Less than one day after Gov. Greg Abbott decided to try and take out Rep. Sarah Davis, she was one of only 10 Texas legislators to receive a ‘Champion of Free Enterprise’ designation on the Texas Association of Business scorecard.
| Cindy Burkett (R-Sunnyvale) | Oscar Longoria (D-Mission) |
| Sarah Davis (R-Houston) | Richard Peña Raymond (D-Laredo) |
| Gary Elkins (R-Houston) | Hugh Shine (R-Temple) |
| Dan Huberty (R-Houston) | Jason Villalba (R-Dallas) |
| Linda Koop (R-Dallas) | Paul Workman (R-Dallas) |
(click here to download the entire scorecard)
Since I happen to live in the Houston area, it’s good to see three Houston area reps on that list. Two other area reps, Jim Murphy and Kevin Roberts, came close with scores of 88. The moral warriors didn’t do so well on this scorecard.
You will notice that not a single senator received the highest designation, which is no surprise if you followed along during the session. The TAB was constantly at odds with the Governor and Lt. Governor over social issues.
Here is the list of bills that the TAB used for their scorecard.
House
- Franchise Tax Repeal – HB 28
- Raise-the-Age – HB 122
- Transportation Network Companies – HB 100
- Prohibition of Fees on New Construction – HB 1449
- Recruit Texas Program – HB 108
- Dry Cleaner Environmental Response Program – HB 1515
- Hailstorm Litigation Reform – HB 1774
- Comprehensive Development Agreements (CDAs) – HB 2861
- Railroad Commission Sunset – HB 1818
- Freestanding ER Transparency – HB 3276
- Civil Suits Brought by Local Governments – HB 2533
- Major Events Reimbursement Program for NASCAR – HB 3294
- Sanctuary Cities – SB 4
- Balance Billing Reform – SB 507
- P-TECH Program – SB 22
- Air Quality Permit Reform – SB 1045
- Port Financing – SB 28
Senate
- Sanctuary Cities – SB 4
- Port Financing – SB 28
- P-TECH Program – SB 22
- Entities Subject to the Public Information Act – SB 408
- Texas Emissions Reduction Program (TERP) Reform – SB 26
- Transportation Network Companies – HB 100
- Balance Billing Reform – SB 507
- Recruit Texas Program – HB 108
- Air Quality Permit Reform – SB 1045
- Hailstorm Litigation Reform – HB 1774
- Railroad Commission Sunset – HB 1818
- Major Events Reimbursement Program for NASCAR – HB 3294
- Civil Suits Brought by Local Governments – HB 2533
- Discriminatory Legislation – SB 3 (First Called Special Session)
- Freestanding ER Transparency – HB 3276
It’s obvious you prefer the most liberal of the Texas repubs but its downright hilarious not to mention the TAB has as its president a very liberal pro LGBTQTERZ democrat in your praise of Sarah and her endorsement by said group.
Said President Chris Wallace was was humiliated by senators Bettencourt and Kelly Hancock on the floor of the senate while giving his fake stats on the destruction of the Texas economy if SB 6 passed. You know, that bi-partisan senate bill that your hero Joe Stausss wouldn’t allow his precious house members to have to vote on.
The TAB is to social issues what the TML and TAC are for higher taxes. It’s what you don’t say that is so telling David.
And while I don’t keep up with all of those listed in her company, Dan Huberty was that jewel that insisted on special treatment from the CoH solid waste department after Hurricane Harvey and Jim Murphy flipped on pension reform. Real august bunch some of these Texas GOP house slugs make. Maybe they’ll unanimously elect Sarah as the speaker next session like they did for ‘ol Joe..
It’s obvious, eh? SMH.
Anybody who get an A from the Texas Association of Liberal Business needs to be retired. That simply means that they voted against conservative measures. I noticed that one of the most liberal democrats got a high B. Very telling.
Not only that, but look at the most conservative members of the House. Most of them had ratings down in the 40s. Why?
Here’s just one example, HB 100, the ridesharing bill. It preempts local control of ridesharing, which is a good pro-business bit of legislation. But it also imposes a $5000 license fee on any company providing ridesharing services in Texas. How easy is it for Uber or Lyft to find $5000 to operate in all of Texas? But let’s say you want to establish a small competitor to those two giants. $5000 every year might eat fairly deep into your organization. If you really wanted to “help business” and have a free market, why would you impose a $5000 fee?
Very conservative state rep Jonathan Stickland introduced an amendment that would delete everything from the bill except the local preemption. It failed. He then voted against the un-amended bill, as did other conservatives, including some from the Houston area.
Dig deeper into the bills and the votes, and you’ll find a lot of little stories like that.