AUSTIN – On Monday, the Texas House voted to approve the conference committee report on SB14, the Voter ID bill, by a vote of 98-46. The legislation now heads to the desk of Governor Rick Perry for his signature! The Republican Party of Texas applauds both chambers for passing this important bill, one of the RPT’s priority pieces of legislation this session. SB 14 was authored by all 19 Republican State Senators and sponsored by 89 Republican State Representatives.

Said RPT Chairman Steve Munisteri, “This bill’s success is the long-awaited result from years of effort from Texas Republicans and has been a major component of our RPT platform for quite some time. I am very pleased to see this bill on its way to Governor Perry’s desk – what a tremendous accomplishment by our Republican majority in the Legislature!”

Munisteri continued: “I would like to acknowledge and thank the Republican leadership who guided this legislation to final passage – in the House, Speaker Joe Straus and Representatives Patricia Harless (R-Spring) and Dennis Bonnen (R-Angleton), and in the Senate, Lt. Governor David Dewhurst and Senator Troy Fraser (R-Horseshoe Bay). These conservative leaders have focused on this legislation since before the session began and provided steady guidance toward its ultimate success.  On behalf of the Republican Party of Texas and conservatives across the state, I heartily thank and congratulate our Republican legislators for this key legislation which will ensure the security and accuracy of our Texas elections.”

“This session, the state party has focused on five priority items: the sonogram bill, voter ID, the budget, redistricting and sanctuary cities. We have now passed the second of these items (the first being the sonogram bill) and we continue to focus on final passage of the remaining three. Elections matter, and these legislative successes are a direct result of the hard work of so many Republicans in 2010 and must be built upon and protected in the next election cycle. Here at the RPT, we will continue building our strength and organization to help maintain these gains in our Legislature in 2012 and for years to come.”