“[M]any of us without shoes and our property gone, we were naturally eager for the fight, knowing that nothing but victory could save us . . .” Capt. Jesse Billingsley, 1st Com., 1st Reg’t, Texas Army, just prior to the Battle of San Jacinto.

By State Representative Tommy Merritt

I am a proud descendent of Captain Billingsley, who not only fought courageously at the Battle of San Jacinto, but is also widely credited with first shouting the battle cry “Remember the Alamo.” That spirit for doing the right thing above all else has been handed down to me.

I am a 12-year Republican veteran of the Texas House of Representatives representing District 7 in Northeast Texas, and I am a candidate for Speaker of the House.

My platform is simple. Under my leadership, the Texas House will be an open body where each member works the floor, works the committees and is allowed to express views of support or dissatisfaction for a bill. I will diligently work to make sure each member’s views are respected regardless of party or political leaning.

Like all Americans who cast their votes privately in the ballot box, members of the House will cast their votes for Speaker privately so they do not have to face retaliation for voting against the winner.

I will continue demonstrating my leadership approach by supporting all incumbent members of the House, go to their districts when invited, regardless of party or politics. My successes in the Legislature have come from reaching across party lines. Every accomplishment I have achieved has been the result of working with all House members. I will work with the House to eliminate the huge special interest dollars flowing into the Speaker’s political slush fund, freeing members from undue pressure from special interests and lobbyists. As Speaker, I will not have a Speaker’s Political Action Committee.

I will return to the non-political days when the House Parliamentarian and the Executive Director of the Legislative Council were non-partisan and non-political staff who provided the same level of impartial and professional service to all members of the House. I will reinstate an Office of Bill Analysis that is independent and in no way hamstrung by political wishes or whims.

The last time this House met, quite frankly, we could have done better for our constituents. We must change leadership to improve the effectiveness of the House. I am concerned that without a change in leadership at the beginning of the 81st Session, divisions will grow deeper, rifts will further distance us from the well-being of this great State, and we will settle into an ugliness that ill suits this House and the people we were sent here to represent. No one wants Texas to be like Washington, D.C.

I am a loyal Republican, a vocal Republican, and a faithful Republican who is not afraid to stand with my party when we are in the right, even if the right is sometimes unpopular. I have and will continue to clearly state my opposition to our Republican leaders when they are in the wrong.

I am proud of my conservative record. I demonstrated leadership in the committee and on the House floor to garner bipartisan support for a parental notification law.

I co-authored a measure that gave free tuition to the children of totally disabled veterans, and another measure to allow the Bible to be taught as an elective in our public schools.

That said, when the Governor tried to force every teenage girl in Texas to be injected with the HPV vaccine, I said “no” and co-authored a bill to make sure that parents—not the state—retain the right to make medical decisions for their own children.

As the next Speaker of the House, I will first serve this state with an even hand and second, help the constituents who sent me here by working for what they so desperately needed back home. Unlike the current regime, as Speaker I will not punish the hard-working Texans in a member’s district just because that member does not see eye-to-eye with me.

Under my leadership, we will replace pie-in-the-sky projects like the Trans-Texas Corridor with an aggressive plan to once again make Texas freeways and highways the envy of the nation.

The education of our children will no longer get mere lip service with ever lowering standards to improve passing rates. Instead our children will be taught in a way that will allow them to acquire the jobs they will need once they enter the workforce. We will train and educate our children to earn the good-paying jobs they need and deserve to make this State’s future even brighter.

When state government shows even the slightest surplus we will return that money to its owners – the taxpayers. The Rainy-Day fund is the taxpayer’s insurance policy against catastrophes, and as a conservative Speaker, I will not let it be drained for pet projects.

And finally, as Speaker, I will shoot straight with the people who sent us here. When we promise something, we are going to deliver. No more fake insurance rate reductions. No more fake, antiquated appraisals. No more fake property tax cuts. No more!

Under my leadership, the 81st Legislature will tackle education, appraisal reform, transportation and repeal of the business margin tax.

What we can deliver, we will, and we must under my Speakership. What we can’t, we will explain to the people and let them be the judge.

I have great confidence in the members of the House, and they will, with God’s grace, demonstrate to the people of Texas a reason to have greater confidence in their government.

After the Battle of San Jacinto, Capt. Billingsley wrote: “On that day was born on a nation of freemen. Who was instrumental in producing so glorious an event, let a discerning world say.”

The challenge before us today, is to make sure Capt. Billingsley’s love for freedom lives on.

That is why I am running for Speaker of the House, 81st Legislature.