This session is a Claytie Williams session for sure. But we don't have to enjoy it.
While lawmakers are arguing about who gets cut, there is no plan for shared sacrifice that overnight would create huge revenue. Our evidence?
* They refuse to close a $7.4B tax loophole for natural gas fracking companies who, by the way, are using precious drinking water to drill with!
* They've done nothing about the $4B loss per year in property taxes due to systemic under-valuations of speculative land, commercial & $1M+ homes.
* They likely won't even give up the little, but truly disgusting, candy, like subsidizing billionaires for the Formula 1 race track in Austin!
* And you can forget about TxDOT reform thanks to the hatchet job of the Sunset Commission.
The latest and most dangerous plan to loot Texans is to give new REVOLVING bonding authority* to the Texas Water Development Board (all Perry "Big Ag" appointees). For what? To steal water from Peter (counties like Bastrop) to pay Paul (developers and water profiteers), to fund pipelines to transport groundwater and to line the pocket of profiteer friends of Gov. Rick Perry.
The good news is they will have to put this on the ballot for a vote of the people this November.
The Trans-Texas Corridor did not die with the pavement — the water pipelines are still there.
We let the parties get the best of us by not continuing to build the independent movement.
But millions more Texans are ready to go independent — are you?
1. Share this email by forwarding or sharing it on our Facebook page. Get your friends to sign in. Then watch for a message for a united call-in day VERY SOON to legislators. Folks can also sign our online water petition here. You can ask other organizations to join us in this effort. Have them reach us asap!
2. Volunteer! Make phone calls, do research, writing, webwork or get out to meet the public with our petition. (Do you need to make a little extra money — we'll show you how.) If yes, reply to this message with your phone number or just call us.
Most (not all) of our videos from the "Texas Water Wars" are now on You Tube" — check 'em out and share them!
If you want to volunteer, please join a conference call THIS Sunday night. Just reply or call us for details.
I don't know about you, but I'm not going to "just relax and enjoy it." Let's give 'em hell to pay, before we have to pay them.
Donate here–and please consider being a monthly sustainer. We're about to kick off a major fundraising drive so we have what we need to really kick some!
Linda Curtis, Independent Texans
* There is only one state agency that enjoys revolving bonding authority – the Veterans Land Board.