State Senator Bivins is an overzealous Pioneer. He wrote state legislators in 50 states in ‘99, urging them to transfer $1,000 from their own war chests to Bush’s presidential campaign. Such diversions are illegal in at least four states. In the Texas Senate, Bivins has been a big supporter of school vouchers and limits on the rights of citizens to sue corporations. Bivins greased a hog deal in ’94 that brought a flood of animal factories to the Texas panhandle. These flesh factories were fleeing other states that were putting restrictions on animal fecal pollution (see Pioneer David Miner). Panhandle citizens were complaining about this problem to the state environmental agency. But Bivins and then-agency chair John Hall (who now lobbies for polluters) decided to severely restrict the right of citizens to hearings where they could challenge feed-lot water pollution, hydrogen sulfide emissions and air-borne plumes of manure. By the summer of ’95, feed-lot inspectors were ordered to stop issuing citations. Bivins is a past director of the Texas Cattle Feeders Association (see Pioneer Don Powell) and his campaign is strongly supported by the industry. “I see no reason why this area should not produce 75 percent of the world’s pork,” Senator Bivins has said.