Not Conservative Enough

To the Editor:

As of today, there are seven days remaining for the 87th legislative session.

Our State Representative Ben Leman wrote in his most recent Legislative Update: “There is no doubt this has been one of, if not THE most conservative legislative session in the history of Texas.”

I believe there is much doubt about the ‘conservatism’ of the 87th legislative session. I think he is a very nice person and probably means well but he is obviously self-deceived. He seems to have been successful in presenting his own conservative bills.

The Texas House of Representatives was shut down or was gaveled “recessed” by Speaker Phelan, “until Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m.” Several bills that should have been assigned to a House Committee were killed because of this recess. Why was this recess called? Because a ‘Criminal Justice Caucus agenda’ was more important than protecting children who are experiencing skyrocketing rates of mental health issues and suicide. This action tells me criminals are more important than our children to these legislators.

Is SB 1311 dead? For those who do not know what this bill is, it’s about protecting children from doctors who would assign puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and perform surgery on them to approximate a ‘preferred’ sex. According to ‘experts,’ the human brain does not reach adulthood and/or maturity until 25 years of age and therefore, children are not capable of making a decision to change their gender. Children, by definition, have not reached the age of 25. For an adult (presumably over the age of 25) to make this decision for them is abusive and criminal

Other than the Heartbeat Bill, (SB 8), none of the bills Leman listed in his update included the priorities of his Republican Party or constituents I know. I can’t answer for his Democrat constituents—they may be content with his assessment.

As a result of the recess, most of the election integrity bills submitted, which is a conservative issue for both Rep and Dems, are dead. Also, taxpayer funded lobbying, SB 10, a conservative sponsored bill, has been altered to the extent that it may be more favorable to the lobbyists instead of limiting them.

I consider myself pretty conservative and all things considered, I’m not buying the assessment that, “This has been the most conservative legislative session in the history of Texas.”

Cindy Rodibaugh

Flatonia