HB3 – recently filed in the Texas House by Representative Dustin Burrows is being promoted as a limitation on the executive powers that Texans have been exposed to since last March. 
Texans have been under draconian restrictions for a year now, under the guise of protecting the public from a virus that is 99% survivable for most people. Businesses have been closed (many permanently), people have lost jobs and livelihoods, isolation has had a devastating effect on the entire population, and school children are glued to computer screens instead of interacting with teachers and other students. The unconstitutional mask mandates have had no effect on controlling the spread of the virus, as indicated by the increased number of cases since imposing the mask mandates. Where will it stop?
Texans have been protesting and screaming about the executive overreach for months, with no relief because the legislature has not been in session, and the Governor refused to call a special session. We have been left with ZERO alternatives except peaceful non-compliance.
Now along comes HB3, promoted as a limitation on executive powers, but instead it is a Trojan Horse full of language that gives “pandemic” its own place in the law, and codifies all the things that freedom loving citizens have been protesting all along.
Governors should never have this kind of power over citizens, even in emergency situations. The legislature must be involved, and we expect our legislators to stand up for the Texas Constitution and the US Constitution to protect citizens against executive overreach.
True Texas Project is urging all our grassroots followers to contact their own Texas House Representative, and tell them that Texans want nothing to do with this legislation. Instead, we expect them to pass legislation that will ensure that we will not see a repeat of 2020 by a future governor. The Texas Constitution needs to be protected and upheld, and Texans need to be protected from over zealous state and local government tyrants.
Here are some talking points to share with your Representative and reasons to oppose the legislation:
- HB3 Doubles down on the governor’s executive orders by putting into law what has already been done under “emergency” orders, which we believe are unconstitutional
- HB3 Gives federal government more power by mandating that Texas businesses comply with orders from CDC, an organization which is highly political and controlled by Washington DC.
- HB3 Is opposed by the RPT Legislative Priorities Committee, even though curbing executive powers is one of their priorities.
- HB3 Calls for “pandemic disasters” to last only 30 days but allows the governor to renew indefinitely until the legislature intervenes. However – if the legislature is not in session, there will be no intervention because only the Governor can call a special session. (the exact situation we have been protesting for the past 12 months). HB3 does nothing to address this situation when the Legislature is not in session, and the Governor is left unchecked.
- HB3 Requires in the business liability section that businesses comply with “federal, state, and local laws, rules, ordinances, declarations, and proclamations”, which puts them at the mercy of federal regulators and local government tyrants.
- HB3 Increases the governor’s strength to file executive orders rather than curbing executive powers.
- HB3 Addresses only pandemics – no revision for other types of disasters, which could bring about similar executive over reach.
Some will tell us that there are good things in there – things like 2nd Amendment protections, protections for houses of worship, protection against closures by local authorities and liability protections. But those are not reason enough to accept all the flaws of this bill. Those good things can be addressed in other bills, and indeed – many other bills have already been filed regarding those issues.
Please burn up the phone lines, the email, and make the US Postal Service work overtime! There are good bills out there that would protect the rights of Citizens, uphold the constitution, and prevent this from happening in the future. Let’s get behind the good ones, and send this bad bill to the legislative trash can.
Find your representative here.
Then click on your representative’s name, and you will see their personal page with contact information.
For Texas Liberty!
Fran Rhodes, President