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Regular Texans, like Bobby Walker of Burleson County, know what is happening to water in Texas is all kind of Texas wrong

Tomorrow night, Tuesday, April 4th, 5:30 pm — please come to Milano, especially if from l to r: Amy Hinnant, Michele Gangnes, Judith McGeary and Amy’s mother, Helen Jurica you live in Milam or Burleson County — for an important meeting of the Post Oak Savannah Groundwater Conservation District . It will be held at their office at 310 Avenue C in Milano. There is a groundwater battle brewing between landowners and water marketers concerning the demands brought by marketers for changes in well locations for the controversial Vista Ridge/San Antone Hose project. Take a minute to read last week’s release about this here . We will share some updates with you tomorrow evening! If you miss us, please visit the News Section of our website for materials we will have shared tomorrow in Milano or just call us! We have some thinks to suggest that you do to protect your water, your land, and your elections. #MicheleGangnes #JudithMcGeary #farmandranchfreedomalliance #AmyHinnant #Milano

Big News on the Water and Elections Front! Read, share and please take action! from l to r: Amy Hinnant, Michele Gangnes, Judith McGeary and Amy’s mother, Helen Jurica ►On Tuesday, Milam and Burleson County landowners with 3 volunteer attorneys dealt the Vista Ridge/San Antone Hose an unexpected blow. This is a big deal, folks — read our press release! ⇒ Legacy Farm Landowner Amy Hinnant Contests Vista Ridge Variance ~! If you live in Milam or Burleson County, join us next Tuesday, April 4 at 5:30 pm at the next Post Oak Savannah Groundwater Conservation District Meeting, at 310 Avenue C, Milano, TX. Come a little early if you can and bring your neighbors! Post Oak is listening, but will it be enough? They look friendly, but they are not. ► Understand that mass movement of groundwater is THE big wealth transfer planned for this session . Our incoming generations will pay if we let this happen. With 10 lobbyists for every Texas legislator, it’s no wonder that during the battle over bathrooms, the water profiteering lobby pushed a bevy of bills that would bring the California Water Model (“Gridzilla”) to Texas.  Despite what the water overlords in the House and Senate seem to think — that’s Rep. Lyle Larson (R-San Antonio) and Senator Charles Perry (R-Lubbock) — Texans have them outnumbered just a tad. Take a look at these slides by our own Michele Gangnes presented at the Texas Populism Conference last Saturday and follow our action request. Action Please! ► Water Grab Update : We need your help to get co-sponsors and a hearing on Rep. John Cyrier’s bill, HB 3996 , for a Sunset Review of SAWS (San Antonio Water System). Action:  Call your House and Senate member ( find them here ) and tell them it’s not OK for SAWS to be a water bully, roaming far and wide for water grabs, and then brokering water to places outside its own service area while making their own ratepayers foot the bill for their escapades! Ask legislators to sponsor HB 3996 . Tell them you also expect them to kill any bills they see that do harm to the local control of groundwater and/or pave the way for unregulated mega-projects…and to expect many. They can contact LIV for details. Keep an eye on our News Section for updates and watch your email please! ► Electoral Competition Update : The good news is that HB 3068 — the Voter Choice Act — to open up the Texas ballot for more electoral choices, has been referred to committee. The sponsor — Rep. Ron Reynolds , who serves on the Elections Committee — is hot to trot for a hearing. Action: Call your state legislators, House and Senate, ( find them here ) to ask that they support this bill. If you can make it to Austin, get ready to come testify — possibly as early as April 10th or April 17th. Again, keep an eye on our News Section and read your emails! Take a look at Mark Miller’s presentation at the Texas Populism Conference — a deep dive into how we got to monopolized elections. Lois’ SB 740 deserves passage this session ► No eminent Domain for Private Gain Update : A hearing on Sen. Lois Kolkhort’s SB 740 — the awarding of attorney fees to landowners when condemnation threats are given with lowball offers — is this Monday, April 3, 9 am in the Senate Chamber. Let us know if you want to testify (we’ll assist you). You can watch any and all hearings on your computer from in the Senate from here and in the House from he re, At the risk of being a broken record, keep an eye on our News Section and read your emails! See Calvin Tillman and Larry Beard’s ED study here . ►Lest we forget the major attack in the last legislative session on Texans’ right to petition in home rule cities and that we have problems with verifying elections (aka “a paper trail”) in Texas, here’s Tom Glass’s presentation at our Populism Conference. Tom is helping LIV track these bills along with many others. We support SB 488 that made it out of committee this week, but we remain on our toes for bad bills and so should you. More on what you can do! (Note: if you want to do more, please call us or reply…we have plenty more for you to do!) Help us track bills and hearings!  Send us updates! “The Lobby” is on the move in this session, so we must work together. We urge you to make phone calls to the state legislator’s offices in Austin ( emails are too easy to ignore ), OR, if you cannot get through, call their district offices. Writing letters to the editor are VERY helpful as well as sharing this entire message on Facebook or other social networks. Some folks are even taking out ads in their local papers. If you want to contribute to ads — donate and let us know that is what you are giving to…or call us. We have other things for you to do if you’re up to it! Thank you so much if you were able to attend the Our Water, Our Land, Our Elections Lobby Day and/or the Texas Populism conference! Wherever you live, no matter your party affiliation or lack thereof, you’re invited to become a new member of the League of Independent Voters or renew your dues. Your attendance fee at the Texas Populism Conference of $15 can count towards your membership. Click here to become a dues paying member of LIV and get this lovely bumper sticker. Your dues fuel LIV, an all-volunteer outfit. #SenLoisKolkhorst #PopulismConference #RepRonReynolds #JudithMcGeary #LibertarianParty #LaurenIce #LtGovernorDanPatrick #RepJohnCyrier #TexasHouseSpeakerJoeStraus #MarkMiller

from l to r: Amy Hinnant, Michele Gangnes, Judith McGeary and Amy’s mother, Helen Jurica For Immediate Release March 30, 2017 Milano, Texas : It was standing room only last Tuesday night in rural Texas, not 70 miles from the Texas Capitol. Amy Jurica Hinnant is the owner of a family legacy farm established in Burleson County in 1894. Prior to a public hearing, she asked her local Post Oak Savannah Groundwater Conservation District to allow her to formally protest a permit amendment for the controversial Vista Ridge Project (aka “the San Antone Hose”). Hinnant’s property has never been leased for water but is virtually surrounded by leased land and by the 33 deep wells that will pump 50,000 acre-feet of groundwater annually for export to San Antonio. Hinnant asked the Post Oak’s Board to delay acting on the permit amendments to relocate 11 wells and conduct a formal hearing on whether the relocated wells, especially the two that are within ½ mile of her property, will drain her property’s groundwater. Hinnant , a well-spoken teacher and educator at Texas A & M, said, “I’m here for myself and the 83% of county landowners who choose not to sell their water. What about our rights to ensure the next generation has water, and what about our duty to protect this treasured aquifer?” The Board, on the advice of its counsel, denied her request on a technicality. Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance Director Judith McGeary , a Milam County farmer and attorney, told the Board, “You’ve heard both veiled and explicit threats that if you stand in the way of these marketers, the Legislature will strip the District’s powers. As a result, the District focuses more on the moving of water than conservation. The innocuous term, ‘aquifer management,’ is used to disguise the reality of systemic depletion.” The audience applauded Burleson landowner Gabbo Goetsch when he commended the Board for “having the best meeting I’ve been to — you have been listening and paying attention.” He went on to recount the “bullying” of landowners by Scott Carlson, who goes door-to-door, pressuring landowners to sign water leases. Michele Gangnes , a director of the League of Independent Voters ( LIV ) and the 501c3 non-profit Simsboro Aquifer Water Defense Fund, reported, “To his credit, the new President Sydney Youngblood allowed landowners to speak their hearts. We were pleased the Board delayed acting on the amendment until at least next Tuesday, and invited us to submit questions for Vista Ridge in the meantime. But Ms. Hinnant and other landowners stand to suffer hundreds of feet of drawdown in their groundwater due to Vista Ridge pumping. The Board needs to address her case and our questions, even if that means standing up to the marketers and key state legislators in this legislative session who are positioning to open the floodgates on our groundwater.” Hundreds of water bills, including two omnibus water bills, were filed late in the session, giving ordinary Texans little time to prepare themselves for the rush on groundwater. LIV is urging urban ratepayers and rural landowners to join forces to urge their legislators help stop the “California Water Model” – mass movement of groundwater to dry areas for real estate development. A press conference will be held just before the Post Oak Board meeting next Tuesday in Milano at 310 Avenue C with landowners, attorneys and organizations determined not to let this happen to Texas. For more information: Call Linda Curtis for LIV at 512.657.2089 #AmyJuriaHinnant #SydneyYoungblood

Reminder!  The Texas gold rush on groundwater, your land and our elections are up for grabs! Can we grab it back? Join us tomorrow at Our Water, Our Land, Our Elections Lobby Day (Friday, March 24) anytime from 10-4 (preferably high noon) at the Capitol, room E2.002. And join us on Saturday at the Texas Populism Conference in Cedar Creek ! ( Read this overview before you come to either event — it will be in your extensive packets). Saturday’s Texas Populism Conference in Cedar Creek is going to be a doozy with these new additions! Julie Nitsch, ACC Trustee new speakers! Texas populist Democratic firebrand, David Van Os Houston Property Rights, Barry Klein Austin’s 10-1 communications maven and daughter of East Texas, Jessica Ellison and Newly Elected ACC Trustee, Julie Nitsch ===► Can we come together with a deep concern for the thing we at LIV cherish most — civil and smart deliberation for the greater good? We shall see! We link to this fascinating discussion on Jonathan Tilove’s blog — t his interview with ABC commentator Matthew Dowd , now resident of Wimberley. His consideration to run as an independent against Ted Cruz is not actually the most interesting part of this — he’s talking about his deep concern for deliberative small “d” democracy — our brand of populism ! ►PS Don’t forget a VERY critical Vista Ridge hearing next Tuesday night 6:30 pm in Milano for Milam and Burleson counties! See our events calendar, share it or call us. #watergrabs #DavidVanOs #JulieNitsch #BarryKlein #TedCruz #JessicaEllison #MattDowd

You will be kicking yourself if you miss these events on Friday and Saturday. Register now and please come to the Capitol on Friday to join us in our first Lobby Day — Our Water, Our Land, Our Elections! On Saturday, join us in Cedar Creek for the Texas Populism Conference: Building the Independent Rural-Urban Alliance! Please register by 3 tomorrow to get the best lunch on the menu . With 50% of Millennial voters now self-declared independents, these events are most about the incoming generation. But be there, no matter what your generation. We’re including this 3-minute video sent to us from West Texas landowner Kirby Franklin Warnock just in case you missed it a few days ago. It says it all about what we’re fighting for — with passion and humor. We can at least promise you that we’re not all talk and no hat. Git’ along you little dogies and register now! #OurLand #KirbyFranklinWarnock #OurElections #ruralurbanalliance #OurWater

Watch this extraordinary touching 3-minute video from West Texas filmmaker Kirby Franklin Warnock . ==► Did you see who’s helping water bully, Claytie Williams, in his quest to export water from Ft. Stockton, recently denied by a court? Why, it’s “Mr. Balkanizer” who now chairs Texas House Natural Resources Committee. Be sure to watch that last frame — it would be hilarious if if weren’t too true. Meanwhile, Sen. Charles Perry, who chairs Senate Ag, Water and Rural Affairs, suddenly sprang this bill (HB 1172) on food growers’ local contro l to protect their crops and local citizens. Perry files it late, gives himself a quick hearing in HIS OWN Committee and he calls that fair? Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance wants you to take action on this bull. Listen up, people. We don’t have to put up with this. Do this, por favor! Call Senator Charles Perry (512-463-0128) and Rep. Lyle Larson (512-463-0646). T ell the staffer who answers the phone that you would appreciate it if Rep. Larson or Sen. Perry would please stop abusing their authority. Register for Our Water, Our Land, Our Elections Lobby Day now and come to the Capitol on Friday, March 24. We’ll get you all set to visit your reps. Register for the Texas Populism Conference: Building the Independent Rural-Urban Alliance now for Saturday, March 25 in Cedar Creek! Want to talk directly with your representatives? Find them here . One more thing. Share this message, won’t you? PS Hey San Antonio, we’re co-sponsoring an event about Vista Ridge on April 6. Check our events calendar and please share! #ClaytieWilliams #FtStockton #MiddlePecosGroundwaterConservationDistrict

Keeping Texans divided into two parties and at each other’s throats is a great way to further open the door to corporate lobbies and profiteers, especially after an election that gave us so little choice. Wipe your eyes and take a look at who’s blowing their cover in today’s press release!:  Texas Populists Building Independent Rural-Urban Alliance to Protect Water, Land and Elections . Reserve a seat now to help grow a united Texas independent political movement — no matter which candidate you voted for last November: Friday, March 24 — Our Water, Our Land, Our Elections Lobby Day Saturday, March 25 — Texas Populism Conference, Building the Rural-Urban Ending one-punch, a big sock in the kisser of monopoly elections! Alliance Yesterday’s hearing to end “one-punch” straight ticket voting in Texas ( HB 25 ) is a big sock in the kisser for the two-party monopoly! Watch the hearing. (LIV’s Tom Glass testifies at 19:41). This top priority bill for LIV and Texans for Electoral Competition has a real shot, if we take it. To do that, we need to see your kisser on March 24th & 25th. #onepunchvoting #straightticketvoting #Texasindependentmovement #monopolyelections #SamDavid

For Immediate Release Texas Populists Building Independent Rural-Urban Alliance to Protect Water, Land and Elections Bastrop, TX, 6:00 am :  Leaders of the non-partisan, non-profit League of Independent Voters of Texas (LIV) put out the call for Texans to help disengage citizens from partisan warfare and to unite across urban and rural Texas to protect their common and vital interests — water, land, and elections. They will be joining hands at the Texas Capital on Friday, March 24th for “ Our Water, Our Land, Our Elections Lobby Day ” , followed the next day by the “ Texas Populism Conference: Building the Independent Rural-Urban Alliance ” at McKinney Roughs Nature Park in Cedar Creek. Samantha “Sam” Davis , a former senior staffer for the Bernie Sanders Presidential campaign and new to the LIV Board, said, “The power of populism lies in our ability to unite people to take the power away from those who are set to do real and permanent harm to future generations. Protests are a show of people power, but chances are that you’re still going to have limited or no choice when you walk into the voting booth. That is what we need to change.” Simsboro Aquifer activist and LIV Board member, Michele Gangnes , said, “The water grid that we called Gridzilla in the last session is back on steroids. At the same time opposition to mass transport of groundwater, also known as the California Water Model, is mounting among ordinary citizens. Landowners don’t want their water taken on the cheap for real estate deals and urbanites don’t want to be saddled with more and more costs of growth. It’s time to unite, regardless of who we voted for last November.” Calvin Tillman , City Council member of the small town of Aubrey and LIV Board Member said, “Eminent domain for private gain has rural Texans fit to be tied with 9,000 entities that can seize private land. Though we strongly support the reforms carried in this session by Texans for Property Rights, they are not near enough to deal with the cronyism in state agencies that has put rural and urban citizens in the crosshairs of the war between the two parties.” Both events will cover signature issues at the League of Independent Voters and Texans for Electoral Competition – an ad hoc coalition involving LIV, the Libertarian, Green and Constitution parties, Left Up to Us and Texans for Accountable Government dedicated to: Ending the water grabs, Stopping eminent domain for private gain, and Opening up our electoral process to competitive elections, thereby freeing the millions of Texans who call themselves simply “independent” to exercise their power as voters for change. More information can be found at IndependentLeagueTX.org or by calling LIV at 512-213.4511. #TexansforElectoralCompetition #TexansforPropertyRights #watergrabs

Yesterday was the last day to file bills (other than local) to be considered in the 2017 Texas Legislative Session. On the water front there’s been a flood (pardon the pun) of bad bills from…you guessed it, from water BULLies on rural Texas and urban ratepayers. Rep. Lyle Larson (R-San Antonio) who now chairs the House Natural Resources Committee, waited until late yesterday to file his omnibus water bill ( HB 31 ). No doubt it will be comparable to the omnibus water bill ( SB 1392 ) filed by Sen. Charles Perry (R-Lubbock), chair of the Senate Agriculture, Water and Rural Affairs Committee. There were some VERY good ones too from both urban and rural legislators. Here’s a real doozy of a surprise: House Bill (HB) 3996 , filed by Rep. John Cyrier (R-Lockhart) also last minute, calls for Sunset Review of San Antonio Water System (SAWS)! Citizens across the region all know SAWS for its water bullying ways — including, of course, the water boondoggle of the century Vista Ridge aka the “San Antone Hose”. Here’s what you can do to take the bull by the horns: ►Join us this Wednesday, March 15, at 7 pm at Bastrop City Hall for the Lost Pines Groundwater Conservation District Meetin g to learn more about the bills. ►Register now for Our Water, Our Land, Our Elections Lobby Day on Friday, March 24th at the Capitol. ►Attend the Texas Populism Conference: Building the Independent Rural-Urban Alliance on March 25th at McKinney Roughs Nature Trail in Cedar Creek. Make sure you’ve watched the 17-minute in-depth video, “ I Oppose the San Antone Hose ” and share it with your rural and urban friends. Tell your friends it’s time to unite at these events! The session ends on Memorial Day, May 29th. A whole lot can happen in between now and then. We especially need more volunteers now. Call us or reply to lend a hand. PS We will be testifying on Monday for HB 25 — ending straight ticket voting in Texas — and against a bad little petition bill, HB 907. Contact us for details. #SanAntonioWaterSystem #straightticketvoting

We here at the League of Independent Voters are not willing to stand there and take what this guy is taking. Are you ? While the country appears irreversibly divided, many ordinary citizens are coming to us and asking “how can I become an independent? ” Who knows, maybe there’s a chance to save the republic before the two parties’ war on each other destroys us and our system of government based on consensus. What are Texas officials doing? They are locked in fake fight — the “great potty political debate” (the bathroom bill) — at the same time an immense and truly immoral transfer of wealth is happening right under their noses. That transfer is the mass movement by profiteers of groundwater (our most valuable Texas resource) to the growth corridors by abusing government condemnation of private property to make it happen. We call it eminent domain for private gain. Millions of people are facing unaffordability, aquifers we depend on face damage or depletion, and the next generation’s future is stolen. Lt. Governor Dan Patrick ‘s appointee, Senator Charles Perry (R-Lubbock), will be rolling out his omnibus water bill, likely on the last day to file a bill — March 10th. (UPDATE: the bill was released on March 7th — more coming soon!) Perry held closed interim hearings throughout 2016 and is — unbelievably — keeping his bill secret. Texas House Speaker Joe Straus has also appointed water grabbing Rep. Lyle Larson (R-San Antonio) to chair the House Natural Resources Committee. He’s the guy who wantonly calls landowners “Balkanizers” if they do not want to sell their water, as if they are wrong-headed rebels who just won’t get with the program. Larson just introduced a bill (HB 2948) to add yet another layer of bureaucracy to the convoluted water code, we suspect for the purpose of adding more opportunities to game it. You’re probably asking yourself, who do these people think they are? The real question is who do we think WE are? Come join us to answer both those questions! We humbly request that you show up at these urgently important TWO events — regardless of your party persuasion or who you voted for in the last election: Please register NOW! Click on the links for each event below for March 24th & 25th  Come to this! Our Water, Our Land and Our Elections Lobby Day — Friday, March 24th. Reserve a seat NOW for this FREE event at the Capitol. It’s from 10 to 4, but show up at noon if you can .  For details: Come to this the next day, Saturday, March 25th : Texas Populism Conference: Building the Independent Rural-Urban Alliance at McKinney Roughs Nature Trail in Cedar Creek . It’s just $25, including lunch, or $15 and you can bring your own. For more info: Both these events (on Friday, March 24th and Saturday, March 25th) are all about our signature issues here at the League of Independent Voters: Ending the water grabs, Ending eminent domain for private gain, and Opening up our electoral process to competitive elections, thereby freeing the millions of Texans who call themselves simply “independent” to exercise their power as voters for change. (Read about Texans for Electoral Competition here ). The March 25th conference will begin with this question: ►Can citizens from across partisan lines – rural and urban — work together with both major parties increasingly at war? Or are we just beating our heads against the wall? Let’s discuss, you decide. The League is also establishing a writing team for the independent movement. If you’re interested, give us a call or reply to this message. Please share these events widely. Get a move on, you little dogies. United we stand, divided we fall, y’all. #Texaselectionreform

Are UT Dell Medical School and State Senator Kirk Watson Misspending Central Healthcare Hospital District Funds? Image of Kirk Watson Austin, 2:30 pm : UT Dell Medical School appears to be misspending taxpayer dollars committed to the Central Healthcare Hospital District. If they are, this raises serious questions about potential violations of law and the public trust, so says longtime reform attorney, Fred Lewis and former State Senator Gonzalo Barrientos (D-Austin). Linda Curtis of Independent Texans is raising questions about her own State Senator, Kirk Watson’s law firm having benefited from it. From UT’s own financial records, the reports shows 84% of all UT Dell Medical School compensation is paid for with Central Health funds and the vast majority of these expenditures are going to personnel who do not provide any health care of any kind. Linda Curtis of Independent Texans PAC said, “Everyone knows that Senator Watson has been the leading cheerleader for building the medical school, which is fine. However, when he failed to pass legislation in 2011 ( SB 821 ) to authorize Central Health to help pay for medical education, I believe he continued to find ways to get his way. Senator Watson nor UT can now claim that in 2012, when Travis County voters gave the Health District the right to increase property taxes, they also gave them the power to do what SB 821, in its failure, did not do for them. Spending tens of millions of dollars per year — for things other than health care — is a rip off of low-income citizens, not to mention all who are paying for it.” Lewis remarked that, “No other hospital district in Texas, to our knowledge, has funded a medical school’s non-health care services. Hospital districts typically contract with medical schools to provide health care for the poor, but no hospital district other than Central Health funds non-health care services of medical schools.” Former longtime State Senator for the Austin area, Gonzalo Barrientos, helped draft the bill that passed in the 2003 legislative session to allow for the creation of the Central Healthcare Hospital District. Barrientos commented, “My intent in passing the law that we passed in the legislature was to create a district that medically treated poor people, not tomorrow, not next week, not next year but right now when they’re hurting.” Senator Kirk Watson is a partner at Husch Blackwell LLP . The firm represents Central Healthcare Hospital District and has paid Watson’s firm over $3 million. For more details on matters contained in this release, see these 4 charts and the Fred Lewis report . For More Information: Linda Curtis, Independent Texans, PAC 512-657-2089 Save #LindaCurtis #SenKirkWatson #GonzaloBarrientos #FredLewis #CentralHealthcareHospitalDistrict #misspendingfunds