The hard work is paying off for those involved with the bill at the capitol in the 86th legislature.
Update 5/7/2019: HB1365 had a third reading and vote with a result of 128-20.
At around 8:40 PM the house voted with a supermajority to move forward with HB1365. The bill is written to allow those with debilitating conditions to access to the Texas Compassionate Use Program (T.CUP) and establish a cannabis research and review board. Now that the bill has passed muster to move out of the House, it will move on to the Senate.
The hard work is paying off Texas, but it doesn’t stop now. Time isn’t on the patients side in this case. The session will be ending on May 27th, so the goal would be to have it to the governor’s desk for signature earlier than that. With the type of support that has been given in the House, the same needs to go for the Senate. This means that it is time for constituents to reach out to their Senators and let them know that they want their Senator to take up the issue in the Senate Health and Human Services Committee for hearing and testimony and a yes floor vote.
An even bigger impact is for a constituent to call their Texas State Senator to ask that they join 65 other legislators by becoming a co-author for this important legislation and remind them to vote YES for HB 1365 when it’s up for a vote.
You can then find their phone and fax number by clicking here.
Here is a script adapted from TXNORML you can use:
“Hello, my name is ___ and I am a constituent. I would like to request that my senator support Representative Lucio’s HB 1365, which will help many Texans. This is important bipartisan legislation that will impact many patients in Texas. It is a comprehensive bill that will enhance medical liberty, help give patients with debilitating disorders independence, and boost our economy in the great state of Texas. ”
Remember to be polite and no foul language. If they have questions they can feel free to reach out to Heather Fazio, Director of Texans for Responsible Marijuana Policy at 512-825-9142 andhfazio@txmjpolicy.org, or Jax Finkel , Executive Director of Texas NORML at info@texasnorml.org and they will be able to explain in the utmost detail about this bill.
Comment below with your thoughts and remember to share this with everyone you know in Texas, because there is power in numbers and it is showing in this state.