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House Bill 4701 -- the bad petition bill: Watch ace attorney Andrew Hendrickson, ACLU Texas , rip HB 470 1 , the bad petition bill, a new one on its violation of the Texas Constitution's separation of powers. HB 4701 seeks to give a member of the Executive Branch -- the Attorney General -- the power to overrule what cities and citizens can put on the ballot for a public vote without judicial review. This was a whole new take on the legislation that escaped us. Thanks to Hendrickson and a team of ACLU legal beagles, we have gained a deeper understanding of bad bills this session. We will tell you more real soon. Also, thanks to the many people who chimed in, HB 4701 received two-to-one comments against the legislation in the Elections Committee on Thursday night. We will see what comes out of the sausage grinder as thousands of bills are now on the chopping block this late in the session. The session ends on Memorial Day, May 29. ••••••••••••••••••••••••• Congratulations to aquifer protectors across Texas, we have a Tuesday hearing! See HB 4445, see hearing notice here . The bill was introduced by freshman Rep. Stan Gerdes (R-Smithville) to address the problem of "leakage" of precious groundwater throughout the state of Texas, especially in large municipal water systems. Its Senate companion, SB 1988, is carried by water-heavy-weight Senator Charles Perry (R-Lubbock) . LIV thanks Natural Resources Committee Chairman Tracy King (D-Uvalde) and committee staffer, Sam Bacarisse . The bill is one of only eight on the agenda for Tuesday. We hope to see you there, or please click on the notice above on Tuesday morning and weigh in on the bill. We haven't yet seen the substitute bill, so we suggest you watch the deliberations and then weigh in. You must, however, get your comments in before the end of the hearing. Note to you water protectors : Visit a little later if this link is not yet live for additional information about the bill before the hearing . ••••••••••••••••••••••••• Huge Congratulations to Rodney Reed! Reed, his family, and the thousands of Texans who have followed this case received the great news that none other than the US Supreme Court agreed Reed has the right to seek further DNA testing to prove his innocence. Click here for this KXAN report .

The Elephant in the Room! Let's help Rep. Gerdes get a hearing on HB 4445 , arguably the most important water bill in this session! We applaud Rep. Stan Gerdes for getting this HB 4445 introduced and vetted to address the "elephant in the room." While we are pumping precious groundwater in Texas at almost twice the capacity of aquifers to recharge, we are turning our heads to massive leakage! The Senate and House's priorities in this legislative session have been to obtain new water supplies. Yet, low and behold, "water is going into a black hole," reported Lee County's stellar citizen water whistleblower (and LIV's 2022 citizen of the year) Nancy McKee last night at a water meeting in Bastrop. Read McKee's full remarks here . Remember, this was LIV's Story of the Year after writer Elena Bruess blew the whistle about this so-called "black hole" in the San Antonio Express-News last September . While SAWS/Vista Ridge has been pumping 50,000 acre-feet of water per year (14 billion gallons) from the aquifers relied on by 100,000s of thousands of people east of Austin all the way to Bryan-College Station, their leakage was approximately 43,000 acre-feet in 2021! What can you do to help Gerdes get a hearing? It's got a 50-50 chance or the legislation could go down its own black hole. Simple. Send a respectful and short email to the Natural Resource Committee's staffer, Sam Bacarisse as follows: Please do all you can to get Rep. Gerdes' HB 4445 a hearing. Thank you for your time. Reach us at LIV for more information and let us know how it went.

Attorney Elizabeth "Liz" Mille r is providing the following one-minute testimony today for LIV to the House Elections Committee in opposition to House Bill 4701. Read Miller's statement and take the simple action we suggest below: "Don’t do this. There is no other jurisdiction in the United States that gives unilateral power to one official to stop 'the right to petition government for redress of grievances” enshrined in the United States and Texas Constitutions.' Giving the Attorney General of Texas the power to unilaterally determine that a petition is, “inconsistent with state law” is a big mistake. Purely and simply, members, you will have petitioners from across the state and across the political spectrum mad as hell as the state of Texas. Do not trample on the first amendment. Do not do this." Use this link to send a message to the committee today that you do not support this bill. If you are a constituent of a member of the House Elections Committee , we suggest you call their office. Find your member here . Let us know you have done it by sending us a message to contact@livtx.org. Thank you!

SAWDF Update • 4/13/2023 Favorable Bills making progress House Natural Resources Committee [HNRC] SB 1080 – Kolkhorst Relating to a mitigation program and fees for the Lost Pines Groundwater Conservation District. Senator Kolkhorst’s bill allowing LPGCD to mitigate failing wells is scheduled for a public hearing in the HNRC on Tuesday, April 18, 8 AM , E2.010 . It is a very full agenda . Representative Stan Gerdes will present the bill, but we don’t know whether that will be in the morning between 8-10 AM or later when HNRC reconvenes after House business is done. SAWDF urges you to attend, but you should be ready for a long day. In the meantime, you can visit legislator offices regarding other bills important to you. We’ll have our signature water droplet buttons and look forward to seeing you there! Call/text Andy if you want to carpool with him. [512-545-4779] · Verbal testimony is limited to 2 minutes. We strongly urge you to practice and time your comments, so you are not cut-off mid-sentence. · Texas residents who wish to electronically submit comments related to agenda items on this notice without testifying in person can do so until the hearing adjourns. Comments submitted electronically are limited to 3,000 characters [about one typed page]. · On the day of the hearing, a live video broadcast of this House hearing will be available. Texas House of Representatives HB 5052 – Gerdes Representative Gerdes’ bill was passed out of HNRC, favorably, without amendments and a committee report sent to the House Committee on Calendars . When it receives 4/9 votes in the Calendars Committee, it will be placed on the House Calendar. Slowly but surely! Other favorable bills were passed out of HNRC: HB 3059 – King – Placed on House General Calendar for 4/17/2023 HB 3990 & HB 4532 – Kacal More dates for your calendar Lost Pines GCD Rules Workshop A Rules Workshop will be held on Wednesday, April 19, 6-7 p.m. at the Bastrop Convention Center, 1408 B Chestnut Street, Bastrop 78602 . The workshop will be facilitated by LPGCD technical and legal consultants. This workshop is critical! Please look at the proposed rules , especially Section 9 regarding Production Limits and Management Zones. Section 9 introduces production limits that we commonly refer to as “correlative rights.” The table in Section 9 lists the amount of groundwater from each formation that LPGCD will approve for production from each surface acre of land. Read the proposed rules (scroll down past the agenda ), ask questions, and prepare your questions for April 19! After the workshop, the board wants to receive written comments by May 3rd . Lost Pines GCD Regular Board Meeting Wednesday, April 19, 7 p.m. at the Bastrop Convention Center, 1408 B Chestnut Street, Bastrop 78602 LCRA Permit for Griffith League Ranch Reminder to the Brown Landowners and others interested in the ongoing LCRA permit: April 26 , 804 Pecan Street Bastrop, TX 78602 Judge Reva Towslee-Corbett’s Courtroom , time 2 pm (starting time for docket ---we think we are only hearing on her calendar but won’t know for sure til that Monday – we will update you if necessary) Judge Corbett will consider two matters related to the lawsuit (“appeal”) by LCRA filed against Lost Pines. The other parties who contested LCRA’s permit, including the Brown Landowners, are seeking to intervene in that lawsuit in order to have some involvement in the proceeding, but they all also want LCRA’s appeal to be dismissed entirely. We don’t know in what order the judge will consider the following: a “plea to the jurisdiction” motion brought against LCRA, which basically asks the Judge to rule she doesn’t have jurisdiction because of procedural failures by LCRA; and a motion asking the Judge to reconsider her earlier, surprise ruling in March striking intervention by other parties to the contested case. We hope you will plan to be in our local district judge’s courtroom that day. (J. Corbett presides over Bastrop, Lee, Burleson, and Washington counties in her 335th District Court.) Post Oak Savannah GCD – A little Easter Joy! Encouraging developments at POSGCD on Tuesday, April 11, 2023. The POSGCD board approved a temporary amendment to the Vista Ridge permit. Vista Ridge proposes to increase production in the Simsboro formation so that they can reduce production in the Carrizo formation by the same amount. The amendment is for a 3-month period, during which Vista Ridge and POSGCD will monitor water levels in the aquifer. “Shifting a portion of the current production to the Simsboro is expected to benefit local groundwater users by reducing artesian pressure declines in the Carrizo aquifer, which is used to a much greater extent by local landowners.” This is a direct result of your advocacy at LPGCD, POSGCD, San Antonio Water System [SAWS], and with your county and state representatives! Thank you! Be informed! Get Involved! Donate! Visit SAWDF here .

It's mid-April. The 88th Texas Legislative Session is about to move into high gear. Will Electoral Monopolitis go viral and bring us more One Party Rule through Trojan horse bills ? We cannot stop them, but some attention to a big number that just hit the news from the Gallup Poll might give the monopolists some pause. Nearly 50% of voters self-identify as independents . What does it mean to be an independent voter? The Texas Legislature is giving us a lot of food for thought. Soon, we're going to ask you to weigh in. Today, we offer you this very important update on the water front from the Simsboro Aquifer Water Defense Fund. Also, read this excellent article printed on April 13 in the Giddings Times. Realize if you cannot make to Austin tomorrow, you can weigh in via online testimony. We here at LIV also hope to see you on Wednesday night at the Bastrop Convention Center starting at 6 pm. Again, read the SAWDF alert. We also plan to attend the Elections Committee meeting on Thursday at the Capitol -- hearing notice here . We are keeping an eye on HB4701 related to ballot measures. You can weigh in online -- instructions are in the hearing notice. Remember, LIV now has a working group that meets weekly. If you cannot be active, please become a dues-paying member. You're invited! Contact us via email at contact@livtx.org or give us a call at 512.213.4511. Thank you!

A virus has been detected at the Capitol of Texas. “ Electoral Monopolitis ” could wipe out competitive elections, cherished by nearly 4 million Texas independent voters. We are the voters who shop, so don’t tread on our options, legislators! Senate Bill (SB) 1705 will force minor parties to hold costly primaries – subsidized by the state of Texas to the tune of at least $54 million in public dollars (see the fiscal note here ). The genius who authored this bill seeks to stop minor parties from holding and paying for their own conventions. The obvious purpose is to open the door for interference in minor party nominations. “The Electoral Monopolitis virus was concocted in the dark and was embedded into a number of bills, starting with SB 1705, by Mays Middleton (R-Galveston). My own State Senator, Charles Schwertner (R-Georgetown), just signed on as a co-author. The good news is that the political virus could be stopped simply by the Lt. Governor refusing to call the bill to the floor of the Senate. If SB 1705 is called up for debate our next chance is to get the Senators to vote it down. This could happen any day without any notice to us. So, get on the phone, y’all, NOW!” s aid Linda Curtis , LIV's chief organizer. FOLLOW THIS SIMPLE ACTION PLAN RIGHT AWAY, PLEASE : 1. RIGHT NOW! Call Lt. Governor Dan Patrick at 512.463.0001. Ask him to “refrain from calling up any bills, including SB 1705, seeking to limit electoral competition to the state’s 4 million independents.” 2. Call your own State Senator and State Representative. Ask them to, “refrain from voting for SB 1705 or its house companion, and any bills this session that would limit electoral competition for 4 million Texas independent voters.” Find your legislators here . 3. Call the Senators who support this bill and ask them to stand down . And, if you know folks who live in their districts, ask them to call them! Senator Mayes Middleton , R-Galveston (map of Middleton’s Senate District 11 ) : 512.463.0111 Senator Charles Schwertner , R-Georgetown (map of Schwertner’s Senate District 5 ): 512.463.0105 Senator Bryan Hughes , R-Mineola (map of Hughes’ District 1 ) : 512.463.0101 MORE ACTION PLEASE! PUT ON YOUR INDEPENDENT BOOTS Forward this message and/or share it on social media. Volunteer! Email us at contact@livtx.org , or call 512.213.4511. DONATE ! We need funds to pay for voter mobilization. Contact us for details. We’re here to help. Real our last news post, all about SB 1705, " Indy Burr Under Mays' and Charlie's Saddles: Kill SB 1705 ."

Maybe we political country bumpkins just don't get it. Why would certain GOP big-wigs want to give $18 million every two years, $9 million each to the Libertarian and Green parties, to make them have a primary instead of allowing them to pay for their own nominating conventions? (See the fiscal note on SB1705 here .) SB 1705's original author is Texas Senator Mayes Middleton (R-Galveston). Now, Senator Charles Schwertner (R-Georgetown, including many rural counties starting with Bastrop ) is a co-author. Does Schwertner not have enough of a headache going on as the chair of the powerful Sunset Commission? What are these guys trying to pull? As the first speaker on SB1705, Art DiBianca points out, the Libertarian Party of Texas is not nearly big enough to handle a primary like either of the major parties. Our own Linda Curtis for LIV pointed out that the minor parties, in a two-party system, need time to grow. The Texas Democratic Party started in 1846. The Republican Party of Texas was founded in 1867. The Libertarian Party of Texas was founded in 1971. ACTION PLEASE! It will take you 3 minutes! Find your State Senator here . Senate Bill 1705 just came out of the State Affairs Committee on a vote of 8 to 3. We have no idea how long it will take to get to the Senate floor. So right now, including over the weekend, please send an email message to your State Senator or just call and leave a message to urge him or her to help kill SB 1705. We here at LIV believe the primaries are private matters within the parties themselves . Texas taxpayers should not be forced to subsidize any party primary. Let the parties fund their own primaries or conventions and have the state fund the general election. End of story. Farm and Food Update from FARFA Are you hot-to-trot like LIV for local foods? Please read the latest from the Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance here and follow their action requests. Thank you!

Everyone at the Texas Lege knows Senator Bryan Hughes is a nice guy. But they may not know that Hughes and some others in the GOP establishment are submitting "not-nice" bills that make plain they are out for independent voter blood and one-party rule. "Senator Hughes' SB2532 is a purely monopolistic sleight of hand. I don't care if you've got Ross Perot's bank account; this is a blocking bill to stop the independent political movement by doubling the signatures when we haven't seen a statewide independent candidate in Texas since 2006 when Carole Strayhorn and Kinky Friedman ran as independents for Governor," says LIV's Linda Curtis , the only expert who showed up to explain how Hughes' SB2532 would impact millions of Texas voters, from all affiliations, who want more electoral choices. Don't Be Fooled By Huffy Hughes Curtis pointed out, "Hughes didn't bother to bring his own expert, a standard practice when laying out a bill for committee consideration. This makes me wonder what else is planned by the powerful Senator, 'Huffy Hughes', a name given to him by the lovely Libertarian, Ginny Moore. Might that include last-minute amendments to remove our current minor parties in Texas from the ballot -- the Libertarian and Green parties? And, what about the newcomers, such as the Forward and No Labels parties?" The Texas GOP establishment is so hot to trot with Trojan bills to stop the independent movement ; LIV is getting folks together to rein the dudes in! If you care about electoral competition, show up! Join us at the Inc '23 conference in Austin on Tuesday, from 12:30 to 1:50 pm, in the Break Room for a pow-wow to make sure Texas Independents and Minor Parties Unite! We're excited about our Special Guests, Whitney Bilyeu, State Chair of the Libertarian Party of Texas , and Rich Winger, Ballot Access News , our advocate for independent politics across America since 1965. Click on the image below for more details, and please do share! Please share this entire message with your friends, and contact us for more information.

Immediately after watching the State Affairs Committee Hearing on Senator Bryan Hughes's SB2532, Ginny Moore gives Hughes a new name. Here's the problem with Huffy's SB2532 .

Are you so busy you don't know whether to scratch your watch or wind your butt? We understand! Let LIV give you some home trainin'. :) Please share this alert. Get your friends to sign up to receive LIV Alerts. Tomorrow, Monday, March 27, at 9 am. Good for the Bastrop and Lee County Commissioners Courts! Bastrop Commissioners will consider this resolution (similar to the one already passed by the Lee County Court), asking the Legislature to grant them the power to decide if Austin can store water in aquifers underlying Bastrop County. Thanks to the Simsboro Aquifer Water Defense Fund, the Giddings Times, and Lexington Leader, you have all the dish here . Read LIV's in-depth article on ASR here . Show up to show your support, whether you speak or not. ALSO, Tomorrow, Monday, March 27, starting at 9 am , is a Senate State Affairs Committee meeting at the Capitol. Here's the notice . We're concerned about SB1705's proposed by Senator Mays Middleton (R-Galveston) possibly unintended consequences making all parties hold primaries to nominate their candidates. Will this harm or help the Libertarian Party of Texas or new parties, Forward or No Labels? We hope to learn more tomorrow. Join us or watch here when the time comes. ACTION -- GOOD WATER ALERT! On Tuesday, March 28, at 8 am, five favorable bills are up in the Natural Resources Committee! Don't let the big water hogs gobble up these bills. Show up, if you can, or weigh in online. Thanks to the Simsboro Aquifer Water Defense Fund, you have all the dish here . Reach us at LIV if you need anything, including transportation. Call 512.213.4511 or email contact@livtx.org . Thursday, March 30th, Bad Bill: HB3611 (Cain, R-Deer Park) seeks to make preferential voting (such as RCV, rank-choice voting) illegal in Texas. Hearing Notice here . More here from our friends at RCV for Texas . April 3, 4, 5: INC '23 Austin Conference Conference Link Here Independent National Convention, April 3, 4, and 5th in Austin, Texas LIV is participating in this independent conference held at the Palmer Events Center in Austin, especially on Tuesday, April 4th. Can the independent movement unify? We'll see! Note: If you have financial difficulties with the ticket price, see the options at the bottom footer on the right of the conference page or give LIV a call. LIV has a breakout room scheduled for Tuesday, April 4, at 12:30, during the lunch break. We will provide an overview of legislation -- good, bad, and ugly -- impacting independent voters, minor parties and new parties. We will discuss how to overcome challenges to getting on the ballot. Most important to us is the extent to which there is little bottom-up organizing of millions of independent voters going on. We are eager to share our thoughts with you and to hear yours. LIV's Linda Curtis will also be Tuesday's "Local Organizing" forum panel. Note : If you see people you don't like, keep looking ,as you'll probably find some folks you do like. It's a wild cross-partisan event. The legislative session ends on May 31st. Get your independent move on, y'all. The Wall Street Journal wrote this solid article about the meeting last week with Gapped Bass LLC (an Elon Musk-related company) and TCEQ here . If you were turned away from this meeting, please reply to this message or call us and leave a message at 512.213.4511. Thank you! ICYMI: LIV's article, " B astrop Biologist Challenges Elon at Botched TCEQ M eeting . "

We can send a man to the moon, but we can't figure out what to do with our wastewater on god's green earth. Sean Hensley, a biologist who lives by the Colorado River in Bastrop, spoke at last night's botched TCEQ meeting -- many people couldn't get in due to a lack of seating. Hensley made a simple challenge to Elon Musk's representative concerning the permit demand by a Musk-related company (Gapped Bass LLC) to discharge 142,500 gallons of wastewater per day into the Colorado River. It boiled down to this simple argument: if the wastewater is clean enough to be released into the Colorado River, why not reuse it?' Last night another speaker claiming to be one of Elon's business associates expressed his unequivocal support for the Gapped Bass Permit, and called Elon "the world's greatest environmentalist?" We say not so fast and not just yet! Though he could be. Innovators of the World Unite: Message to Elon! Dream with us at LIV for a second . The man many think of as one of the world's greatest innovators could turn his attention to solving the world's greatest problem short of perpetual war. That's having clean drinking water for the planet and handling wastewater. That is the world-class environmentalist for whom we pray. Furthermore, might we take up Environmental Stewardship's Steve Box suggestion last night? Box asked Musk's representative put together a meeting of all the interested parties from local government, businesses, landowners, and non-profit water guardians to INNOVATE a SOLUTION. Now, there's some real genius, ya think?! Embarrassed for or Appalled by TCEQ What does it say to you that TCEQ botched this meeting in the presence of national media (the Wall Street Journal was there), not two days before the TCEQ Sunset Review bill hits its first committee hearing? To be clear, we don't blame TCEQ employees. We blame the Legislature and TCEQ commissioners for years of ignoring the threats to Texas water. The Sunset Review bill on TCEQ ( HB1505/SB1397 ) has a hearing in the House Environmental Regulation Committee tomorrow, Thursday, March 23 at 10:30 am. Hearing notice here . LIV will submit our own comments. We hope you will too. You can send the Committee a message before the end of the hearing. To help you think about this more deeply, go to LIV's 88th Legislative Session Page here for the details. New information will be added over the coming hours, so keep checking back or call us at 512.213.4511. Bring in the Feds? We suggest you read this press release detailing the serious problems posed to our drinking water by TCEQ, a state agency run amok. Release: “ Take Corrective Action or Risk Losing Authority Over Clean Water and Clean Air Programs .” The League of Independent Voters of Texas filed these formal comments on the Gapped Bass permit . Must Read, Especially for Austinites: The Wrong Side of Town , Paul Robbins, The Austin Bulldog.

The Texas GOP establishment has lost its head, or it needs to! On the heels of censuring newly elected Congressman Tony Gonzales (R-Eagle Pass), and before a federal court judge issues a ruling on a major challenge to the ballot access laws for independents and minor parties, GOP establishment Senator Charles Hughes (R-Mineola) filed several ugly bills on Friday, the filing deadline. For example, check out SB02532 , which doubles the signatures for independents to get on the ballot. Apparently, 80,000+ signatures in as little as 30 days from folks who didn't vote in the primary are too "easy." As for filing fees? All candidates will pay double. We can't wait to find out what this means for new parties. A few days before that, Hughes filed SB 1660 , which could easily throw our minor parties -- Libertarians and Greens -- off the ballot in 2024. To top it all off, on February 14, Hughes filed SB 921 to outlaw preferential voting (like rank-choice voting) in Texas. (Don't get fooled by the caption language about a majority vote. ) A Political Monopoly Needs Busting! Join us tomorrow, Monday night, March 13, at 7 pm on Zoom with the nation's ballot access guru, Rich Winger, editor of Ballot Access News. We have action plans we want to discuss with you! Senator Hughes chairs the State Affairs Committee. Tomorrow, Monday, March 13, at 10:30 am, the committee will hear: ( Hearing link here . ) A bad bill. That's Hughes' anti-RCV bill, SB 921. A very good bill sponsored by Senator Paul Bettencourt (R-Houston), SB 221 , to protect our municipal petition rights. Note: State Affairs has 8 Republicans and 3 Democrats . Caution : We know plenty of Republicans who realize attacking independents is unwise since these stinky bills could awaken and unite as many as 5 million Texas independents, from across the spectrum. If you are at the Capitol tomorrow, please try to sign in for SB221 and against SB921. You don't need to testify, unless you want to. Hearing link . Action Plans are Happening Tomorrow Night! We will be taking action starting Tuesday morning. So, if you miss the event, get in touch. Get ready to ride, y'all.