The Texas House and Senate have the votes to pass Anti-TSA legislation

From TSATyranny.com, where they give specific action items and more information…

BREAKING NEWS

There are now enough Texas representatives and senators supporting the Anti-TSA Groping bills to pass this legislation! Now we need your help convincing Governor Perry to bring these bills before the special session for a vote.

Here are the facts:

Rep. David Simpson, author of the Anti-TSA Groping Bill in the Texas House, has confirmed 102 coauthors for his proposed special session bill HB 41 (formerly HB 1937) — far more than enough support to pass this bill. As of yesterday, June 10, TSA Tyranny confirmed that 18 Texas senators support HB 41, as well as Sen. Dan Patrick’s Senate version of the bill, SB 29. Of the remaining 13 Texas senators, 10 have not confirmed their positions on HB 41 and SB 29 and 3 are opposed to these bills.

The Special Session

On May 30, 2011, Texas Governor Rick Perry announced a special session which did not include the Anti-TSA Groping legislation. On May 31, Texas Lt. Governor David Dewhurst sent a letter to the governor that said: “Special Session − I believe that it would be in the best interest of all Texans to start tomorrow and ask you to consider including the following bills in your call:” Lt. Governor Dewhurst’s request included the itemized listing of: “HB 1937 – Relating to prosecution and punishment for the offense of official oppression by the intrusive touching of persons seeking access to public buildings and transportation.”

Lt. Governor Dewhurst concluded his letter by informing Governor Perry that only a simple majority vote will be required to pass bills during the special session:

“As you know, certain Senate procedures — such as the two-thirds tradition — exist to bring Democrats and Republicans together, encouraging Members to work in good faith in order to achieve positive outcomes for the people of Texas. Given that a small number of Senate Democrats have demonstrated their unwillingness to find consensus on these important legislative items, I can see no other alternative than to operate under a simple majority vote in the Special Session.”

More than a simple majority of our Texas representatives and senators now support the Anti-TSA Groping legislation, which means that HB 41 and SB 29 will pass if these bills are brought before the special session by Governor Rick Perry. But we must act quickly to tell the governor the support he has been waiting for is now there—before the special session ends.

Governor Perry Will Bring HB 41 and SB 29 Before the Special Session If He Believes They Will Pass!

The Waco Tea Party reported that, during a May 31 conference call with Governor Perry regarding the special session, Governor Perry indicated he will only bring the Anti-TSA Groping bills before the special session if it is clear the bills will pass. At this point we have clear support for these bills in both the House and the Senate. Now we must ensure that Lt. Governor Dewhurst and Governor Perry are aware of this simple majority support and urge them to bring these bills before the special session!

Please visit TSATyranny.com for action items and more!

In today’s meeting of the State Republican Executive Committee (“SREC”), the Texas Republican Party passed a resolution that urged Governor Rick Perry to call 82R HB 1937 (now 821 HB 41 in the House and 821 SB 29 in the Senate) into the current special legislative session.

The Texas State Legislature is only allowed to convene a regular legislative session for 140 days once every 2 years. Many Texans believe the strict limitation on political “law-making” is the main reason why Texas enjoys greater freedom and economic prosperity than other states. Other Texans believe the State Legislature should only meet for 2 days once every 140 years.

The Governor has the right to call one or more “special sessions” of the State Legislature to consider emergency legislation. These special legislative sessions may last from several days to a month.

After having been implicated in the procedural death of the anti-groping bill during the regular legislative session, Lt. Governor David Dewhurst later reversed course and recommended HB 1937 for the current special session in a letter to Governor Rick Perry. To date, Gov. Perry has not called the bill, claiming he needed to determine if there was a “consensus” of support for it.

Well, today, another nearly unanimous consensus was added on to the pile of overwhelmingly strong support for the “restrain-the-TSA” legislation, as the SREC passed the following resolution without debate at its meeting in Austin, Texas. Only one committee member voted in opposition to the resolution.

RESOLUTION on TSA “enhanced pat-down” Opposition, supporting HB-1937 in Special Session

Whereas 82R HB 1937 (now known as HB 41 in the current special session) safeguards basic rights defined under the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution for persons traveling in Texas;

Whereas “enhanced pat-downs” by the Transportation Safety Administration are administrative policies established by federal bureaucracy and not statutory law enacted by federal government and therefore cannot hold supremacy over the U.S. Constitution or the Texas State Constitution;

Whereas it is unlawful for properly trained law enforcement officers to perform “enhanced pat-downs” as performed by the Transportation Safety Administration;

Whereas HB 1937 received a unanimous recommendation from the House Criminal Jurisprudence committee;

Whereas HB 1937 was unanimously passed by the Texas House of Representatives;

Whereas HB 1937 received a unanimous recommendation from the Texas Senate Transportation and Homeland Security committee;

Whereas HB 1937 had oral expressions of support from 30 of 31 Texas State Senators prior to being scheduled for hearing on the Senate floor;

Whereas Senate passage of HB 1937 was halted at the eleventh hour after the U.S. Department of Justice delivered a factually inaccurate letter concerning the effect of HB 1937 and that threatened an immediate injunction which included “canceling a flight or series of flights”

Whereas this level of intimidation establishes grounds for a constitutional crisis;

Whereas Lt. Governor David Dewhurst has now recommended HB 1937 for the current special session of the State Legislature;

Be It Resolved that the State Republican Executive Committee urges Governor Rick Perry to call 82R HB 1937–now filed as HB 41–as emergency legislation so that it may be considered by the Texas Legislature in special session.

All Texans should applaud the SREC for unambiguously standing up to what appeared to some to be pressure from the party establishment not to make this clear statement.

So . . . do we have a consensus yet?

If you don’t think he has got that message, call Governor Perry’s office at 512-463-2000 NOW and say that you are IN FAVOR of 82R HB 1937, and that HB 1937 (now 821 HB 41 in the House and 821 SB 29 in the Senate) needs the Governor’s FULL SUPPORT and should be passed in the upcoming special session.

Remind the Governor that anything less would undermine his “Fed Up” campaign for the U.S. presidency. You can also tell the Senate it should tell the TSA to Come and Take It!

Stop Austin Scanners!

Archive for June 2011 – Page 2