Konni Lyn Burton (born April 15, 1963), is a businesswoman in Colleyville in

northeast Tarrant County, Texas, who is an incoming Republican member of the

Texas State Senate from District 10. Backed by the Tea Party movement, Burton
on January 13, 2015, will succeed Wendy R. Davis of Fort Worth, who vacates the
state Senate after her unsuccessful campaign as the Democratic gubernatorial
nominee against Governor-elect Greg Abbott, the outgoing state attorney general.
**A DAN PATRICK APPOINTEE
She also served as a national vice-president of the Tea Party. ** When then-state
Senator Dan Patrick of Houston, the current lieutenant governor, formed a Tea
Party Caucus preceding the 82nd legislative session, Burton was asked to serve on
the advisory committee.

February 16, 2015

5:12 PM

HK: Burton argues some have more First Amendment rights than others
"It is a rare freshman that wants less information, not more."

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free
exercise therof; or abridging the freedom of speech , or of the press; or the right of the people
to peaceably assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

Freshman Senator Konni Burton last week announced that she was banning taxpayer funded
lobbyists from her office. Obviously there is a bifurcation in the First Amendment that was not
clear to all of the rest of us.

Now we dont want to get too intense. Senator Burton is a freshman with no government
experience and only a rudimentary knowledge of the byzantine process that characterizes a
Legislature that meets only five months every two years.
Nevertheless, this supposedly reform-minded nostrum has surfaced intermittently over the
years, yet like so many things in campaign rhetoric, it rarely stands up to serious scrutiny.
In fact, seriously following through on the premise ends up twisting its advocates into
intellectual knots.
Before dissecting Senator Burtons argument, lets be completely clear. Perhaps the only
thing that the Legislature consistently outperforms at is cost-shifting its responsibilities to
downstream local governing entities. Sometimes the cost shifting is intentional, sometimes
it is a bank shot of unfunded mandates that no one even realized was an unfunded mandate
until implementation.
Just one example-- one of the biggest problems facing sheriffs is that when the state cuts
mental health funding, the direct and predictable result is that county jails fill up costing
local taxpayers. Sounds like a state induced local tax increase to this spectator. Frankly,
sheriffs have more important things to do than monitor legislation, negotiate language,
build a coalition and try to make a case on behalf of their local taxpayers.
Senator Burton may hear from her local sheriff but has elected to exclude herself from the
much broader conversation in the rest of the state. So be it.
The misguided theory behind prohibited taxpayer funded advocacy is that the voters of
Texas have picked 150 House members and 31 senators to act as their advocates and that
downstream governments only come to Austin with their hands out. But that is cynicism in
its highest form. The Legislature willfully drew House and Senate districts to reduce the
number of people who vote in the only election that matters. With rare exception, a district
is so Republican or Democratic that the only election that counts is the primary in March,
not November when there is an actual community wide conversation.
So, Senator Burton is, in effect claiming that 1.2 million Republican primary voters have
greater free speech rights than the eight million who will vote in the next November
electionor the next school board election. A UT/Texas Tribune poll last year confirmed
that a near majority of GOP primary voters consider the border and immigration their
number one issue. Only 3% said education was their number one issue.
This observer would respectfully suggest that the folks who vote in school board elections
might have different priorities than Republican primary voters. Funding may be an issue

but as often as not, school boards have to defend their communities from the narrow group
of primary voters that validate the Legislature.
Fast growth school districts have unique problems. Fortunately, Burton has some fast
growth school districts so they may speak to her. West Texas and South Texas school
districts have a different set of problems and limited resources with which to make their
case in Austin. The Port of Corpus Christi is about to explode into one of the largest ports
in the country and has unique issues. Coastal governments obviously have windstorm
issues that are of concern to the whole state (a crippled Texas coast will impact the Tarrant
County economy).
Communities with military bases face unique challenges especially with the Base
Realignment (BRAC) that is coming in the next several years.
The voters in the City of Denton overwhelmingly opposed local fracking. The voters of
Denton have a reasonable expectation that their local government will use every resource
at its disposal to pursue that voter driven directive.
Finally, the argument quickly devolves into the absurd. Insurance and utility rates are
authorized by the state. A fraction of every dollar collected by those entities goes to
governmental affairs. The state does not collect the tax, it simply authorizes it.
Pharmaceutical companies are absolutely dependent on taxpayer dollars, and a small piece
of every dollar goes to lobbying. The interests of the taxpayers whose dollars go to the
pharmaceutical companies may not be aligned. Merck, Pfizer and Gilead lobbyists beware.
If Senator Burton is consistent, you may not be welcome in her office.

The utilities and insurance companies have hordes of lobbyists paid for by government
authorized funding. Apparently regulated industries even have more free speech rights
than governmental entities authorized by local voters to advance and defend the interests
of their city, county, school district, hospital district, water district and wherever voters
choose to weigh in.

Burton definitely made a statement, although it is likely very different than the one she
intended. It is a rare freshman that wants less information, not more.
Thanks, / Quorum Reports
FORWARDED BY: Allan R. Jamail Senatorial District 6
(SDEC) Texas State Democratic Executive Committeeman
2015 - RULES, MESSAGING & LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEES
54 year proud member of the AFL-CIO.

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