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Texas House Committee Hearing, July 28, 2025, is contained in this KLTV segment. The chair of the Natural Resources Committee, Rep. Cody Harris , has filed 4 water bills that we at LIV wholeheartedly support, especially as the water bills challenge Texas Rule of Capture What can you do? Call your State Representative and Senator NOW to urge them to become CO-AUTHORS of this legislation! Go here to find your reps . Here's what Chairman Harris has posted about the bills: BREAKING: Today, I filed 4 different bills addressing the groundwater crisis. These bills represent a massive step towards ensuring the long-term viability of our precious groundwater across the state of Texas - not just East Texas alone. Here’s what they do: HB 215 : Changes the Rule of Capture and creates liability on an entity that pumps over 25,000 gallons of water per day and the pumping damages its neighbors. HB 216 : States that a groundwater conservation district MAY NOT approve an application for a well if the production and export of all of the wells that the applicant applied for total more than 5% of the modeled available groundwater for the conservation district. HB 217 : Provides liability protection for groundwater conservation districts to deny a permit based on the long-term damage to the aquifer. HB 218 : Requires 2/3 of the surrounding groundwater conservation districts to approve an export permit - no longer leaving the decision to only one GCD. If you're thinking these would have put the lid on Vista Ridge -- the San Antone Hose -- in 2014, you could be correct. Better late than never, folks. That Rep. Cody Harris , has filed these 4 water bills is a big deal for Texas water. Go to Legislature Online to learn more about the bills and all others in this special session: HERE . Got questions or ideas? Send an email to LIV at contact@livtx.org . Spread the word, y'all.

Radar July 4th, Central Texas Truth-telling Harvey Kronberg (Quorum Report) is always there for us Texas independents on the race to the bottom of the swamp of Texas politics. At a time when we're all hurting from a terrible disaster that didn't have to be so terrible, we have to face the hard facts of life in Texas. Keep this in your hearts, folks, as we find a way out of this other disaster. We call it Texas two-party political hustle. Harvey Kronberg, "Legislative assault on local control undermines emergency response capacity." Important Water Update from Simsboro Aquifer Water Defense Fund: " We have an aquifer protection item action that needs your help --- but first, we must acknowledge the catastrophic loss of life and property in the recent flooding events. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the affected families. Please support those who need it most. The regular 2025 legislative session has ended --- but two things are happening:  a hearing in the Natural Resources Committee in the House (HNRC) on July 15 (we are asking for your action!) and the start of a special session called by Gov. Abbott on July 21. We need your "water focus" for the  July 15 hearing in the House. Andy Wier's legislative update is attached --- please read and take action. It's easy to do ONLINE. If you don't have a well affected by Vista Ridge*, you probably know what others have experienced ---- you can certainly comment on how you feel about big export projects. Even if you don't have a well, focus on our # 2 and #3 talking points, and then add any additional relevant thoughts about exporting groundwater away from where it originates and/or sustainability of our aquifers as the lifeblood of Texas.  Go here for the full SAWDF Report you need to file your comments or attend. Thank you for your support! Please make a  donation  today. Your SAWDF Board of Directors We appreciate Amy Smith's Austin Chronicle article of July 11 article on the absurdity of Austin City Hall's insistence on bending to the will of the privateering downtown hotel lobby.It 's all coming to a head as the City also appears intent on raising taxes while $5B in tourism dollars is being wasted, when it could and should be used to shore up Austin's local economy dependent on live music, arts and parks. If you live in Austin or love the place, get involved at SaveAustinsSoul.com after you read this: Petitioners Hope to Force a Vote on New Convention Center Amid Demolition: They’d redirect money to live music and eco-tourism

Prof. John Mearsheimer with Gleen Greenwald, System Update June 24, 2025 Oh boy, howdy, we've got LIV news aplenty -- good, bad and butt ugly. Thanks to the many who read our last alert asking you to contact your members of Congress about the Israel - Iran conflict. This 90-minute discussion with Prof. John Mearsheimer  on Glenn Greenwald 's June 24th show is extraordinarily helpful, regardless of your views or support or lack thereof of the President's actions. State Reps Cody Harris, Trent Ashby & Sen. Robert Nichols, don't mess with East Texas water The vainglorious Water Lobby is about to meet its match. These three legislators will not be easily bullied as Texas water (and energy) has moved into center stage in a fight for the basics in life. "The first rule of holes: When you're in one stop digging." Molly Ivins. Close the Magic Hole • Sign the Petition, Austin!   Austin voters are signing petitions out the wazoo for a public vote on the "Magic Hole" -- the Austin boondoggle of the decade involving $5B+ plan to demolish a perfectly good convention center, for a massive expansion when the convention center business is flat and, some say, dying.The point is the voters should surely have a say. Get ready to attend the next Austin City Council meeting on July 14 when it's expected for the Council to put a tax hike on the ballot NOT a public vote on "The Hole" unless we have the signatures to make 'em give us a vote. The finest analysts of the wild, wild west in Texas politics. Straight from Quorum Report HERE   Gov. Abbott put Lt. Gov. Patrick on defense with an unusually long veto message in which the governor described what must be in THC legislation that he would sign, and denies Patrick legislative hostages during a special session. What a delicious moment in Texas politics. Open government attorney sleuths -- LIV supports open government! Bill Aleshire and Bill Bunch -- score again!   Not only did the two attorneys named Bill take $440M in Hays Co. road bonds off the ballot, due to violations of the Texas Open Meetings Act, it was the first time a TOMA violation was the basis for a successful Election Contest.We wrote about it in an open letter to the Bastrop City Council that's apparently on its high horse from the recent city council election, with a super-majority of members who could give two hoots nor a hollar about open government. Help our friends in beautiful, rural Blue, Texas get the planned massive gas plant moved to a better location! Buy a ticket.

Charmin could do the right thing and use other materials than the Boreal Forest for toilet paper! Our dear Austin good trouble-making friend (and world traveler and nature advocate) Brian Rodgers is launching a campaign against Charmin’s destruction of the Canadian forest for toilet paper. Come watch the 26 min film this coming Tuesday, July 1 — for FREE : CHARMIN WIPES OUT A FOREST WORLD PREMIERE! Tuesday, July 1  7:30-8:30 pm AFS Cinema 6259 Middle Fiskville Rd Austin Get your free ticket HERE Watch the trailer and come let us see your smiling-or-not face on Tuesday. :)

Don't Mess with Cody or his water. Conservation Equity Management [CEM] filed an application for 45,000 AFY with the Neches & Trinity GCD to export the water to DFW metroplex. The well fields are located in Anderson and Henderson counties. The application has created a firestorm in East Texas! County officials for Anderson, Henderson, Leon, Commanche, and Smith counties are opposed. State Representatives Cody Harris and Trent Ashby are joined by Senator Nichols in opposing the project. Representative Harris is Chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee [HNCR]. He has called for a HNRC public hearing on July 15 in Austin. Chairman Harris listened keenly to landowner testimony from those impacted by Vista Ridge. He has certainly taken it to heart. He published an editorial in the Cherokeean Herald that states:   "As a lifelong East Texan, your State Representative and Chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, I will not stand by while our water is drained for someone else’s gain. I will use the full weight of my authority to stop it.   That’s why I’m calling a public hearing at the Texas Capitol on Tuesday, July 15 at 1 p.m. to get answers. This hearing will focus on high-capacity groundwater production in the Neches & Trinity Valleys GCD and what it means for the future of our region.   Texans can submit comments here:  https://comments.house.texas.gov/home?c=c390 Watch live:  https://house.texas.gov/video-audio/   East Texas water belongs to EAST TEXANS – not out-of- town profiteers." LIV thanks leaders for standing up who are questioning large-scale export water projects. We remember Vista Ridge, the San Antone Hose!

LIV Logo June 24, 2025   Dear Members of the Bastrop City Council: Mayor Harris, Mayor Pro-Tem Kirkland, Council Members Fossler, Meyer, Plunkett and Lowe:   Yesterday (June 23rd) District Court Judge Mauzy issued a Summary Judgment Order ( Les Carnes, Jim Camp, Cathy Ramsey, and Gabrielle Moore v. Hays County Judge & Commissioners , Cause No. D-1-GN-25-002049, 126th District Court, Travis County, Texas) for a Hays County Taxpayers’ Election Contest. The ruling killed the $439 million Hays County Road Bonds due to Open Meetings violations. The violations, as stated by the plaintiff’s attorney, Bill Aleshire, were for inadequate meeting notice and unreasonable restriction on time for public testimony. (See Community Impact News report  here.)   According to Aleshire, this is a huge win for enforcement of the Texas Open Meetings Act. This case is the first time a TOMA violation was the basis for a successful Election Contest and comes on the heels of Aleshire’s victory before Judge Gamble last August enjoining the City of Austin from putting Mayor Kirk Watson’s Charter Amendments on the November ballot due to violations of TOMA’s meeting notice and public testimony requirements—the same provisions applicable to Hays County.   I am sharing this with you to point out that your June 10th Executive Session Notice, Item 4B, I’m told by Aleshire, is a TOMA violation.    4B. City Council shall convene into closed executive session pursuant to Texas Government Code Section 551.071 regarding contractual agreements and ballot initiatives .   Based on Aleshire’s advice, the City is obliged to tell us which “contractual agreements” were under discussion and which “ballot initiatives” you were discussing. The City is obligated to provide this information to the public now.   Thank you for your consideration.    Linda Curtis, Advisory Board League of Independent Voters of Texas LIVTX.org • 512.657.2089 PS I would appreciate someone sharing this letter to the Bastrop City Council with your City Attorney as no email address appears available on your website. Cc: City Manager, Sylvia Carrillo       Esmeralda Casarez for Interim City Attorney at Denton, Navarro, Rodriguez, Bernal, Santee & Zech, P.C.

U.S, Rep. Rho Khanna U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie We at LIV believe President Trump’s decision to bomb Iran yesterday is a dangerous abuse of power that deserves a swift and concerted response from independent voters.    We do not support one man – Trump, Biden, Obama, Bush or any single authority – usurping the power of our elected officials in Congress from declaring war.    We support the bi-partisan “ Iran War Powers Resolution ” introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by Republican  Thomas Massie  (Kentucky) and Democrat  Rho Khanna  (California). We humbly ask for your support for passage. Please get on the phone.   A similar resolution has been introduced in the Senate by Democrat Sen. Tim Kaine. See release  HERE . Please call and email your member of the U.S. House and both Texas US Senators, John Cornyn and Ted Cruz.  Use this link to find your members and their contact information. And consider contributing to LIV so we can reach voters in districts where we may be able to sway certain members of Congress. Hit the Donate button at the top right HERE . Say whatever you wish, but make sure to tell them you want them to vote FOR the Iran War Powers Resolution or Sen. Kaine’s Senate version.    Do it now before the President’s actions supporting Israel’s attacks on Iran set off a chain reaction throughout the region and the world that endangers our lives, our economy and our respect throughout the world.   Excerpts from Rep. Massie’s media release  here  are these statements,  "The Constitution does not permit the executive branch to unilaterally commit an act of war against a sovereign nation that hasn't attacked the United States," said  Rep. Massie . "Congress has the sole power to declare war against Iran. The ongoing war between Israel and Iran is not our war. Even if it were, Congress must decide such matters according to our Constitution." Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) joined Rep. Massie as co-lead of the  Iran  War Powers Resolution.  "No president should be able to bypass Congress’s constitutional authority over matters of war. The American people do not want to be dragged into another disastrous conflict in the Middle East. I’m proud to lead this bipartisan War Powers Resolution with Rep. Massie to reassert that any military action against Iran must be authorized by Congress,” said  Rep. Khanna . If you perceive this emergency alert from LIV to be out of our “wheelhouse,” we agree . We wouldn’t be involved in this if government at all levels in our country were not coming off the wheels. We – citizens of all persuasions – might be the only ones that can put the wheels back on.

We agree with Bob Raborn. There is no question Margie Raborn is in a better place. Margie Raborn , and her husband for nearly 60 years, Bob Raborn , are longtime supporters of LIV and many Texas and national organizations that serve to protect our water, land. and civil liberties. The Raborns are longtime allies of Dr. Ron Paul.   Our hearts go out to Bob Raborn and the entire family and circle of friends who, along with us at LIV, will dearly miss Margie.   We met the Raborns back in 2005 when we Texans from across East and Central Texas joined together to fight Rick Perry’s plan for the massive NAFTA toll road – aka the “Trans-Texas Corridor.” When the Corridor came down, some of us, including the Raborns, kept working to build the independent political movement while working with some of the good people in all political parties. We knew we could always count on Bob and Margie to be there throughout all the thick and thin of it! Here is Margie’s obituary . Some of us will be attending her celebration of life on June 21st. Contact us for more information or travel arrangements.

Reta Ward on her way from the poll site for runoff Mayoral election, city of Bastrop, June 2, 2025 KUT Radio, Austin's NPR Station, did an 8-minute feature of Reta Ward. Reta is a force of nature in rural Texas east of IH-35, especially on education, water, land, and our small "d" democracy! PS Reta is an avid member and supporter of LIV. Enjoy, y'all: Listen to: Who is the 94-year old Texan who calls every Texas legislator?

Don't choke on water, Lege! We are very excited to share some good news about success in this session for some meaningful legislation on “the water front,” posted today by the Simsboro Aquifer Water Defense Fund (SAWDF). Congrats go especially to Andy Wier , SAWDF’s super-citizen scientist organizer and Executive Director, for his more than due diligence this last six years!   Read it here, posted at SAWDF’s site – way to go you water wonks!!! https://www.simsborowaterdefensefund.org/blog/sawdf-legislative-update-may-29-2025 There’s also Environmental Stewardship’s engagement of the TCEQ (the “reluctant regulator") regarding wastewater and the Colorado River. Thanks to a great local paper, the Elgin Courier, for this excellent coverage here . There is also the BIG TEXAS water picture related to the passage of a $20B water fund covered written about in the Texas Tribune on May 27 .   LIV reserves the right to look skeptically at what is happening with water in Texas. Rep. Helen Kerwin ’s HB 1674 , a truly bi-partisan bill to address water and land contamination related to “PFAS” aka “forever chemicals” was not passed. A key deadline was missed and we agree with this Texas Tribune article on this urgently important issue that "Texas democracy" does not work for us regular people. The problem of water contamination is a ticking time bomb that deserved all-hands-on-deck, but the Lege choked. The “Texas Lege chokes” includes the passage of HB 49 . Read this very concerning letter  by Greater Edwards Aquifer Alliance that makes plain that the oil and gas industry has yet to do the right thing on recycling their wastewater.   Add to this the problems related to the industrialization of Texas by data centers and Bitcoin and you have a bona fide challenge that deserves full vetting as we move into the next election cycle. Filings for the 2026 election are due in December 2025. Get your independent boots on, Texans. More soon! And never hesitate to challenge LIV to help you wherever you are in Texas.

Not long ago, LIV sent you the mini-documentary, " The Magic Hole" (it's parked on this page at Austin United PAC ), about the massively expensive ($5B+) plan by the City of Austin to tear down the perfectly fine Austin Convention Center and to expand and rebuild a new convention center. The plan diverts 77% of the HOT funds (Hotel and Occupancy taxes) for the convention center that commands only 1-2% of Austin's tourism. Talk about a "magic hole". This is a hugely expensive waste of public funds! Meanwhile, Austin’s local cultural attractions – live music, arts and parks – go wanting. A petition drive is underway to give Austin voters a chance to vote to put the City’s plan on hold and to redirect a portion of the HOT funds to where they rightly belong – shoring up Austin’s local economic tourism engines -- live music, arts and parks. Wanna help? Go check out the page linked at the top of this article. Then, reply to this message or email us at contact@livtx.org . Pass this on to your Austin pals, won’t you?

Simsboro Aquifer Water Defense Fund: Andy Wier, Executive Director Just in from our friends at SAWDF!!!   Friends: We have an emergency!    We need you to call now on water legislation TONIGHT or very early in the am to Senate Water, Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee Members regarding Committee Substitute for HB 2080 and regarding HB 1523 (Gerdes) You saved HB 1633 (protection for exempt wells) from the "ugly amendment" with your calls --- HB 1633 comes up on the Senate floor on Monday and hopefully will be on its way to the Governor. But the "ugly amendment" has found a new home on HB 2080, pending in the Senate Water, Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee, TOMORROW AT 7 AM.  Don't worry about what original HB 2080 pertains to --- we simply want to keep the original 2080 from being substituted in Committee tomorrow morning, using the ugly amendment.   We need calls to Senate WARA members overnight and by 6:30 AM.  We would appreciate you adding HB 1523 to your call --- read all the way to the bottom below. Here's what to say on each call about HB 2080 (committee members and numbers below): "Please reject any committee substitute to HB 2080. The substitute is unrelated to the subject matter of HB 2080 and undermines efforts to protect groundwater. It sets a bad precedent from now on.   It's the same bad precedent that putting the amendment on HB 1633 would have set, and that so many rural well owners called you about two weeks ago. Thank you for rejecting it then, and please PROTECT US AGAIN and REJECT ANY COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR HB 2080." Senator Perry doesn't want oral or written testimony on bills, so calls are all we have. You can help with one more thing --- when you call add this: "I support HB 1523 to protect the Carrizo-Wilcox Aquifer from possible contamination." HB 1523 is Rep. Gerdes's bill to put some guardrails on any proposed aquifer storage and recovery project in either Bastrop or Lee counties. We're asking you to trust us on this one --- SAWDF has worked hard to make this bill as good as possible. It's important and we will 'splain later! Please call before 6:30 AM on May 23:   Senator Charles Perry (Chair)                                      Phone: (512) 463-0128 Senator Kelly Hancock (Vice Chair)                         Phone: (512) 463-0109   Senator Brian Birdwell                                    Phone: (512) 463-0122 Senator César Blanco                                                     Phone: (512) 463-0129       Senator Roland Gutierrez                                              Phone: (512) 463-0119 Senator Adam Hinojosa                                   Phone: (512) 463-0127 Senator Nathan Johnson                               Phone: (512) 463-0116   Senator Lois Kolkhorst                                     Phone: (512) 463-0118   Senator Kevin Sparks                                     Phone: (512) 463-0131 Thank you for all your support. Andrew Wier, Executive DirectorSimsboro Aquifer Water Defense Fund [SAWDF] awier.tx@gmail.com 512-545-4779 voice/text www.simsborowaterdefensefund.org