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(817) 381-8282

I wanted to remind you that this weekend – August 9th, 10th, and 11th – is the state’s annual sales tax holiday. Texans will not pay sales tax on most clothing, footwear, school supplies and backpacks priced under $100. This exemption also includes items sold over the internet, television, or by mail.

For more information please visit the Texas Comptroller’s website by clicking HERE. It is a pleasure to serve you in the Texas Legislature.

Sincerely,

Phil King

Mr. John Keel
State Auditor’s Office
P.O. Box 12067
Austin, TX 78711-­‐2067

Dear Mr. Keel:

We are writing to express our support for an audit of the Texas Education Services Center Curriculum Collaborative (TESCCC) and CSCOPE program, which has already been requested by Senator Dan Patrick and the Attorney General’s office.

As you know, the CSCOPE program was created by TESCC and, until recently, provided approximately 1,600 internet-based lesson plans and exams to Texas school districts. Mounting controversies over the past year culminated in successful efforts to end CSCOPE.

Earlier this year, it was alleged that school districts were attempting to charge parents hundreds of dollars in order to access CSCOPE lesson materials in direct violation of Section 26.006(a) of the Texas Education Code, which provides that parents are “entitled to review all teaching materials, instructional materials, and other teaching aids used in the classroom of the parent’s child.” There have also been allegations that the TESCCC has lacked transparency. Access to TESCC meetings and minutes were denied until the Attorney General insisted that the Texas Open Meetings Act required that they be open and available. Another concern was that development of CSCOPE by TESCCC was funded with public money, making it difficult to justify requiring taxpayers to pay for the service twice, the second time being when CSCOPE lessons were puchased by schools. Recently-as Senator Dan Patrick stated in a letter sent to your office-questions have arisen regarding nonconformity with state bidding processes, as well as expenditure-related issues.

The 83rd Legislature passed important legislation in the form of Senate Bill 1406, which requires that CSCOPE curricula be subjected to the same review and adoption process by the State Board of Education (SBOE) that is already applied to instructional materials. Additionally, in a major development, the TESCCC agreed to end production of CSCOPE lesson plans beginning on August 31, 2013.

Unfortunately, recent statements from Texas Education Agency (TEA) attorney David Anderson indicate a belief on the part of TEA that Texas schools may continue using CSCOPE lessons because they are now part of the public domain and no law prohibits them from doing so. The SBOE is set to consider the public domain argument in a meeting planned for September 18. However, this issue remains unresolved.

Senator Patrick and the Attorney General’s office have requested an audit of TESCCC and CSCOPE program from the time of its inception. Considering the numerous controversies surrounding CSCOPE, we believe that such an audit is warranted in the interests of transparency and accountability.

Sincerely,

Sen. Bob Deuell

Sen. Dan Patrick

Rep. Charles “Doc” Anderson

Rep. Cindy Burkett

Rep. Dan Flynn

Rep. Linda Harper-Brown

Rep. Phil King

Rep. Jodie Laubenberg

Rep. Geanie W. Morrison

Rep. Tan Parker

Rep. Ron Simmons

Contact Information:
(817) 381-8282

AUSTIN – Representative Phil King (R – Weatherford) was recognized by the Texas Eagle Forum with a top conservative rating in the Texas House. Representative King earned this accolade based on casting consistently conservative votes throughout the 83rd Texas Legislative Session and both Special Sessions.

Rep. King is a courageous defender of:

-our Constitutional right to keep and bear arms,
-smaller government benefiting every taxpayer,
-integrity at the ballot box,
-a great education for every child,
-human life, both born and pre-born,
-& more…

“Rep. King serves his constituents extremely well on both fiscal and social issues. We especially appreciate his tireless efforts for life during the special sessions,” stated Cathie Adams, president of Texas Eagle Forum. “His invitation to Gov. Mike Huckabee to attend the Texas life rally in Austin greatly helped bring about the final victory.”

Contact Information:
(817) 381-8282

AUSTIN – The following statement may be attributed to State Representative Phil King (R-Weatherford):

“In May my office began to receive calls from residents regarding a contractor for the City of Ft. Worth dumping human waste near their homes that gave off a horrible odor,” King stated. “I called Ft. Worth Mayor Betsy Price, who immediately ordered the contractor to cease dumping until our concerns were addressed. I also contacted the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) requesting an investigation. TCEQ has since issued an enforcement letter to the contractor directing that dumping operations cease pending further investigation.”

“On June 18th, TCEQ held a formal hearing in Austin on this matter,” King explained. “I believe the regulations on waste dumping are clearly insufficient and I requested that TCEQ strengthen these rules. At the formal hearing, the Commission decided to initiate a process to change those regulations and the first of several meetings in this process will take place on August 13, in Springtown. I encourage citizens to attend and give input to the Commission.”

“Parker and Wise County officials have also been very engaged in responding to this problem. We are working together to see this process through to a positive outcome,” King concluded.

TCEQ will hold several different hearings and meetings over the next few months as they formulate the proposed new rules. The first meeting is slated for August 13th at 7 p.m. at the Springtown Senior Center, 1070 N. Main Street. All concerned parties are welcome to come and give their input to the Commission.

Contact Information:
(817) 381-8282

Our founding fathers realized that “Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness” were among the most essential of the unalienable rights bestowed upon us by our Creator. Over the past several weeks a debate has been raging in Austin over the first and greatest of these enumerated rights: life. Governor Perry has now called the legislature back into a second special legislative session to pass a bill that would help protect innocent lives, but will also go a long way toward protecting women’s health.

I am one of four joint-authors on HB 2, which has four main components: it would 1) prohibit abortions in Texas after 5 months; 2) require that a doctor personally administer abortion-inducing drugs to patients; 3) require abortions be performed in ambulatory surgical centers, which have more stringent health and safety requirements than do current abortion clinics; and 4) require that doctors performing abortions in Texas have credentials for a hospital within 30 miles of where they are performing abortions. This legislation is focused on improving the standard of healthcare for women and saving lives.

The main objection of the opposition to this legislation has been that they want to be able to abort babies even after the fifth month of pregnancy, when it has been proven the unborn baby feels pain at this juncture of a pregnancy. The opposition claims to stand for women’s health, but the fact is that after 5 months abortions can be extremely dangerous to a woman’s health and even be life threatening. Additionally, when polled, 62% of Texans say that they support banning abortions after 5 months.

I am happy to report that we passed HB 2 out of the House of Representatives yesterday. It now moves to the Senate for consideration. Should this legislation pass, thousands of lives a year will be saved in Texas, and at the same time the standard of care for women who decide to receive an abortion will improve greatly.

I look forward to continuing to stand up with my colleagues in the legislature to defend the life of the precious and defenseless unborn.

State Representative Phil King represents Parker and Wise counties in the Texas House of Representatives.

Contact Information:
(817) 381-8282

AUSTIN – The following statement may be attributed to State Representative Phil King (R-Weatherford):

“Over the past few weeks my office has received a number of phone calls and emails concerning the dumping of human waste at locations in both Parker and Wise counties. We believe that the company responsible for this has been hired by the City of Fort Worth and are awaiting confirmation of this fact.”

“As soon as my office was notified of this issue, I contacted the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), and asked them to look into the matter. I am assured that the TCEQ has begun an enforcement action against the company. However, it also appears that the current regulations are insufficient to protect neighboring property owners. Therefore, beginning June 18, the TCEQ will begin a formal ‘rule making’ process to change the rules on dumping of waste such as this, to ensure the health and safety of Texans. This process will be an open one in which concerned parties have an opportunity to testify in front of the agency and give their input on this important matter.”

“My office will continue to monitor this situation and stay engaged in the rule making process as it moves forward.”

Contact Information:
(817) 381-8282

WEATHERFORD – The following statement may be attributed to State Representative Phil King (R-Weatherford) regarding the lesson plans provided by CSCOPE:

“My office has received numerous inquiries regarding the status of the CSCOPE lesson plans that many public schools utilize. This came to the attention of the legislature only in the last few months. As of May 20th, in response to legislators, concerned parents and many educators across Texas, the Texas Education Service Center Curriculum Collaborative (TESCCC) board announced it would permanently remove all lesson plans from its websites and would cease providing lesson plans through CSCOPE.”

“Additionally, this month, the Texas Legislature passed SB 1406. This new law requires that any lesson plans developed similar to CSCOPE must be approved by the State Board of Education (SBOE). The oversight from SBOE will afford parents and all Texans an opportunity for oversight and input.”

State Representative Phil King

Today marks the final day of the 83rd Texas Legislative Session. While it is likely we will be called back by the Governor into a special legislative session in the very near future to address redistricting, I wanted to share with you some of what was accomplished this session.

The following are just a few of the bills that I supported and/or sponsored, which I believe will keep Texas the best place in the country to raise a family and do business:

• Small business tax relief: HB 500 is a bill that offers over $700 million in business tax relief and makes permanent the $1 million small business tax exemption.
• Water: We passed two significant bills related to water. HB 4 puts in place a $2 billion water infrastructure bank, which will provide more than $27 billion in long-term funding for small communities like those in Parker and Wise counties to improve and enhance their water systems, ensuring the water needs of Texas are met for generations to come. HB 2767 is a bill I authored that removes the barriers to recycling produced water and frack water in the production of oil and gas.
• Drug testing for recipients of unemployment benefits: SB 21 takes a critical step toward decreasing fraud and ensuring the taxpayers of Texas are not subsidizing addictions of benefit recipients.
• TRS reform: The Teacher Retirement System of Texas (TRS), one of the largest pension funds in the nation, has had over $26 billion in unfunded liabilities and could not fully cover promised benefits to teachers and educators. TRS will now be actuarially sound moving forward, because of SB 1458, a reform bill that will ensure it will be there to provide for teachers for decades to come.
• Public education high stakes testing reform: HB 5 is a bill that will reduce the number of end-of-course assessments from 15 to 5. The bill also eliminates intrusive state mandates on our schools and provides flexibility for students to develop their individual talents and pursue their interests.
• Eminent domain: I was the sponsor of SB 655, which will protect Texas landowners by clarifying and strengthening existing law related to eminent domain in Texas to prevent certain entities from exercising that authority for improper purposes.

Some of the issues I believe the legislature must still address are: protecting human life through more stringent abortion laws; adequate transportation funding to ensure Texas remains the premier state in which to do business; greater education reform that will allow parents and school districts the flexibility to teach children the way they see fit, as opposed to bureaucrats in Austin; and legislation to enhance and expand our 2nd Amendment rights to keep and bear arms. I pledge to you that I will continue to work hard to see these issues addressed.

It has been an honor to serve the people of House District 61 during this legislative session. I look forward to continuing to work hard to limit the size of government to ensure that Texans have as much room as possible to prosper and enjoy their lives.

Contact Information:
(817) 381-8282

AUSTIN – This past weekend Governor Perry signed SB 655, sponsored by State Representative Phil King (R-Weatherford), into law. This legislation clarifies and strengthens existing law related to eminent domain in Texas to prevent certain entities from exercising eminent domain for improper purposes.

“The legislature has made good strides over the past several years in protecting Texas landowners from abuses in the use of eminent domain,” King stated, “S.B. 655 adds to these protections by limiting the circumstances under which the ever-growing water and wastewater districts in Texas may exercise this authority. These districts will now be limited to exercising eminent domain only if the property they plan to take will be used for a public use, as opposed to ‘public purpose.’ The public use requirement is a much higher burden for the condemning authority to meet.”

S.B. 655 received more than a two-thirds vote in both chambers of the legislature, and is therefore effective immediately.

Contact Information:
(817) 381-8282

AUSTIN – Today, State Representative Phil King (R-Weatherford) successfully passed H.B 2767, a bill that removes impediments of water recycling in oil and gas production.

The total water use for hydraulic fracturing in Texas has increased from about 11 billion gallons in 2008 to approximately 26 billion gallons in 2011. Total water use is only expected to grow as studies project maximum water use up to approximately 58.5 billion a year by 2020. Under current practice, over 80% of all oil and gas wastewater is disposed in underground injection wells instead of being treated and re-used in drilling and hydro-fracturing activity.

“H.B. 2767 seeks to establish a framework to encourage water recycling in the oil and gas industry, a crucial step we must take as oil and gas production water usage continues to grow,” King stated, “The recovery of oil and gas waste is essential to support growth in the Texas oil and gas industry while preserving our precious water resources that are so strained during this long drought.”

H.B. 2767 will now go to the Texas Senate for approval.