Hello, True Texans!

Let the holidays begin!!!  It is Thanksgiving week, and I am grateful for each of you!  We work really, really hard, but this week TTP is hosting EIGHT festive dinners with our patriot family, plus offering Black Friday discounts on our Christmas party!  Work hard...play hard! Will I get to see you at any of the 3 potlucks I'm attending, which include Granbury on Monday, Leander on Tuesday, and Grapevine on Wednesday? Scroll down to the end of this email for full details on all 8 meals.

Psst... this just in... a little birdy told me Shelley Luther plans to join Tim Georgeff at the potluck and hymn sing in Grapevine!  No promises on whether she'll help lead the music, but we'll see!

Did I mention Black Friday??? We are offering discounted tickets to either of our Christmas parties!!!  Save 1/3 off regular prices on Friday only by using the discount code THANKS-TTP at the checkout.  This makes tickets only $30 instead of $45, and this is a fantastic evening with hors d'oeuvres, singing, laughing, and SO MUCH FUN!  Truly, it's one of my favorite things we do.  Make sure to be there!  Click for Houston on Dec 7 or Grapevine on Dec 14.  Note that my hometown, Grapevine, is the Christmas Capital of Texas, and you can make a fantastic night of it by enjoying the downtown festivities after the party.  It's truly something to see!

True Texas Essay Contest 2023!

The deadline for our scholarship is Nov 30 -- and we don't have a single applicant yet!  Your student could win!!! $$$ All high school students in Texas (regardless of what type of school they go to) are eligible.  BONUS - all winners are invited with 2 guests to either one of our Christmas parties too! Click here for details on entering.

Fran's Friday Message

This week's message includes updates on the 4th Special Session (slow going!), some thoughts on the constitutional amendments, and commentary on the new House School Choice bill (HB1).  Read all about it here with action items.

The Circus in the Texas House continues!  An unexpected turn of events took place during the debate on HB1 (the House's version of school choice) on Friday (after I wrote the Friday message).  Rep Buckley filed an amendment, then Rep Raney filed an amendment to the amendment which literally strips out the entire section on ESA's.  (pages 90 - 123).  That pretty much defeats the original intent of the bill.  In other words - the ESA money and conditions are gone, and it's become just another public education funding bill. The amendment to the amendment passed 84 to 63.  If you'd like to see who voted which way, click here for the record vote.  This is a pretty big blow to the education freedom crowd and certainly won't pass muster with Governor Abbott.  The bill has been recommitted to the Committee.  It will be interesting to see what happens next.  Stay tuned!

There will be no Friday message next week unless something drastic happens in the legislature.  Have a blessed and peaceful Thanksgiving with your family.  That's what I'll be doing!

Stay Engaged!
Fran Rhodes, President

Let Us Pray!

True Texans Taking Charge - Election 2024

• Our How-To video series includes...
  
  • • • Aug:  How To Vet & Support Candidates
      • Sep:  How To Start & Utilize a PAC
      • Oct:  How To Protect Elections
      • Nov:  This month at all of our meetings we've got a fun video on How To Maximize Social Media Influence.  You'll like this one, so get to a meeting!
      • Jan:  How To Blockwalk and Work Polls
      • Feb:  How To Navigate the GOP Convention System
• Putting our training into action with theTrue Texas Project Day of Action! On Jan 27, all across the state we will be hosting blockwalks and phone banking.  Get it on your calendar now.
• Defeat the DIRTY DOZEN (and more!)... You need to be helping these campaigns, even if you don't live in these districts.  Why?  Well, check out what Chris McNutt, our friend from Texas Gun Rights, posted on Twitter:

Here are some of the key races we're watching so far (there will be many more!):

• • • • David Lowe, who is challenging Stephanie Klick
      • Dennis London, who is challenging Justin Holland
      • Mike Olcott, who is challenging Glen Rogers
      • Andy Hopper, who is challenging Lynn Stucky
      • David Covey, who is challenging Speaker Dade Phelan
      • Wes Virdell, who is challenging Andrew Murr
      • Wade Cowen, who is challenging Dustin Burrows
      • Matt Morgan, who is challenging Jacey Jetton
      • Three new ones to add!  Check these out:
        • • Kyle Biedermann, who is challenging Ellen Troxclair
          • Wayne Richard, who is challenging Matt Shaheen
          • Abraham George, who is challenging Candy Noble
• Some of you still have runoff elections for the November races, which will be held Dec 9.

Make sure to go to our website for all our Election 2024 info.

Remember, we built the army.... we trained the army... now it's time to engage the army!  That's you!

📅This week at True Texas Project...🍁🦃

We hope you enjoy your Thanksgiving holiday, but also join us at one of our Friendsgiving Potlucks, coupled with game night, hymn sing-along, or "songs & stories of Thanksgiving" that are happening all over the state!
As always, to see everything that we have planned, visit our events page at this link. Everyone is welcome at any event, no matter where you are located!

Click on the images to enlarge them, or right click to save them for sharing! 

I get regular complaints from angry folks, "If you told me sooner about the event, I would have been there!"  Nothing frustrates me more!!!  First of all, it's rude. What happened to personal responsibility?  All our events are always on our website calendar with full details.  We work really, really hard to keep that calendar full and up to date, so always use that as your first reference.  Second of all, the monthly meetings are on the same day every single month, so go ahead and mark your calendar for the entire year!  And lastly, we share our event info multiple times:

1. 1. 1. On the first of the month we put out a calendar for the entire month - one for social events and one for meetings.  It's sent via this weekly newsletter, and it's provided on all our social media.
      2. The weekly newsletter put out on Sunday gives event details for everything for the upcoming week.
      3. We send out a text for all meetings the day before the event occurs.
      4. We share events on social media in multiple places.

How much more can we do???  We want you to be there, and we're doing everything we possibly can to give you plenty of notice.  Make sure you're reading our emails, on our text list, and following our social media (Facebook, local chat groups, Twitter, Instagram, Linked In, Gab). 

Thanks for reading!

If you have questions, tips, or encouragement for the True Texas Team, reply to this email, and we’ll talk to you soon.

God Bless Texas!
Julie McCarty, CEO

PS.  Dorothy wrote to me this week lamenting the fact that Texans just voted for a bunch of new taxes in the November election.  She painted a pretty interesting way to look at this - one that I had not thought of before:

Our friends at Texans for Fiscal Responsibility recently wrote a great summary of the overwhelming tax burdens that Texans voted on themselves last week.  Why do we keep doing this???  How can we say we want lower property taxes while at the same time vote for more spending?  Nothing is free... no matter how cleverly the bills are written.