The Republican Party of Texas (RPT) unveiled its list of eight legislative priorities that delegates at its biennial convention in Houston this past weekend chose.
The legislative priorities committee narrowed down a list of priorities to 15, which the delegates then voted on to choose their top eight. The priorities serve as directives for lawmakers on what party members want to see accomplished during the 140-day legislative session beginning in January.
The top eight legislative priorities and their description as proposed by the RPT’s legislative priorities committees are:
- Protect Elections: “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 county. 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.”
- Ban Democrat Chairs: “To ensure all legislative Republican priorities are given a fair opportunity to become law, the Republican-controlled Texas legislature shall adopt a rule that would end the practice of awarding committee chairmanships to Democrats.”
- Abolish Abortion in Texas: “Abolish abortion by ensuring the right to life and equal protection of the laws to all preborn children from the moment of fertilization, including adopting effective tools to ensure the enforcement of our laws to protect life when district attorneys fail to do so.”
- Stop Sexualizing Texas Kids: “Repeal Texas Penal Code “Obscenity Exemption” 43.24(c), which allows children access to harmful, explicit, or pornographic materials and 43.25(f)(2 3), which allows sexual performance by a child. In addition, prohibit teaching, exposure, and/or discussion of sexual matters (mechanics, feelings, orientation, or “gender identity” issues), and prohibit use or provision of related books and other materials using criminal, civil or other enforcement measures.”
- Ban Gender Modification of Children: “Texas must ban chemical castration, puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, genital mutilation, bodily alteration surgery, psychological/social transitioning, and any other methods applied to or performed on children.”
- Secure the Border: “Texas shall immediately deny all taxpayer funded services and subsidies to illegal aliens. We call upon the Governor to assert his duty under Article 1, Section 10, Clause 3 of the US Constitution to declare an invasion on our Texas border and do everything in his power to protect Texans from this invasion. The legislature shall direct the Governor to enter into an Interstate Compact with one or more states for Border Security.”
- Parental Rights and Educational Freedom: “Parents are the primary decision makers for their children in all matters. This authority shall be protected as an inalienable right. This shall include the choice of schooling where the money follows the child without strings attached, and enforcement and penalty mechanisms when parents’ rights are violated. The right to education shall be free from any social theories.”
- Defend Gun Rights: “Protect our gun rights against threats, such as red flag laws, federal, state or other restrictions, by strengthening and preserving our inalienable rights under the second amendment to protect our life, liberty and property. The Texas Legislature should eliminate gun-free zones.”
“We are proud to be a grassroots led party and look forward to supporting these priorities next legislative session,” RPT Chairman Matt Rinaldi said. “These priorities indicate that Republican delegates want our legislature to prioritize protecting our rights, our borders, and our children.”
Among the priorities in the top 15 that did not make the top eight were banning taxpayer-funded lobbying, protecting medical freedom, bolstering the electric grid, and eliminating the property tax.