Fathers, we want you to also please never forget that in our Texas and American society you’re also very important.

Simply put, Texas values fathers.

Thank you dads for all that you do and will do in the future. Some things we as children may not even realize that we learned from you until we begin raising our own children.  Some valuable lessons and skills you passed on to us may not even come into our minds until after you’re gone. All that you do, fathers, is valuable.  As my father’s only son and a father myself, I learn and appreciate more about this fact every day.

So we encourage all dads out there to know the value of who you are and what you mean to your children.  Take advantage of every day you have here for your children, whether they are young or old.  It’s simply human nature that every child longs to be close to his or her father and you as the father of one child or many, are no different.

Thank you fathers and we hope you have a wonderful and blessed Father’s Day from Jonathan Saenz and the Texas Legislative Update blog!

See the article here. http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2012/05/10/palin-jumps-on-cruz-bandwagon-in-texas/ 

There’s a lot of talk about this U.S. Senate race outcome also being a measure of the strength of the Tea Party in Texas’ primary elections.

Get our free voters guide here.  www.freevotersguide.com

Another key endorsement coming?  Texas State Senator, Dan Patrick, founder of the Tea Party caucus in the Texas Legislature, said on Thursday during the Texas Tribune coffee discussion that he may be making an announcement about who he’s supporting in this U.S. Senate race.  Or he may not.  Senator Patrick did say he believes Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst will win the Republican primary, but that was not an endorsement, just his belief.

The new design will be more streamlined, allowing you to much easier navigate to important posts and stories.  It will also have better social media integration, allowing you to like and share easily on Facebook and Twitter.

The Texas Legislative Update is the the Texas-focused blog of Liberty Institute, and is run by Liberty Institute’s Austin Office.  Our mission will be to continue to stand for Faith, Family, and Freedom in the state of Texas.  Thanks again for helping in the success of the blog and please continue to share this site with your friends and to share our posts on Facebooks, Twitter, and other social media!

Attention all grassroots supporters of Religious Liberty.  Party Platforms are going to be written as the parties prepare for the State (and National) conventions this year.  Many Senate District/County conventions are going on this Saturday, April, 21st.  Look online or call your county headquarters for meeting details.  This means you have a great opportunity to take a stand for religious liberty (and other important issues) by submitting a resolution to your party’s platform at your local convention.

A resolution is a statement of principle that is voted on at a political convention.

To be eligible to participate, you must sign an affidavit stating your Party affiliation for the May 29 Primary. By claiming party affiliation at the Senate District/County convention you will not be able to vote in another party’s Primary or Run-off election.You may present as many resolutions as you like, but remember to make 12 copies to give to the Platform Committee members.

Below is a suggested resolution on Religious Liberty:

WHEREAS, religious liberty is our most fundamental constitutional freedom; and

WHEREAS, the First Amendment of the Constitution protects the free exercise of religion from government interference; and

WHEREAS, government at all levels is growing increasingly hostile to the free exercise of religion, and is trampling on our religious liberty in the courts, legislature, and through executive fiat; and

WHEREAS, a state religious liberty constitutional amendment provides the best guarantee of lasting protection for our citizens’ religious liberties from an activist court, overreaching legislature, or government bureaucracy; and

WHEREAS, thirty (30) states have state constitutional protection prohibiting a government agency from burdening a person’s free exercise of religion; now therefore

BE IT RESOLVED, that we call upon the Texas Legislature to safeguard our constitutional right of religious liberty by passing a state constitutional amendment that prohibits any government agency from burdening a person’s free exercise of religion.

Be it further resolved, that a copy of this resolution be sent to the ___________ Senatorial/County Convention Resolutions Committee from Precinct # ___ of the __________County  ______________ Party, with the recommendation that it be passed and sent to the State Convention Platform Committee of the ___________Party of Texas.

Download a PDF version of the proposed resolution.

Image: FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Only Republican SBOE members present. For some reason, no Democratic SBOE members are present.

_______________________________________________________________

2:20 p.m.  Committee is back from the break.  SBOE member Charlie Garza is testifying.

Yannis Banks, from NAACP testifying: I can see the need for growth, you will probably have to go “big” in order to do it.

Mexican American Legal Defense Fund (MALDEF) testifying: Any addition of SBOE members should maintain or be a net gain for Latino voting opportunity.

_______________________________________________________________

SBOE Chair Barbara Cargill speaks first.  SBOE has a travel budget.

Chairman Branch-Former SBOE Chair Tincy Miller asked for helped with staff members to assist their work. 

SBOE Member Gail Lowe: “We’re a policy making body, not a regulatory body so we are not in charge of providing oversight over each individual school district.”

Considering increasing the number of SBOE members is not timely, constituents are asking for less government.

Rep. Diane Patrick: 27 member board became unwieldy, needed to streamline, more efficient government.

Democratic Rep.Carol  Alvardo says the SBOE needs more diversity in its membership.  SBOE Member Gail Lowe responds and points out the SBOE membership is actually more diverse, with 33% minority representation and more diverse than both the Texas House and Senate.

SBOE member George Clayton, no change in number of SBOE members needed.

Pat Hardy, no change in SBOE member numbers needed.  I have no problem communicating with my constituents.

SBOE member Ratliff: I don’t think an appointed board or more members on the SBOE is the answer, nor should the board members have a party affiliation on the ballot.

Rep. Alvarado: My constituents have no idea who their SBOE member is.  Who is the SBOE member for Rep. Alvarado in Houston?   Democratic SBOE Member Lawrence Allen is the SBOE member for Rep. Alvarado’s district.

Would you hire an employee without first looking at their resume? Of course not. So why would you vote for a candidate without first knowing where they stand on the issues?  Texas values faith, family, and freedom, and Texans deserve to know where candidates stand on these important issues.

At the new FreeVotersGuide.com you can register to vote, look up your friends and family to see if they are registered to vote and then invite them to register, and sign up for the Texas Primary Voters Guide coming in early May.  Don’t forget the Texas Primary Election date is May 29th and the last day to register to vote is April 30th.

Some of the exciting updates coming to the 2012 Free Voters Guide include:

• Interactive Voters Guide with information specific to your address
• Our comprehensive candidate questionnaire
• Access to voting record, campaign contribution, and other important candidate information

]]> https://texaslegislativeupdate.wordpress.com/2012/04/16/freevotersguide-com-has-launched-vote-informed/feed/ 0 7127 davidwalls FreeVotersGuide.com https://texaslegislativeupdate.wordpress.com/2012/04/12/texas-and-national-teen-birth-rates-drop-to-historic-lows-shows-continued-effectiveness-of-abstinence-education/ https://texaslegislativeupdate.wordpress.com/2012/04/12/texas-and-national-teen-birth-rates-drop-to-historic-lows-shows-continued-effectiveness-of-abstinence-education/#respond Thu, 12 Apr 2012 17:31:54 +0000 http://texaslegislativeupdate.wordpress.com/?p=7107

A new National Center for Health Statistics report about U.S. teen birth rates and those of Texas teens offers new evidence that Texas’ abstinence-based sex education policy works and does not require an overhaul.

The report shows that the national teen birth rate is at its lowest rate since 1946.  Similarly, in 2010, Texas teen births rates dropped to continue in a 20-year downward trend.  Under an abstinence-focused approach in Texas, the Texas teen birth rate (per 1000 aged 15-19) has decreased a significant 33.4 percent from a high in 1991 (78.4) to a low in 2010 (52.2). The teen birth rate in Texas has also declined 15 percent between 2007 (61.7) and 2010 (52.2).

“It’s encouraging that the abstinence-focused sex education policy in Texas continues to improve in the areas of teen pregnancy and teen births,” said Jonathan Saenz, Director of Legislative Affairs for Liberty Institute.  “Pressure by pro-abortion groups and others to ban abstinence teaching in public schools, and instead to focus on drug-based sex education, would be a disaster and jeopardize the positive trend over the past 20 years.”

Since the mid 1990s, Texas law has required that abstinence education be taught in its public schools, more than any other sex education method for preventing pregnancy and STDs—if sex education is taught at all.  However, during recent legislative sessions, pro-abortion groups have pressured the Texas legislature to essentially ban abstinence education in public schools and to primarily focus on drug-based sex education. Fortunately, these efforts have been flatly rejected.

“In short, I’m glad Texas continues to stay with what works.  Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion provider, which pushes drug-based sex education, has no business teaching our children about sex education,” Saenz added.

Image: aopsan / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

While some extreme liberal activist groups, like Texas Freedom Network, were in favor of banning the plates and allowing the government to exclude a person’s private choice to express their strongly held religious beliefs, these groups are simply out of the mainstream of Texas values. The phrase “One State Under God” was almost unanimously passed by the Texas Legislature and added to the Texas Pledge in 2007.  The purchase and design of a specialty license plate is a private decision and a private endeavor that merely passes through the DMV as one of many private or public arrangements that Texas participates in with the public. In this debate on the “Under God” license plate, the left simply continues to show part of its true agenda is to attack private choices of free expression and speech, especially when they are expressions of a strongly held religious belief, particularly Christianity.

Liberty Institute testified in favor of the “One State Under God” license plate, which passed the Texas DMV board in December of last year. See our press release from last December here.