Voted to Keep Dangerous Amendment Infringing on Water Rights: House of Bad Cards

Republican Senator Charles Perry brought forward SB 1253, which incentivized water conservation and reuse initiatives by providing credits against water and wastewater impact fees for builders and developers.

Water is a big issue in Texas. East Texas is alarmed at the attempts to divert water from wells and aquifers to large urban areas.

After passing the Senate, it made it to the floor of the House.

Rep. Cody Harris was in the Speaker's chair, and Rep. Ramon Romero offered Amendment No. 1. His amendment passed.

Rep. Carrie Isaac entered a statement in the House journal after passage of the amendment. If water rights matter to you, then you should read her statement. Here's a brief clip:

"Amendment No. 1 to SB 1253 was rammed into legislation during third reading without debate or discussion, without public notice, and without any reference to the Hays Trinity Groundwater Conservation District (HTGCD) in the underlying bill text or in statements on the house floor. This is a clear violation of the house's long-standing rules on germaneness, and it is a slap in the face to every Texan who expects transparency and representation in their government. It clearly violates the tradition of the house to allow members to represent their districts by not filing bills or amendments that solely affect another member's district. I would have voted no on this amendment if the language and intent had been properly presented to the house. This amendment is not about conservation. It is about control, and it is the product of a carefully orchestrated campaign driven by special interests, political opportunism, and cronyism, not by the will of the people of House District 73 or Hays County."

She then asserts that the amendment does the following:

Authorizes a "connection fee" of up to $1,000 per water line.
Imposes massive new groundwater production fees, with automatic 5 percent annual increases in perpetuity.
Allows metering of private wells, including those used for agriculture.
Allows HTGCD staff to enter private property without landowner consent.

Given that, she has every right to be angry. Her constituents should also be angry.

Rep. Isaac moved to have the amendment reconsidered - and for good reason.

The reconsideration vote failed.

Just as Rep. Isaac initially voted for the amendment without understanding the ramifications because the amendment was evidently not presented as it should have been by the chair, the circumstances make a vote for the amendment understandable. But there is no excuse for getting the reconsideration vote wrong. Too many Republicans voted against reconsideration.

If yours is a representative who tells you that they "fight" for water rights but voted against this reconsideration (including the chair who allowed it), it's worth wondering whether they are serious.

By the way, Rep. Romero represents one of those large urban areas - Tarrant County.

GOP Platform Conflict: Plank 11 protects property rights; Principle 1 upholds constitutional protections.

RV#3184: Yea 57 (R 56, D 1) - Nay 73 (R 18, D 55)
View Source

Yea - Alders; Bell, C.; Bumgarner; Cain; Canales; Cook; Cunningham; DeAyala; Dorazio; Dyson; Frank; Gates; Gerdes; Guillen; Harris Davila; Harrison; Hayes; Hefner; Holt; Hopper; Hull; Isaac; Kerwin; LaHood; Little; Lopez, J.; Louderback; Lowe; Lujan; Luther; McLaughlin; Metcalf; Meyer; Money; Morgan; Noble; Olcott; Oliverson; Orr; Patterson; Paul; Pierson; Richardson; Schatzline; Schofield; Shaheen; Shofner; Slawson; Smithee; Spiller; Swanson; Tepper; Tinderholt; Toth; Troxclair; Vasut; Virdell

Nay - Allen; Anchia; Ashby; Barry; Bell, K.; Bernal; Bhojani; Bowers; Bryant; Bucy; Button; Campos; Capriglione; Cole; Collier; Cortez; Darby; Davis, A.; Davis, Y.; Dean; Dutton; Flores; Gamez; Garcia Hernandez; Garcia, J.; Garcia, L.; Geren; Gonzalez, J.; Gonzalez, M.; Goodwin; Guerra; Harless; Hernandez; Hinojosa; Howard; Johnson; Jones, J.; King; Kitzman; Lalani; Lambert; Landgraf; Longoria; Lozano; McQueeney; Meza; Moody; Morales Shaw; Morales, C.; Morales, E.; Munoz; Ordaz; Perez, M.; Perez, V.; Plesa; Raymond; Reynolds; Rodriguez Ramos; Romero; Rose; Rosenthal; Simmons; Talarico; Thompson; Turner; VanDeaver; Vo; Walle; Ward Johnson; Wharton; Wilson; Wu; Zweiner

Absent - Bonnen; Craddick; Curry; Fairly; Hickland; Leach; Lopez, R.; Manuel; Martinez; Martinez Fischer; Phelan; Villalobos

Present, Not Voting - Burrows; Harris

Please note: the following statements by legislators do not affect the vote count that was recorded.

Gio Capriglione: "When Record No. 3184 was taken, I was shown voting no. I intended to vote yes." (view other statements of vote for this Rep)

Terri Leo Wilson: "When Record No. 3184 was taken, I was excused to attend a meeting of the Committee on Public Education. I would have voted yes." (view other statements of vote for this Rep)

J. M. Lozano: "When Record No. 3184 was taken, I was shown voting no. I intended to vote yes." (view other statements of vote for this Rep)

Christian Manuel: "When Record No. 3184 was taken, I was in the house but away from my desk. I would have voted yes." (view other statements of vote for this Rep)

Pat Curry: "When Record No. 3184 was taken, I was in the house but away from my desk. I would have voted yes." (view other statements of vote for this Rep)

Terry Wilson: "When Record No. 3184 was taken, I was shown voting no. I intended to vote yes." (view other statements of vote for this Rep)