Students Lobbying in Austin

By Thatcher Townson

May 24, 2013

On Wednesday, May 22^nd, five high school students along with two adults from the Collin County civics group,  SALT[1], accompanied the North Texas Citizens Lobby to the capitol. We spoke with Representative Phil King, and Representative Scott Turner, and visited numerous other legislative offices. We addressed SJR 1 and HB 1025, which establish a water bank structure, providing the funding from the rainy day fund respectively. While SJR 1 had some support, especially as it contained a franchise tax reduction to woo conservatives, HB 1025, which provides the funding, was generally opposed, as it took funds for water and education out of the rainy day fund.   

While at the capitol we met several recently graduated homeschoolers representing the Texas Home School Coalition. These young men have spent the session working to protect parental rights and homeschooling in Texas. On Wednesday they lobbied a representative to speak for ten minutes against a bill on the House floor, thus killing the bill. They are an excellent example of how a small group that understands the system is able to protect our rights in the great state of Texas.