From Grassroots America – We the People
This information comes from Jill Glover, Chair, Republican Party of Texas Legislative Priorities Committee.
We have inserted our Quick Action links so that you can make your voice heard on border security bills and election integrity bills!
Last summer at the Republican Party of Texas state convention, delegates voted “Protect Our Elections” as the top legislative priority. This is the second state convention in a row that election integrity has been the number one priority. The current priority reads, “Restore felony penalties and enact civil penalties for Election Code violations, which shall be enforceable by any Texas jurisdiction, including the Texas Attorney General. Require citizenship verification of each voter. Restrict the distribution of mail-in ballots to only disabled, military, and citizens that are out of state. Reduce the time allowed for early voting and eliminate the three-day gap between early voting and election day. Establish closed primaries in Texas. As technology evolves, we encourage the passage of legislation that ensures the security of our elections.”
In the March 2022 primary, securing our elections was also top-ranked, receiving 95.7% support from over two million Texas Republican voters. During the November 2022 general election, we saw many issues arise in two of our largest counties, Harris and Dallas, indicating a need for new legislation to address voting fraud and election irregularities.
The Senate has passed multiple excellent bills that address many of these concerns. Yet the House Elections Committee appears to be reluctant to vote out any bills that address our priority. There is a very small contingent of people within the party (yes, Republicans) who do not want these bills to see the light of day. This is wrong, and we encourage Chairman Smith to stop listening to bad advice and begin moving these bills.
URGENT! Texas House Elections Chairman Reggie Smith (Republican) has not passed THESE election integrity priority bills out of his committee!
Action Step 1: Call Rep. Reggie Smith at (512) 463-0297 and ask him to pass the following bills (below) out of his House Elections Committee so they can be moved to Calendars to be scheduled for a floor vote. The legislative clock will soon run out on these important bills!
Action Step 2: Email the House Elections Committee (which includes Chairman Reggie Smith) and ask them to vote these bills out of committee now. These bills will die in committee soon if they aren’t moved out fast!
Click here to send a personal email to the entire House Elections Committee!
- SB 2 – Restore Illegal Voting Felony Penalty (in House Elections)
- HB 1243 – Restore Illegal Voting Felony Penalty (Reported favorably w/o amendment)
- SB 921 and Companion HB 3611 – Bans Ranked Choice Voting (both in House Elections)
- SB 1070 and Companion HB 2809 – Interstate Cross-Check that removes Texas from ERIC (both in House Elections)
- HB 5231 – Eliminates countywide voting and returns voting back to precinct-based voting (in House Elections)
There are also two bad elections bills that we are very concerned about and need action. Both bills are objectionable as they involve the legislature interfering in our own Republican State Party business. Again, a small minority is advocating for these bills. Bills and current status are:
- HB 1635 – Pulls state funding from the Republican Party of Texas if we don’t follow the election law dictates of the Biden administration or RNC (Referred to Senate State Affairs) Email the Senate State Affairs Committee in one simple email asking them to stop HB 1635.
- HB 4636 – Gives county chairs power to appoint precinct chairs to vacant positions over the objection of a majority of their County Executive Committee (House Elections Hearing Completed and set as Pending Business) Email House Elections Committee in one simple email asking them to not vote HB 4636 out of committee.
Last Thursday, our first Legislative Priority bill passed in the House, HB 900. This bill prohibits sexually explicit books in Texas schools. More bills relating to the Stop Sexualizing Texas Kids are:
- SB 12 by Senator Hughes is the only bill related to sexually oriented performances in the presence of minors that is currently moving. This bill has a strong definition of “drag performance,” prohibiting all sexually oriented performances on public grounds and in front of minors. It is enforced through both criminal and civil penalties. SB 12 passed the Senate and is now in the House State Affairs Committee. Click here to contact Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and ask him to move SB 12 out of committee!