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HAA Newsletter as of May 30, 2017 - Calling for Special Session

In light of the unconscionable decision by Lt. Gov. Patrick the night of May 28, 2017 to give the Senate Floor to Sen. Menéndez (who decided to filibuster the Annexation Reform Bill, SB715) rather than to Sen. Campbell who could have moved to pass it....our fight continues.

Rep. Larson sent his newsletter encouraging all of us to do the following:

Contact Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick immediately and hold him accountable for allowing the opposition to kill the Annexation Reform Bill.
Contact information for Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick:

Contact Gov. Abbott's office with requests for him to add Annexation Reform to the call for a Special Session.  

Here are some talking points that could get the Governor's attention:
  • Please protect our democratic values
  • We believe in small government
  • Protect the citizen's rights to determine who governs them
  • How our veterans serve(d) to protect the very freedoms now being denied us, especially on Memorial Day weekend!
  • Commend the Governor for his dedication to citizens rights and his defense of the Constitution.
  • Explain to the Governor the urgency for all citizens who will be forcibly annexed before the 2019 Legislature convenes.

The sooner we all can contact the Governor, the better our chance for getting the Special Session that we need for that last chance to get our Annexation Reform bill passed.

Thanks for everyone's persistence in keeping up whatever it takes to try to keep us unincorporated!  

Respectfully,
Mike Stewart
HAA President

Annexation Reform is All But Reality

Sunday, May 21 was a milestone for all Texans!  The second reading of SB715, also known as the Texas Annexation Reform Act, was passed by the House Members with 104 yeas and 34 nays. Monday, May 22, SB715 was affirmed in the third reading with a vote of 110 to 35 and with a few amendments.  SB715 will go back to the Senate where the Bill authors can concur with the House language or choose not to concur and go to Conference.  If they go to Conference, then they could potentially strip away any language added in the House.  The Bill, as reconciled, would then need to be voted on by both the House and Senate.  However, this is mostly a formality since it passed with an overwhelming margin.

At this time we will stand by and let our legislators execute the task at hand.  Senator Campbell and Representative Larson are aware of the opposition from San Antonio and will protect our right to vote at all cost. We may need to have a final push to ensure the Governor does not veto the Bill, even though it is expected to become law.  Please stay tuned for more information.

There were several amendments made to the bill during the debate and we still need to review the details to make sure there is nothing that would exclude us but we are confident that we can live with these amendments and look forward to the final language.

Thanks to all who participated in the efforts to end forced annexation in Texas.  Whether you donated money, wrote emails, wrote letters, made phone calls, knocked on doors, did research, networked, went to a rally, went to Austin....please know that it all helped get us to this point.  We are so close.  Let's keep fighting until we get to the finish line!   

While my tone is cautiously optimistic, please consider this a huge victory for our efforts!

Please watch for updates as the bill moves through the final stages of the process into becoming the law of Texas!

Don't forget to thank Senator Campbell, Representatives Huberty and Larson and especially their staff!

Let's keep up the fight!

Thanks again!

Mike Stewart
President, Homeowners' Against Annexation

Optimistic for Annexation Reform with SB715

HB424 was on the calendar to be debated in the House this week but it did not come up before the self-imposed deadline by the House of Thursday midnight.  The bill essentially died.  

However, hope is not lost because we have SB715 that was voted out of the House committee this week and is poised to get scheduled for debate.  Historically Senate bills are viewed favorably by the House so we do not expect the stalling (that a few House members did this week) to be at the same level.

We are working with Representative Larson and Senator Campbell to organize any action they need from us to get SB715 voted into law.  At this time, we are optimistic and no action is required.  

If you wish to do something, you can call any and all House representatives and encourage them to support SB715 AND encourage your fellow Texans to contact their Representative to support SB715.  

Senator Campbell, Representative Larson and Representative Huberty are our champions and they need no further encouragement!

Optimistic

Mike Stewart
President, Homeowners' Against Annexation

Breaking News: HB424 has moved to the House Floor

It didn't take long for HB424 to move out of the Calendars Committee and onto the House Floor for a vote.

HB424 is currently scheduled to be voted on Monday, May 8th, however, with so many Bills still on the calendar, they could become backlogged pushing the vote to possibly Tuesday or Wednesday...impossible to know exactly when.  

We're so close.... Let's all continue to fight to end forced annexation in Texas!

HAA Newsletter as of May 5, 2017

Three of us went to Austin on Wednesday, April 3, 2017. We split up and visited a total of 95 Representatives offices. During our visit, we learned some lessons...

The ease of sending emails through the software on the HAA website is working for us but may also be working against us... somewhat. Even though our voices are being heard (that's a good thing), it appears some offices in Congress (i.e. Larson's among others) have become inundated with emails (that's the not so good thing because he's already on our side). But, because there is a fine line between being prudent and becoming annoying, we have a new plan to keep them on our good side.....

This weekend, we can call or send email to the Calendars Committee Members asking them to please move HB424 to the House Floor for a vote (there is one letter in the system). You can still do this on www.HomeownersAgainstAnnexation.com; click on: Get In Touch. We should try to go easy on hitting the Send button. Each of us sending email ***once, maybe twice*** this weekend should be sufficient.

If/When HB424 does get to the House Floor, we will switch to sending emails to ALL House Members asking for their vote in support of HB424, again, using the HAA website.

Please stay tuned on how we can continue our fight against ending forced annexation in the remaining time left of this Legislative session.

http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/Home.aspx