Religious conservatives today rallied at the State Capitol today as a State House Committee began discussing 'economic competitiveness,' including the need to avoid a state law pushed by evangelicals which would strict restroom use to user's biological gender, News Radio 1200 WOAI reports.
Jonathan Saenz, who heads the group Texas Values Action, called it a 'lame duck' committee, because it is chaired by State Rep. Byron Cook (R-Corsicana) and ordered by House Speaker Joe Straus (R-Alamo Heights) both of whom are leaving office.
"We all know this lame duck hearing is just a going away party for failed leadership by Byron Cook and Joe Straus, and for that the people should celebrate," Saenz said.
He called the committee hearing 'fake news of the worst kind.'Speaker after speaker blasted claims by opponents of the 'bathroom bill' that it would damage the state's economy by prompting employers to move elsewhere.
State Rep. Matt Rinaldi (R-Dallas) says California has laws protecting transgender bathroom rights, and we clearly see how Californians feel about that.
"There is a net migration of 250,000 people from California to Texas alone from 2004 and 2013," he said.
Rinaldi pointed out that even the most Anti bathroom bill survey claims that Texas would lose $5.8 billion over ten years if the bathroom bill is approved, which is a 'drop in the bucket' when compared to the growth of the Texas economy today.
Saenz said Straus did not run for re-election because he knows that the vast majority of Republicans do not support 'dollars over daughters' as he called the anti bathroom bill stand.