After posting on 4/30 that the Texas Senate had passed a Bill regulating sand mining on the San Jacinto, bad news. The Bill died in the House. I had thought it was pretty much a done deal, but I learned something about politics - it's not over until the bill is signed into law. It was the end of the legislative session and the Bill simply did not make it out of Committee onto the floor to be voted on. I am extremely frustrated with how difficult it is to even find out about what is going on in the legislature. Even though Jennifer Lorenz of Legacy Land Trust had regular contact with the Senator's office that supported the Bill, it was not something the public knew about, and it's like a sleuth hunt trying to figure out when the bill is in Committee or being voted on. All I can say is, maybe next session.
What's ahead: Next weekend I am paddling the 10-mile Neches River Rendezvous through lush bottomland hardwood forest, and then heading up to interview some people about the Neches National Wildlife Refuge, currently embroiled in a lawsuit, basically Dallas wants to build the Fastrill reservoir right over the top of the refuge.
The kids got out of school for the summer and are already bored! Ha ha! I told them I'd give them more chores if they wanted... I'm so proud of my babies - they were the only two kids in the entire school to get "Superior Achievement Award" which means they earned a 95 overall average for the year, with no grade below a 90 in ANY subject - including math, science, literature, history, Spanish, Art and PE - all year! Last year, Savannah was the only student in middle school to get the award and now that Sam is in middle school, he got it too! At the beginning of the year, I told Sam I'd buy him a Robo Sapien if he got the same. And he did! Two Christmases ago, we laughed so hard in Radio Shack over the crazy antics of this large white robot. It costs a small fortune!
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2 comments:
Give my congrats to the kiddies! That is truly an accomplishment one of which I was never able to attain.
Sorry about the sand mining. I know I've tried to find info on bills and got so damn frustrated when even with the Bill # or such I still couldn't find anything.
Does the TX environmental community have a watchdog at the Legislature to keep all informed on the progress of legislation of interest?
In the non-profit statewide social service community I work in, most of these agencies and organizations pool to support a professional "lobbyist" who follows all potential legislation that could affect those issues we look out for. It's a great asset.
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