[Update below.] Given how long he has been in office, you’d think State Sen. Kel Seliger of Amarillo would be better at lying to his constituents. Or, at least, you’d think he wouldn’t tell such outrageous whoppers.
Kel Seliger… caught lying to his constituents
Last week, we sent a memo to taxpayers in SD 31 letting them know that Seliger is one of two Republicans not signed on in support of Senate Bill 1 and Senate Bill 7. Those are the measures providing $4.6 billion in tax relief.
We also noted that Seliger has proposed SB150, which would create $2.8 billion in bonded indebtedness.
Well, he reacted poorly. Rather than get on board with tax relief, he sent an email to his district with the subject-line “False Attacks.”
Bearing FALSE WITNESS is a sin. Don’t Be Deceived by a FALSE attack. …
The TRUTH: I strongly support property tax cuts and business tax cuts. I support and voted FOR both tax reform bills cited in the false attack by Empower Texans. Please call my district or Capitol offices any time to discuss any issue of concern. – 3.17.15 State Senator Kel Seliger
Unfortunately for Seliger, the facts demonstrate he is the one “bearing false witness.”
First, SB1 and SB7 have not yet received a vote. No way for him to have “voted FOR both” as he claims. Indeed, the Senate Finance Committee had not yet even held a vote on them!
Second, he is still not listed as a supporter (author, co-author, etc) as recently as this evening (3/17) on the Texas Legislature’s own website.
Seliger says bearing false witness is a sin; on that count, we absolutely agree.
UPDATE (3/18):Sen. Seliger claims to have voted SB1 and SB7 out of committee yesterday (apparently at about the same time his email was going out). When the original article was written (and the email sent out), we were unaware that the committee had acted on the measures. The record on the state’s legislative website does not reflect that action, but we are glad Seliger apparently felt compelled to now support the measures.
The fact of the matter is — as we noted in the memo — that Seliger is still one of two Republicans not signed on as an author to the measures. He was not when we sent the original memo, when he responded, or even now. He purposefully chose to misrepresent the memo we sent to taxpayers.
