We’ve had a significant development on the monument protection front and I wanted to be sure that you heard it from me before the news gets out.
I spoke with State Representative Kyle Biedermann on the phone this morning. This call was a follow-up discussion about Senate Bill 226 as well as the TNM’s outstanding issues over the Alamo. In the call I articulated to Rep. Biedermann our specific concerns about SB226 and the Cenotaph Loophole and offered the TNM’s proposed change to the bill that would fix the loophole and keep local officials from removing monuments without voter approval under the guise of repair and restoration.
Rep. Biedermann committed to filing a House version of SB226 with the TNM’s fix for the loophole as soon as tomorrow.
He also said that he would march our change down to Senator Pat Fallon’s office so that he could use the language for a committee substitute for the already filed version of SB226.
When this bill comes up for a committee hearing, we’ll be there to give testimony and we’ll need as many supporters as possible to get there as well.
On the Alamo front, Rep. Biedermann stated that he will be filing bills that address the two outstanding issues expressed by the TNM in our 2013 statement on the Alamo – removal of the Alamo from UNESCO’s World Heritage Site program and the dual jurisdictions of the Alamo battleground. We’ll keep you posted on developments on this front.
All of this is great news!
If you want to help us with some on-the-ground work at the Texas Legislature, be sure to contact our Legislative Director Suzi Dantzler at [email protected].
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