Twenty-four years ago, the Twin Towers and those working within were destroyed. People who woke up that morning like any other day and went to work. Two thousand, nine hundred, seventy seven people, innocent people. Now we have other killers amongst us, killers who target their political opponents or those with whom they’re angry or those they blame for life problems or just random people.
We’ve lost our humanity, our respect for others, our faith, our belief in something greater than ourselves.
We can all cry out that this must stop. We can call for coming together. But that won’t do it. We are facing evil and there’s no “coming together” with evil. There is only defeating it.
Charlie Kirk’s way was to openly discuss anything with those who disagreed with him. “Ask Charlie Anything” podcasts were just that. So American. Ask. Discuss. Exchange ideas. Learn.
Charlie may be gone. The 2,977 who died on 9-11 may be gone. And we’ve all been greatly affected by the loss. The question now is what will we do with it?
Give them 48 hours to return during which time the Speaker should fine them. If they don’t return, declare their seats vacant. Then vote with the lower quorum.
You may have seen that. Just like y’all, these people ran for office and that means doing the job. When the Governor leaves Texas, Dan Patrick assumes that position. If Trump were in the hospital, JD Vance would assume that position. When these people leave the state ON PURPOSE TO THWART THE BUSINESS OF THE STATE, there isn’t anyone to assume their positions, so they should be declared VACANT.
The key here is intent. They didn’t leave to attend a relative’s funeral or wedding. They didn’t leave because they are reservists and were called up to active duty. They didn’t leave during a called session for a vacation. They left to prohibit the Texas House from doing its work, the work of the people.
They could vote no. They could vote present, not voting. They could abstain. But what they can’t do is flee to stop business altogether. Doing so and remaining in-State calls for arrest. Doing so out-of-State to avoid arrest is grounds for removal.
Stan, you are my representative. You won a Republican primary. You won the General election with predominantly Republican votes. You need to represent Republicans in this matter, supporting fines, arrests if they return in-State after 3PM today, and adding your voice to the calls for the Governor to declare the State-fleeing Democrat seats vacant.
You claim to be endorsed by President Trump. President Trump has called for, wants and needs this map, which is appropriate for Texas to have proper and reflective representation. If you accept the endorsement of President Trump and his America First agenda, you must support fines, arrests and the Governor declaring the state-fleeing Democrat seats vacant.
Don’t confuse friendship with duty. These people are not your friends. You’ll know that when you leave office. They’d stab us all in the back in a heartbeat, which is exactly what they’re doing by fleeing the State. Take a stand!
Addendum: Governor Abbott says he’ll declare Dem seats vacant if those Dems aren’t in them at 3PM today.
[Comments will be taken online at this link https://comments.house.texas.gov/home until the committee meeting is adjourned. The bill number is HB4 and the map is Plan C2308.]
Is it illegal to redistrict now? No. Is Texas growing significantly? Yes. Do the districts as drawn by Plan C2308 comply with applicable law and court decisions? Yes. Other than politics which enters into everything the legislature does no matter the bill number or issue, is there any reason this should not be done? No.
The diatribe coming from those in the opposing political party is no different than the diatribe that comes from any opposition party, unhappy with the fact that they don’t have the majority and can’t stop adoption should the proposing party stick together in their votes. Wipe away the political posturing and there is no reason this bill and map should not be adopted.
Voters ultimately get to choose by casting votes. Adopting this Big Beautiful Map and HB4 does not guarantee any outcome at the polls. That’s clear from the outcome at the polls in many elections. They’re called upsets. They happen in every election.
So, take a vote and pass the map immediately upon the end of public testimony. There will be a quorum and no reason to delay that vote. I doubt any member of the committee is going to change his/her vote, so get the job done. Do not adjourn until the vote is taken and the map is adopted!
ADDENDUM: Every member of this committee with the exception of Tom Oliverson and Hillary Gail Hickland voted to impeach Ken Paxton. They voted based on data provided with less than 24 hours notice. Now, the Committee Dems are whining about only having the bill and map 48 hours before today’s hearing. Yet, on Ken Paxton: silence! Disingenuous!
Chair: Rep. Cody Vasut (Y on Paxton, Rep) Vice Chair: Rep. Jon E. Rosenthal (Y on Paxton, Dem) Members: Rep. Josey Garcia (Y on Paxton, Dem) Rep. Barbara Gervin-Hawkins (Y on Paxton, Dem) Rep. R. D. “Bobby” Guerra (Y on Paxton, Dem) Rep. Ryan Guillen (Y on Paxton, Rep) Rep. Cole Hefner (Y on Paxton, Rep) Rep. Hillary Gail Hickland (N/A, Rep) Rep. Jolanda Jones (Y on Paxton, Dem) Rep. Christian Manuel (Y on Paxton, Dem) Rep. Tom Oliverson (absent, Rep) Rep. David Spiller (Y on Paxton, Rep) Rep. Carl Tepper (Y on Paxton, Rep) Rep. Terry M. Wilson (Y on Paxton, Rep) Rep. Gene Wu (Y on Paxton, Dem)
UPDATE: June 24 Council meeting at 1:35:46. City Manager and Mayor referenced my comments. Mayor stated that “she is in opposition of the retreat, agenda item…. it’s not an item. She is just in opposition of the retreat.”
NOT TRUE. I expressed my opposition to my estimated cost of $7,473 by doing this retreat in Rockport. My estimate was low. See the City Manager’s slide showing the actual estimated cost to be $11,730. There is NO REASON to spend that much money and hold this event outside of Bastrop County. Why Rockport? Why on a Friday? This is a taxpayer-funded boondoggle clear and simple.
If you plan meetings for any organization, you are well aware that there are plenty of locations to do so both in the County and the City of Bastrop. So, why is the Bastrop City Council meeting in Rockport?
My guess? So you can’t attend or comment. And, quite cynically, perhaps some of them want a weekend at the beach with transportation paid by you.
So much for transparency.
[Will it be broadcast live? We don’t know yet. And, when meetings are broadcast live, live public comment isn’t available so you must comment ahead of time using the Council’s online form.]
It’s very disingenuous to hold a meeting more than 3 hours, 175+ miles, each way, for an all day meeting that is allegedly open to the public.
Tell the City Council if you like (or not) spending $7,473 of your tax dollars on a Friday public meeting in Rockport.
If you don’t agree with the City Council spending this much money and holding a Friday off-site meeting 175 miles away, email them today.
Calculating the Cost of this Offsite Meeting: $7,473
Gas cost: At 22mpg and $3/gallon, the cost each way is $24.27. Will they car pool? Perhaps a couple will but we have to assume not. If just the 5 council people, mayor, city manager, city secretary drive, that is $388.32. OR, if they use the IRS mileage rate for reimbursement, that’s 70¢ / mile or $245 per person. For 9 people, that’s $2,205 in mileage reimbursements.
Hotel cost: What’s the hotel cost for the City Council, City Manager, City Secretary, select staff, and consultant? Hotel prices according to Hotels.com run from $151 to $269 per room no including taxes and fees. Taxes? 8.25% sales tax and 7% hotel occupancy tax.
If just the 5 council people, mayor, city manager, city secretary, and consultant go, and they stay in the cheapest hotel, the room cost would be $1,208 plus 8.25% sales tax and 7% HOT tax. The meeting starts at 8:30AM so they have to stay over the night before. Drive home 3 hours afterwards? Not likely. So, for just the 9 people, taxpayers are paying $3,133 at a minimum for hotel.
[I had a summer cottage exactly 150.3 miles from my primary home, 3 hour drive. While not preferable, I periodically drove up one day and back the next, a one night stay. Preferable was driving up on Friday night and back on Sunday evening, a two night stay.]
Meal cost: Using GSA rates for meals, the allowable per-day expense is $63. Using lunch and dinner for Thursday, all 3 meals on Friday, and breakfast and lunch on Saturday, the estimated cost per person for meals is $145/person for meals. That, times 9 people, is $1,305 taxpayer dollars.
Consultant cost: Leadwell is from Austin. So, gas, hotel, meals and their fee will be paid by taxpayers. According to https://consultants.promatcher.com/cost/texas.aspx, the cost of business consulting in TX is $158.13/hour. My guess is that this contract is likely $2,000+-. When I was a business consultant, I charged half rate for travel time, client paid hotel and meals, and a flat overnight fee.
Total taxpayer estimate: $2,205+$3,133+$1,305+$2,000=$7,473taxpayer dollars.
Your cost if you want to comment in person? Gas, one night hotel, 3 meals costs: $285 minimum.
But your City of Bastrop City Council plans on holding a meeting 175+ miles, each way, and calls it an open meeting with public comment.
Will it be broadcast live? We don’t know yet. And, when meetings are broadcast live, live public comment isn’t available so you must comment ahead of time using the Council’s online form.
Let them know TODAY what you think about this!
If you don’t agree with the City Council spending this much money and holding a Friday off-site meeting 175 miles away, email them.
I’m ADAMANTLY opposed to subsidizing the movie industry. That bill is SB-22 and it’s on Sunday’s calendar in the Texas House. As we in Bastrop well know, they’re coming here without that subsidy.
If I wanted to support the movie industry, I’d go to movies. Think “user fees”. If I use it, I pay. I don’t go to the movies, so why am I being forced to pay for them?
I’m really sick of government forcing people to pay for that which they don’t use or need. Think DOGE. The Feds are trying to cut out excess spending and the State of Texas just spends more and more and more on things like this… everyone’s pet project. Just where is this in the Texas Constitution? Picking government winners (in this case, the movie industry) and losers (in this case, the taxpayers) needs to STOP.
My daughter told me a few years ago that one of the best lessons I taught her, one that has allowed her to save, is to understand the difference between wants and needs. Our legislators need to recognize the difference between wants and needs, between who is paying the bill and who is benefiting.
The movie industry is moving from CA anyway. Gavin Newsom is having a very hard time keeping them there, but he’s working hard at it. They’re expanding the CA subsidies. Will Texas have to do so in 2 years? This is nothing more than a race to see which state will give them the most money.
The old argument about all the jobs they’ll bring is a bunch of BS. No one ever talks about the other side of that equation: the COST of the growth that comes with them: roads, schools (have you seen the latest bond indebtedness of our schools???), WATER (we don’t have enough), infrastructure of other kinds, quality of life due to overcrowding.. The costs are massive, but those trying to sell this government waste ignore that.
Let those two multi-millionaires invest in their industry to encourage that industry to come here. I don’t go to movies and I don’t want to invest in them. I urge my rep, Stan Gerdes, and other House members to vote NO on SB22.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT ADDENDUM
Will we be paying for films glorifying the Muslim religion at the same time that the Governor and others are trying to stop the EPIC development near Dallas? “Faith-based” doesn’t mean just Christianity.
See this language in the bill:
(f) A moving image project qualifies for a faith-based moving image project grant under Subsection (a)(5) if the project is designated by the office as a faith-based moving image project according to rules adopted by the office. The office is not required to designate any moving image project as a faith-based moving image project and has sole discretion to make that designation.
One denial and a court case will follow. Texas will lose that court case. Does “faith-based” apply only to Christian films? Is it defined in Texas law? I couldn’t find it. I found “religious organization”, but not “faith-based”.
Religious discrimination is illegal. It’s how Mosques, Buddhist temples and any other “church” or “worship center”, Christian or non-Christian, are built anywhere in any zone. I know of 3 such situations that occurred in neighboring towns when I was in elected office in NJ. Under Federal law, they could not be stopped. One was in a former commercial building, another on a large open tract of land, and the third in a residential neighborhood.
When any bill calls for “faith-based”, think long and hard about whether you’d want the provisions of that bill applying to other than Christian religions. Because this is the Bible-belt, I think that Texans too often think only of Christianity. But that’s not the case under Federal law. Substitute any religion you are adamantly opposed to in place of “faith-based” in the bill and decide if you’d still support it. Food for thought.
To get to the Governor for signature in order to become law, Texas bills originating in the Texas House must be assigned to a committee, must have a hearing and be voted out of that committee, must be assigned to a calendar by the Calendar Committee and then must pass on the House floor.
In my business (IT), we would call every one of these a possible point of failure. But those aren’t the only ones because after passing the House, a bill goes to the Senate and the same process happens all over again.
So, last Thursday at midnight, any bill that originated in the House and hadn’t yet had a floor vote was effectively dead. DEAD. And, that night, many bills died. Texas also has a rule that bills are all single subjects, so thousands are filed each session.
Wondering how the list of bills authored or sponsored by HD-17 Rep Stan Gerdes faired? I can tell you that the one I’ve pushed now for two sessions never made it beyond committee assignment. Apparently, it found its way pretty quickly to the circular file again this session. Developers don’t want it and they have far more influence (and money) than we citizens do.
Eventually, I’ll post about the status of his various bills. That’s hours of work so it won’t happen before the end of the legislative session. Oh, did I mention that’s a mere 13 days away? Sine die, the end of the session, is on June 2.
My comments on a couple of bills that have passed the Texas House and are heading to the Senate. Bills have to be assigned to a Senate committee, have a hearing, pass out of committee and get to the Senate floor for passage. Only then can they get to Gov Abbott for signature to become law.
HB 4623: relating to liability of public schools and professional school employees for certain acts or omissions involving students.
I’m shocked at how many times I’m reading about educators being arrested, put on paid or unpaid leave, or otherwise accused of sexually assaulting Texas children. Unfortunately, just like abuse of the elderly, too often these things go unreported or unaddressed. That means employees just move from district to district continuing the harm they’ve done in one place at another.
Y’all have the opportunity to stop this, to hold schools accountable for not handling these issues as soon as they come to the attention of school leadership.
Please get HB 4623 into the Senate process for approval ASAP so it can get to Gov Abbott’s desk for signature.
HB 3225: relating to the restriction of access by minors to sexually explicit materials in municipal public library collections
Please affirmatively pass HB 3225 out of committee to a full vote of the Senate. Several of us went to the Bastrop Library a few months ago, pointing out to the library board sexually explicit books that were available in the teenage section. They were in a glass enclosed area, leading one to believe that parents could see what was there. But they were on the back shelves of a dual sided book shelf so unless one went into the room (as we did) there would be nothing leading one to believe these books were available to young teens. They would not let us read from the books at their meeting and have done nothing to remove them.
I was mayor of a town in NJ when computers first came into public libraries and successfully fought for controls on screens visible by the public. It was a tough battle, but we won and our children were safer for it. This is no different. Without parental consent (like actually buying such books for their children if they want them to have them) these types of materials should not be available for children.
SENATE BILLS IN THE HOUSE needing action: SADLY, THE tEXAS HOUSE IS SITTING ON BILLS ALREADY PASSED BY THE SENATE.
The following bills have already passed the Texas Senate and are languishing in the Texas House. This is what happened in the last session. This is what many predicted would happen in this session as soon as Dustin Burrows was elected House Speaker. And, with the end of session looming and deadlines occurring, it is happening.
SB 571 (Sen. Bettencourt) | Enhancing Transparency in Educator Misconduct Reporting Status: Passed the Senate; scheduled for a House Public Education Committee hearing on Thursday, May 15, 2025. Details: This bill seeks to improve accountability by requiring schools to report educator misconduct (particularly related to student safety) in a transparent manner. Proposed amendments would mandate reporting suspected abuse to law enforcement within 48 hours and eliminate confidentiality clauses that could obscure incidents, addressing gaps in current reporting practices.
SB 13 (Sen. Paxton) – Enhancing Parental Oversight in School Libraries Status: Passed the Senate; heard on May 6, 2025, and awaiting a vote out of the House Public Education Committee. Details: This bill clarifies and strengthens current standards in public school libraries that will prohibit sexually explicit materials, indecent and profane content. It provides transparency and oversight measures that give parents a greater role in ensuring content is appropriate for their children.
SB 371 (Sen. Campbell) – Restoring Opt-In for Sex Education Status: Passed the Senate; referred to the House Public Education Committee, awaiting a hearing. Details: This bill requires parental consent (opt-in) for students to participate in sex education programs, ensuring parents have control over their children’s exposure to sensitive topics. It reverses opt-out systems that may assume participation unless parents object. A hearing is critical for this bill to progress before the session’s end.
SB 1224 (Sen. Sparks) – Mandatory Reporting of Educator Misconduct Status: Passed the Senate; referred to the House Public Education Committee, awaiting a hearing. Details: This bill mandates that school administrators report educator misconduct, such as abuse, to local law enforcement within 48 hours, with penalties (state jail felony) for non-compliance.
SB 240 (Sen. Middleton): Protecting Female-Only Spaces | Women’s Privacy Act Status: Passed the Senate; referred to the House State Affairs Committee, where it has been awaiting a hearing since April 28! Details: This bill aims to ensure the privacy and safety of female-only spaces, such as restrooms and locker rooms, by restricting access based on biological sex.
SB 12 (Sen. Creighton) – Strengthening Parental Rights (Needs Amendments) Status: Passed the Senate; heard in the House Public Education Committee on May 13, 2025, awaiting a committee vote. Details: SB 12 does so many great things, including banning public education DEI departments in grades Pre-K—12, restores parental opt-in for sex education, and prohibits discussions related to sexual orientation and gender. However, it has some flaws so several amendments have been proposed.
Other organizations have priority bill lists, so find an organization that reflects your priorities, and check the status of the bills they’re following. Be sure to comment NO to stop bills as well!
You may have seen that. Just like y’all, these people ran for office and that means doing the job. When the Governor leaves Texas, Dan Patrick assumes that position. If Trump were in the hospital, JD Vance would assume that position. When these people leave the state ON PURPOSE TO THWART THE BUSINESS OF THE STATE, there isn’t anyone to assume their positions, so they should be declared VACANT.
The key here is intent. They didn’t leave to attend a relative’s funeral or wedding. They didn’t leave because they are reservists and were called up to active duty. They didn’t leave during a called session for a vacation. They left to prohibit the Texas House from doing its work, the work of the people.
So, take a vote and pass the map immediately upon the end of public testimony. There will be a quorum and no reason to delay that vote. I doubt any member of the committee is going to change his/her vote, so get the job done. Do not adjourn until the vote is taken and the map is adopted!
If I wanted to support the movie industry, I’d go to movies. Think “user fees”. If I use it, I pay. I don’t go to the movies, so why am I being forced to pay for them?