Dear Friends,

We had an awesome TRUE TEXAN DAY at the Capitol on Tuesday.  Around 50 citizen advocates joined us from all over the state.  I was pleased to see several who were first timers at the Capitol and eager to learn about the process.  We met with Comptroller Glen Hegar, toured the Capitol, toured the Supreme Count/Court of Criminal Appeals building, and received a legislative update from Bryan Slaton, Tony Tinderholt, and Bob Hall.

Several important things happened this week:

• Senate passed SB14 (Kolkhorst) which is the Senate bill to ban mutilation of children for gender transition.  It has been received in the House but not yet assigned to a committee.
• House Committee on Public Health held a hearing on the House version of ban gender mutilation, HB1686 (Oliverson) on Monday.  Masses of trans supporters showed up to oppose the bill (and put on quite a show in the hallways).  Unfortunately, the support side was a bit lacking.  Where are the Christian Pastors?  Where are the folks who are passionate about this issue on social media?  MIA on Monday.  The bill is currently left pending in Committee, so you still have a chance to call or write to the  Committee Members asking them to vote the bill out of Committee and send to Calendars.  ALSO:  The public on-line comment link for this bill is still open, so you can make a comment at the link.  This is a super easy thing to do and only takes minutes.  Click on the link and make your voices heard!
• Tuesday was the first day that the House actually debated and voted on bills.  There were 4 bills on the Calendar.  None are RPT or TTP priorities.
• On Wednesday, the House voted on 4 more bills.  One of those that passed 2nd reading is HB727, which limits death penalty for certain individuals.  Some believe this is the first step in eliminating the Death penalty.  All Democrats and 18 Republicans voted for the bill.  It now goes to the Senate.  You might want to contact your Senator and ask them to oppose.
• On Monday and Wednesday, our TTP Citizen Advocates testified on 6 House bills, and registered support or opposition for dozens of others.  (there are so many, I lost count!)

This Week at The Capitol:

On Tuesday April 4, I'll be  hosting a group of Home School families at the Capitol, so I'll be occupied with them all day.  Anyone is welcome to join us if you want to learn about process, navigating the building, visiting legislator offices.  If you want to come to work, we have experienced citizen advocate friends who will take over for me that day to direct activities.  If you can work that day - meet up in the Rotunda at 10:00 with Charlene, Cheri, Natalie, Beth and Matt.  They know the ropes, and will have assignments for you.

Committee schedules are still coming in for April 4, but I'm sure there will be plenty of chances to do our Citizen Advocate thing.  So come join Matt, Natalie, Cheri, Beth and Charlene and they will put you to work.

SAVE THE DATE!  April 24

We'll be doing another small Citizen Advocate Training on Testifying at Hearings on April 24, in Commissioner Sid Miller's Conference room, Stephen F Austin Building.  The subject will be Testifying at Hearings.  Details to follow.

Thanks for engaging!  It truly takes an army, and I'm glad you're part of mine.

God Bless Texas and Texas Patriots!

Fran Rhodes, President, True Texas Project

PS:  Have you taken our Certified True Texan workshops yet?  The next opportunity is April 22 (right after Texas Tough!), so you can make a week end of it.  Click here for details and registration information.