Texas A&M Million Dollar Handout and SB1124

Robert West | August 8, 2023

Growing up in Texas I heard a lot of Aggie jokes but did you hear the one about the Board of Regents handing out a million dollars to a lady that turned down their job offer?

Did the lady sell her home, quit her job and move here from out of state?

Not really, she lives in Austin, The University of Texas gave her old job back and as near as I can tell she did not sell her house. So why did a million dollars of taxpayer money get shoveled her way?

Who knows, but with hundreds of job openings I would think A&M is going to find anyone willing to work for even $100K a year if you can get a million for turning down the job.

Can the people that waste our money like this be held accountable? 

Probably not, but you can always ask your state legislator or state senator that question.

SB1124 Everyone in Texas and Sheriffs

Last week we talked about SB1124 that makes everyone in Texas, including sheriffs, ineligible to run for sheriff.

After having a week to think it through, maybe the 100 odd state legislators and 28 state senators that voted for it are not stupid. Maybe they are just evil?

Maybe Senator King inserted “permanent” into the bill by mistake or maybe not?

Does it strike you as odd that not one of the people voting for it and not one of their staff missed that there is no “Permanent Law Enforcement License” available in Texas?

Perhaps the “mistake” was inserted to make us chuckle this time around until next session when they “fix” this law by removing the word “permanent."

Perhaps, like a lot of what goes on in Texas politics, it is just meant to distract us from the real problem with this law. Once fixed, this law will require anyone running for sheriff have an active law enforcement license AND five years of paid law enforcement experience or the license and 10 years of military service.

A Wink to Veterans

Nice wink to veterans out there but most veterans, myself included know nothing about law enforcement due to serving in the military no matter how many years we were in. 

I certainly did not learn enough to be more qualified than say a retired sheriff with 20 years of experience who wants to run after a year or so of retirement. But sorry, he would not be qualified to run because he does not have an active law enforcement license.

This law might just set it up so that in small counties only the sheriff can ever run for the office. Sheriff for life? No thanks. 

But that’s not all folks. What happens if the sheriff retires or dies? There could be nobody in a small county “qualified” to be appointed sheriff.

Perhaps this law will create a situation where Austin must step in. We have to have a sheriff in every county and if nobody living there is qualified to be elected or appoints, then maybe Austin will just have to hire one.

If Austin Hires and Fires

If Austin hires, Austin can fire and who will the employee of the state listen to, the voters who have no say or the state?

Why did The Texas Sheriffs Association not make a big stink about this law? Why would they, most are the only ones allowed to run in their counties under this law.

Over 150 Texas sheriffs quietly told their county judges they would not enforce unconstitutional Covid mandates. Perhaps after Austin starts hiring your sheriffs that number will go down. 

SB1124 will be challenged and be ruled unconstitutional this year but it will be back and who knows, maybe Austin will decide only people with law degree will be eligible to be elected to the Texas House or Senate next time around.

Like all tyrants, you will be able to choose from the list of candidates your masters provide.

Robert West