Abbott “ Republican State Reps. Kyle Biedermann (Fredericksburg), Mike Lang (Granbury), Bill Zedler (Arlington), Steve Toth(The Woodlands), and State Sen. Bob Hall (Edgewood) filed the lawsuit in a Travis County district court against Abbott, MTX Group, and the Texas Department of State Health Services on Monday evening.
The lawmakers argue the contract should be voided by the court “for lack of DSHS’ authority to expend essentially unlimited funds toward a goal unidentified by the Legislature.”
“[T]he Texas Constitution requires a separation of powers, and that separation leaves policy-making decisions with the Texas Legislature. These decisions are not changed by pandemics.”
The suit also takes aim at Abbott for failing to follow competitive bidding rules when awarding the contract..”
Safety, how elusive a goal, how easy to trade our liberty.
““Everyone should pay close attention because we might be giving away our right to privacy and civil liberties in the name of safety,” State Rep. Kyle Biedermann told Texas Scorecard in May, after details of the agreement began to …. “
https://texasscorecard.com/state/republican-lawmakers-sue-abbott-over-295m-contact-tracing-agreement/“ Republican South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, who was scheduled to speak at the conference, says she was shocked to see the move happen in Texas.
“I think it’s surprising, coming from Texas. I mean, they’re the home of the Alamo, the ‘come and take it’ flag. It’s supposed to be one of the greatest states in America and a state that stood up and protected people’s liberties [and] God-given rights,” Noem said during a radio interview with the Blaze’s Glenn Beck on Tuesday. “These young people were all coming to exercise their First Amendment freedom of assembly, and to have the City of Dallas pull the rug out from underneath them, I think, is an absolute shame.”
“Did they do this to protesters in the [Black Lives Matter] movement? No, they didn’t,” she added.”
South Dakota Governor Calls Out Texas After Pro-Liberty Conference Cancellation
“ Since taking office last month, Republican Party of Texas Chairman Allen West has been a vocal critic of the string of unilateral executive orders issued by Gov. Greg Abbott in response to the Chinese coronavirus.
Now he’s calling for a special session of the Texas Legislature.
In an interview with Texas Scorecard, West discussed his opposition to the trend of executive orders, which has left the elected Texas Legislature completely out of the process since the first disaster declaration over the coronavirus was signed by Abbott on March 13.”
“ Orders, dictates, mandates, decrees, and things of that nature … that’s not what we’re about in Texas. That’s not what we’re about in America,” he added.”
“ Tax bills will still go up across the board, just at a slower rate. Lawmakers even gave city and county tax hikers another year to gouge families by delaying the law until 2020.
HB 3 is yet another reminder for Texans to focus on results over rhetoric.”
Kecseg: Did Abbott’s ‘Tax Relief’ Reduce School Property Taxes?
“ Instead, Texans have been forced for months to take it one day at a time. Business owners across the state continue to face uncertainty over whether they will make it to the end of the year, all while the governor has extended his 30-day emergency declarations five times, without any input from the elected Legislature.
And as we approach the 154th day of “15 days to slow the spread,” Texans need to hear more than vague threats from their governor.”
Masks in the Backyard? Abbott Says Yes, Until Coronavirus Cure or Vaccine
Where is TMA on this? Why are they against? Where is RINO Abbott? “ Without a doubt, the hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) protocols helped me. I was prescribed hydroxychloroquine, azithromycin and a steroid nebulizer. I also took zinc and some vitamins. I was still pretty weak but was completely symptom free in four days. It is a shame some people are politicizing the use of HCQ protocols and citing some debunked studies to claim HCQ is unsafe and should not be utilized as a treatment for coronavirus.”
RINO Abbott is not Gov Noem.
“ South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem thanked President Trump for offering federal assistance to her state to mitigate damage from the coronavirus pandemic, but she said it’s not needed thanks to her state’s healthy economy.
“My administration is very grateful to @realDonaldTrump for the additional flexibility that the ‘Lost Wages Assistance’ would have provided, but South Dakota is in the fortunate position of not needing to accept it,” Noem, a Republican, tweeted Friday, followed by a thread explaining the various reasons why her state does not need the $400 weekly unemployment payments approved by Trump.
Noem added that South Dakota’s economy didn’t shut down over coronavirus fears, allowing the state to be in good shape.”
“ Slaton says he’s going to work to make sure that doesn’t happen again.
“Republicans can’t only oppose executive overreach when Democrat Presidents are the ones doing it. We must end the current abuses of the Texas Disaster Act of 1975, and it’s up to the legislature to end the possibility of future abuses in 2021,” said Slaton. “I have various policies that my voters clearly tasked me with, but other than demanding real property tax relief, Governor Abbott’s executive overreach was the most frequently criticized policy by voters at the polls.”
Indeed, during an interview on the Luke Macias Show released last week, Slaton said he believes Abbott’s endorsement of his opponent, incumbent State Rep. Dan Flynn (R–Van), helped his own campaign, saying people approached outside of polling places and told him “I saw the governor endorsed your opponent; you automatically got my vote.”
“The type of decisions that Abbott is making were never intended to be made in a unilateral way. I’m urging Governor Abbott to return to a respect for the legislative branch,” added Slaton.”
Slaton Says First Bill Will End Executive Overreach During Crises