Texas Senate testimony

Today I testified in the Texas Senate chambers before the State Affairs committee in support of SB1299, which would open excepted (but not confidential) records after 75 years. The request for me to testify came from a dear friend, whom I could not turn down, even though I was unsure what to say.

We left this morning about 5 a.m. and arrived in Austin about 7:40 a.m. When Sarah pulled up to drop us off at the North Entrance, I saw Senator Dan Patrick stepping out of his parked car. I've listened to Dan on his radio station for a few years now and was just tickled pink to see him in person. He had three bills on the agenda in the State Affairs committee that were heard before our bill. I was still working on what to say, so I didn't have the opportunity to go up to him and say hello.

The Senate Chamber is very impressive. I'm too tired tonight to describe it, so I'll just post a photo.

There was a committee conference table set up in the main aisle with the chairman at the head and 4 or 5 senators seated around. We waited in chairs on the side of the room, under the gallery overhang, until our turn. Senator Wentworth introduced the bill and we heard testimony from a representative of the Attorney General's office before it was our turn. The senators on the committee were very concerned about attorney-client privilege and confidential records such as trade secrets. Our first witness was Doug Allen, a records manager, who assured senators that state agencies have record retention schedules that dictate how long certain record series are maintained, and few records with attorney-client privilege would survive to the 75 year release. This particular bill doesn't address opening confidential records (maybe we'll have another bill in two years to try that! California did it!) Then it was my turn to speak about the importance to the historical record for public information to be released. (Their previous exceptions have closed off records that used to be open and had been used by researchers for years.) Lastly, Robert DeB. testified on behalf of genealogists.

If you want to see our testimony, the state of Texas broadcasts it over the web. You will need the Real Player download to see it. My testimony begins about 1:21:11 and continues for two minutes.

I was listening to Robert talk and realized that the glass covering the wood table was so clear and reflective that it was as though I was looking into the clearest green pool of water and could see the ceiling at the bottom.

This was quite intimitading and for the first time I felt really nervous. I haven't been that nervous when speaking before a large group in a long, long time. Perhaps it was the location, the power of it all. I'm so grateful to Paul and Sarah for inviting me. This was truly an inspiring experience.

Oh- and the bill passed out of committee!! It is going for a vote before the full Senate. It's possible that our show of support may have helped write a new law for Texas. All the way home I was singing, "I'm just a bill..." from Schoolhouse Rock.

Did I mention that the bluebonnets, indian paintbrushes, and other wildflowers are blooming everywhere? It was the most beautiful Texas spring day, perfect for driving on the back highways.

Disclaimer: I did not take any of these photographs on the page. The two of the Texas Capitol are from the Texas State Preservation Board website about the Capitol. The two wildflower photos are from other websites: jeffblaylock.com. To see more examples, just Google Images "Texas wildflowers".