I ran across an editorial from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram(my hometown paper) that touched on the lawsuit to dismantle Texas’ Open Meeting Act. This act increases transparency and accountability in government by requiring public meetings to be open to the public and notices to be placed 72 hours in advance that a meeting is scheduled. Below is the first paragraph from the editorial and I think it sums everything up very nicely so I thought I would post it.

Misguided public officials keep trying to get criminal penalties in the Texas Open Meeting Act struck down as unconstitutional, but they keep running into an inconvenient fact: The law is about enhancing speech, not suppressing it.

Interestingly, Rep. Todd Hunter is looking to strenthen this law by banning emails, text, and instant messaging.  This form of communicating can be hidden from the public during meetings and Rep. Hunter wants to make sure that hidden forms of communicating are banned.

You can read the full editorial by clicking here.

My Fellow Texans,

Today, I am pleased to announce that the legendary 1847 Walker Colt .44 Caliber Revolver aka “Walker Colt” has officially declared his candidacy to become the Official State Gun of Texas. If you haven’t already guessed this is a historic day in Texas and for the people of Texas. For Texans have lacked representation by a state gun for over 175 years and Walker Colt hopes to change that.

I support this particular gun because he has served this great state with honor and distinction since 1847. I can honestly say that I cannot think of anyone else who has served our state for so long. When he was first introduced to the public by Texas Ranger Captain Samuel Walker and Samuel Colt he was quickly recognized as the “first truly effective military revolver” and was a major breakthrough for repeating arms. Over the years, Walker Colt has earned a great reputation with Texas’ elite law enforcement unit, the Texas Rangers, and with the average Texas citizen. Walker Colt is known as a very reliable gun that helped defend Texas and has exemplfied what it means to be a Texan.

I ask you to join me in supporting Walker Colt and “Like” his Facebook page and to follow him on twitter. Did you know Texas has an official bird and tree but not an official state gun? That is just not right.

God Bless Texas,

Matthew Dowling

If you have been reading The Right Side of Austin by Jon McClellan you would know that Texas does not have an official state gun. Texas has an official state bird, food, and even tree but no state gun. One would think with Texas’ persona of guns, oil, and cowboys that have an official state gun would be a give in.

This morning, Jon officially nominated the 1847 Walker Colt .44 caliber revolver to be the official gun of Texas. You can see a great picture of the gun below.

I couldn’t agree more that this gun should be the official state gun of Texas because of its use by the Texas Rangers to help defend and support the interest of the state of Texas. If you would like to read more on why this gun should be the official gun of Texas you can read Jon’s full post by clicking here.

I officially second Jon’s nomination for the 1847 Walker Colt .44 caliber revolver to be the official state gun of Texas.

The Texas House was debating the Voter ID bill today until Democrats tripped up the bill, with a point of order, and sent it back to committee. The bad news is that Republicans can expect a plethora of amendments and points of order to attempt to derail the bill. The good news is that both sides agree this is next to impossible since the house republicans hold a super majority.

In case you are wondering what the point of order was all about, search no further. It was raised by Rep. Armando Martinez (D-Weslac) who noticed that in the Bill Analysis it said a person had “6 business days” to present the required form of ID, when voting with a provisional ballot. However, the bill just said “the sixth day.” You can see the visual of what the point of order was over. The top graphic is an exercpt from the bill and the bottom in an excerpt from the bill analysis.

As you can see House rules are very strict. I don’t know why the bill analysis can trip up a bill considering its not even the bill, but oh well. That’s Texas politics for you.

Rep. Aaron Peña (R-Edinburg) sent out a tweet soon after the point of order saying that the Voter ID bill will be taken up in committee today at 4:30 PM. This will help ensure the bill gets back on the House floor as soon as possible, mostly likely Wednesday (according everyone twitter).

I have great news to report! Rep. Joe Driver’s bill, that would allow CHL holders to carry on college campuses, passed through committee yesterday with a vote of 5-3 (I’m also making this a short post, so double good news). To no one’s surprise it was voted out along party lines, with Republicans leading the way. However, I was a little disappointed that none of the Democrats chose to vote for this bill. The CHL laws in Texas have proven to be a success and allowing certified CHL holders on campus will only provide more protection, not more danger, for those on campus.

What many people do not already know is that CHL holders are allowed to carry on college campuses, but they are not allowed to enter the buildings. So far there has been no negative incidents involving CHL holders. Also, according to ConcealedCampus.org, there are already 26 schools across the country that allow CHL holders on campus. So far there have been no negative incidents involving CHL holders.

So, why the commotion in allowing responsible trained adults to protect themselves on college campuses?

It is the goal of liberals to ban guns everywhere and leave the security of their lives up to the government. So far there has been countless incidents in which people are hurt by those who seek evil in gun free zones.

One of my favorite bills this session will be taken up this afternoon in the house Homeland Security and Public Safety Committee. That bill of course is Rep. Driver’s bill that would allow Concealed Handgun License holders to carry on college campuses. My last count there were 80 co-authors to this bill, so it should have no problem passing though committee and the house barring any procedural motions that could slow it down.

As I’ve mentioned before the anti-gun crowd continues to make arguments on why they think carrying is “dangerous” and very little on why carrying on campus is specifically “more dangerous.” The fact is that Texas’ CHL laws have proven to be a success in protecting the average law abiding citizen. And the wild west scenarios that the anti-gun crowd tried to scare us with just simply have not played out.

Tomorrow, I hope to bring you the next in installment of “A gun a day keeps the campus shooter away” to provide an update on the hearing and to analyze the real meaning behind the liberal whining. If you missed the first installment you can check out it here.

The House Appropriations Committee is set to begin hearings this week on whether to use $4.3 billion in Rainy Day Funds to help fill the budget shortfall. It is very important we do not spend these reserve funds, but if we do, it is done in a careful and wise manner. So please follow this easy two step process to make sure Thy Rainy Day Fund Commandments are followed:

Step #1: Read the commandments

Step #2: Contact your legislator

Visit www.fyi.legis.state.tx.us to find the contact information for your state representative and senator so you may voice your opinion. Tell them that you want them to be fiscally responsible and to follow these commandments.

If you would like to learn more about Thy Rainy Day Fund Commandments and what they mean just click here.

When Mayor Tom Leppert jumped into the senate race I was a little skeptical of his decision. Why would he join a crowded field with little name ID and no conservative base or credentials (at least that I know of)? So I decided to do a little research about the mayor to see if I could figure out the ace up his sleeve that was going to win over Texas conservatives. I wondered if he slained unions or defeated a tax increase against all odds. Instead, I discovered his past support for the Lesbian Gay Bi-Sexual and Transgender community.

Although, in this political climate, it might seem his support for this community would be the end of the road for him, its not. He has backed away from his support of gay rights and even tweeted about how he disagreed with Obama’s assertion that a portion the Defense of Marriage Act was unconstitutional. But then I found this picture on pegasusnews.com, which shows Mayor Leppert marching in a gay rights parade with some sort of rainbow awards medal hanging around his neck.

Now this picture is the end of the road for him. I’m not sure if Mayor Leppert’s record is common knowledge in Dallas, but it sure isn’t in the rest of Texas.

The social conservatives in the Republican Party are going to have a field day with this picture and his advocacy for gay rights in Dallas. He isn’t going to make it out of the gates in the senate race and I am still at a loss on why he even got in.

Not to mention that he has donated thousands of dollars to defeat one of Texas’ current U.S. senators, John Cornyn. He is going to get booed out of every Republican women’s club out there.

What was Leppert thinking when he thought he could court the conservative voters that turn out in a Republican Primary??

Karen Brooks, with the Dallas Morning News, has reported that former Speaker Tom Craddick collapsed while laying out a bill banning texting while driving in the House Transportation Committee.

He left the capitol alert but in a stretcher around 8:30 this morning. From what I am hearing is this fainting might have been an isolated incident but we will keep you updated if anything changes.

We wish him a speedy recovery.

Rep. Jim Pitts, chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, is expected to vote out a bill that would authorize the use of $4.3 billion in Rainy Day Funds. The money withdrawn from the fund will be used to cover the budget shortfall we have in the current biennium. This comes at the heels of conservative organizations and legislators and Gov. Rick Perry asking members not to even consider spending any of the Rainy Day Fund until all the cuts that can be made have been made.

I feel Pitts and other members are jumping the gun as they push to use the Rainy Day Fund, especially for the amount they are requesting. First, it violates Rainy Day Commandment #3 because the legislature has yet to exhaust all options to balance the budget with out using the fund. We aren’t even half way through session and the legislature shouldn’t be taken this road so soon. However, in the grand scheme of things we are more likely seeing the first moves in negotiations, so add an extra grain of salt to everything you hear about the Rainy Day Fund from here on out.

It will be interesting the stance Perry will take, concerning the Rainy Day Fund, during his meeting with the House Republican Caucus and press conferences with Fair Tax guru Grover Norquist. Perry should give us a further glimpse into his strategy and expectations this session when it comes to the use of the fund.

If his stance is too hard he will place himself in a dangerous trap, if we see that parts of the fund need to be used, and if it’s too soft he will wash away his Tea Party support. He will most likely stay consistant with what he has said in the past and be very harsh on the idea of spending the the fund and only insert one or two sentences about extenuating circumstances in which it should be spent. I hope he expands a little on this notion to help guide the legislature during this session.

To be honest, I think when the legislature sine dies, I wouldn’t be surprised if $2.5 billion is the magic number. It’s some where in the middle of what each side wants and most of that money will be replenished naturally in the next biennium.