"Choose Life" license plates has yet to be voted on by the full House. HB 238 has been replaced by SB 257 which has passed both houses and sent to governor to sign
Note: Here are bills authored, co-authored or sponsored by Rep. Jason Isaac and their status as of noon, Friday May 13, summarized by Barbara Hopson. Mr. Isaac may want to chime in for further updates or comments. There are other bills he has authored or sponsored related to public schools and college tuition that are still holed up in the legislative labyrinth. His Hays Trinity groundwater district bill, HB 3865, is now sitting in the House Local and Consent Calendar. This is where House bills go, after a unanimous vote of the referring committee, "that are local as defined by the house rules and . . . to which no opposition is anticipated." At last report, Isaac and Sen. Wentworth had not reconciled the differences in their two groundwater district bills. Wentworth's version is SB 1901. It has not budged from the Senate Natural Resources Committee since mid-April. Three weeks remain in the session.Send your comments and questions to roundup.editor@gmail.com, to Ms. Hopson at hopsonbarbara@yahoo.com, to Rep. Isaac at jason.isaac@house.state.tx.us or click on the "comments" at the bottom of the story
HB 15 - Abortion restrictions; sonogram required. Has passed both House & Senate. Will be sent to governor for signature.
HB 3865 - "Relating to the Hays Trinity Groundwater Conservation District." Reported favorably from House Natural Resources Committee, May 12; recommended for Local & Consent Calendar.
HB 3832 - "Relating to Hays County Development District No. 1." Still in House County Affairs Committee.
HB 2180 - "Unreasonable noise" bill; pending in House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee since April 19.
HB 1201 - "Relating to repeal of authority for the establishment and operation of the Trans-Texas Corridor." Passed full House on April 17; pending in Senate Transportation & Homeland Security Committee.
HB 561 - "Relating to a hospital district's use of tax revenue to finance the performance of an abortion." Passed House State Affairs Committee by vote of 7 ayes, 2 nays, 4 absent; not yet voted on by full House.
HB 3813 - Hudson Ranch Fresh Water District No. 1. May 13 - placed on Local & Consent Calendar (one of those Districts that legislators routinely pass for each other).
HB 238 - "Choose Life" license plates; has yet to be voted on by full House. HB 238 has been replaced by SB 257 which has passed both houses and sent to governor to sign.
HB 182 - Bronze Star license plates; pending in House Defense & Veterans' Affairs Committee.
22 comments:
I like the idea of the "Choose Life" license plates.
It's about time someone acknowledges that lying about why we need to go to war and using US military power to attack defenseless sovereign nation countries to control natural resources KILLS PEOPLE.
I guess I was wrong about Isaac; he is now a bullying anti-family free choice big government politician who is using the abortion issue to pander to his right wing christian extremist base.
He is really anti-war, and the license plate bill just proves me wrong about Isaac.
How will the brilliant legislature's sonogram bill be enforced?
Will doctors strap pregnant women opting to have an abotion in a chair, put their heads in a helmet vise, pry their eyes open with toothpicks and force them to gaze upon the sonogram?
What a stupid bill on all levels: intelligently and fiscally irresponsible, an affront on individual rights and a supreme waste of tax dollars.
"Stupid is as stupid does."
Sonograms and License Plates, is that what we send our representatives to Austin for? Don't they have anything important to deal with or is the only thing they can agree on? I returned to Texas about three years ago after a 23 year absence and see that little has changed. The legislature is still heavily populated by Bible Thumpers and the Governor's Mansion (expensive alternative) contains an egotist. Yee Haw! God, I really missed this place.
I do not think government has any place dealing with abortion either for or against (period) Whether abortion is murder, a medical procedure, child abuse or cosmetic surgery is a question for the parties involved and is certainly not the purview of our heroes in Austin. Is it me, or do things seem to go much smoother and better when they are not in session? Maybe a 30 day session every 20 years would be a better choice.
Mr. Isaac is as bad as I expected him to be. No surprise. The only surprise is that anyone is surprised. What did people expect?
Rep. Isaac is pushing for passage
of HB 3832, "relating to Hays County Development District No. 1." Patrick Rose had started work on the bill when he was summarily dismissed from the House by voters, and our new rep, Jason Isaac, has not missed a beat in taking up the cause for HB 3832.
Yesterday on Election Day (May 14) the lone person allowed to vote on
the 4 propositions involving HCDD#1 did vote in favor of them (surprise!) and so all 4 of the bond proposals for HCDD#1 are now in place, waiting on the trusting souls who will buy homes in that someday-subdivision (Caliterra).
What Isaac's HB 3832 will do for
HCDD (and AGAINST the eventual residents there) is expand greatly the "improvements" which the residents will pay for through bonds -- such things as a heliport,
archways, golf course, lake,
advertising, business recruitment,
sculpture, etc.
This bill will have a public hearing in Austin on Monday, May 16. Typically only the developer shows up to talk in favor of the bill. Few citizens can take the time to travel to Austin -- especially to speak against a bill that does not affect them personally. But you can write to the members of the House County
Affairs Committee which will be
holding the public hearing. The
chairman is Garnet Coleman, and you can find a list of the other
committee members by going to
www.legis.state.tx.us. Just send a
group email to all of them to say
you are opposed to HB 3832, concerning Hays County Development District No. 1. Do it today, because they meet Monday. Your emails need to be waiting for them
when they go to their offices on
Monday. Mention that you can't appear in person, but you want to be noted as a witness by text against HB 3832. Thanks!
Unfortunately, there is a mentality running rampant throughout elected officials at the national, state and local government levels.
There are few good leaders anywhere. It is a symptom of our society.
It is a contagion with no apparent cure.
To paraphrase Peter, politicians no longer work for the voters who put them in office. Once in office, they work for the the money interests that will keep them in office.
For example, at the national level, Obama is starting to talk like he did before 2008, again pandering to the disappointed and betrayed voters who got him there.
It is the same with the right wing money prostitutes like Perry and Isaac who are clearly in the pockets of their elite business cronies in energy, real estate and whatever other sector of the Texas economy they can sell their integrity to.
We should all be tired of this political defecation on the voters, left, right or center.
This guy has done NOTHING he promised to do. The following is copied directly from his our web-site. Instead of keeping his word he has decided to become "Mr. Wedge Issue"; he has no shame because you would think he would at least remove all these promises from his web-site and play dumb. Talk about bait and switch. He hasn't addressed a single "vital issue" through a bill.
http://www.isaacfortexas.com/issues/
"Although I will deal with multiple issues, the following will be vital during my first term as your representative":
Education –
Governor Perry ordered schools to spend 65% of tax dollars directly in the classroom. The legislature, however, failed to enact law requiring school districts to comply with his order. The legislature must act to mandate this requirement with considerations for school districts with extensive transportation expenses. Educational resources and curriculum must focus on classroom instruction to learn rather than simply testing well.
Taxes –
The appraisal cap on property taxes must be reduced from 10% to 3%. Texans are being taxed out of their homes. In this difficult economy families are finding it necessary to re-write their budgets and priorities. Local governments must learn to do the same. Taxes on small businesses must be cut to encourage job creation and investment. Tax cuts create jobs and economic expansion. Egregious taxes stifle growth.
Border Security and Immigration –
The longer this issue is allowed to languish the more difficult it will become. It is clear the federal government is unwilling to commit the resources necessary to seal the border so it becomes incumbent upon Texans to do so. We must commit whatever resources required to once and for all secure our border as the never-ending flow is costing the state untold millions.
Election Laws – Every citizen should be required to submit documentation verifying his eligibility to vote or to receive state benefits. This would help prevent voter fraud and guarantee the integrity of our election laws. The savings in state benefits paid to those otherwise ineligible to receive them would create an opportunity for the state to reduce spending.
Spending –
I believe the hallmark of being a Republican is being a fiscal conservative. As we face a projected budget shortfall of over $10 billion we must significantly cut spending. Our budget should focus on the needs listed above which will help insure our safety and the prosperity of our district and state for years to come.
There are few fiscal conservatives anywhere [national, state or local] and certainly in neither GOP or Democratic parties.
Vote for Ron Paul in 2012!
You know Peter, I was thinking that Ron Paul was my candidate. Now that you and Rocky have signed on, I'll have to go back and study him a little more to see what I may have missed, wink.
Today (May 16) Isaac's HB 3832
had a public hearing before the House County Affairs Committee. It was passed favorably and was sent on to the Local and Consent Calendar, signifying that it is almost surely a done deal.
HOWEVER, the Committee did not pass Isaac's bill without making changes to it. They subsituted
their changed bill for his. What I don't yet know is what they changed in his bill. I'm hoping they took out the outrageous
Section 5A. Improvements-- which
allowed the heliports and such to
be paid for by residents. We'll have the new text later tonight or
sometime tomorrow probably.
Isaac's House Bill 3865 passed the full house this afternoon (May 19). Will now go to a Senate committee.
Isaac's House Bill 3865 is the worst piece of legislation to come from the man. I can't believe he will throw personal property rights under the bus with such a poorly thought-out and written bill. This is not what I voted for him to do. My phone call to him went to deaf ears. Maybe Wentworth will shoot it down in the Senate for Isaac trampling on SB-1901. I'll be calling him tomorrow. Yea I know, fat chance! Damn it!
As Board President Jimmy Skipton said at this evening's HTGCD meeting in Dripping Springs, HB 3865 is not a perfect bill, but it
gets us started in the right direction. It concerns HTGCD. The bill, authored by Rep. Isaac would
reduce from 25,000 to 15,000 gallons per day the amount household wells could produce. It
would change Board terms from 2 yrs. to 4 yrs. And it would allow HTGCD, at its discretion, to charge up to $1,000 for well permit and connection fees -- up from the current $300. Those fees
are the only consistent income for
HTGCD at present. Each year the Board has to go begging to the County Commissioners Court for a grant.
The Board tonight voted 4-1 to recommend passage of HB 3865. Well done!
The bill has already passed the full House and has been sent to the
Senate Natural Resources Committee. Please write to the chair of the committee, Sen Troy Fraser, with copies to the other 10 men on the commitee, to pass the bill out of committee favorably. The other 10 senators are Craig Estes, Bob Duell, Robert Duncan, Kevin Etife, Glenn Hegar, Juan Hinojosa, Mike Jackson, Robert Nichols, Kel Seliger, and Carlos Uresti.
@Anonymous May 19, 2011 9:13 PM
"As Board President Jimmy Skipton said at this evening's HTGCD meeting in Dripping Springs, HB 3865 is not a perfect bill, but it gets us started in the right direction. It concerns HTGCD."
If a Bill is not perfect and has as many errors as this one it doesn't make sense to pass it. It seems that Jimmy is more concerned about funding than the effect the Bill will have on personal property rights and cost to the citizens.
"The bill, authored by Rep. Isaac would reduce from 25,000 to 15,000 gallons per day the amount household wells could produce."
Absolutely not true! It WILL NOT reduce pumping one drop, because the reference is to the capability of the well (pump) not the actual gpd pumping. The word "CAPABLE" is the Key here. See sec. 3A.0352 for the new definition of "HIGH VOLUME WELLS". Almost every Exempt well in the District is a contains typical domestic pump CAPABLE of pumping 25kgpd. This is a thinly veiled attempt at eliminating Exempt Wells in the district in order to collect fees and impose metering and unwarranted inspections on private property. Apparently, you have fallen for the scam. Please Read the Bill again particularily Part 3A and see.
"It would change Board terms from 2 yrs. to 4 yrs. And it would allow HTGCD, at its discretion, to charge up to $1,000 for well permit and connection fees -- up from the current $300. Those fees are the only consistent income for HTGCD at present. Each year the Board has to go begging to the County Commissioners Court for a grant."
Fee - schmee, any way you look at it is a TAX that the enabling legislation specifically denied to the district. Consistent??? It is interesting that some of you favor this type of funding while wanting to reduce or eliminate drilling and pumping completely. The funding by the County is provided from fees collected from the LCRA not the tax-payers. The County funding is a measure of control that prevents and has prevented power hungry dictatorial boards like the "Backus" board from overstepping their intended authority.
Not to mention, that this Bill singles out the HTGCD for this invasion of our oproperty mrights.
Please read the Bill! then call the aforementioned Senators and ask that they block or heavily amend it.
Sorry. That's Sen. Kevin Eltife --
not Etife.
To Anon, May 20, 7:36 AM:
You state "...this Bill singles out the HTGCD for this invasion of our property rights."
HB 3865 is MEANT to deal only with HTGCD. Bills are passed all the time which deal only with one district or city -- every MUD is that way, and there are plenty of them. Besides, other GCDs already have these provisions which you claim are an invasion of rights.
What "errors" do you find in the bill? Something is not an "error" simply because you don't like it. "Not perfect" can mean that the bill doesn't address every issue that one could wish for -- not that the bill is erroneous.
You're right that pumping of water by exempt home wells will not actually be reduced (by monitoring or metering -- that is not allowed for household wells), but the bill states a desired limit of 15,000 gpd.
@Anonymous May 20, 2011 1:41 PM
Here is one mistake that apparently nobody in the House caught, "A member of the board of directors of the Hays Trinity Groundwater Conservation District elected in May 2011 serves a three-year term."
It is not lawfull to award an extra year to someone that was elected before the passage of this Bill. This may be a small point but those that voted in the recent election, were voting for a two year term for the elected Director. That will present a case for appeal. I forget the legal term for such a violation.
Wentworth's SB 1901 had the same error but as I remember it was more blatant and had other problems.
You missed my point; that if the capability of your residential well's pump can potentially supply 25Kgpd, the Bill defines it as a "HIGH VOLUME WELL" therefore it will have to be permitted and metered. It does not matter even if you actually pump 10 gallons a day, you still have to pay and have someone come on your land that you did not invite on.
To Anon, May 20, 5:43 PM:
As far as the 3-year terms for new 2011 HTGCD Board members, I've pointed that out several times on this blog. HB 3865 is an ex post facto law (law made after the fact). I wrote both Isaac and Wentworth and told them so, but got
no reply (not surprisingly). If you caught the error, did you bring it to any legislator's attention?
And, yes, we get it -- you've made your point more than once that wells CAPABLE of producing 25,000 gpd may have to be permitted and metered under HB 3865. Frankly, I don't think anyone cares unless he plans to illegally pump more water than he's permitted for. Meters aren't a worry to law abiders. And meters would definitely help HTGCD
to get a more accurate picture of how much groundwater is being pumped by households each year. At present that amount is merely a feeble guess.
As for a meter reader coming onto
my property, I don't mind. Readers already do that in the subdivision where I live. Why should I care if
they come onto my ranch?
Update on some bills authored, co-authored, or sponsored by Isaac; as of 3:15 p.m., May 22:
NOW LAW:
HB 15- abortions and sonograms
SB 257 - "Choose Life" lic.plates
MUDs & OTHER "DISTRICTS" PASSED OR
SURE TO PASS:
HB 3813-Hudson Ranch Water Dist.1
SB 629- Ranch at Clear Fork MUD 1
SB 630- Ranch at Clear Fork MUD 2
PASSED BY BOTH HOUSES;SENT TO GOV:
HB 1201-Repeal of Trans-Texas
Corridor legislation
PASSED BY FULL HOUSE & BY SENATE
COMMITTEE:
HB 1517-speed trap for Martindale
PASSED BY FULL HOUSE;IN SENATE CMTE
HB 3865 - HTGCD
PASSED BY HOUSE CMTE, BUT NOT FULL
HOUSE: HB 3832- Hays County DD #1
STILL IN HOUSE COMMITTEE:
HB 2180 unreasonable noise
HB 182- Bronze Star license plates
HB 561 would prohibit hospitals which were created by a public hospital district from using tax revenues to fund abortions, except in medical emergencies. It has been passed from the House State Affairs Committee (12 men, 1 woman) by a vote of 7 Ayes, 2 Nays, 4 Absent.
Our State Rep, Jason Isaac, is a co-author of the bill.
Thanks, Rep Isaac, for authoring this "important" bill: HB 1517, speed trap for Martindale. It passed both houses and has been sent to the Gov to sign.
Your 3 MUDS (HB 3813,SB 629,SB 630)
passed, too!
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