All 63 House Democrats United on Ethics Reform Bill

[crispini]

YEAH!

Via email.

AUSTIN – Texas House Democrats today announced their unanimous support for House Bill 1348, the Ethics Reform legislation designed to strengthen election laws and prevent future use of corporate money in Texas campaigns.

“Just about every day for the past year I have opened up the paper and read article after article about alleged ethical violations and the abuse of power,” said State Rep. Jim Dunnam, House Democratic Leader. "Today, the House Democrats are sending a strong and united message to the people of Texas; we are 100 percent united in supporting ethics reform."

Had this bill been passed in 2001, Congressman Tom DeLay might have thought twice before using illegal corporate money to win house seats for candidates who would, once in office, vote for his ultra-partisan, mid-decade redistricting scheme that violated the voting rights of millions of Texans.

"Texans want to believe in the integrity of their state government, and with this bill, we can take an important step to restore the integrity that Tom DeLay and others have damaged in recent years," said State Rep. Garnet Coleman, Chairman of the Texas Legislative Black Caucus and the Legislative Study Group.

In the wake of the recent scandals, Democrats have united to aggressively support effective ethics reform. House Bill 1348 will strengthen language prohibiting corporate and union money from being spent to win elections. The bill will also regulate last minute attack ads produced by shadowy unregulated groups who do not file reports with state or federal authorities. Had this bill been enacted last session, the Governor's own campaign consultant could not have run the sleazy, attack ads against our fellow State Representative, Tommy Merritt (R-Longview). The voters never had the opportunity to learn who paid for those misleading ads, which were based on half-truths.

“Many candidates have been the victim of outside groups swooping in at the last minute with false or misleading attack ads,” said State Rep. Pete P. Gallego, Chairman of the Mexican American Legislative Caucus. “These organizations have been known to use corporate funds and never report their sources of money, all the while claiming exemption from the law. This bill insures that no one is above the law.”

House Bill 1348 has bipartisan support, with 30 Republicans signed on as cosponsors as well as the 63 House Democrats (the entire House Democratic delegation). The bill was authored by Democrat Craig Eiland from Galveston and joint authored by Rep. Todd Smith, Republican from Bedford, and Democrat Rafael Anchia from Dallas who is working to get the bill out of a House Elections subcommittee.

“Important ethical issues have been raised in Texas recently that have brought us national and statewide media attention,” said Dunnam. “This legislation will not stop unethical elected officials from taking advantage of the system, but it greatly improves current ethics laws and will help us restore the most essential value of democracy, the trust of the electorate.”

From the Texas House Democratic Campaign Committee.

http://www.texashdcc.com/

[sonias]

1. Great news on the support however...

The bill is stuck on committee with time running out. Here's a good link to a Houston Chronicle article linked from Clean Up Texas Politics.
Craddick is playing a dumb ass and saying he had no idea how many sponsors bill had. Mary Denny in elections saying bills will get heard in order they were submitted and doesn't see it getting a committee vote until week after next maybe.

http://www.cleanuptexaspolitics.com/node/view/542
Dems Urge Hearing on Election Reform
Even though 93 co-authors signed on, without a push from House speaker, it may die.
Craddick acknowledged that when elected speaker in 2003 he promised that he would not bottle up legislation that had broad support in committee. But Craddick said he did not know how many members had signed on in support of the legislation.

"I didn't even know how many co-sponsors there were to the bill. Rather than having a press conference they ought to have said something to us," he said.

So all those hundreds of faxes to your office Craddick didn't give you a clue huh?

Sonia