other U.S. metros including the No. 1 Midland area for its pace of jobs gained and it lags more than 25 metro areas in raw jobs gained. It would be accurate to say the Austin area lately has enjoyed greater percentage job gains than other metro areas of 1 million residents or more.

We rate this Adler claim False.