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Yesterday, we asked you to sign and send this letter to Governor Abbott urging him to veto HB 2127. LIV fights for the rights of ALL Texans to control their government, local and otherwise. If you called the Governor and got cut off, try again. He's getting lots of calls! We need your help to spread the word on Facebook -- read down this alert for how. Please ask your fellow Texans to sign the letter, call the Guv, and pivot today and tomorrow on: Senate Bill 1933, another reason to veto one-party rule comes to House Floor tomorrow, Saturday, May 20th, read this flier ! LIV believes everything in the above flier about SB 1933. Please call your State Rep now to vote against this bill unless it is amended to have buy-in from the Democrats. LIV wants AT LEAST two parties, though as you know, we want more electoral competition beyond just two options. Find your State Representative Here While you're at it, please ask your State Rep to support -- vote YES -- on SB 829. More here from FARFA about SB 829 . If HB 2127 and SB 1933 become law, might we see a populist movement beyond this legislative session to veto one-party rule and to empower independent voters? We shall see. Now, send the letter , call the Governor at 512.463.2000, and ask your friends to sign the letter too. Help LIV reach thousands more Texans! Share this Facebook post, and leave a comment. Able to donate? We need funds for our Veto 2127 social media campaign. DONATE here Hoping for the best, we remain LIV!

This special alert from LIV asks you to reach Governor Abbott to urge a veto of HB 2127. Please sign this letter to Governor Abbott urging him to veto HB 2127 . Details below. Texans want MORE, not less, local control and home rule! The Texas GOP establishment is losing IT , that is Independent Texans. There are eight million Texans who vote for the person, not the party. Together with millions of voters of all parties, we are sick and tired of being in the crossfire between the two parties. If House Bill 2127 goes into law, every Texan can kiss goodbye their rights to local control and home rule, a right guaranteed by the Texas Constitutional Amendment for Home Rule enacted 111 years ago. HB 2127 guts your local government’s already modest ability, among other things, to conserve water, enact and uphold worker protections, and moderate hyper-development and pollution. The Legislature, not local governments and their taxpayers, would dictate the rules for businesses, including local taxpayer giveaways to major corporations regardless of their impacts on all of the above. ( More here about HB 2127 in the Texas Tribune.) Here's the disgraceful kicker to HB 2127: The bill guts citizens' rights to petition for a public vote in our home-rule cities (over 350 cities with at least 5,000 population), where the vast majority of Texans live. Please sign the letter under this link , add your own text if you wish, then call the Governor at 512.463.2000 to urge him to veto HB 2127. We need your help to reach thousands more Texans, so please share away, ye Texans! The GOP establishment, in their political dispute with the Democrats, wants to use their majority power now over ALL Texans, not just our local governments. Don’t let these guys get away with it. Got questions? Call LIV at 512.213.4511 (no texts) or email us at contact@livtx.org . Thank you! You can tell us about your experience in the comment section at the end of this post or feel free to call LIV at 512.213.4511 (no texts.) Again, thank you for paying attention to small "d" democracy in Texas.

While the big fish in the "Texas Lobby" are taking a bite out of Texas -- like they always do -- we little fish are still fighting for our water, our land, and democracy. Join us over the next two weeks to see what we can get for us regular Texans! Contact us for how. Call LIV at 512.213.4511 (no texts) or email us at contact@livtx.org . We will be in and around the Capitol all week and on the phones for the final push! Election Bills : We're still fighting SB 994 Sen. Schwertners' anti-minor party filing fee bill that we wrote about --here. It's going to the floor tomorrow, May 16th, so please c lick here to use the portal by the Libertarian Party of Texas to send a message directly to your legislators to oppose SB 994 . (Note: LIV does not promote any single party though we want more electoral competition and support the development of minor party options.) Reach LIV if you want to do more and keep reading our emails this week. On Water, Land, and Air Protections: TCEQ We are fighting to stop the serious damage polluters are trying to pull by damaging the process for lodging complaints against our "reluctant regulators" at the Texas Commission for Environmental Quality (TCEQ). That's SB 471 which we wrote about here -- scroll down the post to read it. Take action by: 1. Going to the Capitol to leave a "red card" with the Calendars Committee , as we are doing on SB 994. 2. Calling your State Rep and State Senator to urge a no vote on this SB 471 IF it gets to their desk. Find your legislators here . On Groundwater: Read the latest from SAWDF here -- make your calls, folks! BTW, Andy Wier, the Executive Director of the SAWDF speaks to Bastrop Conservatives in Smithville tomorrow night, Monday, May 15. Details here . LP Texas Gala in San Antonio this Saturday! LIV representatives will be attending the Libertarian Party of Texas' gala banquet and extravaganza in San Antonio this coming Saturday evening. While LIV does not promote any single political party, we want to thank LP Texas for playing such an active and leading role in the 88th Legislative Session for all us independents! Ticket sales end on Thursday. Hope to see some of you there! Details here or click on the picture.

SAWDF Update 5/13/2023 Legislative News ** CALL TO ACTION ** SAWDF needs YOU to at the Capitol on Monday, May 15! Message to Legislators from those who understand it's your water, Texans! The LPGCD Mitigation Bill, SB 1080 is up for a vote in the House tomorrow, Tuesday, May 16. Recharge Water, LP is threatening to stall the bill with an amendment. We need to deliver a “one-pager” (attached to this update) to the office of all 150 representatives’ offices on Monday to garner their support. Will you join us? It's Your Water, Texans! The more volunteers the faster we can deliver our message. If you want to carpool with Andy, [up to 3 persons] contact him at 512-426-5002. He can meet you in Giddings at 8:30 am. Favorable legislation awaiting a public hearing in the Senate committee Review the bills below. If you believe a bill(s) should move forward, SAWDF urges you to contact the committee Chairman, Senator Charles Perry's office, and politely ask that the Chairman schedule the bill(s) for a public hearing by May 19. Charles.Perry@senate.texas.gov or (512) 463-0128 HB 5052 – Gerdes ** awaiting a public hearing in WARA committee ** Relating to the criteria considered by groundwater conservation districts before granting or denying a permit. This bill allows GCDs to consider unreasonable effects on exempt [domestic & livestock] wells when making permitting decisions. Despite the Texas Farm Bureau and Texas Corn Producers Association registering against the bill, it passed the Texas House 141-3. Senator Zaffirini is sponsoring HB 5052 in the Senate, awaiting a public hearing in the Water, Agriculture, & Rural Affairs [WARA] committee. Unfortunately, the committee chairman, Senator Perry, has yet to decide to schedule the bill for a public hearing. HB 4532 – Kacal ** awaiting a public hearing in WARA committee ** Relating to the consideration of modeled sustained groundwater pumping in the adoption of desired future conditions. HB 4532 is sensible legislation requiring that Desired Future Conditions be based on "modeled sustained groundwater pumping." Sustainable pumping is one of the recommendations from the report by Dr. Robert Mace, Five Gallons in a Ten Gallon Hat: Groundwater Sustainability in Texas. Senator Blanco filed a companion bill. Senator Blanco is a Water, Agriculture, and Rural Affairs committee member. SAWDF supports this bill. Senator Zaffirini is sponsoring HB 4532 in the Senate, awaiting a public hearing in the Water, Agriculture, & Rural Affairs committee. The committee chairman, Senator Perry, has not decided to schedule the bill for a public hearing. HB 3990 – Kacal – ** awaiting public hearing in WARA committee ** Relating to a study of existing surface water and groundwater interaction. Senator Blanco is sponsoring HB 3990 in the Senate, awaiting a public hearing in the Water, Agriculture, & Rural Affairs committee. However, the committee chairman, Senator Perry, has yet to decide to schedule the bill for a public hearing. HB 3278 – Price ** awaiting a public hearing in WARA committee ** Relating to the joint planning of desired future conditions in groundwater management areas. HB 2735 – King ** awaiting a public hearing in WARA committee ** Relating to security required before filing suit against a groundwater conservation district. Favorable legislation awaiting a vote in the Senate HB 3059 – King ** Reported favorably to the full Senate as substituted ** This bill allows GCDs to raise export fees to 20 cents per thousand gallons. In addition, it gives GCDs mitigation authority to accommodate future drawdowns from groundwater production. SAWDF supports this legislation. HB 2443 – Harris ** Reported favorably to the full Senate without amendment ** Relating to the authority of certain persons to petition a groundwater conservation district to change certain rules. Lost Pines GCD Lost Pines GCD will hold a Public Hearing on a proposed updated Management Plan before the regular Board Meeting. The Management Plan includes some changes received in public comments in October 2022 and new Modelled Available Groundwater [MAGs] for each aquifer formation. LPGCD Wednesday, May 17, 2023 Giddings City Council Chambers 6PM – Public Hearing on proposed LPGCD Management Plan 7PM – LPGCD Regular Board Meeting [ agenda to be posted here ] Post Oak Savannah GCD The Post Oak Savannah GCD held a DFC Committee meeting and regular Board Meeting on Tuesday, May 9. The DFC Committee reviewed proposed production limits in the various formations of the aquifer, similar to those recently proposed by LPGCD. You can view a recording of the meetings and download documents on the POSGCD website. Be informed! Get Involved! Donate!

Good for East Texas Republican Rep. Ernest Bailes for successfully heading off a sneaky legislative maneuver that is all too common at the end of legislative sessions. Despite the Governor's obsession to ram it on us all, a majority of both Ds and Rs in the Texas House, urban and rural, continue to defy GOP big-wigs' obsession with school vouchers. ( Thanks to Texas Impact for video. ) Sneaky Schwertner's SB 994 SB 994 is another bill by Sen. Charles Schwertner (R-Georgetown) threatening harm to electoral competition by giving the Secretary of State the power to remove candidates from the ballot who do not pay a filing fee. Minor party filing fees are in litigation. Texas minor parties pay their own way by funding their own nominating conventions. The major parties have primaries that are mostly funded by the state. Their filing fees provide a small portion of the costs of primaries. Moreover, legislation to double the filing fees for ALL party candidates died on a point of order a few days ago. Might we see a maneuver to double filing fees, pricing out the more grassroots candidates in ALL parties, resurrected as an amendment to other bills like SB 994? There are other bad bills for minor parties, new parties, and independent candidates that could be amended into other bills next week. What to do? Stay vigilant and follow our directive below. 1. Call your State Rep today ( find him or her here ) to urge a NO vote on SB 994 next Tuesday. 2. Read this Statesman editorial about Schwertner and Middleton's monopolistic election bill, SB 1705 , which appears dead, but who knows until the end of the session on May 29. 3. Stay vigilant! P lease stay online as much as you can to receive alerts all week OR join us at the Capitol on Monday anytime starting at 9 am. SB 471, the TCEQ boar hogs at the trough bill, goes down in committee then resurrected. Remember, we warned you on Monday about the Wednesday hearing on the "TCEQ worthless as teats on a boar hog" bill, SB 471 designed to do damage to Texans' rights to complain to the TCEQ about pollution. Though they didn't show up to say anything, the cement lobby was pushing the bill from behind the scenes like a freight train. On Wednesday, the House Environmental Regulation Committee voted 4 to 4 vote on releasing the bill, rendering SB 471 DOA at least for a day . That said, another vote was taken and lo and behold the bill rose quickly from the grave. The fact is at the Texas Lege, one never really knows what you're gonna get this late in the session. Look there's Forest Gump with JFK...not really! What to do on SB 471? Join us next week, starting on Monday to stop 471 with " red cards " to the Calendars Committee . Call us at 512.213.4511 or email us at contact@livtx.org , to meet us there or to get further instructions to work on your own. Water Update from SAWDF OK you water defenders. Take action on the water front! Update from Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance

From one of the wonderful Texas water defenders, SAWDF Update 5/9/2023 Legislative News Favorable legislation awaiting a public hearing in the Senate committee **CALL TO ACTION** Review the bills below. If you believe a bill(s) should move forward, SAWDF urges you to contact the committee Chairman, Senator Charles Perry's office, and politely ask that the Chairman schedule the bill(s) for a public hearing by May 19. Charles.Perry@senate.texas.gov or (512) 463-0128 HB 5052 – Gerdes * *awaiting a public hearing in WARA committee ** Relating to the criteria considered by groundwater conservation districts before granting or denying a permit. This bill allows GCDs to consider unreasonable effects on exempt [domestic & livestock] wells when making permitting decisions. Despite the Texas Farm Bureau and Texas Corn Producers Association registering against the bill, it passed the House 141-3. Senator Zaffirini is sponsoring HB 5052 in the Senate, awaiting a public hearing in the Water, Agriculture, & Rural Affairs [WARA] committee. Unfortunately, the committee chairman, Senator Perry, has yet to decide to schedule the bill for a public hearing. HB 4532 – Kacal * *awaiting a public hearing in WARA committee ** Relating to the consideration of modeled sustained groundwater pumping in the adoption of desired future conditions. HB 4532 is sensible legislation requiring that Desired Future Conditions be based on "modeled sustained groundwater pumping." Sustainable pumping is one of the recommendations from the report by Dr. Robert Mace, Five Gallons in a Ten Gallon Hat: Groundwater Sustainability in Texas. Senator Blanco filed a companion bill. Senator Blanco is a Water, Agriculture, and Rural Affairs committee member. SAWDF supports this bill. Senator Zaffirini is sponsoring HB 4532 in the Senate, awaiting a public hearing in the Water, Agriculture, & Rural Affairs committee. The committee chairman, Senator Perry, has not decided to schedule the bill for a public hearing. HB 3990 – Kacal – * *awaiting public hearing in WARA committee ** Relating to a study of existing surface water and groundwater interaction. Senator Blanco is sponsoring HB 3990 in the Senate, awaiting a public hearing in the Water, Agriculture, & Rural Affairs committee. However, the committee chairman, Senator Perry, has yet to decide to schedule the bill for a public hearing. HB 3278 – Price **awaiting a public hearing in WARA committee ** Relating to the joint planning of desired future conditions in groundwater management areas. ** Additional Action ** HB 3059 – King * * Reported favorably to the full Senate as substituted ** This bill allows GCDs to raise export fees to 20 cents per thousand gallons. In addition, it gives GCDs mitigation authority to accommodate future drawdowns from groundwater production. SAWDF supports this legislation. HB 2735 – King ** Received in the Senate ** Relating to security required before filing suit against a groundwater conservation district. HB 2443 – Harris ** Received in the Senate ** Relating to the authority of certain persons to petition a groundwater conservation district to change certain rules. House Natural Resources Committee [HNRC] The HNRC is wrapping up business, publishing bill analyses and committee reports for bills that have been "reported favorably" by the committee. SB 1080 – Kolkhorst / Gerdes ** Reported favorably to House Calendars as substituted ** Relating to a mitigation program and fees for the Lost Pines Groundwater Conservation District. The “ LPGCD mitigation bill ” was “reported favorably as substituted" on 5/3. The bill analysis and committee reports must be filed before SB 1080 is considered by the House Calendars Committee. The House calendar will be full of House Bills [HB] through May 15, which is the deadline for a House bill to be passed by the House and sent to the Senate. Legislative staff assures SAWDF that SB 1080 should be scheduled on the House calendar within the last two weeks of May before the legislative session ends on May 29. HB 4445 – Gerdes / Perry Relating to water loss in water delivery systems for certain municipally owned water utilities. Legislative staff reports that HB 4445 will NOT be voted out of committee because there are not enough votes to move it forward. While this is disappointing, the fact is, this legislation—authored over a breakfast meeting with SAWDF supporter Nancy McKee—was filed in both the Senate and House and received a public hearing in HNRC. SAWDF will work with legislators and stakeholders during the interim to improve this legislation for the 89th Legislative session in 2025. LCRA Permit for Griffith League Ranch – we need donations to continue the fight! On May 2, Judge Reva Towslee-Corbett ruled: To allow intervention by the City of Elgin, Aqua WSC, Environmental Stewardship, Recharge Water, LP and Andrew Wier (representing Brown Landowners), and To deny the LPGCD’s “plea to the jurisdiction.” We believe the Lost Pines GCD plans to appeal the ruling on the “plea to the jurisdiction.” As intervenors, Brown Landowners and other parties are asking LPGCD if they would like to join forces in the appeal. Brown Landowners are still in the fight. To date, LPGCD and the parties who contested the permit have prevailed. However, we need money to continue the fight in court. It has been four years since Brown Landowners originally did fundraising to participate in the Contested Case Hearing. That grassroots fund-raising in 2019 allowed SAWDF to secure a grant from the Environmental Fund of Texas to assist Brown Landowners. We need to refurbish the fund for this legal fight. If the appeal of the “plea to the jurisdiction” fails, then Brown Landowners will need to submit a brief on the merits of the case by September 4. Lost Pines GCD Lost Pines GCD will hold a Public Hearing on a proposed updated Management Plan before the regular Board Meeting. The Management Plan includes some changes received in public comments in October 2022 and new Modelled Available Groundwater [MAGs] for each aquifer formation. LPGCD Wednesday, May 17, 2023 Giddings City Council Chambers 6PM – Public Hearing on proposed LPGCD Management Plan 7PM – LPGCD Regular Board Meeting [ agenda to be posted here ] Post Oak Savannah GCD The Post Oak Savannah GCD will hold a DFC Committee meeting and regular Board Meeting on Tuesday, May 9. The DFC Committee will review proposed production limits in the various formations of the aquifer, similar to those recently proposed by LPGCD. You can view a recording of the meetings and download documents on the POSGCD website. Be informed! Get Involved! Donate!

We're all on the edge of our seats, waiting to see what comes out of the sausage grinder, aka the Texas Legislature which ends on May 29. We all know to expect to win a few, but to lose plenty. That is why we're independents. We want Texans to start winning more fundamental reforms in how we conduct politics. Rather than remain downright afeared, we encourage you to do all you can to make things right and to plan for the future of Texas, including the Texas independent political movement . In this alert: Take action right away: TCEQ Worthless as Teats on a Boar Hog with SB 471 Congratulations to BISD candidates, Priscilla Ruiz , who handily won Place 4, and Joseph Thompson, who came in a strong second against a 9-year incumbent and Board President. Congrats as well to Cheryl Reese who won Elgin ISD's District 2. Bastrop Election Results here . Get active with LIV, folks! First Step: Become a dues-paying member here . Second Step: Join us on Monday nights for our "Working Group" discussions where we make our plans. Go to our Events page to sign up .

Click on the video to the left for a 30-second lesson on who should be doing the whacking in this Texas Lege Session. Seriously, there's a bunch of wacky bills pushed by some people who think we should concentrate power over our elections to one political appointee, rather than our County Elections people. This is nuts! SB 1039 will be heard tomorrow (5/4, 8:00 am) in TX House Elections. If you agree, please fill this out to be sent to your representatives. Read this alert sent by our friends at the Texas Forward Party about SB 1039. If you agree, please fill it out and send it. NEXT: Anytime before about 9 am tomorrow (5/4), click here to send a message directly to the Elections Committee that you oppose this bill -- SB 1039 . Let's whack this wacky bill. Thank you!

What to do : Call your State Representative and State Senator, find them here . Tell them you are an independent voter and you want them to stop any bills that erode your right to petition for a public vote. Currently, those bills are SB 221 and HB 4701 . Both are supported by GOP big wig, Sen. Paul Bettencourt (R-Houston, pictured here), and HB 4701 was introduced by freshman State Representative Mano DeAyala (R-Houston) who serves on the House Elections Committee. The problem we have with HB 4701 and SB 221 Election Reform or Deform HB 4701 (Rep. DeAyala, R-West Houston) gives the Attorney General, currently Ken Paxton, unilateral power to kill a citizen measure he deems as "inconsistent with state law." No Attorney General in the United States, that we have been able to glean, have such power! The problem we have with SB 221 is this is the fourth time Sen. Bettencourt has introduced this bill and it's still not right . Its current version gives the Secretary of State, currently former State Senator Jane Nelson , the power to stop cities from using deceptive ballot language. Good. But what is not good is the SOS doesn't have to tell the cities what the ballot language problem is and can reject the language three times. Moreover, if there's a dispute there is no language in the bill to clarify the legal rights of the SOS and cities if they wind up in court. Don't let these guys take us for a ride! Special Note to Austin voters. I had a dream last night. It was a nightmare. A gang was dismembering something I couldn't distinguish. This morning, I woke up facing that something. I t was Texans' petition rights for a public vote, heretofore guaranteed by Texans' Constitutional Amendment for Home Rule passed in 1912 . It's our only citizens' right to petition in Texas. We can petition for a public vote to amend our city charters. That includes our right to petition for a vote on petition rules for local referenda (to reverse a city council decision), to promote our own ordinances, and to recall city officials. Obviously, it is a powerful tool for citizens, so much so that some members of the City Council of Austin are scheming to make petitioning in Austin substantially more difficult. ( See Austin Monitor article here .) The last time the Legislature nearly succeeded to gut our petition rights was in the 2015 Legislative Session. The bill represented an unholy alliance between big-city Democrats and establishment Republicans. The Texas Municipal League and GOP establishment lawmakers tag-teamed petitioners with HB 2595. It passed the Texas House nearly unanimously before we figured out what they were doing to us. LIV pulled together a left-right populist coalition of petitioners from the Tea Party to the Green Party, including major party activists from both parties. Together, we killed the bill in the Senate Committee, graveyard dead. We wrote about HB 2595 here . Today, we petitioners are stuck in the crossfire of partisan warfare between the two parties. We could see 111 years of petition rights erased forever. You can put a stop to this. Make your phone calls and share this message. Note: LIV has a game plan unfolding for when this session ends on May 29th. We meet every Monday night to give shape to the plan. Visit our Events Page and join us.

Legislative News Texas House of Representatives HB 5052 – Rep. Stan Gerdes * * Passed ** Filed on behalf of stakeholders in HD 17, HB 5052 requires GCDs to consider "exempt wells" (domestic & livestock) when making permit decisions. HB 5052 was passed by the House on Thursday, 4/27, with a vote of 141 Ayes and 3 Nays. After receiving it in the Senate, it will be referred to the Water, Agriculture, & Rural Affairs Committee. SAWDF will update you when we need to encourage senators to give the bill a public hearing by the committee. This same legislation failed to receive a public hearing last session. The Texas Farm Bureau and Texas Corn Producers Association registered against the bill. HB 4532 – Rep. Kyle Kacal ** Passed ** Relating to the consideration of modeled sustained groundwater pumping in the adoption of desired future conditions. SAWDF is happy to see this bill pass the House. HB 4532 is sensible legislation requiring that Desired Future Conditions take into consideration "modeled sustained groundwater pumping." Sustainable pumping is one of the recommendations from the report by Dr. Robert Mace, Five Gallons in a Ten Gallon Hat: Groundwater Sustainability in Texas. Senator Blanco filed a companion bill and sits on the Water, Agriculture, and Rural Affairs committee. SAWDF supports this bill. HB 3278 – Rep. Four Price ** Passed ** Relating to the joint planning of desired future conditions in groundwater management areas. HB 3990 – Rep. Kyle Kacal – Second Reading on Tuesday, 05/02/2023 Relating to a study of existing surface water and groundwater interaction. House Natural Resources Committee [HNRC] There are no groundwater bills up for consideration in HNRC next week, 5/2. However, listed below are bills "left pending" in HNRC that SAWDF hopes will be reported favorably for a House vote. HB 4445 – Rep. Stan Gerdes / Sen. Charles Perry Relating to water loss in water delivery systems for certain municipally owned water utilities. Thank you for submitting written comments in support of HB 4445. HB 4445 was well received by the committee. A representative with San Antonio Water Systems [SAWS] spoke against the bill as written. Chairman King questioned the SAWS representative as to why "saving water" was not reasonable or urgent. The cities of Austin, Ft. Worth, and San Antonio registered against the bill. SAWDF wants to note that Mr. Ed McCarthy, legal counsel for various clients, including Gatehouse Water, LP registered "for" the bill. As with most legislation in HNRC, the bill was left pending. SB 1080 – Sen. Lois Kolkhorst / Rep. Stan Gerdes Relating to a mitigation program and fees for the Lost Pines Groundwater Conservation District. The “ LPGCD mitigation bill " was heard in HNRC on Tuesday, 4/18, and is awaiting a vote by the committee to send it to the House floor. SAWDF is confident it will move forward. HB 2735 – Rep. Tracy King Relating to security required before filing suit against a groundwater conservation district. SAWDF was mistaken about the impact of HB 2735, which was heard in HNRC last Tuesday, April 25. The legislation requires anyone filing suit against a GCD to post a security bond, a maximum of $100,000, to cover legal costs if the GCD prevails. Such a bond may cost up to $2,000, NOT $20,000! The appeal bond is in addition to legal fees and expert witness(es). The bill was left pending. Other favorable bills that passed out of the HNRC HB 2443 – Harris Relating to the authority of certain persons to petition a groundwater conservation district to change certain rules. In the Senate HB 3059 – King This bill allows GCDs to raise export fees to 20 cents per thousand gallons. In addition, it gives GCDs mitigation authority to accommodate future drawdowns from groundwater production. HB 3059 was voted out of House and received by the Senate. It was referred to the Water, Agriculture, and Rural Affairs committee. SAWDF supports this legislation. LCRA Permit for Griffith League Ranch Thanks to everyone who attended the hearing last Wednesday, 4/26. Judge Reva Towslee-Corbett heard oral arguments on two motions: LPGCD made a "plea to the jurisdiction" motion against the LCRA. LPGCD contended that the LCRA filed their appeal with the District Court before LCRA had exhausted all of their administrative remedies, i.e., the conclusion of LCRA's Second Motion for Rehearing. Absent proper and timely exhaustion of all administrative remedies, the court would not have jurisdiction to hear LCRA’s lawsuit. Both LPGCD and LCRA argued different deadlines applied, depending on whether you strictly follow statutes in Chapter 36 of the Texas Water Code, or applicable statutes in the Administrative Procedures Act. The intervenors [City of Elgin, Aqua WSC, Environmental Stewardship, Recharge Water, LP, and Andrew Wier (representing Brown Landowners)] asked the Judge to reconsider her earlier surprise ruling in March, striking intervention by other parties to the contested case. The LCRA argued that there should be no intervenors because the Judge cannot change the permit; she may only send the decision back to the LPGCD Board to correct any deficiencies she may find. All the parties provided the Judge with hundreds of pages of transcripts and legal cases. The Judge noted that it would take some time to read the material and make her ruling no earlier than the first week of May. (Judge Corbett presides over the 335th District Court for Bastrop, Lee, Burleson, and Washington counties.) Be informed! Get Involved!

We're not really sure why Senator Charles Schwertner (R-Georgetown) appears to have a thing for minor parties and independents. His SB 994 discriminates against minor parties by forcing their candidates to pay filing fees that simply go into the general fund. Major party candidates' filing fees help pay for their party primaries. Minor parties -- the Libertarians and Greens -- pay for their own nominating conventions. SB 994 has already passed the stacked Senate State Affairs Committee. The Senate was not fully behind this bill, though it was passed. SB 994 up for a hearing in the House Elections Committee this Thursday. We're hoping that the more balanced House Elections Committee will give SB 994 a fair hearing on Thursday, starting at 10:30 am. We suggest you join us at this hearing. If you can't make it, watch the hearing online and weigh in on any of the bills after you hear the arguments. Remember, you have to post your comments before the hearing ends. Instructions and details are contained under the link below. But, if you need anything give us a call or email us. Thank you! Thursday Elections Committee Hearing Notice Here PS Schwertner is not the only legislator who has a "thing" for minor parties and independents. We'll tell you more real soon.

Thankfully, Rep. Gerdes introduced HB4445 to address massive water leakage throughout the state. Click on Nancy McKee's picture for a helpful review of HB445 provided by the Simsboro Aquifer Water Defense Fund. This legislation is a pro-landowner, pro-ratepayer and pro-water conservation bill for each and every Texan. Lee County landowner and water watchdog, Nancy McKee, is a prime mover for this legislation along with the Simsboro Aquifer Water Defense Fund. HB 4445 is up for a hearing tomorrow, Tuesday, 8 am - 10 am, in the Natural Resources Committee -- see hearing notice here . And there are other water bills that need your attention. Join us in person for those two hours or weigh in online. Just do it before the hearing ends at 10 am tomorrow. All the details are laid out for us by SAWDF, click on the link below. Review the SAWDF alert here. ALSO, SHOW UP WEDNESDAY in Bastrop for the LCRA Court Hearing! Show up on Wednesday, 2 pm at the Bastrop County Courthouse in the longstanding contest with the LCRA's demand for groundwater in Bastrop County. The details are in the SAWDF alert above. Again, we hope to see you in person! Thank you and please share.