February 19, 2024      5:51 PM

Rep. Bailes blasts Gov. Greg Abbott for accepting contributions from developer of Colony Ridge, which Abbott criticized as magnet for undocumented people

“This resulted in the developer making a $50,000 contribution to Governor Abbott, which bought him a sit down lunch in the Governors Mansion with Governor Abbott and his Chief of Staff. This same $50,000 bought the Governor’s signature and blessing for the Opportunity Zone designation."

Rep. Ernest Bailes, R-Shepherd, on social media early this morning held nothing back in blasting Gov. Greg Abbott, who has endorsed Bailes’ GOP primary opponent. Abbott did that, of course, because Rep. Bailes was one of the 21 Republicans to vote against school vouchers on the House floor last year.

Rep. Bailes sought to set the record straight about the early stages of the Colony Ridge development, which is in his district has and last year became a flashpoint in the immigration debate.

Below is Bailes’ statement in full, which Abbott later called “defensive.”

“At the request of the Liberty County Commissioners Court, City of Plum Grove, and Cleveland ISD, I worked hard to pass the management district which they had asked me to pass, in order to help provide the additional tools they needed to better regulate the exponential growth of the Colony Ridge Development in Plum Grove, Texas. I worked with Governor Abbott’s office directly on this bill and Governor Abbott personally signed off his approval. However, because of a wide open southern border, these restrictions were not near enough.

Copyright February 19, 2024, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved