Thank you for your hard work in service to our great state. On May 28th, you issued a challenge to the members of our legislature to "rise above their differences and finish the work of the people of Texas." They apparently heeded your challenge and passed an impressive volume on bills in the final hours of the session. In the process, however, the overworked and exhausted legislators allowed some ill conceived legislation and overlooked the last second inclusion of other legislation that was previously voted down unanimously.
My primary concern is with HB 12.
This complex, important, and controversial bill was passed by both the houses. However, there were significant differences in the two versions. Ideally, the conference committee should have had several days to review, negotiate, and resolve these differences in a manner that would protect the interest of all Texans. Both chambers should then have had ample time to review and consider the committee report prior to passage or referral back to conference. Unfortunately, the legislators have very little time and many issues demanding their attention. As a result, the conference committee rushed blindly to a compromise that was ill conceived and heavily biased by the bill’s author and conference committee chairman. The concerns of other legislators (and the citizens they serve) were largely disregarded in the process.
Even more unfortunate than the rushed and ill conceived compromise, was the blatant abuse of the legislative process by the inclusion of sections 41 (from HB 1309) and 44 (from HB 2414), neither of which was in either version of HB 12. The text in both of these sections was reviewed, debated, and drastically amended in the House but never passed in the Senate. If these sections warranted inclusion in HB 12, they should at least have been worded as amended by the House. Instead, their author, Rep. Harvey Hilderbran, took advantage of the trust and exhaustion of his colleagues by including these previously defeated bills in the Conference Report that is now on your desk as HB 12.
The great state of Texas deserves a better bill and a fairer process. For that reason, I strongly request that you VETO HB 12 and call a special session for our legislature to review, revise, and resubmit this important piece of legislation.