Sausage Making and Friendly Fire

This week was a busy one in Austin for THSC Association. It seems like I have been in Austin two or three days a week for months. One of the most important things we try to do in Austin is to maintain our credibility as an organization by making sure that our information is correct and that we only call for appropriate action and at the right times. In January I explained how we approach monitoring legislation and taking action when the time is right. I also talked about how taking action at the wrong time or with incorrect information can make us look bad and hurt our cause.

Last week our friends at HSLDA issued an alert for home schoolers to call the House Human Services Committee to oppose HB 188 and support HB 2084, the Texas Parental Rights Restoration Act. We had highlighted HB 188 in January, which resulted in calls to the author's office, and we were told then that he was not going to ask for a hearing and that the bill was dead. After fielding calls last week, the members of the committee and their staff were very upset, as neither of these bills had even been set for a hearing, and it was obvious that HB 188 was dead. Some of the phone calls to the committee came from out of state, and a number of the callers were not well informed. We spent several days talking to committee members and smoothing things over with staff members, but we also pointed out that there was indeed a lot of support for HB 2084 and parental rights.

Otto Von Bismark has been credited with the phrase, "Laws are like sausages; it is better not to see them being made," and that is certainly true. Also, sometimes well meaning people do things that make it more difficult to attain the desired objective. We value HSLDA and follow their lead on national issues since they are very close to Washington, D.C., and have relationships with congressmen and U.S. senators. However, in Texas, we have relationships with elected officials and a strong presence in Austin, and we would be very willing to share with our friends at the national level what is happening in Austin in order to prevent this kind of friendly fire situations that hurt the credibility of Texas home schoolers.

On other issues, HB 1886, which would make it easier for small cities to adopt daytime curfews, was voted out of the Urban Affairs Committee and forwarded to the Calendars Committee, which sets the schedule for bills to be sent to the House floor for debate and a vote. We contacted several members of this committee and asked them not to allow the bill out becuase of its detrimental impact on home schoolers and minorities. We had a good response from several of these members and will continue to monitor this bill for further action, should it reach the House floor. Those whose own state representatives are on the Calendars Committee should contact them and ask them to stop HB 1886 in committee.

Concerning driver education, both the Senate bill (SB 1077) and the House bill (HB 339) include language to require the state of Texas to track the crash rates of each driver education school or program and publish those figures so parents can tell which programs and schools produce safe drivers and which do not. At a hearing this week, Pat Barrett with Driver Ed in a Box testified in favor of the bill, and no one opposed it. It looks like this bill will become law, and there have been no efforts thus far this session to restrict parent-taught driver education; however, we will continue to monitor legislation to make sure that does not happen.