Burnam Will Support Straus For Speaker

There are now 74 Democrats in the 150 seat Texas House of Representatives, and I'm sure most of them are reps that all Democrats can be proud of. But there is one who has long been my favorite -- Rep. Lon Burnam of Fort Worth. Rep. Burnam, who has been in the Texas House since 1997, is not just a Democrat, but a true progressive who has never been afraid to speak the truth about our corporate Republican power structure.

To his credit, Rep. Burnam has never voted for current Speaker Bob Craddick. In fact, he has never supported any Republican for the speaker's position. But it looks like that is fixing to change. Burnam has just announced that he is supporting, and will be voting for, San Antonio Republican Rep. Joe Straus (pictured) to be the next Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives.

Rep. Burnam said Rep. Straus "is a really nice guy", and that he has worked closely with him on energy conservation and alternative energy. He said, "He understands that issue better than any other Republican in the House. He's one of the nicest Republicans I've ever met."

Tarrant County Democratic Representatives Marc Veasey and Paula Pierson are also throwing their support behind Rep. Straus. They say he is a conservative, but is always willing to listen to the other side. Pierson believes Straus now has the support of 64 of the 74 Democrats in the House, and possibly more.

Personally, I would like to see a Democrat as speaker. But until they are the majority, that isn't going to happen. So the next best thing is to get Craddick replaced with a Republican who will be fair.

If Lon Burnam says that person is Rep. Straus, that's good enough for me. The important thing is to defeat Craddick.

Burnam Says Craddick Guilty Of Political Attacks

Recently, we've been hearing about "ghost workers" working for members of the Texas House of Representatives. These workers are on the payroll and receive the benefits (such as insurance) of full-time state employees, even though they do little or no actual work for the state.

State Rep. Lon Burnam (D-Fort Worth) is accusing House Speaker Craddick of using a non-governmental entity (the Quorum Report) to investigate his political enemies, and then leaking the information to the Austin American-Statesman. He finds it odd that the only people named are opponents of Craddick's retaining his speakership.

Burnam has written a letter to the chairman of the House Committee on General Investigating and Ethics, Rep. Larry Phillips, asking the committee to be fair and thorough in its investigation. He wants the committee to make sure Craddick and his cronies are also investigated, and not just his political enemies. Click here to see Burnam's full letter.

This just once again points up the importance in electing Democrats this Fall, on the state level as well as the national level. The Texas House has been held captive to the dictatorial rule of Speaker Craddick, who seems much more interested in his own holding of power, than what is good for the citizens of Texas. Those who oppose Craddick find they can't get a fair hearing on their bills.

The easiest way to replace Craddick is to vote Democratic in November. It is time to remove this autocrat from his position of power in Austin.

Burnam Kills "Homeland Security" Bill

The Homeland Security bill seemed to be gliding easily toward passage in the legislature, even though it was opposed by the American Civil Liberties Union. The ACLU thought it would put too much new power in the governor's office and politicized the homeland security issue.

That changed yesterday, as Rep. Lon Burnam (D-Ft. Worth) killed the bill on a point of order. He said that he and others believed the bill would curtail some civil liberties.

The bill's author, Rep. David Swinford (R-Dumas), was quick to claim this move would cost the state of Texas millions of dollars in homeland security grants. Rep. Burnam said it would not. I have to believe Burnam on this one.

Whatever the federal government wants to do on homeland security, the one thing they cannot do is leave Texas out. Leaving Texas out of any formula to do anything with our southern border, leaves a big enough gap to make any proposal a joke. Texas must be included in any discussion of border security.

There is still a small chance the bill will be revived. Sen. John Carona (R-Dallas) is trying to revive the bill in the senate. To do so, he must strip the bill of all 14 senate amendments and then get it passed by a "super majority" of the senate. At this point, it's anybody's guess as to whether that can be done.

Many Republicans have spent this legislative session jumping on the anti-immigrant bandwagon. But the truth is that Texas gains more from its immigrants than it loses (even the ones that come here illegally). They provide a huge economic boon that far outweighs the few government dollars spent on them.

The Republican war against brown people is not only bigoted, it is stupid. It will hurt Texas economically and worsen our relations with Mexico.

Hopefully, there are enough senators to keep this bill in its freshly dug grave. Then we can turn our attention to killing federal efforts to harm our southern border, including the ridiculous wall and the terrible new immigration bill.

"Ceverha Bill" Passes Both House And Senate

The following is a press release from the office of District 90 Rep. Lon Burnam of Fort Worth:

Press Release

House Passes Ceverha Cash Gift Law

(Austin, TX) -- Today, the Texas House passed SB 129 which definitively requirespublic officials to disclose the value of monetary gifts they receive that exceed $250 invalue. The Governor is expected to sign the bill now that it has passed both chambers.

This issue first came to light after Bob Perry gave ERS board member and Tom
Craddick-confidante Bill Ceverha two checks worth $50,000 each. Ceverha tried to describe $100,000 in cash gifts merely as"checks," without disclosing the amount.

Ceverha is the former treasurer for Tom DeLay's TRMPAC.

“I have spent the past two years working for greater transparency and disclosure in state ethics laws,” said State Rep. Lon Burnam (D-Fort Worth).

“Hopefully, with the passage of this bill, the Texas Ethics Commission will no longerbe able to turn a blind eye when Republican cronies attempt to avoid disclosure,” saidBurnam. “I’m very disappointed that the Ethics Commission didn’t do the right thingin the first place.”

“I’ve introduced legislation, HB 2451, to require the Ethics Commission to interpretand implement statutes so that this kind of situation doesn’t happen again.

“The Legislature should not have to do the Ethics Commission’s job by making lawswhen rules will suffice,” Burnam continued. “The Legislature only meets for five months every two years. We rely on state agencies to make rules to uphold the intent of the law. The Commission failed us in the Ceverha gift case.

“Hopefully in the future they will require disclosure of the amount of a $100,000 gift.’”

Rep. Burnam’s HB 2451 passed the House overwhelmingly and is currently in the Senate State Affairs Committee.

Rep. Burnam, and the other Representatives and Senators who voted for this bill deserve our thanks for passing Senate Bill 129. It was badly needed since the Ethics Committee had refused to do its job. Now they need to finish the job, and pass HB 2451.

If they do, maybe now we will have accountability for state officials. Burnam has been fighting for this kind of accountability for months, and it is nice to see his efforts pay off.

As for the Ethics Committee, it is just sad that they must be forced by the legislature to do their job. If they had any ethics, they would resign, and allow their positions to be filled by Texans who are not too corrupt or too afraid to do the job.

After all the ridiculous bills that have been debated this year (and some even passed), it is good to see our legislature actually do something for the good of the citizens of Texas.

Burnam Seeks To Rein In Electric Costs

Well, Rep. Lon Burnam is at it again - fighting for us ordinary Texans. This time he is seeking to rein in TXU's exorbitant charges for electricity.

The national average for the cost of electricity to the consumer is 10.2 cents per kilowatt/hour. Meanwhile, TXU is charging 15 cents per kilowatt/hour as its standard rate. Does it make any sense that an energy-rich state like Texas must pay such high rates?

I have to think that one reason for the ridiculously high rate is the enormous salaries they currently pay their executives - over $50 million a year to their CEO. In addition he gets to use the company jet as his private plane. And that doesn't even count the hundreds of millions paid to their other executives.

Burnam's bill would attack this problem head-on. HB 1937 would mandate that any electric company that charges its customers more than 125% of the national average, must pay its executives minimum wage. Yes, he said minimum wage! I guarantee you that if TXU executives are paid minimum wage, they will quickly lower costs to the consumer to restore their enormous salaries.

The bill doesn't say the company can't pay a ridiculously high salary to its CEO. It just says they can't gouge their customers to do it. He does allow them one out. They could keep paying their executives hundreds of millions of dollars, as long as they put an equal amount of money into the System Benefit Fund, which helps low-income Texans pay their power bills.

Burnam says, "It's time for Texas' electric companies to act more responsibly. It is simply unconscionable to pay a CEO over $50 million in a year when low-income people are struggling with all-time highs on their electric bills. The Legislature could send a clear message to TXU's new owners that the state of Texas will not tolerate this kind of corporate greed.

The deal is not done. And it may not ever be. Two smaller buyouts of utilities were voted down by state commissions in the last few years.

For now, TXU is still a publicly traded company that took advantage of hurricanes to raise electric rates to unprecedented levels. They could have lowered those prices, but they instead chose to reap the profits and pay John Wilder over $50,000,000.

TXU is a poster boy for corporate excess. They need to be reined in."

I know there's little or no chance of this bill passing. Most of our state officials are too busy kissing corporate ass to worry about ordinary Texans. They have been bought and paid for by corporate interests.

But it's still a good idea.

Rep. Burnam Files Bill To Investigate Deregulation

I do love Rep. Lon Burnam [D-Fort Worth]. When the people of Texas are getting screwed and most politicians are too busy trying to cover their butts to care about it, Burnam is not afraid to step forward to fight for the citizens of Texas. Now he has done it again.

Before electric rates were deregulated in 2002, the rates in Texas were at or below the national average. Since deregulation, the electric rates in Texas have increased by over 80%. Frankly, the power companies have taken advantage of deregulation to fleece Texans and give themselves huge windfall profits.

When arguing for deregulation, the power companies along with Republicans, kept saying that deregulation would result in savings for Texas consumers. This was obviously a lie. Electric rates have never been higher.

Today, Rep. Burnam filed House Bill 395. This bill would require the Public Utility Commission to present alternatives to the present system, if electric prices are not at or below the national average in the summer of 2008. The PUC report would be due on the first day of the 2009 legislative session.

Rep. Burnam says:

"My constituents, like millions of others across the state, are paying significantly more under deregulation, regardless of whether they have switched to a new provider. Electric deregulation in Texas has been incredibly one-sided; big companies are making billion dollar profits while households are paying record high electricity prices. While we need real reforms to the electric market now, it is essential we explore alternatives for the longer term. This bill would direct the PUC to do exactly that.

The Legislature needs to act now to protect consumers. I talked to a doctor just today who told me he's never had so many patients report that they are choosing between medication and electricity than he has this year. This bill helps prepare Texas to change direction if we continue down this road of ever increasing prices."