COMMISSIONER MILLER ASKS GOVERNOR TO ADD PRIORITIES FOR SESSION (7/12/2021)

(AUSTIN)  Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller has sent an official letter to Governor Greg Abbott asking him to expand the call for the legislative special session underway at the state capitol.  To bring the legislators back to Austin for a special session, the Governor must provide a list of issues that the House and Senate can work on. Currently, that list includes voting reform, funding for the legislature, and a few others.  Commissioner Miller has asked Abbott to add to that list four additional topics, including a ban against gender changes for minors, property tax reform, an end to taxpayer funded lobbyists and school choice. 

“The Governor sets the task list for the legislature in a special session,” Miller said, “and these issues are critical for the future of Texas and Texas families.  He’s done a good job on the issues currently on the call, but he needs to provide the kind of leadership Texans expect.  We can’t wait another two years before the next legislative session on these important issues.”

The text of the entire letter is included below:

The Honorable Greg Abbott

Governor of Texas

PO Box 12428

Austin, Texas 78711

Governor Abbott:

I am writing to congratulate you on the issues you added to the call for the legislative special session that began today. As you know, I firmly believe that election integrity, voting reform and the other issues are critical to the future of our state and our democracy and must be acted upon quickly.

However, I am also writing to highlight several key issues missing from the call, that I strongly urge you to add to as they were overlooked during the past legislative session.

First, would be to specify including the limitation of property tax increases into our Texas Constitution to ensure that property taxes could not raise more than three percent annually and that no future legislature could change this without a vote of the people.

Second is the issue of a gender mutilation ban for minors. As you know, House Bill 1399 by Rep. Krause finally made it on the House Calendar but died there at the end of session. This bill, and this issue, is a bellwether for families across our state and our nation. If Texas cannot pass a bill that prevents the gender mutilation or reassignment of children, then that will send a signal across the country that traditional family values have no defender. Texas is the last bastion for common-sense, family value protections and I encourage you to lead on this issue. Failure to add this to the call for this special session is a failure to stand up for Texas families.

Third, Texas must stand up against taxpayer funding of lobbyists. When a governmental entity uses taxpayer money to pay for lobbyists to lobby legislators in Austin, sometimes on behalf of issues for which there is no consensus within the constituency of that governmental entity, is just plain wrong. Taxpayers expect their money to be used for roads, public safety, and other services, not to promote some issue or legislation they may not support. If a governmental entity has an agenda to push before the legislature, let them find another source of money other than their taxpayers.

Finally given the fact that it is has now been revealed that national teacher’s unions are driving controversies such as critical race theory and forcing the acceptance of “gender reassignment” on young minds, Texas must have school choice in order to allow Texas parents the right to decide who educates their children and how.

Governor, again I look forward to your strong leadership on the issues now before legislators for this special session. I hope you will continue to lead by adding these four vital issues to your Special Session call.

Sincerely,

[signed] Sid Miller

Texas Agriculture Commissioner

The letter can be downloaded as a PDF here: