Don't Forget -- Picnic is Thursday May 26th

The annual Cherokee County Democratic Club picnic is THIS WEEK!  Thursday, May 26^th  Join us for good food, fun, fellowship, and lots of laughs!  Location: Jim Hogg City Park in Rusk. East on U.S. 84 at the intersection of 84 and 69 to the Park Road sign on your right. Rain or shine, we will start the picnic at 6:00 PM.  Coke, Dr. Pepper, sweet tea, unsweetened tea and ice are provided by the club. So bring a covered dish, snack tray, chips, BBQ, fried chicken, etc., and a guest or two.   See you there!

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From Suzanne Morris –

Many of you are aware of the movement to stop the TransCanada Keystone XL pipeline from being extended down through East Texas to the Gulf Coast, crossing our streams, rivers and Carrizo-Wilcox Aquifer.

On Saturday, May 28th, we will have a booth at the Fair on the Square in Rusk, and we need some help passing out post cards petitioning the State Department to reject TransCanada's request for a Presidential Permit for this pipeline extension.  The deadline for comment is June 6th.

Some of you have expressed an interest in this issue.  If you could help by passing out postcards during the Fair, we would greatly appreciate it.

We'll see you at the meeting next Thursday night, and Mary will have a few postcards for our members who wish to sign at that time.

The movement is growing to stop this toxic crude oil from being transported down through our state to get to the open commodity market.  It is a threat to our water supply and our environment, and our State Department needs to know we care.

If you have any questions, please feel free to call or email me.

Many thanks.

Suzanne Morris

(903) 683-9525

Texas Observer Notes What Defunding Planned Parenthood Will Cost Us

• The Texas Observer reported yesterday that the LBB says the move to take money out of family-planning programs could be very expensive for the state: “The cuts to family planning programs approved in the Texas House budget—part of conservative lawmakers’ efforts to defund Planned Parenthood this session—would lead to more than a quarter million low-income women losing essential reproductive health services and birth control, according to a recent analysis. … The House version of the budget would divert about $62 million—two-thirds of total funding—from birth control and other women’s health services to programs like autism services, early childhood intervention and crisis pregnancy centers. A recent analysis by the Legislative Budget Board estimates the family planning cuts contained in the House budget would result in almost 284,000 fewer women receiving services. With a lack of birth control come more unplanned pregnancies, and possibly more abortions. The LBB analysis—which hasn’t been made public, but was obtained by the Observer—also estimates that the state’s Medicaid program would have to cover approximately 20,511 more births. That would cost almost $100 million in state dollars over the next biennium.”   This came from Austin American Statesman online 

Keeping Up With The Legislature

Hope you've been keeping with the Legislature in Austin.  Not an easy thing to do.  But as you know the House passed the Committee Substitute to HB 1 which cuts billions from education and would force many nursing homes to shut down and leave grandma without a home.  Some who voted for it seemed to say that this was not the real budget and that it would get better.

Well the bill went to the Senate and they came up with their own version of HB 1.  The Senate Finance committee bill is on the calendar in the Senate and they must have 21 votes to bring it up for debate.  At this point they are having difficulty doing that.  Both progressives and conservatives are telling Senators to vote no on bringing up the bill.  The conservatives do not like the idea that there is Rainy Day money in the bill and the other side thinks that there are still too many cuts and not enough Rainy Day money or new revenue in the bill.  Seems some senators want to move it on saying that it can be changed/fixed in conference committee.  But the buck will stop somewhere.  We can't keep passing it on and hoping that someone else will fix it.

April 28 -- Cherokee Democratic Meeting

The Cherokee County Democratic Club will meet on Thursday, April 28, at Lupe's at 7 p.m.  The Women's Group will meet at 6:30 p.m.  Come a little early if want to order supper.

The group will discuss the county redistricting among other concerns.  Come join us and share you views about what is happening in the county, state and nation.

Check Out These Articles Today

If you are interested in the Pipeline discussion and the possibility that it will move through East Texas, you might check out the New York Time Editorial against the pipeline.  http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/03/opinion/03sun1.html

This is the topic which was the subject of the Cherokee County Democratic Club meeting in February.

The Texas Observer has a good article on the Budget Debate.
http://www.texasobserver.org/floor-play/the-budget-superlatives-the-best-and-worst-moments-of-the-budget-debate
Two Republicans voted against the Budget Bill and one is a Tea Party Republican.  Seems he is getting a little disillusioned about how things work in Austin.

House Reconvenes to Complete Discussion on CSHB 1

It is 9:10 p.m. on Sunday, April 3, and the House is nearing completion on CSHB 1.  They are down to Article 11 which is the last section to be considered.  Article 11 is a compilation of amendments which are "wish lists' from Representatives.  They are not funded.  They will not a part of HB 1 unless they get picked up, passed and funded in the process as the bill goes through the Senate and the probable conference committee.  This is a process which is not completely understood by the Representative, even those who have been there for several sessions.  


In the next few days hopefully we will see some analysis of what is still in the bill and what has been changed.  This is the second reading of CSHB 1.  So it will have to be passed after a third reading.  The Senate will then have their say so we are long way from having a budget.  It may not be done until even a special called session.


Rep. Sylvester Turner seems to be the expert on the Article 11 process.  He is speaking to the body and explaining and answering questions about how this all works.  The House is getting ready to vote on all the amendments in Article 11 at once.  They voted by not objecting to the motion to pass Article 11. They have until Tuesday to register opposition to any of the amendments in writing.  


It is now 9:45 p.m.and the Democrats are making their final speeches against CSHB 1.  These are speeches you might want to listen to some time.  They are archived on the House website.  The vote will come after the speeches are completed.

House Debate on CSHB 1 Continues

House debate on CSHB 1  (committee substitute for HB 1) came to a temporary end at 12:30 a.m. on Saturday morning.  They will reconvene on Sunday at 4 p.m.  Any political nerds or information junkies can listen to the archived video of the session by going online to http://www.house.state.tx.us/
There are over 400 pages of amendments to complete. You can see the text of these amendments on the Texas Tribue website -- http://www.texastribune.org/.   Many of the amendments on Friday dealt with moving money from one fund to another.   Many of those were moving money from family planning to other human service areas.  The Democrats found this frustrating as both area considered were of great need and value but they were being forced to choose.  Many felt this was a political maneuver--raiding family planning (which is interpreted as "abortion" to many) to give to other area.  All the while many were also complaining of too many abortions.  It was pointed out that taking away family planning money would lead to more unplanned pregnancies and to potential for more abortions.  All amendments passed which took money from family planning.

You can also follow the debate when it begins again on Sunday through twitter.com.  The hashtag for this discussion is #txlege.  Use that to search for what is being said as the debate moves along.

Keeping Up With Those Legislators in Austin

Voter ID SB14 bill has been approved by the House.  Since it was amended it will be sent back to the Senate and they will either approved as amended or send it to a conference committe of both houses.  So we have not heard the last of this bill.

The House has also passed HB 1, the Budget Bill.  It is actually CSHB1 (committee substitute for HB1).  It added back some of the money the original bill took out but I don't think it is enough to get excited about.  There are graphs of both versions on http://www.cppp.org/.  Check it out if you want to see more about where the legislature is in the process.

Public Education and The Budget Topic of Monthly Meeting

       Kathy and Eldridge Moak presented a great program to the Cherokee Democrats at their monthly meeting on March 24.  The Moaks attended the recent rally in Austin that centered on Public Education and concerns about budget cuts.  Given the difficult situation the state (and nation) are in financially, we wondered what can we do?
      Suggestion 1:  Write, call, fax or email Representative Chuck Hopson and Senator Robert Nichols and let them know that education is your top priority and you want it to be their top priority also.
                           Rep. Hopson,  PO Box 2910, Austin, 78768-2910; 866.233.5100, Fax 512.463.8792
                           chuck.hopson@house.state.tx.us
                           Senator Nichols, PO Box 12068, Austin, 78711; 800.959.8633, Fax 512.463.1526
                           robert.nichols@senate.state.tx.us

    Suggestion 2:  Contact Hopson and Nichols and asked them to sponsor a local forum on education during the session.  We are concerned/scared about what will happen to our schools and we need to hear from them with ideas on what they are doing to help repair the problems with public education.

     Suggestion 3:  Write to local newspapers with your concerns.  Let's get our letters in the newspaper.

Cherokee County Democratic Meeting Thursday, March 24

The Cherokee County Democrats

will meet next

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Lupe’s restaurant in Jacksonville, the private room

6:30 p.m. – TDW

7:00 – 8:00 p.m. – Cherokee County Democrats

As always, dinner will be available before or during the meeting.

Kathy & Eldridge Moak will lead a discussion of the state of public education in Texas (budget cuts, manipulation of the curriculum, etc.). Whether or not you have school age children or grandchildren, how the Legislature addresses the current crisis will affect all Texans for years to come.

Keeping Up With The Legislature

Did you know:  Leo Berman has filed almost 2000 anti-immigration bills this session?

That Rep. Lyle Larson has filed House Bill 684 that would allow counties to house prisoners in tents?

That Texas may allow firearms on college campuses?

That Texas ranks first in children withous health insurance?

That Texas ranks third in the highest teen birth rate?

That Texas has the 5th most regressive tax system?

That Texas ranks 6th in the most children in poverty?

But we are 40th in college degrees and 49th in mental health spending.  (from Texas Observer)

So much to be proud of. 

Cherokee County Demeocratic Club Meeting -- Thursday, February 24

This Thursday the Club will meet at 7 p.m. at Lupe's Restaurant.  The Women's group will meet at 6:30 p.m. Come anytime after 6 p.m. if you wish to eat.  The meeting will be information concerning the pipeline that is scheduled to come through the county.

In preparation for the 7:00 program and discussion, Mary Decker sends along the following information about the TransCanada pipeline.


The following URL links to a report just released today on risks associated with tar sands pipelines, co-authored by Sierra Club, National Wildlife Federation, Natural Resources Defense Council, and most key, the independent group Pipeline Safety Report.

http://www.sierraclub.org/dirtyfuels/downloads/2011-02-safety.pdf

A local news story about the proposed pipeline - http://www.blogger.com/goog_1657905538

House Makes Committee Assignments

The House has made their meeting assignments and committee meetings have begun.  You can check out the make up of any committee by going online to http://www.house.state.us.tx/.  The committee meetings can be watched on the internet live or archived.  This is a good way to know what is happening.  News outlets don't always report things acurately.   Hearing it first hand is good idea.

With that in mind you might want to listen to the State Affairs Senate hearings on the Sonagram Bill. The bill as it was filed and the bill that was passed are not the same after amendments.  Listening to Senator Patrick is also an interesting way to spend some time. 

The Senate Finance Committee is having hearings on each part of the Senate Budget Bill.  Each section has invited testimony and public testimony.  If there are parts you are particularlly interested in, you can see what the Committee is being told by the people and by the people they want to hear from.  The hearing on Human Services was interesting as the Senators must sit and listen to people from many of the MR facilities tell why they want funding to be continued to the facilities in which they live.   Mothers bring their children who are in danger of loosing services and show how difficult their lives will be without the programs their children need.

The Legislature Is Moving On -- What Do You Think About What's Happening

Well the Senate is not waiting around to get to work this session.  They have named their committees and are at work.  The Finance committee is meeting Monday through Thursday with invited and public testimony.  They began discussing Health and Human Service issues and will continue through each section of the budget.  The Committee on Education has also begun hearings.  If you want to watch any of these committees you can do so online at http://www.senate.state.tx.us/ and look at the list of sessions available.  Texas Impact has posted short snippets of pertinent information on their web page each week -- www.texasimpact.org .  Other ways to keep up with what is happening in Austin:  http://www.texastribune.org/ and http://www.statesman.com/. 

Keeping Up With The Legislature

Aren't you glad that the 2011 session of the legislature began early in January since we have a voter emergency going on.  But Governor Perry has stepped in to save the day.  He put Voter ID legislation on the fast track and the senate has been debating it as a committee of the whole.  No time to wait for a real committee and no time to wait for the word to get out to the those living outside of Austin or way up here behind the Pine Curtain.  So no time for the public to travel to Austin to give testimony.

So today Wednesday, January 26, the Senate passed a bill that would require voters to have a photo ID in order to vote.  It will now move to the House.  Since this is a Republican backed bill and the Republican Governor put it on the fast track, it is probable that the 101 Republican in the House will be able to push this bill past the 49 Democrats.  Many feel that there is no fraudulant voting crisis which a photo ID will fix.  Others will say that there are many people voting who should not be voting but during hearings in the past about this issue, very few cases were presented to prove this assumption.  The implication is that undocumented persons are coming in droves to vote.

FEAR. That is the watch word for our times.  Be afraid, be very afraid.  So let's be aware of what is being said and do some research of our own and share our views with Senator Nichols and Representative Hopson.

January Meeting for Cherokee Democrats

Thursday, January 27, at 7 p.m. the Cherokee County Club will meet at Lupe's restaurant. The Women's group will meet at 6:30 p.m.  Come join the group and see what everyong is thinking about the first days of the Texas Legislature. 

Come Join Us!!!

Texas Legislature Begins Tuesday, January 11

Tuesday, we are off to the races.  The newly elected member of the State House and the new members of the Senate will be sworn in.  The election of the next speaker will be one order of business.

Remember that you can keep up with all the in and outs and ups and downs of the Texas legislative session by tuning into chamber sessions and legislative hearings of the House (http://www.house.state.tx.us/) and of the Senate (http://www.senate.state.tx.us/). 

Explore these websites and keep up with bills and their progress through the legislature and learn about the state's legislature.