Texans: It’s Time to Pay Attention and Speak Up
I want to take a moment to talk about some legislation moving through the Texas Capitol that could directly affect your rights, your money, and your freedom. If you haven’t been paying attention, now’s the time.
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HB 30 – Limits on Personal Injury Compensation
HB 30 is backed by powerful insurance companies and wealthy lawmakers like Rep. Pat Curry. This bill is designed to limit how much injured people can recover in lawsuits — even when someone else is clearly at fault.
Here’s what it does:
- It restricts how much money you can get for medical bills after an injury, even if you were seriously hurt in a car accident or workplace incident.
- It allows only the “paid” amount (not the full value of your care) to be considered in court — which means the jury doesn’t get to see the actual cost of your medical treatment.
- It helps insurance companies save money — while injured Texans lose the compensation they deserve.
This bill shifts power away from the people and toward big insurance companies. If you’re insured, you should expect help when you’re injured — not be penalized for it.
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SB 517 – Criminalizing 8-Liners (Again)
SB 517 targets 8-liner machines — a form of electronic gambling that’s already in a legal gray area. But instead of regulating or taxing them, this bill would increase penalties and criminal enforcement.
What this means:
- Instead of keeping this kind of entertainment local and generating state tax revenue, Texas is pushing it underground or out of state.
- People will still gamble — this bill just means they’ll take their money to Louisiana or Oklahoma, where casinos are legal and regulated.
- Local businesses (like bars or small shops that lease these machines) could face harsh penalties, even if they’re trying to follow unclear laws.
Let’s stop pretending prohibition works. If we regulated it properly, we could generate millions in tax revenue — and stop criminalizing harmless behavior
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Ban on THC and Hemp-Derived Products
Texas lawmakers recently pushed a statewide ban on all THC products, including hemp-derived Delta-8 and Delta-9, even though these products were previously considered federally legal under the 2018 U.S. Farm Bill.
Here’s what you need to know:
- These products don’t come from marijuana; they’re made from legal hemp, and they contain low levels of THC — the compound that gets you high.
- Many people use hemp-derived THC for anxiety, pain relief, and sleep — without the side effects of alcohol or prescription drugs.
- Meanwhile, alcohol and tobacco — both proven to be more harmful — remain legal and widely available.
This ban is not just anti-science — it’s anti-freedom. Hemp is one of the oldest and most versatile plants used by humans for medicine, textiles, paper, and more. Banning these products hurts small businesses, farmers, and patients across the state.
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So What Can You Do?
Our elected officials are supposed to work for us, not for special interests. But unless we speak up, they’ll continue passing laws that:
- Protect corporations, not people
- Criminalize personal choice
- Strip away our rights without public input
📞 Call.
📧 Email.
💬 Speak out.
You don’t have to be an expert — just let your representatives know what matters to you. Tell them NO to HB 30, NO to SB 517, and NO to banning hemp-derived THC.
We live in a democracy — and that only works if we actually use our voices.
