The Port Lavaca Wave (Port Lavaca, Tex.), Vol. 126, No. 74, Ed. 1 Wednesday, June 28, 2017 Page: 4 of 10
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A4►►FORUM
THE PORT LAVACA WAVE
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 28, 2017
THE FORUM
California bans state-paid travel to Texas
First Gulf storm of
season elbows Texas
7/
DAVE McNEELY
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ED STERLING
State Capital Highlights
y
1PA MEMBER 2017
TEXAS PRESS ASSOCIATION
J
If those in charge at the
Texas capitol really think cut-
ting back rights for transgen-
der and gay people will have no
economic impact, they’re about
to find out.
California Attorney Gen-
eral Xavier Becerra announced
Thursday, June 22, that he has
added Texas “to the list of
states where California-fund-
ed or sponsored travel will be
restricted on account of the
discriminatory nature of laws
enacted by those states.”
A new law that took effect
in California on Jan. 1 restricts
state-funded travel to places
with laws that “authorize dis-
crimination” against people
because of their sexual orienta-
tion or gender identity. Becerra
has to keep a list of those laws
and the places where state trav-
el is banned.
Becerra cited a bill the
Texas Legislature passed in the
spring, which Texas Gov. Greg
Abbott recently signed, to allow
faith-based adoption and foster
care agencies to turn down po-
tential parents whose lifestyles
don’t meet “sincerely held reli-
gious beliefs” of the groups.
That includes sexual orien-
tation. California officials said
that is discriminatory.
“While the California [De-
partment of Justice] works to
protect the rights of all our peo-
ple, discriminatory laws in any
part of our country send all of
us several steps back,” Becerra
said, flanked by representatives
of ACLU Northern California
and Equality California at a
press conference.
“That’s why when Califor-
nia said we would not tolerate
discrimination against LGBTQ
members of our community, we
meant it,” Becerra said.
The seven other banned
states are Alabama, Kansas,
Kentucky Mississippi, North
Carolina, South Dakota and
Tennessee.
Abbott’s inclusion of Lt.
Gov. Dan Patrick’s pet “bath-
room bill,” to mandate public
bathrooms transgender people
can use, for a July 18 special
legislative session, further un-
derlined the charges of LGBTQ
discrimination.
Texas business and civil
rights groups have warned for
months that passing a bath-
room bill requiring transgen-
der people to use the bathroom
of their sex at birth, rather
than the sex with which they
identify, is discriminatory.
Based on what happened
after North Carolina passed a
similar bathroom bill in 2015,
Texas could lose billions of
dollars and thousands of jobs
for discriminatory laws, say
groups including the Texas
Association of Business, con-
vention managers, tourism of-
ficials and professional sports
organizations.
The 7,000-member Profes-
sional Convention Manage-
ment Association has already
canceled a convention in Hous-
ton because of its moves to pass
anti-transgender laws.
Texas House Speaker Joe
Straus, who opposes the bath-
room bill as a solution in search
of a non-existent problem, has
mentioned the possible loss of
college basketball’s Final Four
tournament set for San Antonio
in February of 2018.
might be unable to play the
University of Texas Longhorns
in Austin in a scheduled game
Sept. 9.
But others said that games
contracted for before Jan. 1
would not be affected.
Law enforcement, tax au-
ditors and collectors and those
who need to appear before a
federal committee are exempt
from the ban.
The law does not affect the
travel of private citizens.
Kathy Miller, president of
the Texas Freedom Network,
that battles the religious right,
predicted big problems.
“What should be increas-
ingly clear even to the governor
and lieutenant governor is that
their obsession with writing
discrimination into law risks
turning Texas into a state that
people and companies simply
don’t want to visit or do busi-
ness in.
“We’re watching a slow-mo-
tion economic train wreck
here,” Miller warned, “and the
special session could turn that
into a full-on disaster.”
AUSTIN — State emergen-
cy responders geared up for the
first time this hurricane season
in response to Tropical Storm
Cindy, which came ashore just
east of the Texas-Louisiana
border on June 22.
Two deaths were attribut-
ed to the storm — one of them
an elderly man found in a sand-
mired pickup truck on Texas’
Bolivar Peninsula.
The storm dropped most of
its rainfall east of its center —
up to 18 inches in some places
far to the east — and much less
in Texas. But as a precaution
two days before landfall, Gov.
Greg Abbott ordered an in-
crease in readiness from level
four, normal conditions, to level
three, increased readiness.
Four Texas Task Force 1
boat squads were activated,
along with two Texas Military
Department vehicle squads.
Also, the Texas Department of
State Health Services Emergen-
cy Medical Task Force, the Tex-
as Military Forces Aircraft and
shelter and feeding teams were
placed on standby.
Abbott noted that weath-
er conditions related to tropi-
cal storms can change rapidly
without warning, causing cata-
strophic flooding. “That is why
I am imploring all Texans in the
Gulf region to stay updated and
heed warnings from your local
officials, avoid high water areas
and refrain from attempting to
drive through roadways or over
bridges that have the potential
to flood.”
Paxton leads coalition
Texas Attorney General
Ken Paxton on June 19 urged
the Federal Communications
Commission to deny a petition
by the broadband industry to
prevent states from investigat-
ing and settling claims over
false and misleading advertis-
ing about broadband Internet
speed.
“As the U.S. Supreme
Court ruled,” Paxton said, “a
federal agency may pre-empt
state law only when and if it’s
acting within the scope of its
congressionally delegated au-
thority. Hundreds of millions
of Americans rely on broad-
band Internet services every
day, yet they don’t always get
what they pay for. The states’
consumer protection powers
must be left intact to protect
customers from providers who
make false claims about broad-
band speed.”
Paxton was joined in the
letter by the attorneys general
of Arkansas, Colorado, Con-
necticut, Delaware, District
of Columbia, Florida, Hawaii,
Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa,
Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana,
Maine, Maryland, Massachu-
setts, Minnesota, Mississippi,
Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexi-
co, New York, North Carolina,
Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsyl-
vania, Rhode Island, South
Dakota, Tennessee, Vermont,
Washington, West Virginia and
Wisconsin.
Texas adds jobs in May
The Lone Star State’s econ-
omy expanded in May with the
addition of 14,800 seasonally
adjusted non-farm jobs, the
Texas Workforce Commission
announced.
Texas’ seasonally adjusted
unemployment rate fell to 4.8
percent, down from 5.0 percent
in April.
“Texas employers created
266,600 jobs over the past year
and the Texas economy con-
tinues to provide competitive
advantages to large and small
business owners across the
state,” said Andres Alcantar,
chair of the Texas Workforce
Commission. “TWC remains
committed to fostering inno-
vative partnerships that equip
Texas students and workers
with in-demand skills,” he add-
ed.
The mining and logging
category recorded the largest
private-industry gain over the
month, with 6,600 jobs add-
ed. Construction employment
grew by 3,400 jobs in May and fi-
nancial activities employment
expanded by 3,200 jobs.
Furthermore, the Amarillo
Metropolitan Statistical Area
recorded the month’s lowest
unemployment rate in the state,
with a non-seasonally adjusted
rate of 3.1 percent.
AG praises end to bag tax
Attorney General Paxton
on June 21 praised the city of
Kermit for repealing a local
sales tax on single-use plastic
bags.
“Cities and municipalities
in Texas are obligated to follow
the rule of law, and the Legis-
lature passed a law that clearly
prohibits a sales tax on bags,”
Paxton wrote. That law, Paxton
said, is Health and Safety Code
Sec. 361.0961(a)(3), which states:
“A local government or other
political subdivision may not
adopt an ordinance, rule or reg-
ulation to assess a fee or deposit
on the sale or use of a container
or package.”
In May, Paxton’s office gave
the city of Kermit 60 days to re-
peal its bag tax. With the city’s
action, there are no more bag
taxes remaining in Texas, Pax-
ton said.
Tips for Zika-free holiday
The Texas Department of
State Health Services posted
precautions in advance of Inde-
pendence Day festivities.
“Don’t let Zika stop your
July 4 plans,” the agency said,
and offered everyday ways to
avoid mosquito bites, which are
known to transmit the Zika and
West Nile viruses.
Texans, especially preg-
nant women, should continue
to protect themselves from Zika
by:
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The action by California,
a state which top Republican
Texas officials have repeatedly
derided, drew still more heat.
“California might be able
to stop their state employees,
but they can’t stop all the busi-
nesses that are fleeing over tax-
ation and regulation, and relo-
cating to Texas,” said Abbott
press secretary John Wittman.
Texas Attorney General
Ken Paxton’s communications
director Marc Rylander joined
in.
“It’s funny how the very
state that is so adamantly
against keeping terrorists out
of our country - they oppose
the President’s travel ban -
now wants to keep Californians
out of Texas,” Rylander said. “I
guess that’s California logic.”
Paxton himself: “I talk to
people almost every day who
made the trek from California
to Texas, and without fail, they
tell me their move is due to ei-
ther greater job opportunities,
much lower-priced housing, an
escape from a left-coast politi-
cal climate, or just a better qual-
ity of culture and life.”
Lt. Gov. Patrick used Cali-
fornia’s action to raise money.
California state employees to
“Our refusal to kowtow
to those who demand political
correctness has upset the rad-
ical left,” Patrick said in an
email. “If California thinks
playing politics will help them
climb out of bankruptcy, they
are wrong. ... I hope you will
consider contributing to our
cause.”
Because California’s travel
ban covers universities, some
think San Jose State University
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French, Tania. The Port Lavaca Wave (Port Lavaca, Tex.), Vol. 126, No. 74, Ed. 1 Wednesday, June 28, 2017, newspaper, June 28, 2017; Port Lavaca, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1301660/m1/4/: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Calhoun County Public Library.