Good. Bad. Ugly.

In Austin right now, there’s good, there’s bad and there’s ugly. Let me explain.

First, the good: I am pleased that eight bills I authored or sponsored have been signed into law and a ninth measure will appear on the ballot in November‘s constitutional amendment election. Working with folks in District 101 and around Texas, I’m proud to have passed legislation that helps veterans and military families, protects small businesses, cracks down on child pornographers, provides new protections for apartment tenants and makes our lakes and rivers safer.

Those efforts, combined with co-authoring major education reforms which reduce high-stakes testing and successfully pushing to increase school funding, represent the good of this past session. I want to continue this work for District 101 and our state, which is why I will seek re-election in 2014.

Today is the very first day that I can begin fundraising again, and I hope I can count on you to be one of the very first contributors to the 2014 campaign. It may seem like a long way off, but candidate filing opens in less than five months!

Can I count on you for a contribution of $500, $250, $100, $50, or $25 right now to get our campaign off to a strong start?

Now, the bad: on Friday, Governor Perry went on a reckless veto spree that hurts our school children, colleges and universities, denies women equal pay for equal work, and makes a mockery of ethics and accountability in state government.

If that wasn’t bad enough, the governor zeroed out funding for the state’s Public Integrity Unit, which is currently investigating more than 400 cases of alleged criminality and corruption. It just so happens that one of those cases involves the Cancer Research and Prevention Institute (CPRIT), a state agency that is under scrutiny for doling out public tax dollars to private companies who have contributed to Perry and other Republican leaders.

That’s really bad, and it’s why I need your help to shine a light on this kind of unethical behavior. Can you help today with a contribution to my campaign?

Finally, the ugly: we are still in a “special” session, because Perry and Attorney General Greg Abbott want the Legislature to adopt the temporary redistricting plans from 2012 as the permanent plans for the rest of the decade. The problem with that? These maps retain many of the features of the original maps passed by the GOP Legislature which disrespect minority voters and that a federal court has found to be intentionally discriminatory and in violation of the Voting Rights Act.

It gets even uglier, though. Last week, the governor added divisive abortion issues to the special session agenda. Once again, Governor Perry is opening the door for Republican politicians to intervene in the private health care decisions of women and their doctors. And we’ve seen already that they will stop at nothing to get this legislation through.

I’ll be fighting discriminatory redistricting plans and anti-women legislation for the remainder of this special session. Will you join me in this fight with a contribution of $500, $250, $100, $50, or $25 today? Together, we have to stand up to Governor Perry and his extreme agenda.

Thank you for continued support and friendship.

chrissig_g

 

 

 

PS: Again, today is the first day since last year that I can raise campaign funds. I don’t have much time either, since June 30th is the cutoff for the next report. Please make a contribution today!