I traveled to Austin this week to listen to the Bonnen/Sullivan meeting recording. After listening to it, I have drawn the same conclusion that many of my Texas grassroots colleagues have drawn, which is: Bonnen and Burrows must resign.
Yes, there are issues with the fact that we have a Democrat as speaker pro tem, but ignoring corruption of this scale for political expediency is unacceptable.
One thing that overwhelmed me about the conversation was the way that both Bonnen and Burrows talked about their gallant efforts to pass conservative legislation. After watching the 86th Lege carefully throughout the session, I have to question their sincerity on that subject! And at the end, Burrows was saying how they wanted to advance this or that bill but would target it for the next session or the session after that. They’ve had Republican majorities in both Houses since 2003, so why does it take three or four sessions to get Republican priority legislation passed? Burrows kept saying, “It’s too big a lift all at once.” I’m not buying it!
I have already contacted my House representative to give him my views on the subject. I also plan to contact Gov. Abbott and Speaker Bonnen himself, to call for Bonnen’s resignation. I urge everyone else in Texas to do the same. And if resignations don’t come, then it’s up to the people of those districts to vote them out! (And the rest of the state will need to help them do that).
I don’t expect the Republican Party to fix this, and I don’t expect the Texas House to police itself. It’s going to have to be we, the people of Texas coming together to fix this problem. So, let’s rise up and demand truth and integrity in our legislative process. Apologies are not enough, and forgiveness does not preclude consequences.
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