Texas Rep. David Simpson stops legislature from growing government, gets hated on by peers

Some Texas legislators are upset that freshman state Rep. David Simpson (R-7) used parliamentary procedures to bump bills off the fast track House calendar. (Fast-track bills aren’t subject to debate.)

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For example, after Simpson slowed down Senfronia Thompson’s (D-141) “puppy mill” bill (HB 1451), colleagues began “returning the favor”. The Texas Tribune reported: “13 co-authors of Simpson’s HB 1937, a popular bill to criminalize over-eager patdowns at airport security, had withdrawn their names from his legislation.”

Even Republicans are unhappy with Simpson, accusing him of breaking “unspoken rules of decorum”. The Tribune reported:

“If he doesn’t want to have a relationship with anybody around or if he thinks not going up and talking to authors before he knocks a bill off is the right way to go, that’s his business, not mine,” said Rep. Jim Keffer, R-Eastland, who defended Thompson’s bill on the floor.

HB 1451 would grow government, requiring an additional 15 employees to manage Thompson’s requirements for licensing and inspections. It would also increase the cost of buying a dog, due to additional breeders’ costs. This means it’s a tax, hidden behind feel-good legislation enacted to hypothetically protect defenseless puppies. (We all love puppies. How could you say no?)

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The U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance says HB 1451 “had been rushed through the committee process and placed on the Local and Consent Calendar” in order to expedite a floor vote.

Ask your legislator: After Texas voters gave you a mandate to shrink state government, why are you voting to grow it? As for state Rep. Simpson, he’s turning out to be a slayer of bad legislation and an enemy of big government.

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