By Michael Quinn SullivanDespite a gubernatorial veto last year, the opposition of two-thirds of the state senate and the majority of the House Republican caucus, the Texas Ethics Commission has moved forward with unconstitutional rules that they were specifically warned against implementing by six incoming state senators.At today’s hearing, commissioners were warned by David Keating, a constitutional law expert who heads the Center for Competitive Politics, that this action defies current Supreme Court precedent.In his veto message of the same scheme last year, Gov. Rick Perry said the action would “expose more Texans to the risk of such harassment, regardless of political, organizational or party affiliation.” He also described it as having “a chilling effect” on the “[f]reedom of association and freedom of speech.”
