Newsroom
Speeches and Statements
Statement on the Veto of H.B. 821
Friday, June 19, 2009
Senator Kirk Watson issued the following statement regarding Governor Perry’s decision to veto House Bill 821:
H.B. 821 called for the creation of a television recycling program that was to be free and convenient for consumers. The bill represented a compromise between environmental groups and industry. Advocates of the environment saw the bill as a step forward for recycling, and as an important environmental protection, preventing toxic contamination of our soil and water. Industry saw the bill as a solution to a problem and hoped that the bill would become a model for other states to follow.
With the veto of H.B. 821, Governor Perry disavows responsible environmental practice, and chooses to levy the costs associated with recycling on taxpayers and non profit organizations, like Goodwill Industries, rather than assign responsibility to industry. Regrettably, the Governor is choosing to protect big business rather than the people of Texas, even when business is eager and willing to step up and assume responsibility for the end-of-life treatment of their own products.
