Saturday, January 22, 2011

TRYON LEWIS'S FIRST BILL

Well, after all the deaths in my family, I wasn't going to do this anymore..... however..... Tryon has publicized his submission of his first bill and I cannot remain quiet.  I am so shocked and disappointed that I could absolutely spit nails.  Here's the story that was released in the Odessa American.  Pay attention to the info under "First Bill."


http://www.oaoa.com/articles/rep-58311-state-talks.html

State rep. talks issues
Comments 15

Tryon Lewis warns of hard choices ahead for state government, residents

January 07, 2011 5:10 PM

BY SARAH MUELLER

TRYON LEWIS:

“Texas is not set up to be a welfare state.”

Rep. Tryon Lewis said he’s anxious to start working on the big problems West Texans face when the 82nd Legislative session opens Tuesday in Austin.

This is the second session of the Texas State Legislature for the Odessa Republican representative from District 18. Republicans made large gains in last year’s mid-term elections and now hold a supermajority of seats.

The 82nd session is likely to be painful for West Texans because difficult and potentially deep budget cuts are expected in education, health care, transportation and road construction. Lewis’ message to his constituents is to expect cuts in education and health- and human-services.

“People have to be more self-reliant and not rely on the government,” he said. “Texas is not set up to be a welfare state.”

BUDGET SHORTFALL

Budget revenue figures will be announced by the Comptroller’s office early next week, but government officials are estimating the budget will be between $13 to $25 billion short. Lewis said he thinks the budget shortfall will end up around $20 billion.

One area likely to be affected by the deficit is health care. Hospitals across Texas are already facing a 1 percent decline in Medicaid reimbursement that will start in February. Medical Center Hospital CEO Bill Webster said the hospital can absorb that drop, but worries about long-term effects from declining funds from the state.

“There comes a point where long-term consequences have a negative impact on the health system,” he said.

For the last fiscal year, residents without insurance made up about 20 percent of the hospital’s patients and Medicaid patients accounted for about 13 percent.

The hospital will continue to work with the state to try to minimize the impact on providers, Webster said.

“We realize that the state is in a tough situation,” he said. “We will do our best to try and adjust.”

Lewis said cutbacks to health services will be significant because of the current budget woes, but the state could give more services to the poor if it can find a way to control the growing costs of health care.

MEDICAID

Health and human services programs have already been targeted by some elected state officials as an area to reduce expenses. A prime target will be Medicaid, the health insurance program provided by the state and federal government. Medicaid is designed to help pregnant women, children, the disabled and people living in nursing homes. MCH Chief Financial officer Robert Abernathy said about 70 percent of Medicaid funding goes to people in nursing homes.

Lewis said the state can’t afford the program, and he supports Gov. Rick Perry’s idea of opting out of Medicaid completely. The Texas Health and Human Services Commission said Medicaid makes up 25 percent of the state budget. If Texas drops out of Medicaid, it will be the first state in history to do so. And it will also mean losing about $16 billion in federal aid, according to HHSC.

“Unless things change, I don’t think there’s any other option,” Lewis said.

Webster, however, said he thinks the proposal was highly unlikely to pass.

“It would have a devastating impact on hospitals,” he said. “I think that’s not realistic.”

Lewis said he plans to be very involved in changing or restructuring the program. He favors a system where the federal government gives health care money to the state as a block grant. Losing the federal funding would be a shame, he said, but the state can’t afford the current system.

“We can’t bankrupt our state on the hope our state will get these dollars,” he said.

SPEAKER'S RACE

Austin has been buzzing for weeks about the looming race for speaker of the house. Lewis said he is supporting current House Speaker Joe Strauss, who is fighting to hold on to the speakership against two announced GOP candidates.

“He is the best qualified among the people currently running,” Lewis said.

ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION

Lewis said he will work to pass a voter-identification bill, as well as to create “sensible rules” on illegal immigration to prevent illegal immigrants from having access to welfare benefits and the voting booth. A voter ID bill was introduced last session, but failed to make it to the floor for a vote. Lewis was very disappointed in the bill’s failure.

“It was crushing to me,” he said.

Lewis predicts a tougher bill will be introduced in the upcoming session and will pass quickly.

“There’s no reason to oppose it,” he said. “It’s simple and fair.”

The Texas Democratic Party disagrees with Lewis’s assessment of the Voter ID bill. Spokeswoman Kirsten Gray said the bill is designed to prevent Democratic voters from casting their ballots.

“This bill is useless,” she said. “It’s a solution to a problem that doesn’t exist.”

Lewis said the integrity of the ballot and the legitimacy of an election is important.

“I’m sorry it’s not important to them (Democrats),” he said.

FIRST BILL

While Lewis was wrapping up his work at his law practice last week, he also filed his first bill for the new session. The House bill, HB 505, calls for replacing “Cesar Chavez Day with Texas Hispanic Heritage Day as an optional state holiday.”

The new holiday would be on Sept. 16th and would commemorate the defeat of Spain by Mexico over territory that includes Texas. He considers that day the state’s first Independence Day.

7 comments:

Unknown said...

Faye,

Not quite. He wants to replace Cesar Chavez Day with Mexican Heritage day.

Regardless, somebody should ask him if he would sponsor a bill celebrating Victory in Mexico Day. My thoughts on it:


All the Azatlan wannabes celebrate Cinco de Mayo, a day commemorating a temporary defeat of the French by the Mexican army in 1862, for their Mexican heritage and pride,. Maybe its time Americans started celebrating some more of their own heritage and pride.



How about if we celebrate the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which ended the Mexican-American War on February 2, 1848 when Mexico surrendered?



Nah, it is too cold in most of the USA for a BBQ.



Texans remember the Battle of the Alamo. (February 23 – March 6, 1836) but its still not good patriotic partying weather across much of the USA.



How about celebrating the battle and subsequent capture of Mexico City, September 8-15, 1847? While being outnumbered by over 2:1, the victorius US forces had a 4:1 edge in casuality/wounded after the seven day battle.



The Marine Corp anthem commemorates "the halls of Montezuema" which actually was the Battle of Chapultepec Castle, September 12-14, 1847, going on at the same time as the battle for Mexico City.



Thus September 14 would make a grand day for patriots to have parties and celebrations recounting the routing of the Mexican Army, the purchase of the American southwest, and the hanging of traitorous members of the Saint Patrick's Battalion who, like many illegal alien supporters of today, chose to side with Mexico over the United States.



What should we call the celebration? Since there is a VE and VJ Day: September 14th – Victory in Mexico Day


BTW, didn't you once mention to me that you could put me in touch with Dave Gibson? If so, I need to contact him.

Peter


E-mail from Peter F Wagner, author of "The Dark Side of Illegal Immigration" and founder of Victims of Illegal Alien Crime (VOIAC).

Unknown said...

Peter, we already have Hispanic Heritage MONTH which kicks off each year with Cinco de Mayo. I consider this a backdoor effort to get official recognition for Mexican Independence Day even though they are calling it Mexican Heritage Day. Even Tryon has stated that he considers this the "first" Texas Independence Day. I'm getting dang tired of having our legislators call a bill one thing and having it accomplish something else.

Unknown said...

The Dark Side Of Illegal Immigration

Facts, Figures And Statistics On Illegal Immigration

Can be read at http://www.usillegalaliens.com

Unknown said...

E-mail from Jean Towel

Where is Lewis coming from? Did you expect something like this from him? Looks like this guy is going to be monitored quite closely.

How are things going for you?

Jean

Unknown said...

Dear Faye, leftist Hispanic groups also furious with me. What this bill does is to do away with Cesar Chavez Day. Sept 16 is a legitimate and important day for all Texans. It is when Texas and rest of Mexico got out of Spanish Empire. If that had not happened, Texas and American history would be very different. Texas' development into an armed population large enough to defend itself would have been delayed for decades. US probably would not have declared war on Spanish Empire as it did Mexico. My fight is against illegal immigration, not Hispanic heritage which I think is great part of Texas heritage. I hope we can move the recognition of that away from C C Day in March to Sept 16. Always appreciate your thoughts and thanks for sending this to me. Tryon

Unknown said...

Faye, should have noted US did go to war with Spain but that was fifty years after Mexican War when we had grown to international power and had a strong navy on both oceans. Tryon

Unknown said...

ooo, Tryon, I am just now reading this. I don't get on my husband's computer very often any more...must be 4,000 e-mails on here. My e-mail is fayehall@cableone.net.

OK. I'll put some kind of info out on the website per your answer on this e-mail. I'm involved with a petition to get ECISD to rescind their approval for the migrant students to go to D.C. and have been researching Bert Corona which led me right to Cesar Chavez. I can see why you want to get rid of his day. This Bert Corona school is something else. If Republicans were to do this, the Democrats would be out in the streets looking for blood. Effectively, they're coaching them for 2 days while also giving them tours, then for 3 days they take them out to lobby Congress. And after graduation, they give them "projects" to do in their schools and communities and continue to check on them to see how the kids' projects are going. Check out the articles on the BCLI classes... I think they're 101 and 102 in the titles. And to cap it all off, the American taxpayer pays for it through Title 1c federal grants. So Democrats like Luis Gutierrez, Sheila Jackson Lee, and Barbara Boxer get to train kids and then use them to lobby for amnesty, health care for illegals, gun control...etc.