| Hope you all are staying safe and warm in the icy weather much of Texas is experiencing right now. The Legislative Priorities
Committee is hard at work reviewing bills and approving those that meet our priority language.
The filing deadline for bills in the Texas Legislature is February 10. We are hoping to see more by the deadline that
address our GOP priorities.
The Legislative Priorities Committee approves bills by undertaking a thorough review of those that appear at first
glance to address Republican Party of Texas (RPT) priorities. If the Legislative Priorities Committee votes to approve a bill after review as
addressing one of RPT’s eight priorities, the committee will advocate for prioritization and passage of the bill. You can find the latest
version of our approved bill list on the Texasgop.org website here. We
will be adding to this list soon.
Our committee would like to highlight
several pieces of legislation that have already been filed. Regarding Election Integrity, Rep. David Spiller filed HB 52, which provides
a felony penalty for illegal voting. Sen. Hughes has filed a companion bill in the Senate, SB 166. There are a few other similar
bills filed.
Rep. Jared Patterson filed an excellent bill that
partially addresses our Stop Sexualizing Texas Kids priority. HB 1655 creates mandated library
standards in Texas public schools. Currently, we have guidelines only, and no mandated standards. Included in the standards HB1655 would impose
is prohibiting schools from possessing, acquiring, and distributing library materials rated sexually explicit, and materials considered harmful to
minors, as defined in 43.24 of Texas
Penal Code. Materials that are “sexually relevant material”, i.e. not sexually explicit, but may have references to human
sexuality included, would require parental consent. The bill would be enforced by imposing penalties on vendors who distribute explicit books to
public schools. Similar enforcement measures are used in the entertainment industry, and have proven to be very effective. This
enforcement measure also reduces fiscal impact on the state.
Rep.
Patterson’s is the first bill of its kind protecting Texas kids from sexualization through the prohibition of sexually explicit library
materials in schools. We applaud Rep. Patterson for this exceptionally strong bill which should be a model for the whole country.
We are also optimistic for the prospects of bills to Ban Gender Modification of
Children. More than 13 bills were filed thus far and are gaining momentum. We appreciate the work being done to get a strong bill to the
governor that would protect children from chemical castration and hideous surgical mutilation.
If you want to know what bills your representative and senator have filed, you can easily view this information on Texas Legislature Online. In the middle of the
home page at the top under “Search Legislation,” select “Word/Phrase”, type his or her name in the box, and press
“Go.” This takes you to a list of each bill filed by that representative or senator and a description.
Also, please remember all the resources we have available on the Texasgop.org website. Under #TxLege, you will find a link to identify who represents you, the list of RPT’s Legislative Priorities, a sample email to a legislator, and approved bills. We will soon post a list of talking points for each of
the priorities.
Action Steps:
- Look
up the bills filed by your Representative and Senator. If they have not filed a bill that matches one of our Legislative Priorities, call or
email their office and encourage them to do so, or to co-author other legislation addressing our priorities. You can find the contact information here.
- Share this information with other Republicans and encourage them to sign up for these Legislative Priorities Reports. The link is
at the bottom of this email.
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