NE Tarrant Tea Party » Immigration

News Conference – Texas Grassroots Leaders Deliver “Open Letter to Governor Rick Perry”

Konni — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 13:15:54 +0000

Patriots, remember the “Open Letter to Governor Rick Perry” that we put out several times for groups, leaders, and individuals to sign regarding sanctuary city legislation? It has over 3,000 signatures on it, with over 100 leaders signing for their organizations. The tea party caucus advisory committee and other grassroots leaders initiated this open letter. They also met with Governor Perry at the end of the legislative session and urged him to call a second special session to force the state legislature to deal with this issue that is so important to Texans. Governor Perry did not call a second special session. This morning at 11:00a.m., a press conference is being held in Austin with various grassroots leaders to present this open letter and once again ask Governor Perry to do the right thing in regard to illegal immigration. The press release is below:

MEDIA ADVISORY – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

September 16, 2011

Contact: JoAnn Fleming, 903-360-2858, Chair of the Texas Legislature’s TEA Party Caucus Advisory Committee and volunteer Executive Director, Grassroots America – We the People

What: News Conference – Texas Grassroots Leaders Deliver “Open Letter to Governor Rick Perry”

Subject: Governor Perry and the Unfinished Business of the Texas Legislature: Interior Enforcement of Illegal Immigration Laws and Ending Sanctuary Cities

Where: Texas State Capitol, Speaker’s Press Room

When: Monday, September 19th, 11:00 am

Details:

At the close of the 2011 regular and special legislative sessions, a broad coalition of local grassroots organizations in Texas signed an open letter calling on Texas Governor Rick Perry to address the urgent unfinished business of emergency legislation personally identified by Governor Perry at the beginning of the 82nd legislative session – namely, a ban on “sanctuary city” policies in Texas. Since the letter was posted, over 3,000 local activists have signed on to the letter, including representatives of over 100 local tea party, 9-12 and related grassroots groups. Some of the signers will be present to address media questions before personally delivering the letters to Governor Perry’s office. A copy of the letter will also be forwarded to his campaign for President.

Two of the leaders who will speak at the news conference:

“My father migrated from Mexico, legally, and became a U.S. citizen. He came to the US because he knew the great opportunities America offered. Today, things are very wrong in Texas! Our elected officials have failed to serve and protect citizens and legal residents of Texas. They have failed to remove sanctuary city policies throughout Texas. They have failed to enforce the law. They should protect our Texas families and those who protect us – law enforcement officers. Sanctuary city policies have cost the lives of five Houston police officers and left another officer seriously impaired. It is time our state officials took care of this unfinished business.” Maria Espinoza, Co-Founder of The Remembrance Project

“As legal immigrants in the late 1960’s, my family and I fled communism. We came here with the mission to become “Americans,” and we did so to become part of all that makes this country great. We cannot sit by and have our laws ignored by politicians who take an oath to uphold the rule of law and then proceed to choose the laws they want to ignore. We cannot afford the burden of paying the tax liabilities for those who cross the border, remain “under the radar” and use this country for their purposes without any responsibility whatsoever. I am here today to say that our Texas elected officials need to do their job and quit playing games with our security and financial future.” Roberto Gonzalez, Clear Lake TEA Party

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Also, here is an article from this morning’s The Texas Tribune regarding today’s press conference in Austin and what all is at stake for the state and the Governor.

Texas Sits in the Shadows of South Carolina, Alabama, Georgia, Maryland, and Louisiana

Konni — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 15:01:15 +0000

Fellow Grassroots Texans:
All around us, states are taking action to deal with the high financial and security costs of illegal aliens. Texas is sitting in the shadow of states like South Carolina, Alabama, Georgia, Maryland, and now Louisiana!

Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal signed two pieces of legislation into law on Thursday, July 7th that will require and encourage businesses to use E-Verify. HB342 requires all state and local contractors to use E-Verify, while HB646 requires all private businesses to verify the legal status of their new hires by providing employers that use it a safe harbor against sanctions. Louisiana becomes the sixth state to pass E-Verify since the Supreme Court ruled in favor of state enforcement of E-Verify earlier this year. Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, North Carolina and Indiana have also passed E-Verify bills. Plus, Virginia passed legislation earlier this year.

Here we sit in Texas not only without E-Verify to cut off the magnet of jobs to illegal aliens, but the TX legislature’s regular and special sessions ended with a failure to pass a simple anti-sanctuary cities law! House and Senate leadership played games and ran out the clock on this important issue because they were under pressure from business special interests who want cheap labor. This is unacceptable!

Help us move Governor Perry to take action by doing two things starting today:
1) Call and/or fax his office today. Tell Governor Perry’s staff that you want Texas to end sanctuary cities and mandate the use of the E-Verify system to ensure Texas jobs go to citizens and legal immigrants. Tell them we cannot afford illegal immigrants accessing social services like Medicaid!

Phone: (512) 463-1782 or (512) 463-2000 Fax:(512) 463-1849

2) Will you help us reach 2,000 signatures to send a message to Governor Perry? This letter is going out across the State of Texas.
If you share our frustration with Texas’ inaction on illegal immigration, please consider SPREADING THE WORD and endorsing the letter below:

AN OPEN LETTER TO TEXAS GOVERNOR RICK PERRY

(CLICK HERE TO SIGN)

June 30, 2011

The Honorable James Richard ‘Rick’ Perry
Governor of the State of Texas
State Insurance Building
1100 San Jacinto
Austin, Texas 78701

Governor Perry:

We write to express, in the strongest possible terms, our disappointment over the outcome of the regular and special sessions of the 82nd Legislature, in which every single one of the dozens of common-sense immigration reform bills died.

As you are most likely aware, the overwhelming body of polling data shows that Texans are extremely concerned about the effects of unchecked illegal immigration on our state. A recent University of Texas / Texas Tribune poll of 800 registered voters in Texas found the following:

Texas voters consider illegal immigration to be the most important problem facing the State of Texas, with the lack of border security ranking a close second.[1]

Fully 87% of Texas voters, including 71% of Hispanic voters, support the passage of a law requiring employers to verify immigration status for their employees, with 70% of Texas voters ‘strongly supporting’ such a law.[2]

Roughly 69% of Texas voters oppose ‘sanctuary city’ policies which prevent the enforcement of immigration laws.[3]
Despite an overwhelming consensus among voters on the need for urgent action on illegal immigration, the Texas State Legislature blocked all bills filed in the regular and special sessions relating to employment verification,[4] sanctuary cities, [5] cost reporting[6] state licensing,[7] or any other common-sense immigration reform policies. The vast majority of immigration-related bills filed in the State Legislature were prevented from even receiving a committee hearing, much less a floor vote.[8]

Although we do not necessarily hold you completely responsible for the inexcusable actions of the House and Senate members during the regular and special sessions, the ball is now squarely in your court. It is solely within your power as Governor to call the legislature into session and demand that they complete the important work that they promised their constituents they would do.

Further, you have the inherent power, as the Chief Executive of the State of Texas, to issue one or more executive orders[9] to address illegal immigration, if you only choose to do so. You have the inherent executive power, for example, to issue an executive order requiring the use of E-Verify for all state employees and by all state contractors, following the examples set by the governors of Florida,[10] Virginia,[11] Idaho,[12] Rhode Island[13] and Minnesota.[14]

It is a point of pride for many Texans that our Governor is receiving a great deal of attention as a potential contender for President of the United States. Your bold conservative message has clearly struck a chord within the hearts of many Americans. That said, the American people are hungry for a statesman whose bold words are followed up with bold action.

All eyes are on you, Governor. Please don’t let Texas down.

Sincerely,
- THE UNDERSIGNED (CLICK HERE TO SIGN THE LETTER)

The Dallas Tea Party Presents – The Truth About Killed Immigration Reform This Session

Konni — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 02:03:35 +0000

Want to know THE TRUTH about how and why the Texas Legislature killed every immigration reform bill this session?

On Wednesday, July 13th, you will have the opportunity to get the straight scoop from the people who watched it happen.

You are hereby invited to join us for

‘Stolen Lives and Unfinished Business’

What Every Texan Needs to Know About Illegal Immigration

July 13th, 7:00 p.m.
Four Seasons Dallas at Las Colinas
4150 North MacArthur, Irving, Texas, 75038

Featuring:

Maria Espinoza-Lyng

Director

The Remembrance Project

Maria Martinez

Executive Director

Immigration Reform Coalition of Texas

(IRCOT)

Maria Espinoza-Lyng is the Director of The Remembrance Project (http://TheRemembranceProject.org/), a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization working to raise awareness of the immense human cost of unchecked illegal immigration. In support of that mission, Ms. Espinoza-Lyng has created the Stolen Lives Quilt, a tangible manifestation of those human costs. Ms. Espinoza-Lyng will be speaking on the tragic consequences of continued inaction on borders and immigration.

Maria Martinez is the Executive Director of the Immigration Reform Coalition of Texas (“IRCOT” http://IRCOT.com ), a 501(c)(4) non-profit organization formed to provide a means for Texans to speak with one voice regarding vital immigration reform issues affecting both Texas and our nation. Ms. Martinez will be explaining why immigration reform failed this session, and what Texans can do about it.

Please make plans to attend!

The Peter Morrison Report – Special Session Priorities Still Unachieved

Konni — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 02:48:38 +0000

Summary of this week's report:

Once again conservative Texans have been betrayed and stabbed in
the back by the Republican leadership in Austin. Governor Rick
Perry ordered a special legislative session. Two critical pieces
of legislation were on the agenda - one would ban sanctuary cities,
and the other would make it a crime for TSA agents to touch the
private parts of citizens during security screenings. Well, the
special session has just ended, and neither one of these bills
passed. Rick Perry needs to quit worrying about running for
President and order legislators back to Austin for another special
session. This time he and the GOP members need to show some
backbone and leadership and get these bills passed.

Send a fax to Governor Perry:

http://www.morrisonreport.com/fax_test/index.php?faxID=100

Full report:

Recently Governor Rick Perry ordered a special legislative session
to deal with a few pressing issues, such as school funding,
Congressional redistricting, and other matters. During a special
session, legislators may only deal with issues specified by the
Governor in the call for the special session, or issues which he
adds once the session begins. In this case, Governor Perry added
two more items to the agenda. The first was a bill banning
"sanctuary cities" in Texas. The term refers to cities and towns
that declare themselves a sanctuary for illegal aliens, openly
stating that they are not going to enforce laws against illegal
immigration. The other one was a bill that would make it a crime
for TSA agents to touch the private parts of airline passengers
during "security screenings."

These are both issues which conservatives care deeply about, and we
had high hopes that both would be passed and signed into law.
However, we had no illusions about what we were up against, and
that it was going to be a real fight to get these bills through.
The biggest obstacle was House Speaker Joe Straus, who never seems
to meet a conservative bill he doesn't want to obstruct.

We expected Straus to pull out all the stops in order to halt both
bills in their tracks. He didn't let us down. Rep. David Simpson
is the original sponsor of the anti-groping bill, and here is how
he summed things up in a press release: "The Speaker unilaterally
halted a bill supported by a majority of Texans, coauthored by 111
members of the House, approved by a majority of the Senate, vetted
by Attorney General Greg Abbott, requested by Lieutenant Governor
David Dewhurst, and called by Governor Rick Perry."

After a huge outcry from conservatives, Straus finally agreed to
let a watered down version of the bill come up for a vote, but it
didn't get enough support from House members, and it died. The
sanctuary cities bill is also DOA. Rick Perry blamed Sen. Robert
Duncan, the sponsor of the sanctuary cities bill, for its failure.
Duncan said he had no choice, as he couldn't allow the bill to be
tied to the school funding bill. Everyone points fingers, makes
accusations and plays the blame game, but if they would devote half
as much time to actually working to pass a bill as they do to
making excuses after it fails, there wouldn't be any problem
getting conservative bills signed into law.

Let me be perfectly frank. There is no good reason either of these
bills should have died in the special session, let alone both of
them, and the blame lies entirely with the Republican leadership in
Austin, and I'm not referring only to Joe Straus. Yes, Straus is a
definite obstacle to passing conservative legislation, but Rick
Perry is still the governor, and if he really wanted these bills to
become law, they would have both passed. A big part of what
leadership is about involves using your authority to cajole,
persuade and convince others to come around to your way of
thinking. The governor has a lot of tools at his disposal,
including both sticks and carrots, and he could have used them to
turn these important bills into law.

Unfortunately, Rick Perry didn't have time to exercise his
leadership during this special session. He was too preoccupied
with other matters, like running for President. Call me cynical,
but it seems pretty obvious that Perry's presidential ambitions
were a major factor in his lack of bold leadership on these two
bills. He has spent some time over the past few weeks pandering to
liberal left-wing race based groups, such as the National
Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials - can you
imagine the outcry if he had spoken to the National Association of
White Elected and Appointed Officials? Instead of shoring up his
conservative credentials, Perry chose to speak to a group whose
membership is not only race based, but is overwhelmingly composed
of liberal Democrats.

Rick Perry was also quoted recently as saying that some of his
proudest accomplishments as governor were nominating black and
Hispanic judges for Texas courts. He didn't explain exactly why
the race of the judges he appointed is relevant (a governor should
simply pick the best qualified candidates, not race-based tokens),
but it's clear that Perry has decided to go into campaign mode as
he tests his presidential chances. Heading back to Austin to fight
for passage of the sanctuary cities bill would not have served his
political ambitions, as even the slightest opposition to illegal
immigration is these days denounced as "racism" and "hate" by the
very groups Perry is pandering to.

We're going to have to show Rick Perry that if he wants to win the
White House, it's conservative voters he'd better be trying to
please. If Rick Perry wants to be President of the United States,
he'd best remember the old Texas proverb that "you dance with the
one who brung you." It is conservative voters who put Rick Perry
where he is today, and it is our principles and causes he had
better be fighting for. The same thing applies to the Republican
Party in general. If they keep betraying us, and turning in such
miserable performances as we saw during this special session, then
they had better start looking elsewhere for votes, because
conservatives are just going to stay home.

Thankfully, it's not too late to do something about what just took
place in Austin. Rick Perry and the GOP leadership can make up for
the abject failure of this past special session and demonstrate
that they're serious about fighting for conservative legislation.
The governor of Texas has the authority to call as many special
sessions as he deems fit. Rick Perry needs to order another one
immediately, and then he and the rest of the Republican leadership
in Austin need to do what it takes to pass the TSA and the
sanctuary cities bills.

Take action:

Fax Governor Rick Perry and tell him to order another special
session to deal with the TSA and sanctuary cities bills, and that
you expect him to use his leadership to see to it that both bills
pass.

http://www.morrisonreport.com/fax_test/index.php?faxID=100

The Peter Morrison Report
http://www.PeterMorrisonReport.com
http://www.facebook.com/morrisonreport

Sources:

http://www.texastribune.org/texas-legislature/82nd-legislative-session/sine-die-report-what-survived-what-died-/
http://kfyo.com/tsa-groping-bill-and-sanctuary-city-legislation-left-for-dead-robert-duncan-responds-to-governor-rick-perry-and-more-in-chads-steaming-pile/
http://davidsimpson.com/
http://kfyo.com/state-senator-duncan-responds-to-governor-perrys-criticism-on-failure-to-pass-or-include-sanctuary-city-legislation/
http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-06-24/news/29719537_1_latino-convention-gop-bid-anti-immigrant-bills
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/rick-perry-a-texans-exceptionalism/2011/06/24/AG79PejH_story.html

PO Box 8742, Lumberton, TX 77657, USA

Action Alert: Anti-Sanctuary Cities bill in danger!

Konni — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 13:24:25 +0000

Texas House Republican leadership – Speaker Straus, State Affairs Committee Chair Byron Cook, and some Republican House members are playing games. The House is having trouble conducting special session business because there is not a quorum of House members present on the floor to vote! Also, other key Committee Chairs are playing hooky – one even spent the week in the Bahamas instead of being present to do his job!

Today’s two actions needed:

1) Call Chairman Byron Cook and members of the State Affairs Committee to tell them you want the Sanctuary Cities bill voted out of committee. We need an up or down vote on this bill now! The special session ends Wednesday. Politely, but firmly, tell these guys to get to work!

2) Call Governor Perry’s Office or fax him as soon as possible! Ask him to stand up for Texas citizens. Get a strong anti-sanctuary cities bill signed into law!

Main switchboard (512) 463-2000 or (512) 463-1782; Perry’s fax: (512) 463-1849

House Committee on State Affairs

Chair: Rep. Byron Cook 512-463-0730

Vice Chair:Rep. Jose Menendez 512-463-0634

Committee Members:

Rep. Tom Craddick 512-463-0500

Rep. John Frullo 512-463-0676

Rep. Pete Gallego 512-463-0566

Rep. Charlie Geren 512-463-0610

Rep. Patricia Harless 512-463-0496

Rep. Harvey Hilderbran 512-463-0536

Rep. Dan Huberty 512-463-0520

Rep. Rene Oliveira 512-463-0640

Rep. John T. Smithee 512-463-0702

Rep. Burt R. Solomons 512-463-0478

Rep. Sylvester Turner 512-463-0554

Letter to Governor Perry Regarding Sanctuary Cities Bill

Konni — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 02:18:45 +0000

Mr. Ray Sullivan, Governor Perry’s Chief of Staff

Mr. Ken Armbrister, Governor Perry’s Director of Legislative Affairs

Thursday evening, June 23, 2011

Gentlemen:

We respectfully ask that you deliver the following message to Governor Perry from the Advisory Committee to the TEA Party Caucus of the TX Legislature:

We are alarmed and angry to hear about and witness the games being played in the People’s State House regarding the Sanctuary Cities Bill — legislation so important to Governor Rick Perry that he called it an emergency item for the regular session and subsequently placed it on the call for the special session when the legislature failed to act.

We understand that the business lobby, including those supported by Mr. Bob Perry, are doing all they can to derail or gut this bill. Apparently, these special interests are eager to put their own interests above the safety, security, and financial well-being of Texas citizens and legal immigrants.

We also understand that the House is having difficulty conducting the People’s business because House leadership cannot muster a quorum. This is outrageous. Texans deserve better.

This is the first legislative session in which thousands of everyday Texans have taken such an active interest in their state government. At this point, we are extremely disappointed with what we’ve witnessed. The Constitutional Conservative movement – known as the TEA Party or Grassroots – is rapidly growing and plans to continue to stay engaged in government at all levels. In other words, this session was only the beginning.

Please understand that the Sanctuary Cities bill is a “foundational rule of law” matter and a key issue for us. We will not accept the gutting of this bill nor will we accept failure to pass it. Texas taxpayers cannot continue to fund a social safety net for all who would break the rule of law. Social services and jobs should go to American citizens and to legal immigrants, period. Citizens and legal immigrants should also have their safety and security protected as much as possible by our state leaders. The Sanctuary Cities bill represents a limited step forward in addressing this issue as the federal government fails to secure our border.

If the legislature fails on this issue by running out the special session clock or gutting the bill, we will expect Governor Perry to stand strong for the citizens and legal immigrants in our great state. We will expect him to call the legislature back into another special session to hammer out a bill he can sign into law, or we will expect him to sign an executive order to protect us.

Our very thorough research demonstrates that thirty-one other states are in the process of legislation, have passed legislation, or have Governors who have signed executive orders to deal with the illegal immigration issue. Texas is now standing in the shadow of Alabama, the most recent state with new, tough illegal immigration laws. As a native Texan, I am incensed by that. Everywhere I go, grassroots Texans don’t like the fact that Texas is not leading on this issue. Our escalating Medicaid costs alone should be enough evidence to show this course is unsustainable.

Please let Governor Perry know that this is a “make or break” issue for us. Failure is not an option.

We are asking Governor Perry to stand up and lead for us, because we are “Fed UP!”

Respectfully communicated with a sense of urgency,

JoAnn Fleming, Chair – TX Legislature’s TEA Party Caucus Advisory Committee

Calling all TEA Party/9-12/Grassroots Constitutional Conservatives in East Texas!

Konni — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 20:44:59 +0000

Attend an Important Meeting on Illegal Immigration and the Texas Legislature!

Constitutional Conservative Activists give Texas Legislature’s Regular Session a Failing Grade on Illegal Immigration! Will They Recover in the Special Session? Will Governor Perry Stand with us?

Dates/times: Thursday, June 16: 6 PM to 8 PM (doors open at 5:15 PM) and Friday, June 17: 11:30 AM – 1 PM (doors open at 11 AM)

Location for both meetings: Lakeview Church of the Nazarene, 10818 University Boulevard, Spur 248, two miles from the Loop 323 intersection, Tyler, Texas 75707

Cost to attend: We ask attendees for a donation of their choice to help us cover expenses. For the Friday lunch meeting, box lunches will be available for purchase @ $6.50. (sub sandwich, water, chips, cookie) RSVP’s are requested to hold a box lunch for out of town guests. RSVP your name, organization, and number in your party reserving a lunch to becky@gawtp.com

Speakers/Topics:

Roberto F. Gonzalez, Clear Lake Tea Party and Member of the Advisory Committee to the TX Legislature’s TEA Party Caucus: Illegal immigration - A Personal Perspective from a Family of Legal Immigrants

Rebecca Forest, co-founder/President of Women on the Wall and co-founder/board member of the Immigration Reform Coalition of Texas (no amnesty)

Maria Martinez, Executive Director of Immigration Reform Coalition of Texas

Rebecca and Maria are the leading legislative citizen lobbyists for no-amnesty immigration reform efforts in Texas. They will give the cold, hard facts about how most state elected officials are miserably failing citizens in favor of the business lobby and “no borders” activists.

They will contrast what a majority of legislators and state officials have been unwilling to do to address the high cost of illegal aliens with what other states have accomplished. The most recent example is Alabama’s setting of a new national standard for get-tough immigration policy. On Thursday of this week, Alabama Governor Robert J. Bentley signed a law that surpasses Arizona’s SB 1070, with provisions affecting law enforcement, transportation, apartment rentals, employment and education.

The great state of Texas, known for its independence and love of Liberty, should NOT sit in the shadow of Alabama or any other state! Texas should be leading!

Join us as we work to get the truth out about this important issue! You have two opportunities to attend. Don’t miss it!

RSVP your name, organization, and number in your party reserving a Friday lunch to becky@gawtp.com

JoAnn Fleming, Executive Director (volunteer)
Grassroots America – We the People www.gawtp.com

Special Session Calls – UPDATE!

Konni — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 16:22:03 +0000

The below message was sent out via email to members on 5/31/11. Please see the update at the end of this message and start calling!
Patriots,
On Sunday evening, Wendy Davis (D-Fort Worth) filibustered Senate Bill 1811 (school finance bill), which would have provided the needed financing for balancing the state’s budget. This filibuster killed that bill and the session ended without a balanced budget. As required by the state constitution, Governor Perry has called a special session to address this fiscal issue. Lt. Gov. Dewhurst told reporters Monday that the Senate won’t put a “blocker bill” in place during the special session, erasing the normal requirement that two-thirds of the Senate agree to something before it can be debated. That should make bills easier to pass, should Perry agree to add them to the call. And this is where WE come in! There are several bills that need to be added to “the call” and only Perry can designate what goes on that. Please contact Governor Perry’s office and ask that these bills get added to the special session agenda:

HB 5 – Interstate Care Compact – would supersede federal health care laws and allow states to enact their own laws on the subject (such as ObamaCare).
HB 12 – Providing law enforcement personnel with the ability to question the immigration status of arrestees and banning so-called “sanctuary city” policies.
HB 1275 – Requiring that contractors receiving taxpayer dollars from the State of Texas verify that their employees are working legally (E-verify).
HB 608 – Requiring Texas state agencies report the cost of welfare and other benefits provided to illegal aliens.
HB 1937 - A bill to restrict the groping of travelers without probable cause.
HB 99/SB 308 – Congressional redistricting – this needs to be done by the Texas legislature, not the courts.

Also, please ask that the legislature re-visit the State Board of Education redistricting map and pass SBOE E118 – the map that the majority of SBOE members supported!

Governor’s Contact Information: (Please be respectful when you call.)
Office of the Governor Main Switchboard [office hours are 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. CST] : (512) 463-2000
Office of the Governor Fax: (512) 463-1849
Online Contact Form: http://governor.state.tx.us/contact/
OR: write a letter on Empower Texans’ website and they will hand deliver it for free – http://www.empowertexans.com/write-your-letter

UPDATE 6/2/11:

Last night, we sat in on a conference call with the Texas Public Policy Foundation to learn details of this special session in the Texas Legislature and wanted to fill everyone in on that. To recap, Governor Perry called the special session to consider fiscal issues that did not get passed as a result of the Davis filibuster. These fiscal issue bills specifically are:

• Legislation relating to fiscal matters necessary for the implementation of House Bill No. 1 as passed by the 82nd Legislature, Regular Session, including measures that will allow school districts to operate more efficiently.
• Legislation relating to healthcare cost containment, access to services through managed care, and the creation of economic and structural incentives to improve the quality of Medicaid services.

One of the items that the NETTP wants considered and passed – The Interstate Healthcare Compact DID make it into the second item above. Congressional Redistricting – another of our requests, was added yesterday to the special session call by Governor Perry. These are good things, however, we’re not there yet! There has been “talk” of the TSA anti-groping bill and also of the anti-sanctuary bill, but neither has been formally added to the session. Governor Perry had a conference call with bloggers on Tuesday morning and indicated in that call that he would not be wasting time and money on adding bills to the call in this special session that he sees no support on from the legislators. This indicated to many that we need to be calling our Senators and Representatives as well about the bills that we want added (not just the Governor). The more our Reps and Senators hear from us, the more Perry will hear their willingness to address and pass a bill, the more likely Perry will add it to the call. Or at least that’s the thinking…. we’ll see of course. So, now we are asking you to call, write or fax your Reps and Senators as well and let them know that we’d like these bills added to the call:

HB 12 – Providing law enforcement personnel with the ability to question the immigration status of arrestees and banning so-called “sanctuary city” policies.
HB 1275 – Requiring that contractors receiving taxpayer dollars from the State of Texas verify that their employees are working legally (E-verify).
HB 608 – Requiring Texas state agencies report the cost of welfare and other benefits provided to illegal aliens.
HB 1937 - A bill to restrict the groping of travelers without probable cause.

Please note, the special session begins anew with bill numbers, they do not keep the regular session numbers when bills are added to the special session. However, we are still referencing these bills with the numbers given to them during the regular session.

Honestly, we’re not sure what the remedy is for the horrible SBOE redistricting map that has passed, but we feel that we just need to continue to express our displeasure to our legislators so that some sort of remedy can be found. Thanks again for all that y’all do to participate in advancing and promoting liberty in the state of Texas!

Good Answer from Keith Houser, CISD Candidate

Julie — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 04:06:08 +0000

The NE Tarrant Tea Party has submitted a questionnaire to all municipal and school board candidates in our area of coverage. One response we got back today should please most conservatives…

Question:

What are your thoughts on the recent controversy over Mansfield ISD requiring 100 minutes of Arabic culture studies per week? Should American sovereignty, constitutional government or private enterprise be included in classroom curriculum?

Response from Keith Houser, candidate for Carroll ISD:

Keith Houser, candidate for CISD Board

Today’s students know little about American sovereignty, the US and Texas constitutions and private enterprise. I would support 100 minutes per SEMESTER (not per week) on Arabic culture, so long as it is balanced and tells the truth. That truth would include how many women annually are stoned to death for adultery, how many women are “honor killed” by family members, how many women are sexually mutilated by their husbands, how many Christians and Jews are killed as “infidels” and how many people die each month from peaceful homicide bombers, ethnic cleanings and Islamic tribal disputes worldwide.

As a 501(c)3 organization, NE Tarrant Tea Party does not endorse any candidate, but we do ask questions that will help our members make up their own minds about a candidate. And this is one answer we think our members will appreciate!

The complete packet of questions and responses will be made available to our members via email, will be posted on this website, and will be available via email to anyone who requests it. Candidates have until April 8 to submit their answers. Our candidate fair is April 11 from 6-6:45 at 1060 E Highland Meadow, Southlake, followed by our guest speaker, Michael Badnarik, who will speak on the Federal Reserve and fiat money. We’ll also be hearing from Lela Pittenger briefly on her candidacy for US Senate.

Mar 21: NETTP Meeting on Immigration

Julie — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 05:51:55 +0000

Mar 21, 6:30-8:00pm — NOTE THE DATE CHANGE FROM MARCH 14 DUE TO SPRING BREAK

1060 E Highland, Southlake, in the gym of Highland Meadow Montessori Academy (bldg 1020)

Topic: Immigration

Our guest speaker is Rebecca Forest, founder of the Immigration Reform Coalition of Texas (IRCOT) and the Texas Alliance for America Legal Defense and Education Fund (TAALDEF). Her presentation will center around immigration issues as they pertain to Texas, and what is currently happen in the the Texas legislature.