Legislators Targeting Entire Lobby Industry
Based on One House Female Staffer's Claims

Texas Lawmakers Wear Pink for Alleged Victim

Capitol Inside
April 28, 2021

Twenty-eight Texas senators have signed on as co-sponsors of legislation that's a salute to the #MeToo movement and spurred by a female legislative staffer's allegations in a date rape drugging case that's mired in rapidly growing questions about its legitimacy and potential motivations.

The measure that Democratic State Senator Jose Menéndez of San Antonio filed on Tuesday would require all of the registered lobbyists in Texas to undergo ethics and sexual harassment prevention training that's already mandated for employees on the staffs of legislators in Texas.

Senate Bill 2233 represents the Republican-controlled upper chamber's latest attempt in 2021 to make state government bigger in Texas with an expansion of regulations in the private sector. All but two of the Senate's 13 Democrats have added their names to the bill without apparent regard for the possibility that the accusations might not be true.

The House's most respected member - Democratic State Rep. Senfronia Thompson of Houston - followed the Senate's lead on Wednesday when she submitted a measure for consideration that would outlaw sexual harassment by lobbyists in Texas. The House voted 144-0 to allow Thompson to drop the bill in the mill with only one month left to go in the 2021 regular session.

GOP Speaker Dade Phelan's team got the bandwagon on a fast track on Wednesday with the setting of the Thompson's plan in House Bill 4661 for a hearing on Thursday in the State Affairs Committee. The House authors are a diverse group that includes Democratic State Reps. Donna Howard of Austin and Victoria Neave of Dallas along with GOP State Rep. Craig Goldman of Fort Worth.

Republican State Reps. Greg Bonnen of Friendswood, Brooks Landgraf of Odessa, Will Metcalf of Conroe, Morgan Meyer of Dallas and Tom Oliverson of Cypress are co-sponsoring HB 4661 with Democratic State Reps. John Bucy of Austin, Penny Morales Shaw of Houston and James Talario of Round Rock.

The Senate appears to be scrambling to keep up with the House with the State Affairs Committee in the east wing planning to hear the competing Menendez proposal on Thursday as well.

A pair of Houston Democrats - State Senators Borris Miles and John Whitmire - are not listed as co-authors on SB 2233. Republican State Senator Larry of Taylor of Friendswood doesn't appear on the sponsors list as well. The absence of their names on the legislation doesn't necessarily mean that they support or oppose the measure.

SB 2233 would apply to more than 1,500 people who are registered to lobby at the Capitol during the current session. The House and Senate bills would exempt the legislators themselves from the new restrictions despite problems in the arena of sexual harassment in their own ranks in recent years.

The Thompson bill hadn't been made public by Wednesday night beyond its caption - a prohibition on sexual harassment by lobbyists.

The Legislature's sudden renewal of interest in protecting women from sexually abusive men is a product of a direct result of a sketchy story that the Austin American-Statesman ran this past weekend on the DPS probe into the date rape drug claims.

The story had been leaked to the newspaper with selective information that was neatly packaged for maximum shock value. The Statesman reported on Saturday that the DPS was investigating the staffer's claim that the lobbyist in question gave her a drug used for date rape at a gathering at the Austin Club about a month ago.

HillCo acknowledged the following day that it was aware of the allegations and hired a former law enforcement officer to investigate them. HillCo also enlisted one of the Capital City's most prestigious criminal law firms even though the lobby shop had done nothing to warrant culpability. The firm's attorneys Perry Minton and David Minton put out a statement on Tuesday that said that they could say with "absolute certainty" that no one from HillCo had committed the crime that's been alleged. That seemed to raise the specter that they might have video that would exonerate the lobbyist who's been under attack. They also warned that people should be careful about destroying someone's career without evidence beyond the singular accuser's account.

While the Mintons could be bluffing, the strength of their words put a hush on the lobby rumor mill where the narrative had been spreading like wildfire exactly as it had been packaged. But the lion's share of state leaders and lawmakers appear to be taking the accusations at face value without concern about the potential for massive egg on their face with a story that has failed to add up in any way since it broke.

Phelan and some top lieutenants have fueled the stampede to justice - tweeting in the immediate wake of the story's publication that all of the lobby firm's members would be banned from their offices. Phelan followed up the threats on Monday in an angry speech on the floor where he gave the clear impression that he believed the suspect was guilty.

The speaker's words - coupled with inflammatory weekend Twitter posts by GOP State Reps. Greg Bonnen of Friendswood and Dustin Burrows of Lubbock and former speaker Dennis Bonnen - have fueled questions on a possible conspiracy in light of the feelings of bad blood that the ex-leader has had against HillCo.

The lion's share of their colleagues appear to be buying in on the original narrative without the slightest hint of discernment on either side of the aisle with the abrupt reactions to the complaint with legislation that seeks to punish an entire industry based on one person's unsubstantiated word. .