What was in my "Inbox" this morning:
--- On Fri, 5/22/09, W. Scott Lewis <
[email protected]> wrote:
From: W. Scott Lewis <
[email protected]>
Subject: Texas Senate Bill 1164 (Clarifications and a Final Update)
Date: Friday, May 22, 2009, 1:09 AM
Attention Texas Supporters of Concealed Carry on Campus:
Thank you for bearing with us yesterday as we sent out more SB 1164 updates than most people could keep up with. As you probably noticed, the updates were put out in such rapid succession and passed through so many hands (NRA to TSRA to SCCC to me to you) that some of the notices picked up errors along the way (i.e., incorrect bill numbers), and some of the notices contained information that quickly became useless (i.e., some phone lines became so jammed that it soon became pointless to try to call those numbers). We were all doing our best to keep you updated on the latest twists and turns in this rapidly developing situation, and that, unfortunately, came at the cost of a little confusion and a lot of full inboxes. Now that the confusion has cleared, I want to update you on exactly where we stand.
As you probably know by now, Texas Senate Bill 1164, better known as the “guns on campus,” “campus carry,” or “concealed carry on campus” bill, was passed by the Texas Senate Wednesday afternoon. The bill now has until 11:59 PM Saturday to be scheduled for a floor vote in the Texas House and until 11:59 PM Tuesday to receive a preliminary vote in the Texas House.
Just prior to adjournment yesterday (Thursday, May 21, 2009), the bill received its first reading (a formality) in the Texas House of Representatives and was assigned to the House Committee on Public Safety. According to Rule 4, Section 11(a) of the “Rules and Precedents of the Texas House,” the Public Safety Committee is not required to hold a public hearing on SB 1164 because they already held a public hearing on House Bill 1893, which was “substantially the same” as SB 1164. That means that the Public Safety Committee could vote on SB 1164 in an informal meeting as early as this morning (Friday, May 22). The Public Safety Committee can report favorably or unfavorably on the bill, but because they previously voted favorably on HB 1893, they’re expected to vote favorably on SB 1164 (more on this below).
If the Public Safety Committee reports favorably on the bill, that report will go to the House Committee on Calendars. It’s then up to the Calendars Committee to schedule the bill for a vote by the full House of Representatives. This is the most crucial step of the process. As previously stated, the deadline to schedule bills for a floor vote by the full Houses is 11:59 PM this coming Saturday. If the Calendars Committee doesn’t schedule SB 1164 for a vote before that deadline, the bill dies. And that’s not the only way the Calendars Committee could kill the bill. They could also place SB 1164 so far down the House calendar that there is no possible way the House will reach it by 11:59 PM this coming Tuesday, which is the deadline for bills to receive the first of two required votes in the House.
The only way to be certain that the House will reach SB 1164 before the Tuesday deadline is for the Calendars Committee to place SB 1164 on the House MAJOR calendar, rather than the House general calendar. Bills on the major calendar are always voted on first. This means that we need to vigorously and persistently push the members of the Texas House Committee on Calendars to place Senate Bill 1164 on the House MAJOR calendar AS SOON AS IT GETS TO THEM.
For the reasons mentioned above, the members of the Calendars Committee should be the first legislators you contact (starting with Committee Chair Brian McCall of Plano).
THE TEXAS HOUSE COMMITTEE ON CALENDARS (firmly but politely push these members to place Senate Bill 1164 on the House MAJOR calendar AS SOON AS IT GETS TO THEM):
http://www.house.state.tx.us/committees/list81/050.htm (click on a Representative’s name or photo to view his or her contact info).
After contacting the members of the Calendars Committee, you should call the three members of the Public Safety Committee who have indicated that they’re not entirely sure how they’ll vote on SB 1164. The fact that the Public Safety Committee passed HB 1893 is no guarantee that it will pass SB 1164. The vote on HB 1893 was close, and our opponents are focusing on these members of the Public Safety Committee, in an effort to kill the bill before it ever reaches the Calendars Committee.
MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY WHOM YOU SHOULD CONTACT:
Rep. Tryon D. Lewis -
http://www.house.state.tx.us/members/dist81/lewis.php
Rep. Phil King -
http://www.house.state.tx.us/members/dist61/king.php
Rep. Hubert Vo -
http://www.house.state.tx.us/members/dist149/vo.php
Finally, if none of the Representatives mentioned above represent your district, you should also contact YOUR State Representative:
http://www.congress.org/congressorg/officials/congress/
When you contact your State Representative, be sure to mention that you live in his or her district. When it comes to controversial bills like this, legislators hear from voters from all over the state, so you want to make sure and let your Representative know that you’re actually one of his or her constituents. The opinions of constituents always carry a lot more weight with legislators.
Also, when talking to any legislator about this issue, be sure and mention if you happen to be a college student, a college professor, a college employee, or a parent of a college student (or soon-to-be college student). The opinions of people personally affected by bills typically carry a little more weight with legislators.
The links above contain the phone and fax numbers for both the Representative’s Capitol offices and their district offices. Unless you live in a Representative’s district, you should try contacting his or her Capitol office first. The links also contain forms for emailing the legislators. Emails to legislators are often dismissed as less significant than phone calls and faxes or not read at all, so email should only be used if you can’t reach a Representative’s office by phone or fax or if you want to supplement your call or fax to the Representative.
Thanks again for all you’re support and hard work. We’re almost to the finish line, so don’t let up now!
Sincerely,
W. Scott Lewis
Former National Media Coordinator for Students for Concealed Carry on Campus (SCCC)
PS. As always, anyone who is unfamiliar with or unsure about this issue can review the "Students for Concealed Carry on Campus Handbook: Texas Edition" here:
http://www.StudentsForConcealedCarryOnCampus.com (PDF version)
http://www.scribd.com/doc/11922308/SCCC-Handbook-Texas-Edition (Flash version)
