Bay Area Houston

He needs to own it tonight at the forum.

Hopefully the moderator of tonight’s forum will press Scott Bowen on his support of the school voucher bill. Last year Bowen authored a resolution for the State Republic Party in support of vouchers and calling for Greg Abbott to declare it an emergency bill requiring quick passage. (He was caught on video) That resolution was not unanimous. A number of delegates were vocal about Bowen changing the resolution to better suck up to the Governor but it passed anyway. Last night Scott’s wet dream, the voucher bill, passed the House and is one step closer becoming law.

During the hours and hours of testimony were many experts in the field testifying against the voucher bill. Even Republican office holders associated with the Texas Republic Party spoke out against vouchers! The only ones who spoke in favor of vouchers were those who would benefit from the bill including Catholic schools, private schools, and home schoolers. And Scott Bowen.

As reported earlier our State Representative Dennis Paul has been flooded with calls against the voucher bill. He voted for the bill anyway ignoring his constituents and siding with Scott Bowen.

Hopefully the voters in CCISD will reward Bowen and remove him from the Board.

It’s not even close. 71% against.

Our local representative, Dennis Paul, has received thousands of calls against his voucher bill. Just a week ago his office refused to say whether they were tracking the score, for or against, the Welfare for the Wealthy bill. They claimed it was not subject to the Open Records Act. That’s not true. No one was asking for personal information such as the name of the caller or their phone number. We were just interested in how his district felt about his voucher bill. They continued to refuse to provide this information.

Well, there are ways to find information. 71% of callers are against his voucher bill. 71% of his constituents who live in a gerrymandered district are against his voucher bill. This district is so gerrymandered that Paul can win his seat by 17 points by just putting his name on the ballot and he has, multiple times. This means even his republican base are against vouchers.

But Paul is going to vote for giving $10,000 or your tax dollars to some elite Catholic families who only pay $1000 in school taxes. And then he will retire with a nice tax payer funded pension and free healthcare for him and his family. Praise the Lord. Even Paul’s church, Saint Bernadettes will be praising the Lord and welcoming the welfare.

You can add your name to the list by calling his office at 512-463-0734. It’s Sunday. Go to church.

This is NOT satire. Seriously.

Texas State Representative Stan Gerdes, a republican with the full backing of Governor Abbott, has filed a House Bill 4814 banning animal role playing by kids in schools. (This is NOT satire) Gerdes claims this bill was a result of a complaint confirmed by the Superintendent of Smithville Independent School District. SISD has 5 schools, including 1 high school. They have a total of 1770 students and 122 teachers. The SISD is what we call “rural” like in farmers and lots of white people in Bastrop County. Many would consider this district to be in “Bum f*** Egypt”.

The bill will prohibit dress up by kids in animal costumes, role playing, and even having cat litter available. Seriously. According to his press release “I filed HB 4814, the FURRIES Act (Forbidding Unlawful Representation of Roleplaying in Educational Spaces) to ensure that public schools are not accommodating or allowing disruptive “furry” roleplaying behavior.” His press release is below. His bill, HB4814, can be found here. It has no co-sponsors or chance for a hearing.

According to the Houston Chronicle this stupidity was debunked in early 2024 but not after it caused considerable chaos including bomb threats and threats against school districts. Even the farmers in the area were taken back by this bill. “What I do in the privacy of my barn is none of your g**damn business.” said one farmer who wanted to remain anonymous. (Ok. That sentence was satire)

The bill has the full support of CCISD Trustee Scott Bowen.

(Ok. That was satire too.)

The Public Education Committee in the Texas House has scheduled a hearing on School Vouchers Tuesday March 11. You can, and should, submit comments to the bill on the House Comment Webpage. Submit your name, address, the bill you are commenting on (HB 3 by Buckley) You are limited to 3000 characters.

My personal issue with this bill besides cutting funding to Public Schools, is that this bill will give parents 10 times more money than what they contribute to public education. If you pay $1000 in school taxes the State will give you $9000 more, all paid for with your tax dollars. This is nothing more than Welfare for the Wealthy.