For Immediate Release! May 18, 2009
TEXAS ROCKS! TEXAS HOUSE BILL (HB) 978, THE TEXANS WITH DISABILITIES
ACT, PASSES HOUSE WITH BI-PARTISAN SUPPORT AND IS NOW IN THE SENATE
COMMITTEE ON BUSINESS AND COMMERCE.
HB 978 still needs your help to become law: We just learned today
that HB 978 is scheduled for reading tomorrow, Tuesday, May 19, 2009,
in the Senate Committee on Business and Commerce. We learned that
Coalition for Texans with Disabilities (CTD) met with every member of
the Senate Committee on Business and Commerce last week to push HB 978
to be heard in Committee. Many bills die for lack of a hearing. The
good news is all efforts to move HB 978 through the legislative
process are working. The bad news is we are not out of the woods yet.
We can’t stop or slow down now.
This has been an education for us. We learned that the Chair of a
committee without question or explanation could eliminate a bill. That
anything can happen in a committee, which may keep a bill from
reaching the Senate floor and becoming law. This is why your help is
needed to contact Senators on the Business and Commerce Committee and
your Senate District Representatives. They need to hear from you. The
more our representatives hear from us, the more they will realize how
important HB 978 is to Texans with disabilities.
For HB 978 to be signed into law by Governor Rick Perry this
legislative session, it needs to be voted out of the Senate Committee
on Business and Commerce onto the Senate floor to be voted on by the
entire Senate. Please contact members of the Senate Business and
Commerce Committee, and ask them to support Texans with disabilities
and HB 978.
We are down to the wire with the 81st Legislature ending this month.
HB 978 passed the House on May 8 and was referred to the Senate
Business and Commerce Committee on May 11. We need your help today.
Call and email your Texas State Senate Representatives and the Senate
Business and Commerce Committee members today beginning with:
Senator Troy Fraser – District 24 Abilene – Chair
[email protected] and (512) 463-0124
Senator Chris Harris – District 9 Arlington – Vice Chair
[email protected] and (512) 463-0109
Senator Kip Averitt – District 22 Waco
[email protected] and (512) 463-0112
Senator Kevin Eltife – District 1 Tyler
[email protected] and (512) 463-0101
Senator Craig Estes – District 30 Wichita Falls
[email protected] and (512) 463-0130
Senator Mike Jackson – District 11 Pasadena
[email protected] and (512) 463-0111
Senator Eddie Lucio, Jr. – District 27 Brownsville
[email protected] and (512) 463-0127
Senator Leticia Van de Putte – District 26 San Antonio
[email protected] and (512) 463-0126
Senator Kirk Watson – District 14 Austin
[email protected] and (512) 463- 0114
Senate Business and Commerce Committee members can also be reached
through:
http://www.senate.state.tx.us/75r/senate/commit/c510/c510.htm.
A sample letter follows for your convenience:
Dear Texas State Senator ____
I write to ask that you support and co-sponsor HB 978, which passed
the House on May 8 and is now under consideration in the Texas Senate.
Please vote HB 978 out of the Texas Senate Business and Commerce
Committee and out of the Texas Senate for the Governor’s signature.
HB 978 would bring the same protections in the workplace for the
disabled under Texas law that President Bush signed into law on a
federal level in 2008. HB 978 has bi-partisan support and was
unanimously voted out of the House Business and Industry Committee.
Unfortunately, disabled Texans still experience discrimination on the
job. Some employees who are great at their job are fired merely
because they have cancer, diabetes, back injury or some other
disability. HB 978 protects disabled employees, and their employers
who enjoy the fruits of their God given talents. Under this law,
employers can still terminate a disabled person, or anyone else, who
does not or cannot do their job.
HB 978 also protects our disabled veterans seeking employment in the
private sector as they return home from Iraq and Afganistan. This bill
encourages the disabled to work, thus lessening the burden on public
assistance.
Finally, there is no fiscal impact if HB 978 is enacted. However,
contracts Texas has with the Federal government would be threatened if
HB 978 is not passed. The Texas Workforce Commission has indicated
that there would be an undetermined cost associated with not passing
HB 978.
Please vote to give disabled Texans the protections under Texas law,
which was signed into law by President Bush last year.
Thank you,
(Your Name)
(Your Address
(Your Telephone Number)
HB 978 Passed the Texas House!
Many thanks to those Texas State Representatives who voted to support
Texans with disabilities and voted yes to pass HB 978. To see the
names of the Texas State Representatives who voted yes on HB 978 and
those who voted no, go to:
http://yourvotecountsp2.wordpress.com/hb-978/texas-state-legislators-state-representatives/the-house-voted/
For more information on HB 978, visit
http://yourvotecountsp2.wordpress.com to see additional links. Thanks
for all your help. We appreciate your support.
Tracey Michol
Tracey and Friends
[email protected]
http://yourvotecountsp2.wordpress.com