Search Results

Now that Gridzilla was sent packin’ in the legislative session — we need your help to sic Gridzilla on the water grabbers themselves. So…come out to these events, or help us set up a meeting in your community. We appreciate you sharing these important announcements with your friends. Come on out, y’all!!: This coming Wednesday, June 24th, at 7 pm, join us at the Bastrop Convention Center for a VERY important hearing (canceled last month due to weather) related to water marketers’ continued push to over-permit the Carrizo-Wilcox Aquifer in the Lost Pines Groundwater Conservation District. End Op LP wants 46,000 acre-feet/year (41 million gallons per day). Your presence tells the LPGCD that you support their efforts to protect the aquifer — and all our communities facing dewatering and eminent domain seizures. It also sends a message of support to communities where this water may be piped to fuel unsustainable and unaffordable development. Show up and bring your friends! Details here will motivate you to get out to this hearing . Linda Curtis will be speaking at this event in Austin on Tuesday, June 30th, 6:30-8:30 pm sponsored by the Texas Anti-Corruption Campaign on, “What will be different next time you get ready to vote?” More here — reserve a seat . The League of Independent Voters is kicking off a membership drive in each county starting in Bastrop. Come celebrate your independence* (from the party machines) a little early — on July 2nd, 6 to 8 pm at Neighbor’s Restaurant on the Colorado – – before you run off with family. Pick up a new yard sign. This one’s a doozy. Come back and visit this page in a day or two and you’ll see it. Event details here. *We also wish to remind you that the League is not a political party. Therefore, we encourage you — regardless of which primary next March you may or may not vote in — to help the League influence the debate on protection of our most critical resources and cleaning up the electoral process itself. Please note that our conference calls will be held every other Sunday at 6 pm (no longer on Saturdays). Our next call is on Sunday, June 28th at 6 pm. We look forward to seeing you or hearing from you! #corruption

We will hold an urgent and special conference call on Sunday evening at 6 pm to discuss some developments in the “water war” impacting all of us in the fight. (No conference call will take place tomorrow morning). Call the League at 512-213-4511 for the call in number. ALSO, PLEASE MARK YOUR CALENDARS !  All you Texans fighting the dewatering of your communities have a stake in this, so please come in from across the region. Wednesday, June 24, 6 pm or 7 pm (time uncertain, will let you know)Bastrop Convention Center1408 Chestnut Street, Bastrop, Texas Details : End Op LP’s hearing is on their continued attempt for 46,000 acre-feet/year of groundwater from the Lost Pines Groundwater Conservation District. That’s right — this is in addition to Forestar Real Estate’s litigation pressing LPGCD for the full 45,000 AFY (12,000 AFY was not enough for them). To top it all off is, of course, the 142-mile Vista Ridge water pipeline already secured by San Antonio from the Post Oak Savannah GCD. It’s all from the Simsboro formation of the Carrizo-Wilcox Aquifer underlying Burleson, Milam, Lee and Bastrop counties. And yes, the Hays County Commissioners Court that has been up-in-arms about 2,000 AFY bid by Electro-Purification, is helping Forestar with a costly reservation agreement for Simsboro water. Do you live in the City of Austin? Read this Austin Bulldog article about the lawsuit filed by city activist, Brian Rodgers, represented by former Travis County Judge, Bill Aleshire on city management’s continued efforts to thwart the Texas Public Information Act. Got questions? Reply to this message or give us a call. Thank you! #Simsboro #ForestarRealEstate #CarrizoWilcoxAquifer #PostOakSavannahGroundwaterConservationDistrict #VistaRidge #LostPinesGroundwaterConservationDistrict

On a serious note, our hearts go out to all in Texas caught in the wake of the floods and tornadoes. In the midst of all the chaos, Texans managed to stop the petty-“Larson-y’ (as in Rep. Lyle Larson, R-San Antonio) of “Gridzilla” the $2 million study on moving masses of Texas water to the triangle (DFW, Austin and San Antonio , smacked down the anti-petition bill, and even passed a good water bill. But eminent domain reform went down…along with lots of other good bills. We provide you this report with some humorous relief. As they say, “truth is stranger than fiction.” This is all true…including that it’s now game on for Vista Ridge San Antonio $3.4 billion water grab some 142-miles away in Burleson County. More soon… So…during this legislative session did you feel like: Your chance of getting a bill passed was about as likely as this woman’s chance of getting hit by a meteor? We actually managed to pass one — HB 3163 — thanks to freshman Rep. John Cyrier (R-Lockhart) and his capable staff — to protect water conservation district board members from being sued individually or held liable when performing their duties in good faith. That you looked like melted dummies from the Madam Tussauds Wax Museum to  members of the ________ Committee (fill in the blank) when you testified? But didn’t the 11th-hour (Sunday, May 31st at 9 pm), failed amendment for the Vista Ridge 142-mile water pipeline project make you feel better? Watch the Senate give it the stomp ! You might just be beating your head against a wall in the face of a herd of corporate lobbyists who waltzed right in and took their time making scurrilous claims legislators never asked them to prove? “The lobby” killed SB 474, a modest eminent domain reform bill. Watch the the carnage in this video here (starting at about 2 minutes.) You were just a tad weirded out by the gun-obsessed in this session, while your local control was under serious fire? A cross-partisan populist coalition thankfully laid waste to HB 2595, protecting 103 years of Texans’ right to petition in home-rule cities. Watch these powerful testimonies, especially the three mad-dog attorneys! On the very same night as the floods in central Texas, May 25th, another storm blew in the Texas House as Rep. David Simpson rode hard on Gridzilla, the Trans-Texas Water Highway and the attacks on the rights of regions to have an equal seat at the water planning table before their water is ripped out from underneath them by other regions. Check out the list of 58 other reps who stood with Simpson! (Forgive the bad singing, “These Independent Boots are Gonna Walk All Over You!”) click here to watch the House ride ’em high ! These are no big fish stories, despite the little attention received in the media. And it is OH SO TRUE THAT THIS WAS DUE TO YOU and your many phone calls, emails and efforts to spread the word. Our very serious fight — to protect our land, our water and our political rights — has only just begun. So…don’t let them drive you to drinking…start thinking…about what you can do to help us build the independent movement! There’s more coming, but we wanted to get these out to you today. PS Additional and special thanks to Steve Box (Environmental Stewardship), Judith McGeary (Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance, Ken Kramer (Sierra Club Lone Star Chapter), Brian Rodgers ( ChangeAustin.org ) , Brent Golemon, Eleanor Bravo (Food and Water Watch), an anonymous professional lobbyist for all your free advice and LIV board members Michele Gangnes and Calvin Tillman for all your help in the 2015 legislative session! #corporatelobbyists #petitionrights #texaslegislativesession #TransTexasWaterHighway

We just receive d word that tonight’s hearing by the Lost Pines Groundwater Conservation District is canceled. We will be back in touch soon with more information. Please spread the word. Thank you!

We were watching out for you as the Legislature remained in session throughout the holiday. We need you to make two phone calls as early as pssible today, Tuesday, first to your State Senator and second, to Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick. Ask them simply to remember future generations by protecting our most precious resource and saying no to a Trans-Texas Water Highway. Find your Senator here. Contact the Lt. Gov. here . What happened while they figured you weren’t watching:   Two attempts were made by Rep. Lyle Larson, R-San Antonio, to revive “Gridzilla”, the water market and conveyance study, after he failed to move her out of a Senate Committee. These attempts failed, thanks to you and those who led the opposition — Representatives David Simpson, R-Longview, Tracy King, D-Uvalde and Travis Clardy, R-Nacogdoches. Gridzilla has been severely wounded, but she’s still got some life in her as she crawls back to the Senate where she could be attached to another bill. Which one, we don’t really know, and we may not know until it’s too late to alert you. There was a remarkable floor fight tonight on Rep. Simpson’s bill, HB 632, that would clarify the rights of so-called “donor” communities to consent to having their water transferred to other areas. Though Simpson’s effort to save HB 632 failed, the vote was a clear indication that House members are getting the drift. As Simpson put it, “We’re not going to support a Trans-Texas Corridor style water highway.” The vote was 77 to 59 with a number of urban and rural reps standing with Simpson. Un o fficial vote here . It should not go without saying that we are doing all we can to remember — and honor — those who gave the ultimate sacrifice by continuing to fight for future generations. #RepDavidSimpson #RepLyleLarson #WaterGrid

If you live in Bastrop County, please call your State Senator Kirk Watson at 512-463-0114. It’s an emergency. Ask friends to call in, too. Or email him at kirk.watson@senate.state.tx.us and his chief of staff, Sarah.Howard@senate.state.tx.us asap. If you are in Lee County , tell Sen. Watson you are affected by his actions because we share a groundwater district. You might want to copy your Senator  lois.kolkhors t@senate.state.tx.us and her chief of staff, Chris.steinbach@senate.state.tx.us , or call her to tell her you are urging Sen. Watson to act on these bills at 512-463-0118. Tell Sen. Watson he needs to stand up for Bastrop County and its Lost Pines Groundwater Conservation District by helping to get HB 3163 and HB 3116 added to the Senate’s Local and Consent Calendar ASAP. Tell him he needs to assure passage of these important bills for his constituents in Bastrop County. The bills are critical to assisting our groundwater district to do their job of protecting the water resources of Bastrop and Lee counties. SHOW UP WEDNESDAY! Please show up this Wednesday night at 7 pm at the Bastrop Convention Center. This is the end of the line for the battle between End Op LP and Aqua Water concerning End Op’s permit demand for 56,000 acre-feet/year, now 46,000 AFY. That’s 41 million gallons per day. This is a legal hearing, so citizen communication is not on the agenda. However, the Lost Pines GCD Board may take action on this mega-permit. Therefore, your presence is important and is our statement. Got questions? Call or email us! Thank you!

With the help of our heroes today, Rep. David Simpson (R-Longview) and Tracy King (D-Ulvalde) – we cut Rep. Lyle Larson off at the pass today. Larson was forced to pull down his amendment in attempt to slip Gridzilla through the House on Senate Bill 1301. But, hold on to your horses. Rep. Larson is looking for another vehicle to attach his bill to as early as THIS Sunday. So…what can you do? Call your State Representative and your State Senator’s offices in Austin on Saturday to urge them NOT to support any California-style water pipeline system that would drain rural Texas and help developers continue building in areas without their own local water supply. You can also ask your friends to do the same. Find Your State Rep and Senator here — now keep after him, y’all! We will have our regular Saturday conference call at 9 am tomorrow to update you on the status of all our work on legislation. If you need the number, please send an email to info@independentleaguetx.org or call us at 512-213-4511. Don’t let these deperados get away with it — our water, our wallets or our petition rights!

Friday, May 22: Friends — since the message below was posted last night, we won on this one round. Now, Rep. Larson is attempting to attach Gridzilla to another bill that could be voted on this weekend. Therefore, please keep your calls going to your State Representative — that you just want Gridzilla, to go away! This message went out on Thursday, May 21: Gridzilla (HB 3298/SB 1907) is back! Yes, that’s right. We told you yesterday that the bill’s sponsors, Rep. Lyle Larson (San Antonio) and Sen. Charles Perry (Lubbock), had taken some of our concerns and revamped Gridzilla. This was apparently a “prevarication” — a fancy word for lie.We just got this letter from enduring grassroots activist from Waller County, Martha Estes, to her State Representative, Cecil Bell: Dear TX Representative Bell:TODAY Representative Larson (R-San Antonio) used a BAIT and SWITCH tactic in “adding an amendment” to Senate Bill 1301, which transforms it into a study of a statewide water marketing and transfer system at a time when so many bills are being heard in the House facing an imminent deadline. It had been a simple bill to reduce the number of directors of the Texas Water Resources Finance Authority from 6 to 3. Apparently many representatives didn’t even realize what the amendment was, and it passed overwhelmingly!! My request of you, when this comes up for a final vote in the HOUSE tomorrow, is to refuse to approve it unless Representative Larson’s amendment is stripped out.As a body I believe that you should resent Rep. Larson’s attempt to “pull a fast one” on the TX House members and slip this by you.If he cannot do it in a forthright manner he should not resort to trickery! It represents an insult to the process of deliberating the serious mandates before the members of the Texas House.At my age, having observed many generations of Texas legislators at work, I have no respect for such actions when the results can impact generations to come.Honorable behavior matters! Hold him accountable to a higher standard. Cut him off at the pass!! Matha Estes, Hempstead, TX TAKE ACTION Y’ALL. Write your own letter or call your Rep & Senator tonight (you can leave a message anytime) or tomorrow before high noon! Find your State Representative and Senator here. Call your State Representative and your Senator to urge him or her to vote NO on SB 1301 unless the water marketing amendment is stripped out. If you prefer email to phone calls, you can email your legislators using this formula: Representative: Firstname.Lastname@house.state.tx.us Senator: Firstname.Lastname@senate.state.tx.us  If you use email, keep your subject line short and clear: “Oppose SB 1301’s water marketing amendment” Got questions? Call us. Don’t let them get away with it — and your water or your affordability, Texans! #CharlesPerry #LyleLarson

As we move into the final phase of the legislative session, with adjournment on June 1, here’s all we know and what you can do — please! Senate Bill 474, Sen. Lois Kolhorst & Rep. Cindy Burkett, Eminent Domain Reform — giving landowners attorney fee reimbursement when low-balled by condemning authorities by 20%. Though the bill passed the Senate, it’s been languishing for 6 weeks in Rep. Joe Deshotel’s House Committee — Land and Resource Management.  Deshotel’s hearing was an absolute travesty as a herd of lobbyists came to make scurrilous claims that the sky would fall if this bill passed. Deshotel demanded no evidence whatsoever in light of the fact that 25 states have similar laws. We are now officially on the warpath to get SB 474 out of the House Committee on Land and Resource Management. Please call Rep. Joe Deshotel at (512) 463-0662. Tell Joe to move the bill — no four letter words, please — but do tell him how you feel. House Bill 3298 : We have seen some good amendments of “Gridzilla”, Rep. Lyle Larson’s $2M study for conveyance and marketing of water to SA, Austin and DFW). BUT, we still have big objections to Gridzilla which does not yet include: Evaluation of conservation efforts by cities, industries and other users who will be getting water from the grid, to reduce their demand for water — we want to use conservation, first, to reduce demand. Evaluation of the long-term economic, environmental and social impacts of the communities whose water will used for the grid. Please call your Senator and tell her/him that we want Gridzilla amended to include conservation and impacts on so-called “donor” communities, or to slay Gridzilla! Find your Senator here . House Bill 2595 — Rep. Keffer & Sen. Fraser’s anti-petition rights bill . We brought together a rarely seen coalition of forces last minute to deep-six this horrible bill in the Senate Natural Resources & Economic Development Committee yesterday. If HB 2595 doesn’t die in committee, it’s pretty clear to us that there will be political consequences! Watch the testimony here, starting at 1:43:01 then here at the beginning . Keep after your Senators to bury HB 2595, just in case it comes out of committee. Find your Senators here . HOT OFF THE PRESS! We just received this request from our friends in Hays County: FRIENDS: IT IS TIME WE SEND A MESSAGE TO OUR STATE SENATORS AND I’VE MADE IT VERY EASY FOR YOU TO DO SO. We need to make sure OUR voices are heard and that our elected officials protect our LOCAL interests, not their special interests in other counties. Even though HB 3405 (as it was originally written) has an OVERWHELMING amount of support in Hays County, one Senator, from 350 miles away has attempted to amend this bill so that it no longer serves the purpose our representatives intended. This local bill was originally designed to protect private property owners rights and our groundwater using valid SCIENCE as opposed to fear mongering and emotion. Now, with Senator Perry’s amendments, it does no such thing. WE NEED TO MAKE SURE OUR VOICES ARE HEARD LOUD AND CLEAR. We must ensure that ONE Senator from Lubbock does not undermine legislation which is WIDELY supported in OUR county. Please fill out this online petition, then share it far and wide… Just follow this link: http://goo.gl/forms/UQPO8xVUKq

Just after you received yesterday’s email, we found out that the anti-petitioln rights bill (HB 2595) is having a hearing on Tuesday, anytime after 9 am . This video clip has then Sen. Dan Patrick standing up for the “grassroots” right to petition in 2009. (Austin real estate developer and whistle blower, Brian Rodgers, talks so fast, he had the bill sponsor, Jeff Wentworth, reeling.) Our conference call today had folks from all corners — tea party, greens, libertarians and government reformers — agreeing to work together to protect our petition rights ( NO on HB 2595 ), and putting a stop to the water grabs ( NO on HB 3298 ) and emiment domain abuse ( YES on SB 474 ). DO THIS PLEASE: Contact the “top dog” of the Senate, Lt. Governor Dan Patrick, anytime night or day, including this weekend at: LTGConstituent.Affairs@ltgov.state.tx.us or call his comment line at (512) 463-5342. Suggested message: “My name is ________ I live in _________. I’m asking you to kill House Bill 2595 to protect our petition rights, and to kill House Bill 3298 to protect our water rights. Conserve first, convey later.” Contact the Agriculture, Water & Rural Affairs Committee here to kill the water Gridzilla, HB 3298. Contact the Natural Resources Committee here to kill HB 2595 to protect your petition rights. Call your individual State Senator with the same message. They have voice mail at their individual offices in Austin. Find your State Senator here . Schedule for Monday and Tuesday at the CapitolCome join us, y’all! MONDAY: 10 am    Meet at the Capitol Grill, E1.1002. (Come in the main Capitol and ask for directions). We will get you fact sheets and update you, then set up teams to go visit legislators before these hearings begin. 2+ pm?  HB 3298 (Gridzilla) is on the Ag Committee Agenda but towards the end . Rm. E1.012. Come sign up against the bill at a kiosk or testify. We’ll help you. 2 pm – Support SB 474 for eminent domain reform. SB 474 Hearing notice . Rm. E2.016. Reach House members this committee and your own Texas house member. Come sign up for the bill at a kiosk or testify. We will help you. It’s already passed the Senate. TUESDAY: 9 am – Sign in against House Bill 2595 to protect your petition rights. Come testify! Rm. E1.012. Notice here. Spread the word — we may not agree on much, but on these things Texans are uniting! Got questions? Just ask. #HB2595 #HB3298

This legislative session ends on June 1. Until then, your land, water and even your right to petition, are up for grabs OR reform. Translation: It’s up to YOU, Texans! We need your help to set the bulldog loose on two bad bills (“Gridzilla” – HB 3298 & the anti-petition bill, HB 2595) & to PASS a GOOD bill on eminent domain – SB 474 by reaching the TOP DOG — Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick. More below. Here’s what you can do: Email or call Lt. Governor Dan Patrick by clicking here.   Note: Dan Patrick supports property and petition rights, just ask him to oppose HB 2595 (anti-petition rights), to oppose HB 3298 ( the statewide water “gridzilla” ) and to support SB 474 for eminent domain reform. Please, if at all possible, come to Austin on Monday before 2 pm hearings can begin on “Gridzilla” AND eminent domain reform.  Click these links for details on the bills & hearing info: for HB 3298 and here for SB 474. We will also visit Senate offices on HB 2595 to stop any notions of erasing our petition rights. Join the conference call tomorrow at 9 am sharp for one hour — here’s the number (530) 881-1000, PIN106940#. We will have new updates by then. If you can’t make the call email us, call us or send us or otherwise git along you little dogies and do some herding to get your friends and family to do the same. We were remiss in not congratulating Calvin Tillman on his election to the Aubrey City Council. Calvin is our most famous board member.! PS This is one of those rare, but historic moments, when all forces come together for the few things we agree on.