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ODESSA — A republican pair of Texas lawmakers express concern over the Texas Railroad Commission’s decision to ban public public testimony from its monthly meetings.
A committee of the Texas House does hold a hearing on the subject on September 15.
A part of the public’s post period was eliminated from the commission’s quarterly meetings unless a sitting commissioner made it clear. The commission also stated that it was” committed to providing valuable, accessible opportunities for people participation and engagement.” Election directors are no longer required to attend listening lessons and outreach activities as a result.
Inside Culture News first reported on the modifications.
Commissioners have significant influence over the country’s oil and gas industry, making decisions on issues involving legislation, pollution, and fossil fuel production. They handle an industry that has, for at least the past six years, damaged production records, including providing half of all U.S. oil in 2025. A sea of underwater waste that, left unattended, may impede oil production and lead to a rash of economic and public health issues for landowners must also be addressed.
The Railroad Commission is the first state regulatory body to reverse a scheme intended to give members of the public a chance to interact with their presiding officials. Similar regulatory bodies give the people the opportunity to voice their opinions on issues that fall under the purview of a Texas Tribune analysis. The Texas Water Development Board, the Texas Public Utility Commission, and the State Board of Education are just a few of the organizations involved.
According to researchers, the shift does not violate the country’s open meeting regulations. That’s because the legislation doesn’t mandate that public opinion periods be held at empty meetings by federal organizations.
Express legislators are now asking the decision’s validity. A reading on the subject has been scheduled for state representative Drew Darby, a powerful San Angelo Republican who presides over the House Natural Resources Committee.
Darby praised the organization for expanding its footprint in Texas by hosting listening sessions throughout the state in a letter to Railroad Commissioner Wayne Christian, who wrote the new legislation.
” But they are not a substitute for a guaranteed opportunity to be heard directly by the commission who actually cast the vote.” The team is able to hear. The directors are the only ones who can vote, and that is who Texans need to hear from, he said, adding that while fair scaffolding are acceptable, the novel approach did not have enough judgment or public input before it was approved.
A 21-year standing guarantee was removed by ( The Railroad Commission ) and replaced with a discretionary option that offered no guarantee at all, according to Darby. A sitting bulk removing a determination the community has relied on for 20 years is not the same as having discretion built into a process from the beginning.
State. Rep. Terry Canales, D-Edinburg, contributed to the country’s open meeting rules ‘ update in 2019. For local government officials, that release required people comment on certain agenda items. However, the legislative and executive branches of the laws were carved out.
Canales claimed that he supported the policy because he was concerned about the government’s understanding of local government regulations at the time. When legislators return to Austin following year, he demanded that the president’s provisions be extended to state agencies.
No matter what building those officers work in, he said,” Texans deserve the right to address the common officials who make decisions on their behalf.”
In a speech to The Texas Tribune, Christian vehemently defended the 2-1 choice.
He claimed that “public output at the RRC has not been canceled, banned, restricted, or censored.” This change aims to give the Commission more freedom in holding its meetings while allowing the public of Texas to gain significant access to our agency. As a previous senator, I’ve long believed that we could improve affordability by focusing our approach more on how the Texas House and Senate’s people evidence functions.
Prior to now, the public had the right to bring any public inquiry before the commission at a specific time. The public can now only sign up to voice their opinions on specific agenda items before commission, or they can only do so if commissioners ask for additional people input through a process similar to that at the capitol.
People had only remark in Austin under past rules, which meant driving hundreds of miles. He claimed that the new scheme allows attendees to attend outreach events and listening sessions without having to travel, but he did not specify whether commissioners may be present.
Christian added that the earlier plan was constrained. He claimed that the Railroad Commission has logged 102 people post registrations at 37 open meetings held by 20 people since 2022. The Railroad Commission Commission Commission Shift, a watchdog organization with a focus on the railroad commission, received 38 % of the registrations, out of which 65 % came from two people. And three Telegraph Commissioner candidates, according to him, used the open comment section to promote their campaigns in that time frame.
State assets should never be employed to expand political objectives. That is not the case.
function of people input added Christian. Hearing straight from the government is what it’s about.
Texans about real issues they are having, as well as identifying areas for improvement.
improving and addressing those issues in front of the appropriate individuals, without having to deal with them.
driving 500 yards to Austin is required.
Executive Director Virginia Palacios responded to Christian by saying that if the Railroad Commission views the number as little,” therefore it shouldn’t be a problem to help people input at every available meeting, get comments on agenda items, and allow distant public input.”
Palacios said,” It’s not difficult to perform.” And it’s only good for those who reside in the oil industry and travel hundreds of miles to Austin.
Concerned about the choice are two candidates competing for seats on the committee, one of whom is working for the government transparency organization, and another.
” The whole purpose of these ( public meeting laws ) was to allow the public to participate in public business, see how they’re doing it, and be able to actually play an active role in government,” said Chip Stewart, an attorney and professor of journalism at Texas Christian University. And efforts to restrict conversation, control remark, and reduce people cooperation are exactly the opposite of what a representative government should be doing.
After Bo French, a long-standing conservative activist who ran on cultural wars, unseated Railroad Commissioner Jim Wright in the Republican primary elections in March, the century-old organization has come under particular scrutiny this year. Oil field engineer and four-term state representative Jon Rosenthal, D-Houston, is running against France in the November general election.
Rosenthal described the action as an “egregious attack on Texans ‘ right to address their duly elected Railroad Commissioners,” adding that if elected, he would seek to change the policy.
He claimed that this kind of unacceptable behavior was the start of my campaign.
French did not respond to a request for comment.
Government agencies are exempt from the Texas Open Meetings Act’s requirement of including public opinion as an agenda item, a vacuum Canales sought to close in 2019 after hearing concerns about transparency and accessibility with local officials. His bill required local government organizations to permit the public to comment on particular agenda items. State organizations were spared.
” I believe that the adoption of this statute in 2019 was a mixed bag. According to Jim Hemphill, an Austin-based attorney with a focus on media and open government laws, I believe it was a good thing from a policy standpoint for public comment to be held at local government bodies ‘ meetings. Had statewide organizations been included,” Could have been better from a policy standpoint”? Yes, I believe there was a better version.
Disclosure: Within the past five years, Terry Canales has provided financial support to The Texas Tribune. The Texas Tribune is a non-partisan, nonprofit news organization that is partially supported by donations from members, foundations, and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters are not involved in our journalism. Find a list of them all here, along with more details about our financial and disclosure procedures.
