MALDEF, the Mexican-American Legal Defense and Education Fund, has released a statement in favor of AG Greg Abbott's terrible compromise maps. Remember, Abbott has not obtained the support of the NAACP, Wendy Davis, the Travis County Groups, or MALC.
MALDEF praises the maps, since they ensure more Hispanic districts, even though they do so at the potential expense of an African-American elected from Tarrant County, or the coalition of Hispanic, African-American, Anglo, and Asian liberals in Austin electing a Congressperson from our own community. Let's not forget that African-Americans had significant population growth in Texas as well. This is a short-sighted deal by MALDEF. By bargaining with Abbott for short-term gain and hurting other members of our coalition, MALDEF is creating unnecessary divisions between the plaintiffs, and potentially creating a long-term rift between Hispanic and African-American groups.
Abbott's maps are intended to help minimize Republican losses in 2012 and protect Republican incumbents. His real goal is to prevent a split primary, for fear that Tea Party voters would outnumber pro-business and moderate Republicans. The big-money backers of the Texas GOP are pushing for this settlement for their own best interests. It's shameful to see MALDEF going along with Abbott's chicanery rather than what is in the best interest of all Texans.
As long as more Republicans are elected, all Latinos will suffer in Texas.
Republicans pass restrictive Voter ID laws that disenfranchise Latinos more than any other group.
Republicans slash funding to education, pre-K, healthcare, Medicaid and Medicare, on which our Latino populations depend.
Republicans simply don't care about the poor here in Texas. Over 50% of Texans in poverty are Latino.
In dealing with the Republicans for short-term gains this cycle, MALDEF is denying everyone in Texas the chance for fair representation, and decreasing the odds that Democrats will win many more seats this cycle. They can't even keeping the Hispanic coalition together, since MALC refuses to support Abbott's plan. I know MALDEF is a non-partisan organization, but it seems they don't seem to realize any Democrat is better for Latinos in Texas than any Republican. By refusing to maximize Democratic gains in redistricting litigation, they're hurting everyone here in Texas.
The State Board of Education (SBOE) does not want to face the public, especially not the SBOE Chairwoman, Gail Lowe. Here's what happened:
The Mexican American Legislative Caucus, the Legislative Study Group, the House Black Caucus, and Senate Hispanic Caucus invited numerous SBOE and education officials to a hearing
SBOE Chairwoman Gail Lowe declined, saying she couldn't afford to make the trip
MALC made transportation arrangements, housing arrangements, and were going to pay for Lowe's gas to attend the short trip from Lampasas to Austin -- a commute that is hardly beyond the realm of possibility.
Lowe still refused to attend.
From the press release I received from MALC:
Initially citing the fact that her position as SBOE Chair was unpaid, Lowe declined to make the short trip from Lampasas to Austin. Even after receiving notification that MALC had made arrangements for a hotel, mileage reimbursement and per diem for meals; Lowe declined again— this time claiming a work commitment.
"To be turned down by Chairwoman Lowe is surprising and disappointing. I urge her to realize that over fifty members of the legislature are requesting her attendance at this very important hearing. We all have hectic lives and busy schedules, but she needs to make the time " said MALC Chairman Trey Martinez Fischer.
The hearing is scheduled for Wednesday, April 28 from 9am-3pm at the Capitol Extension E2.012
Cynthia Dunbar, another Republican on the SBOE, is under fire from the Texas Freedom Network for additionally controversial remarks she made over the weekend. From a post on the TFN Insider blog titled, "Dunbar Takes New Trip on Extremism Train":
Speaking last week on a far-right talk show, The American View, (read more about the show here) Dunbar — a Richmond Republican representing a state board district that stretches from west of Houston to Austin — attacked public education and even the religious faith of people who don’t agree with her. She also repeated her infamous attack on President Obama as a terrorist sympathizer. And as the state board prepares to take a final vote next month on social studies curriculum standards for public schools, Dunbar suggested that supporters of separation of church and state don’t understand the Constitution and that the drafters of the First Amendment had no concerns “whatsoever” for the nonreligious.
State Rep. Mike Villarreal is one of numerous legislators and groups urging Texans to take action and speak up about the State Board of Education. Sign a petition he has here.
During public testimony in the Election Committee, Republican Representative Betty Brown said something very interesting.
"Rather than everyone here having to learn Chinese - I understand it's a rather difficult language - do you think that it would behoove you and your citizens to adopt a name that we could deal with more readily here?"
Now the background.
Rep. Brown, a Republican, made it clear that nothing is sacred that gets in the way of Texas Republicans' extreme partisan agenda, asking a witness testifying on the problems the Republican Voter ID bill would create for Chinese-American Texans. That's when she said the above mention line.
According to the Texas Democratic Party, Rep. Brown then went on to put the onus on those who would be prevented from voting by the Republican Voter ID bill to figure out their own solution, saying to the aforementioned witness, "I see a need here for young people like you, who are obviously very bright, to come up with something that would work for you and then let us see if we can't make it work for us." While Rep. Brown later tried to back out of her statements, the damage was done.
The Texas Democratic Party is now asking for Rep. Brown to apologize.
"It's already shameful enough that the Republican Elections Committee members are trying to suppress the votes of countless Texans with their partisan Voter ID bill, and now Rep. Brown is adding insult to injury with her disrespectful comments," said Texas Democratic Party Chairman Boyd Richie. "We are calling on Rep. Betty Brown to apologize for her offensive and out-of-touch remarks."
The Asian American community is one of the fastest growing populations in Texas. If a law is going to disenfranchise a group of people, the solution cannot and should not be for a person to sacrifice their culture in order to have the right to vote.
As the Asian American Action Fund pointed clarified, "Texas has a rather substantial APA voting population, including a fair number of Republicans. Not to mention, current and previous elected officials including ex-Rep. Martha Wong and sitting Rep. Angie Chen Button."
AJ Durrani, President of the Asian American Democrats of Texas added to Chairman Richie's appeal. Durrani e-mailed the members of AADT saying:
Members of AADT,
On Wednesday April 8, during the Texas House of Representatives testimony on the Voter ID Bill, State Representative Betty Brown, R-Terrell, made shockingly intolerant and insensitive remarks about Asian Americans. An article from the Houston Chronicle.Com is provided below for details, as is a statement from Texas Democratic Party Chairman, Boyd Ritchie.
State Representative Betty Brown's racially insensitive remarks have no place in America, and she should immediately and unconditionally apologize for her remarks. Please contact State Representative Betty Brown about her unacceptable remarks and ask her to apologize immediately in a public forum.
Her email address is: [mailto:betty.brown@house.state.tx.us betty.brown@house.state.tx.us]
Her postal mail and fax addresses, and phone numbers are as follows:
Capitol Address
Room E1.404, Capitol Extension
Austin, TX 78701
(512) 463-0458
(512) 463-2040 Fax
District Address
108 S. Pinkerton, Suite 105
Athens, TX 75751
(903) 675-9500
(903) 677-6773 Fax
This is the Republican solution to the many problems with Voter Suppression legislation. If you are negatively effected by this ill conceived and unnecessary law, you should make sacrifices. If you are unwilling to sacrifice your job, your culture, your marriage, or anything else that may prevent you from voting, then you didn't want to vote bad enough.
Maybe that is why former Texas Republican Party Political Director Royal Masset estimated that a photo ID requirement would reduce Democratic turnout in Texas by 3%.
Mexican American Legislative Caucus chairman, and recent blog newcomer, Trey Martinez-Fischer has found a way to bring some levity to the situation. Once you get done asking for Rep. Brown to apologize, you can at least find out what your new name can be here. Let me introduce you to Elise Hughes KVUE's new political reporter. She may look familiar. Sort of like Jennifer Kim.
Update: Thanks to a friend on facebook, we now have the entire question and answer period between Ramey Ko and Rep. Betty Brown. There a couple really great points and our friend Ramey does a great job testifying.
The word substantial means a lot more to bloggers and citizen journalism.
Today House Bill (HB) 670, simply referred to as the Texas shield law, passed to engrossment.
The bill analysis for HB 670 describes the need and function of the bill.
Thirty-six other states and the District of Columbia have statutes relating to the free flow of information and the right of a journalist to gather and communicate the news. Under current Texas law, a journalist has no assurance that a whistleblower's identity or information may be kept confidential without the journalist's risk of imprisonment. A whistleblower may hesitate to come forward to discuss matters of public concern because of fear of retribution. If a journalist cannot guarantee confidentiality, a whistleblower may not provide information to a reporter and, ultimately, to the public about matters of public concern.
C.S.H.B. 670 creates a qualified privilege and provides for a balancing test for compelled disclosure of confidential and non-confidential information and sources by a journalist. The test would be applied by a judge rather than by the subpoenaing party or by the journalist.
The most important part of this bill for bloggers is the definition of journalist.
"Journalist" means a person, including a parent, subsidiary, division, or affiliate of a person, who for a substantial portion of the person's livelihood or for substantial financial gain, gathers, compiles, prepares, collects, photographs, records, writes, edits, reports, investigates, processes, or publishes news or information that is disseminated by a news medium or communication service provider and includes... (emphasis added)
After contacting Rep. Trey Martinez-Fischer, author of the bill and chairman of the Mexican American Legislative Caucus (MALC) the reason for the definition becomes clear.
"One of the compromises that inevitably needed to be made in order to get HB670 to pass was in regard to online communication and blogging. Bloggers affiliated with news organizations (like Elise Hu and KVUE) would be covered under HB670 as would journalists as defined as those who derive a 'substantial portion of the person's livelihood [from journalism or other news reporting].' So basically, someone like me who has a blog (albeit, an awesome blog) wouldn't be covered under HB670."
As a quick aside, Rep. Martinez-Fischer and his office were quick to get back with me and were more than helpful to take time out of their busy to respond.
In pushing further, a blog or citizen journalist could be covered by this shield law if the site and staff were being paid and making a larger portion of their living off the website. The only national comparisons I can think of would be Raw Story, DailyKos, Firedoglake, and Open Left.
Clearly, Burnt Orange Report is not in that classification yet, but we could be, and if that happens, we would be covered.
That shows the strengths of this bill.
It is not totally inclusive, thus creating a bill that is too broad and inclusive. However, the bill will not need to be amended if the future of journalism includes ad based, citizen journalism.
With the future of print and traditional news unclear, Rep. Martinez-Fischer wrote a bill that is sufficient to today's journalism but also open for the journalism of tomorrow.
The Mexican American Legislative Caucus (MALC) elected its officers today.
MALC is one of the largest non-partisan caucus in the state legislature. It was recently chaired by Rep. Pete Gallego (D-Alpine), but today the members elected new leadership.
Trey Martinez Fischer, the former vice-chair, will take the helm as Chairman. Abel Herrero, former Legal Counsel is the new Vice Chairman. Newly elected State House member Diana Maldonado will serve as Secretary. Solomon Ortiz Jr. was elected as Treasurer and Veronica Gonzales will become the new Legal Counsel.
Ortiz stated in a press release, "It is an honor to serve my colleagues in a leadership role as MALC Treasurer. MALC has shown time and again that is a force to be reckoned with legislatively and an important advocate for the Hispanic community and all Texans."
MALC was founded in 1973, it is a non-profit, non-partisan organization composed of over 40 members of the Texas House of Representatives committed to addressing the issues that Latinos face across the state of Texas.
Rep. Gallego is currently running for Speaker of the Texas House and for disclosure purposes employed me during the 80th Session.
In 2007 two major bills hit the floor of the House and Senate. House Bills 626 and 218 would have instituted a modern day poll tax and restricted the rights for Texas citizens to have a say in who represents them.
Leadership from the Mexican American Legislative Caucus (MALC) in the House and Mario Gallegos in the Senate defeated these Republican bills. And not surprisingly, a new study shows that legislation like this has had a dramatic impact on voting.
"It is incredibly clear how voter I.D. requirements disproportionately affect and suppress minorities," said Logan, professor of sociology. "This data shows that if voter I.D. policies had not been in place in 2004, voter turnout would have increased by more than 1.6 million...
There's not much more that needs to be said. The Republican continue to want as few people in the process as possible. They use fear tactics to sell it to the most racist of Texans and Americans, and put bad public policy ahead of positive solutions. As long as the House is lead by Tom Craddick and his cronies, racism, hate, and fear will dominate the public discourse.
Susan Criss continues to become a more and more interesting candidate. In a piece reprinted over at Edinburg Politics, the Criss family has a legacy of protecting workers rights and promoting civil rights.
District Judge Susan Criss of Galveston, a Democratic Party candidate for Texas Supreme Court, says a series of laws passed by the Texas Legislature in the 1980s help free Texas farm workers from "slavery." She credited her father, former Rep. Lloyd Criss, D-Galveston, Sen. Juan "Chuy" Hinojosa, D-McAllen, and former Rep. Alex Moreno, Jr., D-Edinburg, among others, for what she says was "landmark civil rights" legislation in Texas.
Lloyd Criss, Jr., was once the chair of the House Committee on Labor and Employment Relations and worked with the Mexican American Legislative Caucus (MALC) "to protect tens of thousands of Texas farm workers from economic exploitation, health hazards, stoop labor, and even poisoning."
"It is hard to believe, but it is true - farm workers, mostly Mexican Americans, were denied the basic protections that everyone else had back then because they had no political power, no one to fight for them," said Judge Susan Criss. She has served for almost a decade as the judge of the 212th District Court in Galveston County.
"It is astonishing to realize that for all practical purposes, slavery still existed in Texas as late as the 1980s," Judge Susan Criss said. "I am so proud that my father was able to play a key role in helping bring justice to thousands of our fellow Texans."
According to the Texas Insider, eventually, Lloyd Criss, Jr. also fought for a law that now requires that outdoor toilets for men and women be provided for farm workers at their work sites, Judge Susan Criss said. Lloyd Criss, Jr. also carried the legislation that provided unemployment insurance for farm workers, a goal that had been sought for about 50 years. That measure was so significant that César Estrada Chávez, the co-founder of the United Farmworkers of America and a national civil rights activist, came to Austin to support the Criss legislation.
Texas Democratic candidates each have their unique stories. It isn't often we get to share in such candor in a statewide race.
