The Republican Party of Texas



Legislative Priorities Report Sept. 20, 2021...The third
special session of the 87th Texas Legislature begins today. The
Governor announced he has placed the following items on the call:















Legislative Priorities Report Sept. 20, 2021
The third special session of the 87th Texas Legislature begins
today. The Governor announced he has placed the following items
on the call:


Redistricting.
Legislation providing appropriations from the American Rescue
Plan Act of 2021.
Protecting biological girls' sports in grades K-12.
Legislation regarding whether public entities can mandate the
Covid 19 vaccine and if so, what exemptions should apply.
Legislation similar to Senate Bill 474 as passed in the regular
sessions but that addresses concerns in governor's veto
statement. (This refers to protecting dogs from being tethered in
a yard.)
Other subjects as may be submitted by the Governor after the
session convenes.

Now that the 2020 census is available, the work of making sure
all the districts for state and congressional offices are
appropriately drawn begins. It is important for citizens to
participate in this process to ensure fair representation.

As far as our Legislative Priorities are concerned, we are
looking at bills filed regarding exemptions for vaccines under
reasons of religion and conscience. Self-ownership--having
control of one's body and mind--is the most basic human right.
Mandated medical procedures violate this fundamental liberty by
forcing individuals to ingest substances that carry a risk of
harm. Especially where a vaccine, like the COVID-19 vaccine, does
not prevent transmission to others, there is simply no
justification for abridging this right. Individuals have a right
to weight the potential benefits and dangers of vaccines and
choose for themselves. This is to say nothing of the religious
and conscience objections that many have to the vaccine, which
are protected under the First Amendment and state and federal
statute. We strongly urge the governor to call for legislation to
protect citizens' right to reject these vaccines without fear of
reprisal or loss of employment in both public and private
spheres.

The other item on the call relating to the RPT's Religious
Freedom priority is protecting biological girls' sports. As you
may recall, last session this bill died as Democrat House
Education Committee Chair Harold Dutton would not allow a bill
out of committee. We are appreciative that the Senate passed a
bill to protect girls and are confident it will again. However,
Speaker Dade Phelan must refer the bill to a different committee
in order for it to get a vote on the House floor and, ultimately,
reach the governor's desk. The decision on which committee to
refer the bill is entirely within the Speaker's power. Referring
the bill to a Democrat-chaired committee is akin to killing it.

There is one item from the last special session that should be
re-addressed. The omnibus Election Integrity bill, SB 1, was
passed despite the protestations of the Democrats. However, there
was one Amendment that slipped through that needs to be
corrected. Amendment 50, submitted by Representative Allison and
included in the final legislation, decreased an existing penalty
for election fraud from a second-degree felony to a Class A
misdemeanor. Perhaps this was a concession to the Democrats by
Speaker Phelan, but it must be rectified. But first it must be
added to the call.

The other glaring omission from the call is banning child sex
change medical practices. The statement from the Department of
Family Services that they consider surgeries to remove healthy
body parts child abuse does not expressly apply to other
non-surgical transitions that permanently harm children and are
far more prevalent in this state. We must have legislation that
protects children that includes puberty blockers and cross-sex
hormones. It is simply inexcusable that Texas would prioritize
the protection for dogs this special session, while omitting the
protection of children like James Younger.

Action Items:

1. Review the proposed redistricting maps as they are released to
see how they affect your community and make your legislators
aware of any comments and/or concerns related to the maps.
2. Call Governor Abbott, your Representative and Senator, and
Speaker Phelan and ask for legislation:
a. banning public and private vaccine mandates;
b. reversing Amendment 50's penalty reduction for election
fraud to SB1;
c. protecting women's sports; and
d. banning all child gender modification.

Finally, if you attempted to access our Republican Party of Texas
website recently, you may have noticed that all the usual
features are temporarily down. The Heartbeat Act that was
recently passed and signed by Governor Abbott has caused great
consternation to those who wish to murder unborn children, and so
we have been attacked. This is neither a surprise or a threat to
us, and we hope to have things up and running again very soon. As
they say, you know you are over the target when you are taking
flack. Remember that we still have many resources for you on our
site under the tab, #TXlege.

For God and Texas,

Jill


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