Thursday, June 23, 2011

HillCo Partners working on behalf of Bob Perry to kill sanctuary cities bill

That's what "multiple sources" are telling Harvey Kronberg at 5:18 p.m. today, and here is the subhead and the teaser:

Hillco's Bill Miller responds that they are definitely not trying to kill but definitely trying to change SB9

Ironically, Governor Perry declared sanctuary cities an emergency item in the regular session and put it back on the call for the special despite Bob Perry being one of his largest contributors. He is also a major direct and indirect contributor to state lawmaker races.

House State Affairs is scheduled to take up SB9 tomorrow.

UPDATE: House State Affairs has canceled its meeting scheduled for tomorrow morning and has scheduled a Monday hearing for 9 a.m. in the Agriculture Museum on the ground floor of the Capitol.

Don't know who HillCo is? Don't know Bill Miller? Now you do.  But the only thing that is essential for you to know is that if they are successful in defeating or watering down this legislation, the TeaBaggers are going to go frothing, screaming mad. I mean, more so than they already are. Much more. If you can imagine that.

Pop plenty of corn and get ready to watch the fireworks.

Update: "Sanctuary cities" bill loses momentum ...

As two of Texas' most politically-involved business leaders emerged as opponents, a bill banning "sanctuary cities" lost crucial momentum Friday, raising the possibility the measure will be killed or substantially weakened before the special session of the Texas Legislature ends Wednesday.

HillCo Partners' lobby team, led by Neal T. "Buddy" Jones, is working on behalf of Houston home builder Bob Perry and San Antonio grocery store magnate Charles Butt to alter a proposal that would permit law enforcement officers to inquire about the immigration status of people they detain, Jones' partner Bill Miller confirmed.

Miller declined to detail the changes Jones hopes to make in the legislation, saying only that they have "given language to members" to consider including in the proposal, which would carry financial penalties for cities that prohibit law enforcement from inquiring about immigration status.

The opposition of the business leaders demonstrates a schism in the Republican Party on the issue, designated a priority by Gov. Rick Perry. Bob Perry, no relation to the governor, is a prolific Republican contributor who has given $2.5 million to the governor's campaign coffers since 2001. HEB CEO Butt has made substantial contributions to members of both parties.