Greetings TTP Citizen Activists!

We've had some technical difficulties with our email software, so the Friday Message is coming to you on Saturday!  But "Fran's Saturday Message" just doesn't role off the tongue as nicely, so here's the Fran's Friday Message - a day late!

Such a busy month!  Municipal elections, primary run-off elections, RPT Convention, graduations and end of school activities, and of course, the usual TTP meetings and social activities.  Now summer stretches out before us with the promise of family vacations, lazy days by the pool, back yard barbecues, and all sorts of fun in the sun.

But wait!  I will need to interrupt your summer fun because there is still work to be done!  Our job as Citizen Advocates is never done.  There’s always another election, another interim hearing, another legislative session.  And this summer is no different.  So, let’s gear up and get it done!

HELP SECURE ELECTIONS:

The FIRST thing I want to bring to your attention is the fact that the November election, which is probably the most important one of our lifetimes, is only 5 months away.  And with the shenanigans that have been going on, we need some emergency action at the state legislative level.  The RPT State Convention Platform & Resolutions Committee presented a resolution to the delegates last week, to call upon Gov Abbott to call a special session in June 2024 to increase election integrity. 

The Court of Criminal Appeals decision in State v Stephens prevents the Texas Attorney General from prosecuting criminal cases, leaving the prosecutorial decisions up to local DA’s, many of whom refuse to enforce laws that don’t fit their political agenda. This needs to be addressed.

Our friend, Tom Glass, with Texas Constitutional Enforcement, has an article that lays out all the details, and you can read it by clicking here.  The RPT Resolution specifically lays out issues that should be included in the special session call:

1.  ELECTION INTEGRITY ENFORCEMENT: Legislation to implement independent state level prosecution of election integrity, abortion, human smuggling, sedition, and riot in response to and in compliance with the CCA State v Stephens.

2.  ENSURING THAT ILLEGAL ALIENS ARE NOT VOTING IN TEXAS: Legislation to require proof of citizenship for new voter registration and a thorough review of existing voter rolls to identify and remove illegal aliens, other non-citizens, those with unauthorized non-residential addresses, and long-time inactive voters from the voter rolls.

The solution is to create a State Prosecutor Office under the Texas Supreme Court consistent with the CCA State v Stevens opinion.  SB1927 by Senator Bryan Hughes addressed this very issue and was passed out of the Senate in 2023, but did not pass in the House.

ACTION ITEM:  Please contact Governor Abbott’s office, and demand that he call a special session to address these election security measures and ensure that Texas Election law is enforced equally across the state.

Click here to Contact Governor Abbott 

CONTRACT WITH TEXAS

I mentioned this in a previous Friday Message, but it has turned into a movement.  Citizens can now sign the contract along with House Representatives and Candidates, showing our support for the 12 reform measures in the Contract.  Go to www.contractwithtexas.org to sign as a citizen, see who has and has not signed so far, watch interviews with some of the signers, see the complete list of reforms that are demanded.  Your signing the contract will send a message to those who are not on board that the citizens of that district demand a change.

The recent election wins will go a long way to ensuring a change in the Texas House, but we still need to convince a lot of Republican House members that grassroots citizens matter, and they need to pay attention to us. 

ACTION ITEM:  Visit the Contract With Texas webpage, sign the document, and if your own House Rep has not yet signed it, contact him/her and request that they pay attention to the will of the people and join the reform movement.

INTERIM HEARINGS AT THE CAPITOL

Interim hearings will be happening all summer at the Capitol as the House and Senate both take up the interim charges they’ve been given, and review implementation of the legislation that was passed in 2023.  We encourage TTP Citizen Advocates to participate whenever possible.  This is our chance to engage with our state legislators and make our voices heard on a variety of subjects.  Here is a quick summary of the hearing schedules for June:

June 4 – House Human Services Committee

June 5 – Senate Criminal Justice Committee

June 6 – Senate Criminal Justice Committee

June 10 – House State Affairs Committee

June 11 – Senate Border Committee

June 12 – Senate Business & Commerce Committee

June 13 – Senate Natural Resources Committee

ACTION ITEM:  Review the Committee announcements above to see what topics are being discussed at which hearing.  Find the ones that interest you or that you have particular expertise or experience in, and attend the hearing, and sign up to testify.  As my own schedule for June pans out, I’ll let you know which ones I will be personally attending, in case you need assistance, and want to attend with me.

NOTE:  I planned to provide links to each Committee Hearing announcement for you, but the TLO is down for maintenance until Monday morning.  BUT – you can employ those TLO skills that you learned in Citizen Advocacy class and do this yourself.   Go to www.capitol.texas.gov  Click on “Committees” from the pull-down menu at the top.  Click on Meetings by Date, then select House or Senate.  A calendar will appear.  On the days that a hearing is scheduled, the calendar date will be highlighted.  Click on the date and see what Committees are meeting that day.  To the right of the Committee name, click on the pdf symbol to see the announcement which contains the subject(s) of the hearing and instructions for participants.  You can do this!!

TTP@HOME

Just a reminder that our podcast, TTP@HOME will air on June 7^th.  This month’s episode features an interview with several of our conservative House members or newly elected candidates that we are counting on to help change the culture of the Texas House.  Be sure to check it out to see what’s in store for us in 2025!  You can find the podcast on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Rumble.  Previous episodes are archived, and you can link to them from our website page.

AND SPEAKING OF 2025!

TTP is already preparing for the 2025 Legislative Session.  We’re making plans for activism at the Capitol, and behind the scenes, considering legislative priorities, and planning a “True Texas Day At The Capitol” to get things started.  The RPT will soon publish the legislative priorities results from the convention, but I would love to hear from YOU.  What are your top priorities for the 2025 legislative session?  Email me your top three by replying to this message.  We’ll be ready to hit the ground running on Jan 14, 2025, and we want you right there with us.

SUMMING UP ACTION ITEMS:

1)  Contact the Governor and urge a special session (immediately) to address election security issues.

2)  Visit the Contract with Texas webpage and sign the contract.  Then contact YOUR representative and urge them to sign if they have not, or thank them for signing if they have.

3)  Attend and testify at an Interim Committee hearing sometime in June

4)  Let me know your legislative priorities for the 89^th Legislative Session by replaying to this message.

In closing, I just want to mention a bit about my experience at Convention.  We had a TTP booth in the exhibit hall, as we did in 2022.  I was impressed by the difference I saw between the 2022 experience and the 2024 experience.  In 2022, many people did not know TTP, and had never heard of us.  In 2024, a large number of people who visited the booth, were saying things like, “I know you guys!”, “I get your emails”, “I go to your meetings”, and other positive responses.  They were eager to sign our I’m a True Texan banner, and proud to be a part of our TTP army.  And those who did not know about TTP, were anxious to sign up and usually asked “Why didn’t I know about this sooner?” 

Charlene Reagan, from Hill Country Satellite

The difference (to me) was overwhelming.  It means that TTP is growing and being recognized as a grassroots leader all across the state, and the credit for that goes to YOU – our supporters, and citizen advocates, who show up, do the work, and make a difference.  We can't let the recent electoral victories lull us into complacency.  There are now 3 declared candidates for speaker of the House - Tom Oliverson, Shelby Slawson, and Dade Phelan.There are still a number of Republicans loyal to Phelan, and of course all the Democrats,  and it will take pressure from us if we want to actually see reforms.

So keep sharing, keep spreading the word, and keep doing the work.  Your fellow Texans appreciate it!

Stay Engaged!

Fran Rhodes, President