Gun Legislation Moving in the Senate

• “Open carry” and “campus carry” bills are heading to the Senate Floor for debate after passing out of the Senate State Affairs Committee by a 7-2 vote.

House Committee Hearings Underway

• Rep. Schaefer is serving his 2nd session on the Defense and Veterans’ Affairs Committee, and his first on the Urban Affairs Committee. He is also an active participant in the Appropriations Sub-committee dealing with border security funding.
• Committees have oversight of the many state agencies, and committee work has begun by taking testimony and directing questions to agency representatives.

Gov. Abbott’s State of the State Address

• Last week Gov. Abbott defined his 5 emergency items for this session as early education, higher education research initiatives, transportation, border security, and ethics reform.

Texas Should Export Oil

• Rep. Schaefer joined in a resolution that will encourage the Federal Government to once again allow the international exportation of crude oil.
• The United States is the largest exporter of refined petroleum products, and the economy would benefit even more substantially from the export of both crude oil and refined petroleum products.

Matt’s Assessment:

I am deeply saddened by the direction our Supreme Court is headed when it comes to redefining marriage. We had hoped that the marriage issue would be left to the States to determine, but it looks like the Supreme Court is going to trample State’s rights on this issue. But marriage is worth fighting for! Not only has marriage between one man and one woman been proven by thousands of years of human history to be the ideal family unit, but it is also the model that was instituted by God.  There are some elected officials in Austin who are ready and willing to fight, and I am among them.  We cannot acquiesce to an absurd and misguided interpretation of the Constitution.  We ask for your prayers and for God’s wisdom as we determine how to respond to the impending Supreme Court decision.  I leave you with a quote from the U.S. Supreme Court, Murphy v. Ramsey, decision on marriage in 1885:

For certainly no legislation can be supposed more wholesome and necessary in the founding of a free, self-governing commonwealth, fit to take rank as one of the coordinate states of the Union, than that which seeks to establish it on the basis of the idea of the family, as consisting in and springing from the union for life of one man and one woman in the holy estate of matrimony; the sure foundation of all that is stable and noble in our civilization; the best guarantee of that reverent morality which is the source of all beneficent progress in social and political improvement.

 

Matt Schaefer

Texas State Representative, District 6

Supreme Court Likely to Rule Against Texas on Same-Sex Marriage

• The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments in April, and will likely rule in late June, regarding whether states like Texas must recognize same-sex marriage. Most legal scholars believe the Supreme Court will rule against the Texas Constitutional provision, which protects traditional biblical marriage.
• Alabama’s constitutional provision defining marriage as being between one man and one woman was recently ruled unconstitutional by a federal district court judge, and the U.S. Supreme Court let the ruling stand rather than maintaining the status quo until final appeals where heard.
• A confusing legal situation developed in Alabama when many county officials refused to issue same-sex marriage licenses under the advice and direction of Chief Justice Roy Moore of the Alabama Supreme Court. A federal court subsequently ruled that the county officials had to issue the licenses to same-sex couples.

Experts Needed for Career and Technology Education, Not “Edeaucrats”

• Rep. Schaefer filed HB 1497, which will allow school districts to hire subject matter experts with real-world experience to teach career and technical classes, providing true local control. Current regulations prevent people with expertise gained through industry experience from teaching without going through confusing certification red tape at the Texas Education Agency and/or going back to school for costly periods of time.
• Students from SkillsUSA came and shared how career and technical education helped them develop personal responsibility and practical workforce skills that give them a competitive advantage over other students entering the workforce.

---