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Legislative Priority Report for February 5

The long-awaited Texas House Committee assignments came out yesterday afternoon. There are 34 committees, and 21 were assigned Republican chairs. The committees that will most likely hear our Legislative Priorities are chaired by Republicans, with the exception of Public Education, chaired by a Democrat. Republicans are in the majority on committees, so this is encouraging for passing bills that support our eight Legislative Priorities and we will be watching those votes.

The most encouraging committee chair appointment is Rep. Briscoe Cain, on Elections. Rep. Cain is from the Houston area and very familiar with our election integrity challenges. We are confident that he and his committee will work hard to correct omissions in current legislation that do not have penalties for violations of election law. Governor Abbott also named Election Integrity as an emergency item, so we are pleased to hear his commitment to this critical issue for our state.

The Legislative Priorities Committee has approved several bills for support by the Republican Party of Texas that have been filed that match our priorities, and there will be more forthcoming since several have been filed since our committee last met, such as Rep. Krause’s bill on Banning Gender Modification in Children.

Here is the current list:

  • Election Integrity: HB 329, HB 335, HB 574, SB 155, HB 1368
  • Religious Freedom: HB 525, HB 1218, HB 1239, HB 1291, HCR 1, SB 251
  • Child and Gender Modification: HB 68
  • Abortion: SJR 25, SB 391, HB 1280
  • Constitutional Carry: HB 1238
  • Monuments: HB 446, HB 1079

Now that we have committee assignments in both the House and the Senate, bills will begin to be assigned to various committees by Speaker Phelan and Lt. Gov. Patrick. This will take a couple of weeks, and there are some things we can do until committee hearings begin.

It is important for our elected officials to be reminded of the importance of our eight priorities, as voted on in past Republican primaries as ballot propositions, and by our Republican delegates at our state convention. Those delegates represent the will of thousands of Republicans in their districts.

This week, our call to action is for you to make two phone calls and/or send two emails: one to Speaker Phelan, who is in charge of the Texas House, and one to Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who is head of the Texas Senate. Here is their contact information (put contacts in your phone):

  • Speaker Phelan: 512-463-0706 – Dade.phelan@house.texas.gov
  • Lt. Gov. Patrick: 512-463-0001

Please give them the following information regarding each of our Legislative Priorities as ballot propositions:

  1. Election Integrity: 98.36 % of yes votes in the 2020 Republican Primary Ballot
  2. Religious Freedom: 88.67% of yes votes in the 2020 Republican Primary
  3. Children and Gender Modification: 94.57% Yes votes in the 2020 Republican Primary
  4. Abolition of Abortion: 68% of Yes votes in the 2018 Republican Primary
  5. Constitutional Carry: 85.38 of Yes votes in the 2020 Republican Primary
  6. Monument Protection: 97.3% of Yes votes in the 2020 Republican Primary
  7. School Choice for All: 79% of Yes votes in the 2018 Republican Primary
  8. Ban Taxpayer-Funded Lobbying: 94.29% of Yes votes in the 2020 Republican Primary

Here is an example of what you could say for the Children and Gender Modification Priority:

“Mr. Speaker, I am calling to respectfully remind you that Texas Republicans expect legislation to protect children from abusive medical treatments which attempt to change them from one sex to the other, which we both know is impossible. 95% of Republican voters in the 2020 primary asked for these protections. Thank you for protecting children in Texas by passing HB 68 or a similar bill.”

Please pick at least a couple of priorities you want to be passed and let’s all commit to making these calls. We believe the Republican voters’ voices are being heard as evidenced by these committee appointments.

We cannot let up now! In fact, we are just getting started. When we all work together and engage with our elected officials, we can do great things for Texas!

For God and Texas,

Jill Glover
SREC, SD 12
Chair, SREC Legislative Priorities Committee

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