Denton County TUTA History
Denton County TUTA has evolved from a group of individuals who met to learn activist techniques into a core group of dedicated people who are fighting against the influence of money in politics.
Our first action took place in June 2012 when we delivered a petition with over 300 names to our Congressman, Rep. Michael Burgess, asking him to support a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United. Later, in August 2012, we delivered a petition with the names of more than 8000 Texans to the Dallas office of Senator John Cornyn asking him to do the same (click here to read press coverage of this event).
In September 2012, we asked Paul Sadler, the Democratic candidate running for the U.S. Senate, for his support for a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United. He gave his support. He also agreed to support the Disclose Act and the Shareholder Protection Act. In support of these, he agreed to write a letter to the SEC asking it to issue new rules that would force corporations to disclose their political spending to shareholders.
In January 2013, we marked the 3rd anniversary of Citizens United by organizing a protest and petition signing event. This time the petition was asking the Texas legislature to pass SCR 2, a resolution calling on Congress to pass a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United. Over the next month, we continued to collect names for that petition at various locations in our area. During the 2013 Texas legislative session, we made calls and sent emails to members of the Texas legislature on the two committees responsible for SCR 2 (Texas Senate) and HCR 21 and HJR94 (Texas House) to encourage passage of those resolutions. All three of these resolutions dealt with a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United either via Congress or Article V Convention.
Also, during the 2013 legislative session, we made calls and sent emails to Texas legislators on behalf of Clean Elections Texas asking them to support HB1126. This bill would have allowed judges running in state races the option of public financing.
We've created a blog to educate ourselves and others about the effects of money in politics -- educating ourselves so that we have facts at hand when opportunities for educating others arise. We must be ready to educate our friends, family, neighbors, and total strangers should the opportunity present itself. This is necessary in order to get the support that we need to get the attention of our elected officials.
We maintain a list of people in Denton County who have signed the TUTA petition and communicate with them by email. We also have conference calls once a month to review progress and coordinate future activities. Many of us are members of other groups involved in the cause to get money out of politics, like Rootstrikers, Move to Amend, Wolf- PAC, Clean Elections Texas, Public Citizen, Common Cause, and United for the People
Our first action took place in June 2012 when we delivered a petition with over 300 names to our Congressman, Rep. Michael Burgess, asking him to support a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United. Later, in August 2012, we delivered a petition with the names of more than 8000 Texans to the Dallas office of Senator John Cornyn asking him to do the same (click here to read press coverage of this event).
In September 2012, we asked Paul Sadler, the Democratic candidate running for the U.S. Senate, for his support for a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United. He gave his support. He also agreed to support the Disclose Act and the Shareholder Protection Act. In support of these, he agreed to write a letter to the SEC asking it to issue new rules that would force corporations to disclose their political spending to shareholders.
In January 2013, we marked the 3rd anniversary of Citizens United by organizing a protest and petition signing event. This time the petition was asking the Texas legislature to pass SCR 2, a resolution calling on Congress to pass a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United. Over the next month, we continued to collect names for that petition at various locations in our area. During the 2013 Texas legislative session, we made calls and sent emails to members of the Texas legislature on the two committees responsible for SCR 2 (Texas Senate) and HCR 21 and HJR94 (Texas House) to encourage passage of those resolutions. All three of these resolutions dealt with a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United either via Congress or Article V Convention.
Also, during the 2013 legislative session, we made calls and sent emails to Texas legislators on behalf of Clean Elections Texas asking them to support HB1126. This bill would have allowed judges running in state races the option of public financing.
We've created a blog to educate ourselves and others about the effects of money in politics -- educating ourselves so that we have facts at hand when opportunities for educating others arise. We must be ready to educate our friends, family, neighbors, and total strangers should the opportunity present itself. This is necessary in order to get the support that we need to get the attention of our elected officials.
We maintain a list of people in Denton County who have signed the TUTA petition and communicate with them by email. We also have conference calls once a month to review progress and coordinate future activities. Many of us are members of other groups involved in the cause to get money out of politics, like Rootstrikers, Move to Amend, Wolf- PAC, Clean Elections Texas, Public Citizen, Common Cause, and United for the People