The Texas Young Republican Federation held their Legislative Day on March 4th here in Austin, Texas. Young Republican leaders, including State Chairman Mark C. Brown, Vice Chairman J. Ross Lacy, YR National Committeeman Brian Bodine, YR National Committeewoman Elizabeth Miller, SREC member James Barnes, Secretary Kristen Smith, and members from all across Texas gathered in Austin to meet with elected officials. The Young Republicans conducted an extensive member survey to find out what issues were most important to them and incorporated those results into each meeting with elected officials.

The results of this survey indicate that YRs value these issues the most:

  • lower taxes,
  • fair and sensible regulations on businesses,
  • protection of Second Amendment rights,
  • improvement of K-12 schools, and
  • increased educational options with more charter schools and/or vouchers and tax saving scholarships.

Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson kicked off the day speaking about Second Amendment rights and the role he plays during the legislative session. Railroad Commissioners Barry Smitherman and Christi Craddick spoke about the changes that the Commission faces during the Sunset Review process, in addition to daily Railroad Commission business. After meeting with their state Senators and Representatives, the YRs were welcomed to the Republican Party of Texas Headquarters by Chairman Steve Munisteri, had lunch provided by Representative Dan Branch, and heard remarks from Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples, who kindly provided them all with a copy of his new book Broken Borders, Broken Promises.

Governor Rick Perry welcomed the Young Republicans back to Capitol and both Representative Jason Villalba and Senator Kelly Hancock sponsored Resolutions honoring the YRs. Comptroller Susan Combs spoke about her efforts to increase financial transparency in government spending. The YRs ended the day with a meeting with Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst. It was a successful and rewarding day for the Texas Young Republicans.

As an official auxiliary of the Republican Party of Texas, we are proud of the Young Republicans leadership, activism and efforts to promote conservative values across the state. If you would like to learn more about the Texas Young Republicans, find a club in your area, or support their outreach efforts to grow the Republican Party among young voters with a financial donation, please visit www.texasyoungrepublicans.com/legeday or contact the RPT office at 512-477-9821.

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