James White (campaign site), a member of the Texas House has introduced a bill "that would require the state to study the effects of cutting financial ties with the federal government."The Texas Tribune has details. The bill is HB 568, The Texas Self-Sufficiency Act. Here's the press release.
Rep. James White, R-Hillister, said he filed HB 568 because the state needed to be prepared for the possibility that the federal government could not meet its financial obligations because of "fiscal dysfunction" in Washington, D.C.Even so, survivalists seem to like the idea behind the bill.
Called the "Texas Self-Sufficiency Act," White's bill would create a select committee to look at the consequences of "a possible reduction in or elimination of federal funding" on the state budget, which gets about a third of its revenue from federal funding. The committee would be made up of legislators, budget experts and "citizens from the non-profit sector" appointed by the governor, lieutenant governor, speaker of the house, and state comptroller.
White said he viewed his proposal as an extension of a House interim committee's work to study the effects of sequestration in the state.
"We always talk about Tenth Amendment rights but there are Tenth Amendment responsibilities. If Texas is an independent nation or if we continue to be a part of the United States, which I am for, we still need to have a strong Texas," he said.
The legislation was not, White said, intended as a call for secession.