WATCH: Texas Monument Protection Act Hearing In Austin
John Griffing
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AUSTIN, TEXAS — On Tue., April 2, lawmakers considered a bill to specifically protect the Alamo memorial monument (“Cenotaph”), but now will debate protecting “all” Texas historical monuments with blanket, one-sized-fits-all legislation, according to reports.
House Bill 583 authored by Texas State Representative James White, and its sister bill, Senate Bill 1663 by Senator Brandon Creighton, have been scheduled for committee hearings this week.
Rep. White’s bill, HB583, is scheduled for today, in the House Committee on Culture, Recreation and Tourism, at 2 p.m. For Austin residents: it will be held in room E1.014.
Live stream of the hearing can be watched by clicking here at the time scheduled.
SB1663 is scheduled for its own, separate hearing in the Senate Committee on Natural Resources & Economic Development on Thurs., April 11, at 9am.
The proposed legislation will attempt to extend blanket protection for historical monuments and markers throughout Texas and subject attempts to remove them the ballot box test.
For any who like the Alamo, but are not hot on the Civil War — it’s possible the legislation under discussion today may not be as motivating as the Cenotaph bill debated last week and reporterted on by Big League Politics.
One section of White’s “monuments” bill even gives George P. Bush the power to tear down the Cenotaph — just like he’s doing now — as long as he says it’s for “improvements,”
(c) A monument or memorial may be removed, relocated, or altered in a manner otherwise provided by this code as necessary to accommodate construction, repair, or improvements to the monument or memorial or to the surrounding [ state] property on which themonument or memorial is located and as authorized by the Texas Historical Commission.
Despite the different wording and broader construction of the bills, some groups hold that passage is “critical” to the protection and preservation of Texas culture.
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