Good Morning Citizen Advocates!

In this week’s Friday Message will cover the following subjects (with action items, of course)

• Election Integrity:  Federal Interference, Ballot Secrecy & Special Session for Election security
• Local Government Budgets
• The Contract With Texas (The real one and the fake one!)
• The Texas Ethics Commission Weaponizes Against Citizens
• Summer Hearing Schedules

ELECTION INTEGRITY

Five months out from a presidential election, Democrats are employing serious efforts to swing it to their side.  While we at the state level are fussing over ballot secrecy and hand counted paper ballots, the federal government and the Biden administration are doing everything possible to undermine election security and transparency.

Biden issued an  Executive Order some time ago directing Federal agencies and NGO’s to do whatever possible to register voters.  Do we think they are paying attention to who is or is not eligible to vote?  And just this week, proposed another  Executive Order granting citizenship amnesty to anyone who has a spouse or children who are legal citizens and has lived in the US for 10 years.  You know what comes with citizenship?  The right to vote!

These efforts are blatant attempts to buy votes whether legal or illegal and it is imperative that Texans stand up to it and push back!

Ballot Secrecy Issues have cropped up in several places recently.  The subject was a topic at the recent Senate State Affairs Committee, and in Williamson County, a federal lawsuit has been filed on the subject.  The problem seems to arise from two sources:  1) Countywide polling places, especially in large counties, create a problem if a person is the only one from his precinct voting at that polling place; and 2) The Secretary of State’s Office has been issuing waivers to counties who do not use the consecutively numbered ballot as required in Texas Election Code. There is also talk of an algorithm that is allowing personal information to be disclosed, but there has been no proof or evidence that this is true.

Special Session Call:  In our May 30 message, we asked you to contact Gov Abbott about a special session to address election integrity & enforcement and making sure that illegal aliens do not vote.  We still need that push for a special call.  A Grassroots Coalition letter was sent to the Governor last week, but pressure from individual citizens might make it happen.  November is coming up fast!

Action Election Integrity: 

1) Talk to your State Rep and Senator about legislation to address ballot secrecy.  We suggest that county wide polling be eliminated and that all counties be required to adhere to Texas law regarding ballot numbering, without waivers from the Secretary of State.

2) Contact the Governor about a special session to ensure that the November election has an enforcement mechanism in place, and also that illegal aliens are not voting in Texas elections.

3) Contact your US Rep and Senator and ask them to support the  SAVE Act which would ensure that all states require proof of citizenship in order to register to vote.

LOCAL GOVERNMENT BUDGET TIME

It’s that time again when local governments set their budgets and therefore, their property tax rates.  Be sure you are paying attention to YOUR local government and what they are doing with YOUR money!  Don’t be fooled by the rhetoric!  If they propose a tax rate higher than the no new revenue rate, that is a tax increase and they have to hold public hearings.  If that happens, citizens need to show up to protest!  Hold them accountable for the taxpayer money they are spending.  Remember that property tax increases are a direct result of government spending increases.  

Action Local Government Budgets & Tax Rates

1)  Find the website for your school board, city and county and examine their proposed budget for the next fiscal year

2)  Attend budget workshops and tax rate hearings if you think the proposals are out of line, and speak up!  Organize others in your community to go with you.  Step up, speak up and show up!

THE CONTRACT WITH TEXAS – REAL AND FAKE

Don't be fooled!  The  Texas Conservative Commitment and the Contract with Texas are not the same things!  The TC Commitment is the Phelan friends and power brokers, trying to buy us off by throwing us a few more bones next session, it's not about changing the Texas House.  We need structural changes within the House Leadership that will last into many future sessions, not just 2025 policy wins.  This is why we need the Contract with Texas.

Luke Macias explains it in detail in this video.

In addition, the Policy Committee of the Republican Caucus is proposing to name the Commitment as the official priorities for the 2025 session.  Three of the members of this committee will not even be returning for the 2025 session, but they want to tell us what the 2025 priorities will be!  The Commitment is just a statement of policy issues that they are promising to address and it doesn't even match the priorities that were set at convention by Republican delegates. The Contract is the real deal, demanding lasting change to the rules and culture of the Texas House.

Action Contract With Texas

1) If your Rep has not signed the Contract with Texas and/or HAS signed the TX Conservative Commitment -- CONTACT THEM NOW!  Grassroots Republican voters demand a long lasting change in the Texas House, not just a new Speaker with a different name and the same power plays.

2) Contact the Caucus Policy Committee members as well as your own Reps and JUST SAY NO!  The RPT priorities are the official priorities for Texas Republicans in 2025, not this made-up list from Phelan Friends.

WEAPONIZATION OF THE TEXAS ETHICS COMMISSION

For some reason, lots of folks just can’t stand it when conservative voices are heard in government.  Everything in our legislative process is designed to keep citizens away, even though our elected representatives are supposed to “derive their just powers from the consent of the governed.”  Now, the Texas Ethics Commission is coming after us with potential ethics violations.  Check out this TX Scorecard article about a new ruling from the TEC that could potentially put citizen advocates at risk.

From a trusted source:  "The rule is meant to chill people into silence more than it is enforceable.  It is very poorly drafted - they literally added an exception to an exception to an exception.  How it would apply in practice is pretty much inconceivable.  What is clear is that the only real impact it might have is against people who spend less than $100 on online advertising, since it is an exception to that rule."

What to do?  Don't be chilled into silence!  Continue to stand up, speak up and show up on every issue.  Something else we can do is get involved with the Texas Sunset Commission, which is set to examine the TEC in the next session.  Engage in the Sunset process to talk about how the TEC is taking aim at citizens' speech and that their work is causing confusion about what is and isn't allowed which leads to self-censorship.

Action Weaponization of Ethics Commission:

1) The TEC is under review next year with the Sunset Commission.  They have invited public input on the TEC.  Use this form to submit comment to the Commission, or email the members of the Sunset Commission at [email protected].  The deadline to receive public comment is Aug 15, 2024.

2) Contact your own State Rep and Senator and ask them to help reign in the over reach of the TEC, and stop the attacks on citizen engagement in the political process.

Interesting Note:  The current Sunset Commission membership is composed of 5 State Reps and 5 State Senators plus 2 public representatives.  Of the 5 House members, 2 have been defeated in the primary and will not be back next session.  Of the 5 Senate members, 2 positions remain un-appointed.

SUMMER HEARING SCHEDULES

Here's what's happening in the legislature over the next few weeks.  Jump in if you can!  Click on the links to each committee hearing to see details of what's being discussed.

July 8: 

House State Affairs – Invited testimony only, but on-line public comment available (broadband and other public utilities)

House Homeland Security  -Invited testimony only, but on-line public comment available (authority of federal Border Patrol; First Responder communications; Firearm purchase fees)

July 9:

House Youth Health & Safety - Invited testimony only, but on-line public comment available (Behavioral services for at-risk youth)

House Criminal Jurisprudence - Invited testimony only, but on-line public comment available (various tools for law enforcement)

July 16:

House Culture Recreation & Tourism - Invited testimony only, but on-line public comment available (historical commission and centennial parks conservation fund (one of the new constitutional amendments)

July 31:

House Youth Health & Safety - Invited testimony only, but on-line public comment available (behavioral health services for at-risk youth)

**All of these hearings are invited testimony only - but you can make your comments using the on line form contained in each link!

WRAP UP:

It’s been a pretty interesting week here at TTP!  Through the turmoil, I just keep repeating my Citizen Advocate motto – NEVER GIVE UP!  NEVER SURRENDER!  We don’t, and we will never. 

Never give up! Never surrender!

But also remember that it is through relationships that we achieve our goals.  You can complain all you want about your elected representative on social media, but if he/she doesn’t know who you are, has never met you, or heard from you on issues, it’s going to fall on deaf ears and you won’t make any difference anywhere.

Use this time in the interim between sessions to make an appointment with your state Rep and Senator.  Talk to them about your legislative priorities.  Tell them what you think of the job their doing.  They may not agree with you, but they will respect you for making the effort to communicate and being involved in the process.

Stay Engaged!

Fran Rhodes, President