ACTION ALERT: Call your legislators!
UPDATE: 5/10
HB 4309 has been placed on the General State Calendar. We need everyone who supports democracy in Texas to call your reps daily to request a public statement of support. Then convince your fellow Texans to do the same. For SB 2197, keep calling Sen. Hughes' office requesting confirmation that he will schedule it for a vote & work tirelessly to promote justice & democracy by support the bill's passing.
UPDATE: 5/1
HB 4309 was reported favorably by the Elections committee but just barely, by a vote of 5 to 4. This means it will be considered by the House for approval & we need everyone's help to get it passed. Please call your Texas House rep during business hours and ask them to support this bill! Then, tell every Texan you know to do the same. Repeat!
There are two bills in the legislature that would help fix an unfair law that the Texas Legislature passed in 2019. They are identical: one in the Senate (SB 2197) and one in the House (HB 4309).
That unfair 2019 law forces Green candidates to pay large sums of money to the State of Texas in the form of candidate filing fees in order to run for office and give voters like you a choice on your ballot.
While these bills would leave in place the filing fee requirement (which we believe should never have been imposed), it would change the law so that instead of paying the filing fee to the Secretary of State, the fee would be paid to GPTX. This change would mean the state party would receive a big influx of money that we would use to support our party and our candidates. We need to push for passage of SB 2197/HB 4309.
The bills have been assigned to their respective committees but still need to be scheduled for a public hearing in order to move forward. That’s where you come in.
Please call the chair of the Senate state affairs committee Senator Bryan Hughes Monday through Friday between 9am and 5pm and urge him to schedule SB 2197 for a hearing.
Hughes' office: (512) 463-0101
Example call script: "My name is [your name] and I’m a voter from [your city]. I’m calling on Sen. Hughes to schedule a hearing on SB 2197 in the State Affairs committee. This bill is about treating candidates from all parties fairly. The public deserves a chance to have a hearing on this bill so that it can move forward in the legislative process. Thank you."
In addition, please also call your own Senator and State Rep. ("Who represents me?") during business hours and do so frequently until we get a hearing and passage of these bills!
Example call script:
“My name is [your name] and I’m a voter from [your city]. I’m calling on [your State Senator/State Representative] to encourage their colleagues to schedule a committee hearing on (SB 2197/HB 4309) and to support it when it comes up for a vote. This bill is about equitable ballot access for candidates.
If passed the bill would let convention-nominated candidates—like those from the Green Party which I support—pay filing fees to their party, just like Democrat and Republican candidates already do, instead of paying the State of Texas. Greens have lost dozens of candidates since the State of Texas imposed filing fees on them.
As a voter, I want more choices on my ballot and not less. If we can’t get rid of filing fees, this bill would at least keep those dollars in the hands of the Green Party instead of in state coffers, which would level the playing field for Green candidates in future elections. Thank you.”