Texas Sovereignty Could Die in Committee

Texas Sovereignty Could Die in Committee

By

James Scott Trimm

 

The Texas Sovereignty Act (HB 2338 and SB 2015) may well be the most important bill filed in the Texas Legislature in this 85^th Legislative Session.  This bill would rein in the overreach of the federal government by creating a permanent legislative committee that would review federal acts by any branch of the federal government to determine if they are constitutional.  If a federal act is found to be unconstitutional it would become illegal to spend any federal money or resources enforcing it, and it would become a violation of the Texas Official Oppressions Act and any other applicable laws for anyone to attempt to enforce that federal act.

The Texas Sovereignty Act is currently awaiting a vote from the House Committee on State & Federal Power & Responsibility chaired by State Representative Drew Darby.  The Committee held a hearing on the Texas Sovereignty Act as well as several bills related to calling an Article V Convention on April 13^th.  The Committee left all of those bills pending, but this last Thursday (April 20^th) they took a vote only on certain Article V bills but did not bring up the Texas Sovereignty Act for a vote.

This is piece of legislation that was called for by our 2016 Texas Republican Party Platform which says:

State Sovereignty- Pursuant to Article 1 Section 1 of the Texas Constitution, the federal government has impaired our right of local self-government.  Therefore, federally mandated legislation, which infringes upon the 10th Amendment rights of Texas, should be ignored, opposed, refused, and nullified. Regulation of Commerce in Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution has exceeded the original intent. All attempts by the federal judiciary to rule in areas not expressly enumerated by the Untied States Constitution should be likewise nullified. Any federal enforcement activities that do occur in Texas should be conducted under the authority of the county sheriff.

This plank received a yes vote from more than 89% of the convention delegates… a far greater percentage than those voting for calling an Article V convention.  That is because, while there is contention within the party about calling an Article V convention, there is tremendous unity about enforcing the tenth amendment of the US Constitution.

That is why at the House committee hearing held Thursday April 13^th, 2017 persons both for and against calling an Article V convention were unified in testifying in support of HB 2338.  Only one person in all of Texas (who appeared from his ideology to be a Democrat) showed up to register his opposition to this bill.

This plank and this bill (HB 2338) clearly fall within the core principles of the Republican Party of Texas as defined in the Preamble of the Party Platform, which states:

“If we fail to maintain our sovereignty, we risk losing the freedom to live these ideals.”

And the 3rd and 4th Party Principles of our Platform state:

3. Preserving American and Texas sovereignty and freedom.

4. Limiting government power to those items enumerated in the United States and Texas

Constitutions.

Our Republican Representatives in the House and Senate need to know that supporting the Texas Sovereignty Act is supporting the core principles of our party, and one of the most popular planks in our State Party Platform.

We need this bill to forward out of Committee and to Calendars this coming week.  Otherwise the clock could run out and this very important core principle bill could die in Calendars and never get a vote on the House floor. 

It can only be brought up for a vote by one person, Chairman Drew Darby, who so far has been unwilling to do so.

If you care about this issue we need you to act immediately. Time runs out next week. Please respectfully call:

Chairman Drew Darby (512) 463-0331

"Please bring HB 2338 up for a vote in committee before Tuesday, April 25th"

We need you to make the call immediately.