Texas Legislature is addressing Sexual Assault and Human Trafficking

By Faith Chatham - March 31, 2018

Of all the bills I have read this year, the bill I most want to see passed is SB SB 2384 by Sen Kirk Watson and Donna Howard's companion HB 1590.

This legislation strengthens the framework of Office of Sexual Assault Survivors Assistance (under the Governor's Office of Criminal Justice). It stipulates that the Governor appoint a Director and the Director be allowed to hire staff.

Changes in the language of this bill clarifies the duties and responsibilities of the office in addressing the mission of preventing sexual assault, prosecuting and providing services to survivors through communication and coordination with all agencies dealing with sexual assault or survivors. This bill links law enforcement, social work, medical examiners, training, SAFE sites, prosecution and survivors resources together. It is intended to minimize some of the silos and dark holes which frustrate law enforcement, social workers, prosecutors, and survivors.

There are over 200 bills this session in both houses addressing sexual assault, rape, trafficking and harassment. This bill provides clarification of an agency which should be functioning as a clearing house for information and resources which could reduce the number of victims by improving services to survivors and prosecutors.

These bills are all part of a mosaic. I see them each as one of the tiles making up the whole with  Senate Bill 2384 which improves the Office of Sexual Assault Survivors Services as the framework and foundation for the entire mission of reducing the number of victims and serving those who are survivors.

Instead of the Attorney General getting to select any "individual with knowledge of sexual assault" to establish the protocols for collecting and processing sexual assault evidence kits, it stipulates that the Attorney General consult with the Office of Sexual Assault Survivors Services.

This office is charged with collecting compiling and reporting data on sexual assault and survivors resources by council of government districts.

There are other important bills which address part of the mission such as:

HB 152 (Minjarez) which addresses the collection storage and analysis of rape kit evidence and

HB 467 (Miller) Retention of records of sexual assault by hospital and

HB 3106 (Goldman) requires law enforcement to enter sexual assault data into the Texas Data Exchange System

HB 2339 (Meza) Relating to the entry into the Texas Crime Information Center of information concerning the release on bond of persons charged with committing a violent offense

Rep. Neave's HB 401 Creation of Texas Sexual Assault Evidentiary Council is a good idea. It could be part of the Office of Sexual Assault Survivors Services.

Several bills address correct data.

HB 2678 (Zwiener) Compilation and reports of statistics involving sexual assault victims who receive a forensic medical examination before reporting the assault to law enforcement.

HB 3106 (Goldman) requires law enforcement to enter sexual assault data into the Texas Data Exchange System.

In the Senate the major data collection/reporting bill is SB 587 (Watson) Relating to the collection and reporting of information relating to the investigation and prosecution of sexual assault offenses.

ll of these initiatives rely on funding. Senator Jane Nelsons SB 1 and the House HB 1 both provide increased funding for increases funding for Rape Crisis Centers, and $50 M to double Crime Lab to test rape kits, and more funding for forensic nurse examiners.

To read the text of these bills or to see where in the pipeline the bill is currently go to: https://capitol.texas.gov/BillLookup/BillNumber.aspx

Note: This article only skims through the bills. There are other important bills which define sexual assault, decriminalize homosexual behavior, or address human trafficking or rape on college campuses or molestation of public school children. Passage of some of the bills will improve training in childhood trauma and sexual assault for teachers, school personnel and law enforcement. Other bills improve training for law enforcement and nurse examiners. Much of this work was begun in prior legislative session and continued during the months while the Legislature was not in session. Collectively, it is evident that members of the Texas House and Senate on both sides of the aisle are evaluating the problems and the process and seeking solutions to improve the process. They are mission oriented in seeking to reduce the number of victims (survivors) through services which improve law enforcement/prosecution of perpetrators and services which assist the survivors.

New Rule: The Republicans Are the Problem | Real Time with Bill Maher (HBO)

Texas Senate Nominations Confirmation Hearing on SOS Heated

By Faith Chatham - Feb. 7, 2019

David Whitley was appointed by Gov. Greg Abbott Dec. 18, 2018 as interim SOS. To become SOS he must be confirmed by the Senate of Texas. A 3/4th vote of the Senate is necessary to confirm and confirmation will require at least some Democrats to either vote yes or be absent.

Shortly after taking office, Mr. Whitley issued a press release and an Advisory. (See bottom of this article for text of advisory) stating that:

Through this evaluation, the Texas Secretary of State's office discovered that a total of approximately 95,000 individuals identified by DPS as non-U.S. citizens have a matching voter registration record in Texas, approximately 58,000 of whom have voted in one or more Texas elections. Voting in an election in which the person knows he or she is not eligible to vote is a second-degree felony in the State of Texas. Upon receipt of this information, the Texas Secretary of State's office immediately provided the data in its possession to the Texas Attorney General's office, as the Secretary of State has no statutory enforcement authority to investigate or prosecute alleged illegal activity in connection with an election.

Voting in an election in which the person knows he or she is not eligible to vote is a second-degree felony in the State of Texas. Upon receipt of this information, the Texas Secretary of State's office immediately provided the data in its possession to the Texas Attorney General's office, as the Secretary of State has no statutory enforcement authority to investigate or prosecute alleged illegal activity in connection with an election.. 

Some county election administrators acted on the list immediately by sending out Notices of Examination of Citizenship to those from their county who were on the list sent to them by Secretary of State Whitley. Others examined the list and determined that many on the list were citizens.  They contacted the SOS regarding the discrepancies they found while further examining the names on the list.
Some individuals, upon discovering their name was on the list or upon receiving Notices of Examination of Citizenship filed lawsuits claiming voter disenfranchisement naming Mr. Whitley, the State Elections Administrator, Governor Abbott, Attorney General Paxton and the Elections Administrator in their county as Defendants. Even the League of Women Voters of Texas filed Within a week several civil rights advocacy groups, and groups such as the NAACP, LULAC, Progress Texas, MALDEF and others.

The Texas Tribune reported Tuesday: 

 Almost two weeks after calling into question the citizenship status of almost 100,000 registered voters, Texas' new chief elections officer, David Whitley, defended his office's decision to hand over those voters' names to law enforcement even though he knew the list could contain mistakes.

At a Senate hearing to consider his confirmation as secretary of state, Whitley vacillated between telling lawmakers he referred the list of voters to the attorney general’s office because his office had no power to investigate them for illegal voting and describing the citizenship review efforts as an ongoing process based on a list that still needed to be reviewed by local officials. But he made clear is that his office knew from the start that the data could be faulty.

Twitter was brisk during the hearing. To read tweets on the topic visit: #PurgeWhitley #VoterSuppression #TexasLeg #TxLeg

In addition to the members of the Senate Nominations Committee, other members of the Legislature questioned Mr. Whitley.
Senator Royce West:

Sen. West: "What did you do in framing your press release to be sensitive to voter suppression?"INTERIM SOS: "We are always sensitive to voter suppression."Sen West: "How do you define voter suppression."INTERIM SOS: "It is not relevant how I define it."Sen. West: "It is relevant if I am going to vote to confirm you."

Senator Menedez questioned Mr. Whitley on why he did not ask the Counties to vet the list before issuing the Directive.

Sen. Menedez to SOS: "If you knew that the counties had naturalization data you didn't have, why didn't you ask the Counties to vet this data before you released your press release?"

When questioned about his understanding of how the list was compiled, Mr. Whitley's statements were less than satisfactory. He stated that a staffer, not he, met with the vendor who compiled the list. He explained: "I am not qualified to answer about the technical way the list is derived."

Considering the importance of the integrity of the data captured and kept by the SOS office, his admission that he does not understand the technical way the data is captured, manipulated and compiled was surprising.

Many commented on Whitley's refusal to acknowledge the errors in the data even after he was notified by County Election Administrators that tens of thousands of the people on the list were US Citizens.

Senator Borris Miles questioned him about how good the DPS data could be if it lacked immigration status information. Without evidence that any of the 98,000 people on the list were not naturalized citizens when they registered to vote, turning them over to the Attorney General and sending out press releases and Directives stating that they could be prosecuted definitely appears to be "putting the cart before the horse." Others called it rash, irresponsible, reckless, detrimental to our voting process, frightening, scare tactics, voter intimidation and voter suppression.

The DPS data base indicates persons who show green cards when filing for drivers licenses. There is no requirement that a naturalized citizen notify DPS when they become citizens. Most already have their drivers license before they are naturalized. Applying for a drivers license using a green card does not mean that when you register to vote you have not become a citizen. The DPS does not possess data sufficient to determine whether or not a person is a citizen when they register to vote. Using their data base it is impossible to determine citizenship status. However, when a person registers to vote, they do have to present proof of citizenship. The DPS data base does, however, contain information about persons who are citizens when they apply for Drivers License. Citizens must present either a certified birth certificate or passport when applying for a Texas Drivers License. There is a code which DPS used to indicate persons who have presented proof of citizenship. Mr. Whitley was ignorant of that code. When the persons on the list noted with that code were, the list dropped to about half. That eliminated tens of thousand of registered voters whom Mr. Whitley had notified the media and County Election Administrators were probably not citizens. Mr. Whitley did not correct his public statement or revise his Directive on the website. At the beginning of the hearing he claimed that he had no knowledge that his original numbers were not accurate. By the end of the hearing he had indicated that he had told some of the county election administrators that some of the people on the list probably did not belong on the list and it was their responsibility to vet them. However, his directive was worded very differently. It spoke of felony offenses and described the list as the most credible list available and one that the administrators could act upon.

Voting in an election in which the person knows he or she is not eligible to vote is a second-degree felony in the State of Texas. Upon receipt of this information, the Texas Secretary of State's office immediately provided the data in its possession to the Texas Attorney General's office, as the Secretary of State has no statutory enforcement authority to investigate or prosecute alleged illegal activity in connection with an election.

His directive continued:

Going forward, the Texas Secretary of State's office will use information it obtains from DPS on a monthly basis to cross-reference with Texas' statewide voter registration database and match potential non-U.S. citizens who have registered to vote. Once a voter registration is identified as a match, the Texas Secretary of State's office will notify the county in which the person is registered so that the county voter registrar can take action.

It is easy to understand why a County Election Administrator would send out Notices of Examination of Citizenship after receiving a directive from the Chief Election Administrator of the State (SOS) with the wording on that directive. It is much more difficult to understand why an attorney with advanced training in economics who has served in governmental positions in the Governor's office as Deputy Chief of Staff would word such a directive and distribute a list which does not contain information about the naturalization date of citizenship of person who are registered to vote. To  work a math problem you have to know what you are adding together or taking away. He only had part of the equation.  He knew they were registered to vote. He could tell which ones voted. He could tell that some were not citizens when they got a drivers license. He needed to know their immigration status when they registered to vote. He did not have that information and none of the data bases utilized to compile the list has it. Also, some of the County Election Administrators do not have access to that information, despite his claim that they do.


Is this intentional or just gross incompetence? Different people have different opinions. I suspect that part of it was intentional on the part of some elected officials but they have also probably exercised gross incompetence in failing to recognize the vigilance of Texans about our precious right to vote. This is the 100th year anniversary of Women's Suffrage. This is also Black History Month.  Those are memorials to the struggle of many people's struggle. There is never a right time for disenfranchising people. This is definitely the wrong time. Instead of the Governor's nominee for Secretary of State breezing through, Texans are up in arms. The best course of action Governor Abbott could take would be to urge (ask) Mr. Whitley to step down. He should spare the Senators the decision of having to decide between supporting  a highly flawed nominee and offending the man who hold the pen with veto power over important legislation our state needs considered and enacted into law.

The witness list for today's Texas Senate Nominations Committee confirmation hearing on David Whitley for TX SOS shows that many more people cared enough to show up to oppose him than stepped forward to support him.

Witnesses on Confirmation of David Whitlely for Office of the Secretary of State of Texas

FOR:
1. Cahn, Adam (Cahnman's Musing), Austin, TX
2. Cosgray, Craig President, Marengo Films (Self; Highland Lakes Tea Party), Spicewood, TX
3. Foster, Cornelia (Self), Austin, TX
4. Johnson, Gail (Self; Election Judges and Clerks), Lytle, TX
5. Long, Matt Woodworker (Self), Fredericksburg, TX
6. Pressley, Laura Doctor (Self; Grassroots America), Tyler, TX
7. 1Whitley, David Secretary of State (Self), Austin, TX

AGAINST:

1. Aronwitz, Jacob Field Director (Self; Siegel for Congress), Austin, TX
2. Brodsky, Nina Bookkeeper/Artist (Self), Austin, TX
3. Burnam, Lon Retired (Public Citizen), Fort Worth, TX
4. Chamberlain, Steve (Self), Cedar Creek, TX
5. Garcia, Domingo National President of LULAC (LULAC), Dallas, TX
6. Garibay, Julieta (Self), Austin, TX
7. Garibay, Montsevrat Secretary/Treasurer (Texas AFL-CIO), Austin, TX
8.Gomez, Hilda (Self), Sealy, TX
9. Gutierrez, Anthony Executive Director (Common Cause Texas), Austin, TX
10. Olivera, Alejandra (Workers Defense), Austin, TX
11. Peek, Whitney (Self), Austin, TX
12. Perales, Nina VP of Litigation at MALDEF
(also providing written testimony) (MALDEF), San Antonio, TX
13. Robles, Samantha Advocacy Director (Progress Texas), Austin, TX
14. Siegel, Michael Attorney (Self), Austin, TX
15. Stout, David County Commissioner (Self), El Paso, TX
16. Keller, James Photographer/Property Management (Self), Wimberley, TX
17. Weatherby, Cynthia (Self; League of Women Voters of Texas), Austin, TX

Registering, but not testifying:

FOR:

1. Spraggins, Don (Self), Fredericksburg, TX
2, Spraggins, Doris (Self), Fredericksburg, TX

AGAINST:

1.. Burns, Briana (Self), Austin, TX
2. Buyse, Beth (Self), Austin, TX
3. Coorpror, Annie (Self), Austin, TX
4. Dennis, Cecilia (Self), Austin, TX
5. Johnson, Kent Retired (Self), Austin, TX
6. Yi, Alice (Self), Austin, TX

Providing written testimony:

AGAINST:

1. Jones, David Attorney (Clean Elections Texas), Dallas, TX

Total
24 against plus one written statement
9 for including the nominee. (Also Sen. Donna Campbell spoke for)

The Media Advisory issued by the SOS. (Data captured from SOS website at 5:30 p.m. 2/7/2019

Secretary Whitley Issues Advisory On Voter Registration List Maintenance Activity

"Integrity and efficiency of elections in Texas require accuracy of our state's voter rolls"

Share55

Janauary 25, 2019
Contact: Sam Taylor
512-463-6116

AUSTIN – Texas Secretary of State David Whitley today issued an advisory to county voter registrars regarding voter registration list maintenance activities, which include identifying any non-U.S. citizens registered to vote in the State of Texas. For the past year, the Texas Secretary of State's office has worked closely with the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) to evaluate information regarding persons identified to not be citizens of the United States. This voter registration list maintenance activity is being conducted in accordance with federal and state law to ensure that only qualified voters - who must first and foremost be U.S. citizens - are registered to vote in Texas elections.
Through this evaluation, the Texas Secretary of State's office discovered that a total of approximately 95,000 individuals identified by DPS as non-U.S. citizens have a matching voter registration record in Texas, approximately 58,000 of whom have voted in one or more Texas elections. Voting in an election in which the person knows he or she is not eligible to vote is a second-degree felony in the State of Texas. Upon receipt of this information, the Texas Secretary of State's office immediately provided the data in its possession to the Texas Attorney General's office, as the Secretary of State has no statutory enforcement authority to investigate or prosecute alleged illegal activity in connection with an election.
Secretary Whitley issued the following statement:

"Integrity and efficiency of elections in Texas require accuracy of our state's voter rolls, and my office is committed to using all available tools under the law to maintain an accurate list of registered voters. Our agency has provided extensive training opportunities to county voter registrars so that they can properly perform list maintenance activities in accordance with federal and state law, which affords every registered voter the chance to submit proof of eligibility. I would like to thank the Department of Public Safety for providing us with this valuable information so that we can continue to guarantee the right to vote for all eligible Texas voters, who should not have their voices muted by those who abuse the system."
Going forward, the Texas Secretary of State's office will use information it obtains from DPS on a monthly basis to cross-reference with Texas' statewide voter registration database and match potential non-U.S. citizens who have registered to vote. Once a voter registration is identified as a match, the Texas Secretary of State's office will notify the county in which the person is registered so that the county voter registrar can take action.
The following combinations of matches between information in DPS-provided data and the statewide voter registration database are used to identify possible non-U.S. citizens registered to vote:

• Last Name, First Name, and Full Social Security Number;
• Last Name, First Name, and DPS-issued Driver License, Personal Identification Card, or Election Identification Certificate Number; or
• Last Name, First Name, Last Four Digits of Social Security Number, and Date of Birth

If a registered voter is identified as a non-U.S. citizen, he or she should receive a Notice of Examination (PDF) from the county voter registrar indicating that his or her registration status is being examined on the grounds that he or she is not a U.S. citizen. The registered voter will then be required to provide proof of citizenship in order to stay registered, which may be done by submitting to the voter registrar a copy of one of the following documents:

• A certified copy of the voter's birth certificate
• United States passport; or
• Certificate of naturalization (Citizenship certificate)

If the person responds indicating he or she is not a U.S. citizen, or fails to respond to the Notice within 30 days, then the voter registration will be cancelled by the county voter registrar. County voter registrars have been provided with numerous training opportunities to ensure that list maintenance activities are conducted in accordance with state and federal law so as to not affect eligible voters.
Texas voters who wish to check their registration status can visit the Texas Secretary of State's "Am I Registered?" tool online or contact the voter registrar in their county of registration.

###

Faith Chatham's take on today's proceedings:
This is merely speculation. I think that the Media Directive was probably crafted with more input from the Governor and / or Attorney General than by the SOS's staff. I think that Mr. Whitley is accustomed to following through on directives which come to him from the Governor without examining them or evaluating them. Whitley inherited this DPS/SOS data base match and this is a "wedge issue" the Governor probably hopes (hoped) to utilize to throw meat to his base to try to shore up GOP support as previously red areas of the state are turning purple and blue. Mr. Whitley's predecessor had avoided acting sending lists to the Counties for months. Perhaps the data was not ready. Perhaps the former SOS found ways to avoid accusing tens of thousands of registered voters of not being citizens.

I don't know why the timing was at the first of the Interim SOS's term. I do know that
Mr. Whitley should understand that being sensitive to voter suppression is essential for the Chief Administrator of Elections. He understands that the SOS is the Officer charged by State and Federal Law as custodian of the State's voter data base. He should have researched the list even if the Governor or Attorney General put their stamp of approval on it to be sure that he was not unjustly accusing Texas citizens of voting illegally. The list of things he should have done is long.

This voter suppression debacle, and that is what it is, voter suppression --  occured at the beginning of the 100 year anniversary of women's suffrage. This hearing is during Black History Month. Senator Hall stated that no one is every turned away from the polls and not allowed to vote! 

My assessment is that Mr. Whitley as SOS is a creation of Greg Abbott. The DPS/SOS match for purging alleged non-citizens from the voter rolls is a "baby" of the Governor. He has his press release ready and rushed to capitalize on the Directive issued by the SOS. The man in the Governor's seat is the mastermind and the person pulling the strings. Mr. Whitley is a former staffer who was offered a big promotion by the Governor. It appeared that the leap from being the Governor's Deputy Chief of Staff to Secretary of State was an astounding improvement in the circumstance of David Whitley. Instead he was thrown into a role he is not prepared to fill, into the blare of the spotlight before he has had opportunity to "learn on the job". As an attorney today he faced confirmation hearings which were televised and video taped about issues pertaining to his actions (and the Governor's and Attorney Generals roles) while all of them are named defendants in multiple on-going lawsuits. He was obviously carefully coached before this hearing. Admitting that he or his office had done anything wrong is not something that lawyers advise defendants to do.

He told the truth when asked if he had spoken with either the Governor or Attorney General before he issued the Directive and Press Release. "Yes. Because we wanted to get this right."  

The most astounding thing I heard today was the Interim Secretary of State telling Senator Royce West that "I don't think what my definition of voter suppression is relevant to the job."

The Republican members (and witnesses) presented a united front. They had similar talking points. More than one Republican on the Committee or witness speaking in favor of confirmation  attempted to deflect attention to voting process irregularities (such as waivers previous Secretaries of State have given about zeroing out the voting machines at some polling stations). Granted, we need to improve the process. There should be no waivers. We need a paper trail and we need newer, more reliable machines and software. However, I find it more than just slightly ironic that these members choose this hearing to champion those changes declaring their belief that David Wilkins will be able to deliver on them.  It has been decades since there has been a Democratic Governor in Texas. The Secretary of State is appointed by the Governor. Their strategy to get through this debacle is to deflect attention from the current SOS by focusing on shortcomings of previous appointees by Republican Governors! I feel like I'm at the beer garden laughing with Molly Ivins on this one.

David Whitley is a dismal failure as SOS of Texas

By Faith Chatham - Feb. 7, 2019

The Texas Tribune reported: State Rep. Rafael Anchia ...wanted to know: Did Whitley know for sure that any of the (95K registered voters) on the list SOS David Whitley had turned over to the Attorney General had committed crimes by voting as noncitizens?

“No,” Whitley answered, according to Anchia.

“And I said, ‘Well, isn’t it the protocol that you investigate and, if you find facts, you turn it over to the AG?”

“I do not have an answer for that,” Whitley responded, according to Anchia’s recollection of the Monday meeting.

The Senate Nominations Committee meets today (Thursday, Feb. 7) at 9 a.m. in E2.106 to consider David Whitely's confirmation as SOS. Gov. Abbott appointed him in mid Dec. 2018 but he must be confirmed by the Senate.

The former Deputy Chief of Staff to the Governor is in over his head. He has demonstrated that he falls painfully short in performing due diligence before making statements to the press, releasing data to counties and before turning people over to the Attorney General. We need a better candidate for SOS.

See  Texas Tribune article:

Sen. Michael Bennet Calls on Senate Republicans to End the Shutdown

Texas will loan you the money to build that wall!

By Faith Chatham - Jan. 10, 2019

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick sucked up to POTUS today. Instead of funding Texas schools, adequately funding teachers’ retirement,  giving tax relief to property owners, repairing crumbling roads and bridges, or easing the Lone Star State’s gridlock problems, Patrick offered to help out President Trump.  Congress refuses to appropriate money for the wall, so Patrick piped up and said: “Texas can do it. We’ll build that wall and you can pay us back!”

Texas has the highest maternal death rate and the highest infant mortality rate in the nation and refused to expand Medicaid because it would “cost too much.” But Abbott has no qualms about spending taxpayer money to place most of our law enforcement personnel on the border despite 1. It is not the state’s responsibility 2. Illegal entry at the border is low 3. There is less crime on the border than any where in the state.  Now the Lt. Governor offers to have Texas finance and build Trump’s pipedream -— er, scheme and mentions that “you’ll have to pay us back.” 

Yep. If Congress refuses to authorize funding for the wall, there is no way they will authorize paying a state which builds it. There are many problems: right of way for one. Many of the ranchers on the border have been on that property for generations. They aren’t going to hand over their land without a bigger than Alamo sized battle. Even the Catholic Church and animal rights and environmental groups are standing against it. 

Patrick is noted for creating wedge issues to fire up his base. Usually he finds those which will not infuriate the deficit hawks. Oh, well. This session will be interesting to watch. I plan to plant myself in the gallery and watch as Senator after Senator from both sides of the aisle brings up his offer to loan money out of the budget to the Federal Government without any assurance that there will ever be authorization for it to be repaid, while he argues against their bills because there isn’t money in the budget to fund them.

If the GOP thinks they had problems in Houston in 2018, take Harvey funds and transfer them to the wall and they’ll find out what electoral problems truly are.

Preparing for 2019

By Faith Chatham - January 1, 2019

It is 2019. What are the most important things to experience and accomplish this year? What must be done to for each of us to individually enjoy what we want to enjoy, and to accomplish what we want to accomplish?

For me, one thing on my to do list is cleaning the kitchen. I let things slide when I'm involved in causes or projects. The exterminators treated the apt. while I was in San Antonio. Everything is out of the cabinets. I've been running the dishwasher continuously since getting home. Each load of dishes placed in a recently cleaned cupboard shelf, each tray of silver arranged, instead of hastily flung into a drawer, moves me closer toward being ready to proceed with the new year. By the end of today, the kitchen and dining area will be probably be in better shape than it will probably be any other time in the coming year. Then I will move to bedroom closets. Hopefully within a week this rare obsession with orderliness will spill over into the studio.

I am not a tidy spic and span priority person. I live in creative, mental, research, literary, political and artistic worlds. When in those creative zones, I am oblivious to food, clocks, germs, clutter, sleep. So, whenever a rare spell of obsessive straightening and scrubbing overshadows me, I try to ride it as long, and as far, as it can be sustained, because it may be months before it enters my door again. The longer it remains outside, the harder it gets to find space to work inside.

This year there is lots of work to be done. I feel characters, images, causes, and projects pushing to get out.

There are relics here of people and causes I respect and value. I still have evidence of activism in Ready for Hillary and Hillary 2016 intermingled with 2018 buttons for Lupe, Kim, Terry, Gina, MJ, Vikki, Victoria, Shirley, Sheryl, Sylvia, Rhetta, Beverly, Ana Maria and others scattered about.

It is nice to see that the phrases on cards and posters have changed from messaging in 2014. Then we were trying to help Texans understand how few Dems, minorities, veterans and women Texans sent to Congress. We need to acknowledge the scope of a problem before we can inspire enough people to help change it. Now the messages are targeting getting specific Democrats, specific women, specific veterans, specific minorities elected to office.

This year, despite the harm wrought by Donald Trump and his enablers, we have victories to celebrate. On Jan. 3rd in DC over 100 women will be seated in the US House when the new Congress is sworn in.  I look forward to being in the gallery of the Texas Capitol Jan 8th to see friends seated as newly elected Senators and State Representatives. We've made progress. We have a long way to go. Now we have a few more warriors in place to watch the backs of the ethical and brave and to carry the torch in legislative relays.

I want 2019 to be more than just the year when we share our stories and say "Me Too!' I want it to be the year when those who enable or refuse to pursue and punish serial rapists are removed. This should be the year when instead of 1 out of 3 women and 1 out of 5 men being survivors, it becomes the year when the majority of perpetrators are stopped and prevented from every violating any boy or girl, man or woman every again. Instead of #METOO I want to see #ZeroTolerance.

I truly hope and pray that the Trump administration comes to a speedy, and abrupt end. We need to rid this nation, and our psyche, from the excesses, corruption and violation of that man and his henchmen and enablers. I hope both Trump and Pence are nothing more than a footnote by March of this year. We need to push the RESET button and begin anew. These are some of the things which are on my heart. They are goals and causes worth working for, worth enduring clutter and other inconveniences to accomplish jointly with others who care and sacrifice. Caring also means helping worthy people have the means to step forward to run for office and to win in 2020. Those of us who are older owe it to those who protected and nurtured us when we were young and to those who are younger and deserve to be nurtured and mentored.

Let's Push RESET

By Faith Chatham - December 31, 2018

The US Constitution does not specifically cover an illegal coup d'etat  presidency. However, it didn't cover women's suffrage, racial justice, or other necessary things. The reality is that America is experiencing a coup d'etat and illegal presidency. Normal order of succession does not apply because both Trump and Pence conspired with a foreign government to hijack the American electoral process. Both should be removed, and Hillary Clinton installed as President. Trump's appointments should be revoked. His policies erased, and we should push RESET, and go back to the policies/laws in place on Jan. 20,  2017, and move forward from there.

Instead of pussy footing around talking about conspiracy, we should be charging Trump, Pence, McConnell, and Ryan with Treason. Every member of Congress who accepted campaign donations from foreigners (especially Russian money laundered through the NRA) should be indicted and removed from office.

How much will we tolerate? Children in cages, children removed from their parents without due process, children tried without advocates or attorneys, children dying unnecessarily in US Custody, Corruption. Corruption, Corruption, removal of sanctions so that Russian can invade the Ukraine, leaving the Kurds in danger of genocide, allowing Soviet nuclear warheads to be installed in South America, abandonment of our most reliable allies, endangering Americans health by importing toxics products we banned decades ago because they were deadly (asbestos from Russian). shutting down the government at Christmas, removing critical heating assistance from the elderly during winter, pushing our nation's most vulnerable people off of  food assistance while lining the pockets of the most affluent, chasing more American jobs offshore, tanking the US economy.

WHERE DOES IT STOP?

HOW MUCH MORE?

HOW LONG?

Congressman Al Green filed articles of Impeachment in January 2017. He had it right. Now it is time to get this despot out of the White House and out of our lives.

Jan McDowell declares for 2020

By Faith Chatham - December 13, 2018
First there was one. Now there are 2 Texas Swing Congressional Districts.

Jan McDowell has managed to move the Texas 24th Congressional District from solid red to a toss-up in 4 years! Jan had no political experience and little support when she ran against Marchant in 2016. She showed up and told people face-to-face why she was running. She learned. She impressed people with her intelligence, reason, and what is commonly referred to in Texas as "common sense."

Jan is  not your typical extroverted egoistical political candidate. She is a CPA by profession. In 2018 in a three-way General Election she got 125,231 (47.54%) of the vote to GOP incumbent Marchant's 133,317 votes (50.61%) . In her previous run in 2016, she was unopposed in the Democratic Primary. In 2018 she had three male opponents in the Democratic Primary and avoided a run-off by securing 52.47% of the Democratic Primary votes (14,628 votes out of a total of 27,878 Democratic Primary voters). Turn-out wasn't all that stellar for the Republicans in District 24 in 2018 either. Despite a contested primary, only 40,735 Republicans voted and 25.59% of them voted against their GOP incumbent.

When we drill down and look at prior years, there has been a steady gain in the number of Democratic Primary in Texas’ US 24th District. In the 2014 Democratic Primary there were. 8,247 votes cast. That year 34,265 Republicans voted in the Primary. The Democratic nominee in 2014 in the 24th District was Patrick McGeherty who received 46,548 votes (32.31%) in the General Election to Marchant's 93,712 (75.04% of the  2014 General Election total vote cast).

In 2016 (McDowell's first race) she ran unopposed in the Democratic Primary and got 27,803 votes. Marchant ran unopposed in the Republican Primary and got 67,412 votes. He had a strong advantage: He was a multi-term Republican Incumbent running in a Congressional District gerrymandered to be a safe Republican District. He entered the General Election with twice as many voters identified who preferred his political party than his first-time Democratic opponent. He had money and she had very little.In a four-way General Election, McDowell with Green Party Kevin McCormick and Libertarian Mike Knolls reduced Marchant's 2018 General Election percentage to 56.18%. Jan gained 7.01% over the Democratic percentage of General Election votes cast in 2014.

2016 was a presidential year. There was increase of 61,842 more people who voted Democratic in the 2016 General Election in the district than who voted Democratic in the 2014 General Election. Republican turnout increased by 61,133 votes in the 2016 General Election over the number of voters for Marchant in the 2014 General Election. The increase in those voting Democratic between 2014 and 2016 was over double whereas the increase in Republican voters was about 25%.

In her second run, Jan McDowell entered with experience. She knew how to run a bare-bones campaign and how to stretch her campaign dollars. She had volunteers who were faithful and experienced. She knew the "lay of the land." Marchant got 21,528 fewer votes in the 2018 General Election than he got in 2016. Jan McDowell got 16,389 more votes in the 2018 General Election than she received in 2016. Only 8,086 more voters chose the multi-term incumbent Republican than voted for his Democratic challenger in the 2018 General Election. In a district which previously had been classified as SAFELY REPUBLICAN. Kenny Marchant only won with 50.61% of the vote in 2018.

The Cook's Political 2020 forecast announced that they are now classifying two Texas Congressional Districts as Swing or “Toss Up” for 2020. They have moved Texas' US 24th District for 2020 into the"Toss-up" category along with US 23. Jan McDowell and her supporters have transformed the 24th into Texas' second swing district for 2020. It is probable that the DNC, which relies heavily on Cook’s data, will classify it as a Red to Blue District. It is probable that this will make the 24th an entirely different ballpark in 2020. Before, Jan McDowell was not seen as a threat to the GOP controlled seat. Now they see blood in the water and will either circle around to replace Marchant in the Primary or to support him with massive outside support to protect the seat in the General.

Jan McDowell has announced that she is running for Congress in the 24th District again in 2020. She needs to begin building a war chest. She will need several hundred thousand dollars in her account in December 2019. She prefers individual contributions from small donors. This race is a good one for progressives to target. If we jump in and give a small amount monthly during the months leading up to when she files to run in December 2019, our contribution will probably be painless on our end but cumulatively, can make a significant difference in helping her position herself to fight a much harder fight than has ever been waged in the 24th.

Donations as small as $5, $10, or $25 a month given through ACT BLUE monthly for the next 24 months helps us equip Jan McDowell to fight off the Republican donors who want to hold onto the 24th District seat. She has demonstrated her ability to campaign and win the support of the voters in the district and she has demonstrated her ability to manage a campaign organization and to leverage the dollars donors give her. Let’s start now and target the 24th District by supporting Jan McDowell with a monthly contribution through ACT BLUE.

Checks can be mailed to

Jan McDowell for Congress

P.O. Box 110303

Carrollton, TX 75011

E-mail: Jan@JanMcDowell.com

Join the Alert Texas Citizen network

By Faith Chatham Nov. 11, 2018

Join the Alert Texas Citizen Network
This network is for posting action alerts to help Texans be aware of developments and hearings or other actions.
Environment
Healthcare
Curbing Sexual Assault/Rape/Molestation 
Governmental Ethics
Women's Issues
Social Justice and Civil Rights
Immigration
School Financing/Reform
Insurance 
Disaster and post disaster management
Property Right Infringement
Governmental Power Grabs 
Corruption
Public Hearing on permits, proposed rule changes, etc.
This network is for posting notices of hearings, plans for demonstrations, and background on issues before we approach governmental (and other officials) on issues.

We are bombarded each news cycle. It is difficult to understand what is happening and what we can do and when to do it. This is a site for ACTION ALERT and INFORMATION. It is not a campaigning site. It is not a political discussion site. It is a WHO, WHAT, WHERE, WHY, HOW, let's get moving site.

On twitter we will use #alertTexasCitizen.
On fb we have a closed group and a public page.

alert Texas Citizen Facebook Group · 10 members Join Group This is a group of proud Texas Liberals to post alerts for action on issues before the Texas House and Senate and US Congress.  It is not a site to ba...

Elect Dr. McKellar Cornerstone Rally

Dr Shirley McKellar for US Congress

Abbott's Political Appointee - Secretary of State Knew About Hart Voting Machine Malfunction and Refused to Do Anything About It!

By Faith Chatham - Oct. 26, 2018 (Quoted from Texas Dems Website)

Austin, TX— This evening, ABC13 Houston reported that the Texas Secretary of State and election administrators knew about voting machine malfunctions for years and refused to do anything about it.

The malfunction can lead to straight-ticket Democratic voters casting a ballot for Republican Sen. Ted Cruz if they don’t review and correct their ballot before pressing the red cast button.

Highlights:

• Ft. Bend County Election Administrator John Oldham said, “he’s talked to the Secretary of State more than once about the problem. It has not been fixed aside from signs provided by the Secretary of State to warn voters to check their selections.”
• “Sam Taylor, at the Texas Secretary of State’s office, tells 13 Investigates the problem is “user error” and not something their office could fix. Taylor suggests a vendor could or should handle any upgrades, but the state has not asked vendors to do so.”Texas Democratic Party Chair Gilberto Hinojosa issued the following statement:
  “The first step in solving a problem is recognizing that you have one. And the Texas Secretary of State’s office has one. This is not a new problem, their office knew about potential flaws in their voting machines and chose to ignore them for years.
  “Instead of owning up to their mistake, Texas’ Republican government blamed voters and did nothing.
  “The Texas Democratic Party demands the Texas Secretary of State take responsibility for their failures and immediately take action to inform voters to double-check their ballots.”
  Actions the Texas Secretary of State could take right now to inform voters:
  • Launch a statewide public service announcement to inform voters on broadcast and cable television in multiple languages.
  • Launch a comprehensive voter information program in multiple languages through radio, digital, and print advertisements.
  • Train poll workers to verbally remind voters to double-check their ballot.
  • Post additional signs reminding voters to check their ballots before submitting.
  • Log all instances of machine malfunction. 

Under Abbott's watch Texas ranks high on the nation's states with the most people unemployed

By Faith Chatham - Oct. 26, 2018

As of June 2018, Texas ranks 21st highest (out of 51) in UNEMPLOYMENT. Under Abbott and the GOP controlled Texas Legislature, the annual growth in GDP (5 year increase) has not trickled down to the middle class. Growth in GDP can mask the overall wealth of the average Texan because GDP can reflect wealth which flows through Texas companies to out-of-state or international stock holders. EMPLOYMENT FIGURES reflects wealth actually in the accounts of residents which is available for housing, food, clothing, education, recreation. These are the expenditures which fuel the local economy. Under Abbott, higher percentage of Texans are unemployed than in 30 of the nation's other states. Since Texas is one of the states with the greatest population, 4% of Texans is a much greater number of unemployed people than in any of the other states with higher rates of unemployment.

BOTTOM LINE: Under Greg Abbott's watch, more people in Texas are unemployed than in most other places in the United States. The growth in wealth in Texas is channeled into the bank accounts of a relatively few people instead of being spread out throughout the population. Despite a 1.9% increase in job creation, the majority of new jobs are either not full-time or at pay rates high enough to rank as "living wage pay rates".

In It Together

In It Together

Leaving it all out on the court!

By Faith Chatham - Oct. 21, 2018

I love how they fight for us with all they've got during session and then don't leave anything on the field during GOTV crunch time fighting to help other women win seats in the Texas Leg. 

Currently in the Texas Legislature:

AND SOME OF THOSE WOMEN INCUMBENTS  ARE REPUBLICANS).

That is 19% of the Texas House and 25.8% of the Texas Senate to represent women who make up 52% of the Texas Population.

In the US House and Senate Texas women are even more under represented. Here is a graphic which shows where we stand on the Federal side. We didn't gain a single seat in 2016!

YEP, THAT IS RIGHT. 2016 and 2018 have identical statistics. We did not gain one seat in 2016.

Therefore, we must vote in 2018 like our lives depend on it BECAUSE IT REALLY DOES!

On the Federal side,  Texas has two Democratic US Congresswomen (Eddie Bernice Johnson and Sheila Jackson Lee) and one Republican (Kay Granger) out of 36 members of Congress and two senators. 

When we go to court, there are probably going to be Republican men hearing our cases.

Gals,we have to stop putting these men in charge of everything without sending enough women to temper what cliff's they decided to drive us over!

Looking at the importance of the campaigns of Lupe Valdez, Kim Olson and Joi Chevalier this year:

Electing Lupe, Kim and Joi would put women into 

4 out of 9 of the statewide non-judicial offices.

Electing one would give women a 22% representation,

Electing two of the three will raise it to a 33% representation.

Electing all three (if the current Railroad commissioner is re-elected) will give 52% of Texas' population 44% representation on our non-judicial statewide offices.

I applaud Rep. Celia Israel, Gina Hinojosa and Donna Howard for putting everything they have out there to make this happen. They are traveling the state helping other women GOTV in towns outside their district. Lupe, Kim and Joi are traveling over 4,700 miles in 10 days during this last GOTV crunch to meet citizens in 50 towns!

Each of us needs to stop being shy about talking to neighbors and strangers about how important this election is. 

If you need an icebreaker, use a PINK WAVE Button.

EARLY VOTING STARTS MONDAY, OCT. 22 

and runs through NOV. 2nd. 

ELECTION DAY IS NOV. 6th.

We should do what Willie says: 

If we don't like the clowns we elected

then when election day rolls around again,

VOTE 'EM OUT!

It's here girls!

Let's VOTE GOOD WOMEN IN 

and GET THE BAD GUYS OUT!