Our fourth interview is with State Senator Dan Patrick, a conservative Republican from Houston. Texas Values President Jonathan Saenz talked with Sen. Patrick about his leadership this session in the Senate on important education issues, including helping stop CSCOPE and Common Core and his support for the “Merry Christmas” Bill that has now been signed into law.

Be sure to watch our previous interviews on the 83rd Texas Legislative Session:

Interview with Sen. Ken Paxton

Interview with Rep. Matt Krause

Interview with Rep. Jeff Leach

And stay tuned to txvalues.org for more interviews and analysis of the legislative session over the coming weeks.

Watch the full video of the bill signing:

Texas Values President Jonathan Saenz thanks Gov. Perry for signing Merry Christmas Bill into law

Texas Values was proud to provide the main legal guidance and support for the legislation and to be a part of the bill signing ceremony. Join our ongoing efforts to protect religious freedom in Texas. Please consider making a contribution to Texas Values to help us end our first fiscal year strong.

Austin, TX, June 13, 2013

The legislation also makes it clear that school districts, staff, and students are permitted to use greetings such as “Merry Christmas,” “Happy Hanukkah,” “Happy Holidays” or others.  Christmas has been recognized as a federal holiday by the United States since the 1870s.  Texas school districts have seen long and costly court cases over Christmas expressions in Plano and Katy, and Fort Worth was recently involved in a controversy over Santa Claus at a public school. Landmark U.S. Supreme Court cases have made it clear that such expressions and displays are permissible.

“We hope HB 308 will decrease the number of school districts being naughty and increase the one’s being nice,” said Jonathan Saenz, attorney and president of Texas Values.  “It’s time to end the war on Christmas. This common sense legislation tracks Supreme Court precedent, providing a solid roadmap for public school officials to follow and should help school districts respect First Amendment rights and avoid costly litigation. We thank Gov. Perry for signing this bill into law,” concluded Saenz.

Texas Values provided the main legal guidance and support for the legislation. HB 308 received wide support during the legislative process but was opposed by the ACLU and the Texas Freedom Network, a liberal advocacy group in Austin.

Watch the full video of the bill signing.

Our third interview is with State Senator Ken Paxton, a conservative Republican from McKinney. Texas Values President Jonathan Saenz talked with Sen. Paxton about his first session in the Senate, SB 521 (the Senate version of the Texas Parental Control Accountability Act that would ban abortion providers, like Planned Parenthood, from participating in sex education taught in public schools), and the important effort to strengthen our religious freedom protection in our state constitution.

Be sure to watch our previous interviews on the 83rd Texas Legislative Session:

Interview with Rep. Matt Krause

Interview with Rep. Jeff Leach

And stay tuned to txvalues.org for more interviews and analysis of the legislative session over the coming weeks.

Our second interview is with freshman State Representative Jeff Leach, a conservative Republican from Plano. Texas Values President Jonathan Saenz talked with Rep. Leach about the Texas Parental Control Accountability Act that would ban abortion providers, like Planned Parenthood, from participating in sex education taught in public schools and would give parents stronger parental control.

Be sure to watch our first interview with Rep. Matt Krause and stay tuned to txvalues.org for more interviews and analysis of the legislative session over the coming weeks.

Texas Values President Jonathan Saenz joined host Warren Olney on the To the Point national radio program to discuss the BSA decision and the future of the Boy Scouts. The discussion also included three other individuals that supported the BSA’s decision. Please listen to the informative discussion below:

To the Point – Boy Scouts Interview with Texas Values

You can listen to the entire radio program from where this interview was pulled here.

Our first interview is with freshman State Representative Matt Krause, a conservative Republican from Fort Worth. Texas Values President Jonathan Saenz talked with Rep. Krause about important work during the session to protect religious liberty, including the passage of the “Merry Christmas” Bill, and the efforts to reform divorce to better strengthen marriage and protect children.

Please stay tuned to txvalues.org for more interviews and analysis of the legislative session over the coming weeks.

Texas Values President, Jonathan Saenz, released the following statement:

“This tragic decision is the result of personal political ideology by BSA national leaders who willingly opened the door to allow homosexual advocates to overrun an organization that stands for a code of morality that these intolerant advocates reject. The BSA is a private organization, but it has chosen to place sex and politics above its timeless principles, and the BSA will ultimately fail because of this change. We will next see aggressive attacks on any BSA units that dare to stand for God and religious liberty, as those that seek to change the BSA will not tolerate these current BSA principles either.”

BSA delegates had been meeting this week regarding a proposed change to BSA membership standards

Texas Values has been leading efforts across the state of Texas since early February to encourage the Boy Scouts to uphold their timeless values. More information on the Save Our Scouts Campaign can be found at www.saveourscouts.net.

Grapevine, TX, May 22, 2013

“I respect the Boy Scouts’ right to make their own decisions as a private organization, but I personally hope they will continue their current policy as I believe it’s in the best interest for members, their families, and the Boy Scout tradition.”

- Senator Ted Cruz

“The future of the Boy Scouts of America is one of the most important issues currently facing our state and our nation.  The support of Senator Ted Cruz is incredibly important and shows that the new leaders in America still know the value of moral principles and they are not afraid to stand for what’s right,” said Jonathan Saenz, President of Texas Values.

The result of the final vote on the membership policy by the BSA is expected to be announced tomorrow.

The Save Our Scouts Petition can be found at www.saveourscouts.net

Austin, TX, May 17, 2013 – Today HB 308, the “Merry Christmas” Bill, received final passage by the Texas Senate and is now headed to Gov. Perry’s desk. State Representative Dwayne Bohac (R-Houston) and State Senator Robert Nichols (R-Jacksonville) authored HB 308, which received overwhelming bipartisan support in the Texas House and Texas Senate. Joint Authors of HB 308 included Rep. Richard Raymond (D-Laredo), Rep. Craig Eiland (D-Texas City), and Rep. Michael Villarreal (D-San Antonio). HB 308 makes it clear that public schools and their staff are permitted to acknowledge and educate students about historic and cultural roots of traditional winter celebrations and holidays such as Christmas, Hanukkah and others, and with school displays that can include Christmas trees, a Menorah, a Nativity scene, Santa Claus, Reindeer and more.

The legislation also makes it clear that school districts, staff, and students are permitted to use greetings such as “Merry Christmas,” “Happy Hanukkah,” “Happy Holidays” or others.  Christmas has been recognized as a federal holiday by the United States since the 1870s.  Texas school districts have seen long and costly court cases over Christmas expressions in Plano and Katy, and Fort Worth was recently involved in a controversy over Santa Claus at a public school. Landmark U.S. Supreme Court cases have made it clear that such expressions and displays are permissible.

“The idea for this bill originated when I picked up my six-year-old son from school and he told me that his class decorated a holiday tree with holiday ornaments instead of a Christmas Tree,” Rep. Bohac said.  “Parents and educators want the freedom to decorate Christmas trees, use traditional holiday greetings, display Menorahs and generally celebrate traditional winter holidays on school grounds. HB 308 will protect school districts from frivolous lawsuits and teachers from retribution for saying such benign things as ‘Merry Christmas’ by codifying Supreme Court precedent.” Senator Robert Nichols agreed, saying: “I commend Representative Bohac’s initiative on this issue. We are currently standing at a cultural crossroads in our society, and this is one step forward for those defending our traditional values and beliefs.”

“We hope HB 308 will decrease the number of school districts being naughty and increase the one’s being nice,” said Jonathan Saenz, attorney and president of Texas Values.  “This common sense legislation tracks Supreme Court precedent, providing a solid roadmap for public school officials to follow and should help school districts respect First Amendment rights and avoid costly litigation,” concluded Saenz.

HB 308 received wide support during the legislative process but was opposed by the ACLU and the Texas Freedom Network, a liberal advocacy group in Austin.