Author: Stephanie Phelps

    Texas Constitutional Enforcement2025 Legislative Agenda Final Report – by Tom Glass

    Texas Constitutional Enforcement2025 Legislative Agenda Final Report – by Tom Glass

    June 11, 2025 by Stephanie Phelps in

    The 89th Texas Legislature gaveled to a close  June 2. Here is the final report on how the Texas Constitutional Enforcement 2025 Legislative Agenda fared. Note that on most of the bills below, we are waiting to make sure that Governor Greg Abbott allows passage.

    End Federal Overreach

    We batted .300 in pushing back on the feds, seeing three of the ten bills we supported in this area pass, but falling short on our flagship legislation, the Texas Sovereignty Act. The three success were:

    Anti-Red Flag Act

    The most significant victory this session for pushing back on the feds was the passage of the Anti-Red Flag Act (SB 1362). John Cornyn was one of the main proponents of the “Bipartisan Safer Communities Act” that passed in 2022, which provided federal funding to states that implement red flag laws called “extreme risk protective order.” Texas debated that issue in that time frame and soundly rejected red flag laws on due process, right to keep and bear arms, and common-sense grounds. Most Texans concluded that merely taking the guns away from someone that is actually a threat to themselves or others is poking the bear, aggravating someone who is unstable by taking their guns free to use any other tool (including other guns) available to kill. (The recent example of the jihadi illegal terrorist using Molotov cocktails is a good example of how those determined to inflict mass casualties can do so without guns.)

    For Cornyn’s role in pushing red flag laws and other restrictions on the right to keep and bear arms, Cornyn sustained loud, sustained boos at the 2002 Republican Party of Texas State Convention.

    Of course, Texans also recognized the potential for corrupt weaponization of red flag laws for political or personal vendettas is high. In fact, evidence of the Biden VA illegally abusing the red flag process against Texas veterans was presented in the hearings for this bill.

    The motto of Texas Constitutional Enforcement is “Let Texans Run Texas.” This session, we made clear that we will not allow other states or ideologically weaponized federal agencies to violate the rights of Texans, especially including our veterans. Passage of the Anti-Red Flag Act was a Republican Party of Texas Legislative Priority.

    By the way, Briscoe Cain wrote and introduced this bill in the House and Senator Bryan Hughes introduced it in the Senate. Cain was on the outs with the Uniparty speaker team, so they did not give him the credit of passage, handing it instead to Burrows team member, Cole Hefner to sponsor it in the House when it arrived from the Senate.

    Disconnect Federal Firearms Restrictions from Texas Law

    SB 1596 removed the duplication of National Firearms Act federal restrictions on short-barrel rifles from Texas law. The National Firearms Act, itself, is unconstitutional because it infringes on the rights of Americans to keep and bear arms. At the very least, Texas law should not repeat the injury, and this bill adds to previous session removal of prohibitions in Texas law on ownership of suppressors. One of the implications of this move is that another Texas law passed in 2021 that prohibits Texas law enforcement from assisting the feds in enforcing restrictive firearms laws that do not exist in Texas law will now apply to enforcement of restrictions on short-barrel rifles.

    Thanks to State Rep Richard Hayes for championing this legislation and the Senator Brent Hagenbuch for getting through the Senate so that Hayes could finish it in the House.

    Protect County and District Attorneys From the Feds

    SB 888 allows the Texas Attorney General to defend Texas county and district attorneys in federal actions against them for enforcing Texas law.  See my testimony to the Senate State Affairs Committee for Texas Constitutional Enforcement in favor of this bill. In that testimony, I discussed the push back by the Biden administration on Texas during the border crisis as the genesis of this bill. I pointed out that Texas peace officers need this protection, too. And I pointed out that the long term goal of Texas Constitutional Enforcement is to see the Official Oppression Act, which makes it a crime for public servants to violate the rights of Texans to be deployed against federal agents who exceed the bounds of the Constitution.

    This bill was a Republican Party of Texas legislative priority. Thanks to State Senator Lois Kolkhorst and State Rep Jeff Leach for championing this bill protecting the sovereignty of Texas. And thanks to Governor Abbott for signing this bill on May 24.

    End Federal Overreach Bills that Died

    Texas Sovereignty Act

    1. This has been the flagship bill of Texas Constitutional Enforcement since 2017.  The bill creates a joint legislative committee that recommends unconstitutional federal acts for declaration by legislature and governor. Also allows citizens standing in the state judiciary for declaratory judgments declaring federal acts unconstitutional.

      For more details on the Texas Sovereignty Act, see: txce.org/texas_sovereignty_act

      For answers to frequently asked questions about the approach of the Texas Sovereignty Act, see:  txce.org/faqs

      The Texas Sovereignty Act is mentioned positively by name in the RPT Platform. Probably because the RPT declared this bill to be a legislative priority, it made it to the House floor for the first time in five sessions and passed on a party line vote.

      We figured we would have smooth sailing in the Texas Senate, thereafter, but ran into fatal opposition there that we still do not completely understand. We know that Senator Brian Birdwell has always been hostile to the idea of Texans declaring acts of the federal government unconstitutional instead of meekly complying with whatever the feds and the federal judiciary said. He was the face of the opposition in our hearing in Senate State Affairs. But we figured we would be able to pass despite his opposition. After all, the Senate last session ignored his opposition to standing up to the Biden administration on the fed-enabled border invasion.

      But Birdwell clearly had influence behind the scenes that denied us a vote in State Affairs on the bill. And he even had enough allies to completely gut the bill in Senate State Affairs, producing a bill that actually made it harder to push back on the feds, and not only passing it over Senator Hall’s objections out of committee, but actually passing it through second reading in the Senate. Only a procedural error in the end game of the Senate, stopped the passage on third reading.

      Bottom line, the Texas Sovereignty Bill did not cross the wire this session. We clearly have some education and persuasion to do in the Senate and maybe with the Lieutenant Governor.

      Thanks to State Rep Cecil Bell, Jr for championing the Texas Sovereignty Act for five sessions and for Senator Bob Hall’s valiant try in the Senate.

      Don’t Mess With Texas Elections

    2. Texas Constitutional Enforcement has long looked for ways to limit if not outlaw the amount of money out of state billionaires can use to influence Texas state and local elections. There are three types of money from out-of-state that need to be limited – direct contributions to the campaigns by individuals, direct contributions by PACs, and direct campaign expenditures on behalf of a candidate.

      State Senator Middleton introduced a bill that would put limits on individual direct contributions to campaigns and an outright prohibition on contributions by majority out-of-state funded PACs to campaigns called SB 405. Former Speaker Dade Phelan filed its companion HB 3592 and moved it through House State Affairs to passage by the House after stripping out the PAC restrictions and leaving only limits on out-of-state individual contributions to campaigns.

      The Senate took no action on either Middleton’s bill or the watered-down House bill.

      Stopping out-of-state money from influencing Texas elections is an essential part of state sovereignty and stopping the Deep State from bringing down Texas. We hope to keep trying on this front in the future.

      Protect the Texas National Guard

      Members of the Texas National Guard, part of our organized militia, are normally under the authority of the Texas governor unless called up by Congress for declared wars, insurrections, or invasions. But the federal government has gotten in the habit of allowing the president to call up the Texas National Guard for undeclared wars. The Protect the Texas National Guard, seeks to protect Texans from serving and dying in undeclared foreign wars, making it clear that Texas will only send its militia to serve the Union only when constitutionally called.

      State Rep Briscoe Cain authored this RPT priority bill, and it died after hearing, but without a vote in Cole Hefner’s House Homeland Security Committee.

      Resist FBI Weaponization Against Texans

      Freshman State Rep filed two bills (HB 1982 & HB 3932) pushing back on weaponized federal law enforcement being used against Texans. One required feds to get sheriff and AG permission for arrests and searches in county and prohibited federal nighttime raids and no-knock raids. These bills were denied a hearing in Ken King’s House State Affairs.

      Note, under the new House Rules, state sovereignty bills should have been assigned to the newly formed Intergovernmental Affairs Committee, designed to take pressure off the State Affairs Committee, but Burrows’ parliamentarians who assign the bills assigned them to the crowded State Affairs, instead. The subcommittee of Intergovernmental Affairs called State-Federal Relations was virtually unused this session. Most bills assigned there were resolutions. Only 13 bills were heard, and only one (SB 906 by Blanco allowing the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo tribe to hire peace officers) actually passed and went to the governor.

      Run Texas Elections Separately from Federal Elections

    3. ver since Nancy Pelosi tried in 2021 to federalize election law, Texas Constitutional Enforcement has been trying to prepare for another such assault by separating Texas and local elections from federal elections, insuring that any federalization of cheating mechanisms would not impact our state and local elections.

      HB 209 by Mike Schofield and SB 106 by Bob Hall were introduced to that effect, but neither got hearings in the respective chamber’s State Affairs Committees.

      Refuse to Cooperate With Federal Health Emergencies

      Texans blindly following the “experts” of Big Pharma and a power-obsessed federal health bureaucracy caused untold numbers of Texas deaths. Senator Bob Hall tried to stop that from happening again with SB 131 by stating in statute that future Texas governments will not implement federal health emergencies, but rather will implement whatever measures are enabled under Texas law and with the independent judgement of Texans. The bill never got a hearing in Senate State Affairs.

      All of these bills that died had been designated as End Federal Overreach RPT legislative priorities.

      Fighting Inflation, CBDC, Globalism, and ESG

      After hearing warnings from people like Glenn Beck in 2022, Texas Constitutional Enforcement realized the external threat to Texas liberty from globalists and financial pressure in a concerted effort called the Great Reset by the World Economic Forum. We worked to implement planks in the RPT Platform opposing the gamut of the globalist financial assault on Texas liberty.

      An integral part of the Great Reset and the ultimate police state tool is the planned deployment of Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC). And Texas Constitutional Enforcement has pushed solutions to try help Texans cope with the ravages of inflation and CBDC.

      Texas Constitutional Enforcement batted .400 on pushing back on the globalists this session, seeing 4 of the 10 bills pass. Sadly, one of our flagship bills, the Currency Choice Amendment made it through the Texas House again than last time, but failed in the Senate again, despite making it further than previously. See details below.

      Our resisting globalism successes were:

      Transactional Gold

      Texas Constitutional Enforcement participated with a broad coalition of economic liberty organizations to see the glorious passage of the HB 1056 which will provide ability for Texans to use a credit card or digital app to spend stored gold or silver in ordinary transactions. Having the state of Texas provide an alternative to the dollar and to the looming specter of CBDC makes it more possible that ordinary Texans can resist inflation and CBDC.

      Thanks to champions State Rep Mark Dorazio and State Senator Bryan Hughes for doing heroic work to get this bill passed. Arkansas and Florida had already recently beat us to the punch on this, so it was vital for Texas that we not be left in the dust by those other states.

      Protect the Speech of Texans from Globalist Corporations

      SB 512 by Lois Kolkhorst stops money transmission service providers like Paypal from imposing fines on free speech. Thanks to State Rep Mike Schofield for filing the companion and shepherding through the Texas House.

      Proxy Advisory Firm Disclosure of Advice Based on Non-Economic Factors

      SB 2337 by Bryan Huges requires that proxy advisory firms advising money managers on how to vote proxies on shareholder proposals disclose when they are basing their advice on ideological, rather than economic factors. This helps cut off the capture of corporations for the implementation of non-economic, ideological ESG (environment, social, governance) criteria.

      Resisting Globalist Capture of Texas Big County Prosecutors

      HB 45 by State Rep Lacey Hull gives AG prosecutorial authority for human trafficking law after 6 month inactivity by DA. Joan Huffman carried the bill through the Senate. 

      Bills Fighting Inflation, CBDC, Globalism & ESG that Died

      Currency Choice Amendment

      HJR 175 seeks to add a protection to the Texas Bill of Rights of our natural right to hold and trade any medium of exchange including cash, coin, digital currency, and scrip. After gaining a bipartisan vote in the Texas House far greater than the two thirds required for constitutional amendments, HJR 175 failed without a vote after a hearing in Senate Business & Commerce. The stated reason for the lack of vote was an insufficient number of votes in that committee.

      Thanks to Andy Hopper for introducing, to Stan Gerdes for carrying it, and to Gio Capriglione for supporting behind the scenes after taking to passage last session. Thanks to State Senator Tan Parker for being our champion in the Texas Senate.

      Anti-ESG Bill

      SB 495 Kevin Sparks would have stopped Texas Department of Insurance from implementing rules that implement ESG. Sought to expands upon what Tom Oliverson and Ken King accomplished last session. The bill passed the Senate and died in House Calendars after being delivered in plenty of time by House companion author and sponsor Dennis Paul.

      Go Woke. Go Broke

      SB 2138 by Brandon Creighton would have prohibited investment of Texas university funds in funds that boycott fossil fuels companies. Passed the Senate, but got out of Terry Wilson’s House Higher Ed too late to make it through Calendars. The good news is that the State Board of Education is already implementing this approach in exercising its fiduciary duty in the stewardship of the funds.

      Resisting Globalist Capture of Texas Big County Prosecutors

      There were multiple approaches to trying to get law enforcement back in the big counties of Texas this session. I will not address the three competing approaches to the approach both chambers landed on as the way forward. Three bills implemented the same approach this session on different areas of the law. That approach was allowing the Attorney General to prosecute after 6 months of inactivity. As mentioned above, we had a success with that approach on human trafficking, but the other two bills addressing election law and riot law enforcement failed.

      The story of how HB 5138 by Matt Shaheen, the bill to give the AG enforcement of election law after 6 months of inactivity, was killed is quite revealing and frustrating. The bottom line is that there were slight disagreements between the Senate and House on what DA inactivity meant. The House refused to confer with the Senate version and Speaker Burrows chose key members of his team to populate the House conferees along with author Mat Shaheen – Republicans Charlie Geren, and Drew Darby, along with two powerful establishment Democrats, John Bucy and Chris Turner. I do not know whether Shaheen went along, but the majority of the House conferees refused to agree to anything, and the bill died.

      The bill to allow the AG to prosecute riot law after 6 months of inactivity HB 5318 by State Rep and former Sheriff A.J. Louderback was heard in House State Affairs, but not voted out.

      One final bill of note that died in this area was SB 1210 by Senator Bryan Hughes with companion HB 933 by David Spiller. The bill would have allowed the Texas Supreme Court to overturn opinions interpreting the Texas Constitution by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. Presumably, the main purpose of this was to overturn the State v. Stephenson opinion that stripped the AG of any independent prosecutorial authority. The House bill died in Calendars, and the Senate bill passed the Senate and died in Jeff Leach’s Judiciary & Civil Jurisprudence.  

      End Texas Executive Overreach and Protect Texas Medical Freedom

      Only one medical freedom or bill ending executive overreach for future pandemics backed by Texas Constitutional Enforcement passed this session. Call that one out of ten hits a batting average of .100.

      The bill that did pass was a glorious victory for the hero of the resistance to COVID tyranny in her freshman session, State Rep Shelley Luther!

      HB 3441 requires vaccine manufacturers who advertise their product in Texas to be liable for the damage done to Texans. Federal law passed at the behest of Big Pharma in the 1980’s provides immunity for vaccine manufacturers from product liability. Regulation of health matters is a traditional power reserved to the states. I consider the federal immunity to be a violation of the Seventh Amendment, the Tenth Amendment, and proper application of the Commerce Clause.  This bill cleverly ties the liability to the act of advertising, thereby seizing some power back to Texas to protect its citizens without directly taking on the feds.

      Executive Overreach Limitations Bills that Died

      We need to amend the Texas Disaster Act to insure that we never get lockdowns or mask mandates again and to stop open-ended criminal penalties for which executives define the offense. We also need to put conditions on delegation of power that legislature must approve emergencies after short time.

      Shelley Luther introduced HB 5464 to that effect, but it was never heard in Ken King’s House State Affairs.

      King chose to hear, instead Senator Brian Birdwell’s SJR 40 and SB 871, which were repeats from the last two sessions. Birdwell’s bills, as always passed the Senate. Ken King, who had killed Birdwell’s bill in 2021, timely heard the bill and passed it to Calendars in plenty of time this session, where Calendars did the dirty deed of killing it.

      Medical Freedom Bills that Died

      Ivermectin Without Prescription

      Joanne Shofner, a member of House Public Health, was given the nod by leadership to carry HB 3219 which was a copy of the bill introduced first by Wes Virdell. House Public Health Chair Gary VanDeaver gave the bill a hearing on March 20, but did not vote it out until April 28. The bill got placed on the Calendar too late to get a vote on the House floor.

      Right to Refuse Vax for Med Students

      SB 2119 by Kevin Sparks passed the Senate, but died due to lack of hearing in House Public Health from Chair VanDeaver.

      Informed Consent for Child Vax

      SB 95 by Bob Hall passed the Senate, but died due to lack of hearing in House Public Health from Chair VanDeaver.

      Comprehensive Medical Informed Consent

      SB 754 Mayes Middleton / HB 3472 Mike Olcott, a bill endorsed as a RPT End Federal Overreach Medical Freedom priority, died due to never being heard in Senate State Affairs or Gary VanDeaver’s House Public Health.

      “Gain-of-Function” Ban

      SB 1488 by Bob Hall which would have banned gain-of-function research in Texas died due to never being heard in Senate K – 16 Education.

      Stop Mandatory Vaccinations

      Constitutional amendment by Andy Hopper (HJR 91) to add provision to Texas Bill of Rights to protect natural, unalienable right to decline vaccination. Unalienable means you can’t bargain it away, and therefore protects vaccination being made a condition of employment, education, travel, or provision of other services.

      Stop Mandatory Medical Treatment

      Constitutional amendment by Bob Hall (SJR 10) to protect right to decline medical treatment, including vaccination. Died in Senate Health and Human Services for lack of a hearing.

      Border Enforcement

      We struck out on the area of Border Enforcement that Texas Constitutional Enforcement focused on this session – stopping taxpayer services to illegals.

      Stop the Magnet

      HB 4745 by Mike Olcott would have comprehensively stopped  taxpayer services to illegal aliens, providing a three-fold benefit of delivering major cost savings for state and local governments, providing enough savings for large property tax cuts, and assisting the federal government in self-deportation of illegals. Died in Ken King’s House State Affairs due to lack of hearing.

      Freedom to Travel

      We had one Freedom to Travel victory out of four bills. Call that a batting average of .250.

      Right to Repair

      Gio Capriglione’s HB 2963 has already been signed by the Governor. It will stop monopolies on repair of digital electronics including vehicles. This was a RPT End Federal Overreach Freedom to Travel Priority).

      Freedom to Travel Bills that Died

      Two Anti-Kill Switch Bills

      Most Texans are unaware of the police state monitoring and control system that federal law has ordered vehicle manufacturers to install in the 2026 vehicles. All vehicles are mandated to have not only cameras and monitoring capability in our vehicles, but the ability to kill the engine on the vehicle remotely based on that monitoring!

      Mayes Middleton and Briscoe Cain introduced companion bills (SB 381/HB 2547) using one approach to resist the kill switches and Nate Schatzline introduced HB 1074 with a different approach. All bills died to lack of hearings in committee. The Senate bill died in Senate Transportation. The House bills died in Ken King’s State Affairs.

      This also was an RPT End Federal Overreach Legislative Priority, and is probably the most urgent and devastating loss of the session. We tried to get the governor to call a special session on this in 2023. We may try again.

      Anti Road Diet

      Would have stopped some Texas funds from being used to reduce lanes of traffic Gio Capriglione’s HB 4348 died in House Calendars. Senator Bob Hall’s SB 1993 companion was never heard in Chair Robert Nichol’s Senate Transportation.

    June Monthly Informational Meeting with Texas Film Commission’s Will Zech

    June Monthly Informational Meeting with Texas Film Commission’s Will Zech

    May 23, 2025 by Stephanie Phelps in

    This presentation will offer an overview of the Texas Film Commission and the resources they offer to support the film, television, and all other moving image industries of Texas. with a particular focus on the Texas Moving Image Industries Incentive Program (TMIIIP).

    Will Zech came to the Texas Film Commission by way of Austin Community College, where he worked as Learning Lab Manager for over a decade. Additionally, he’s been a working member of Austin’s film and television production community. And in 2015, Will won the Scripted Digital Series Competition at the Austin Film Festival, along with his writing partner Alex Cope.

    As Incentive Program Team Lead, Will helps to coordinate project inquiries and incentive applications, as well as works to guide the TFC’s Incentive Department through our historic new level of program funding.

     

    Monday, June 23
    Bastrop County Republican Office
    443 Highway 71
    Doors open at 6pm

    The Joy Set Before Him: An Easter Reflection – by Jeremy Story

    The Joy Set Before Him: An Easter Reflection – by Jeremy Story

    April 18, 2025 by Stephanie Phelps in

    As the Easter morning sun rises and we proclaim again, “He is risen indeed!”—our hearts are drawn to the empty tomb. But the resurrection of Jesus is not just the triumphant conclusion of Holy Week. It is the fulfillment of a long-promised hope—and the clearest revelation of what true faith looks like in action.

    Hebrews 12:2 tells us to run our race “looking only at Jesus, the originator and perfecter of the faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” This verse is rich with resurrection power. It calls us to fix our gaze on the One who both founded and finished our faith—Jesus, who chose the cross because of a joy He could see beyond the suffering.

    But to grasp the weight of Hebrews 12, we must first understand the foundation laid in Hebrews 11. That chapter is a sweeping portrait of men and women who “died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and welcomed them from a distance” (Hebrews 11:13). These were people who clung to God’s Word in the gap—the painful, often confusing in-between space of time where God’s promise has been spoken, but not yet fulfilled.

    This is what faith is: “the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1). It is also, believing, “believe that He exists, and that He proves to reward those who seek Him.” (Hebrews 11:6). It’s not wishful thinking or blind optimism—it’s an anchored trust in God’s character when our eyes see only contradiction. Faith is what we do while we wait. And Jesus Himself modeled this perfectly.

    Think of Him in Gethsemane, overwhelmed to the point of death, praying for the Father’s will to be done. Think of Him enduring the cross—brutal, shameful, unjust—yet never losing sight of the joy set before Him. What was that joy? It was you. It was me. It was the redemption of a fallen world, the defeat of sin and death, and the restoration of humanity to the Father’s presence. He also could see the joy of reigning in Heaven forever without mourning, crying, sin, or pain. What we live now is only a fraction of life. God has much in store for those who submit to him in faith.

    Jesus endured by faith. He entrusted Himself fully to the Father, not because He could see the resurrection in the natural, but because He knew the Father’s promise would stand. And Easter morning is the glorious confirmation that faith in God is never misplaced. The stone was rolled away. The grave was empty. Death lost its sting.

    Scripture and history are filled with men and women who reflected this kind of faith in public life, often at great cost:

    • Daniel stood firm in Babylon, refusing to bow to the culture or hide his devotion to God—even when the lions’ den awaited. His faith was not private or hidden; it was unshakable, and God honored it in the face of political hostility. God used the opposition to become a platform for Daniel’s advancement.
    • Joseph, sold into slavery and falsely accused, kept trusting God’s unseen plan through every injustice. Though imprisoned and forgotten, he rose in time to lead with integrity and save nations from famine—all because he believed in God’s dream more than his circumstances.
    • Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a pastor in Nazi Germany, remained steadfast in proclaiming truth even as it cost him his freedom and eventually his life. He believed the resurrection meant personal salvation and the bold call to resist evil with the hope of eternal justice.
    • John Adams, one of America’s founders, wrote, “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” He worked tirelessly, often alone and misunderstood, believing in a future republic where liberty under God would flourish—faithfully serving in the unseen space between promise and fulfillment.

    These examples remind us that resurrection faith isn’t just for the sanctuary. It belongs in the courtroom, the prison cell, the lion’s den, the underground church, the halls of power, and the political arena. Easter calls us to live boldly in the public square—not because the outcome is always clear, but because we follow a risen King who has already won.

    Hebrews 12:3 urges us to “consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” Easter is not just about Jesus’ victory but also our endurance. Because of His resurrection, we can face our own crosses and moments of waiting with confidence. He is not only our Savior—He is our example. He is not only risen—He is reigning.

    So this Easter, let us look only to Jesus. Let us throw off every weight and run with endurance. Let us trust Him in the waiting, believe Him in the silence, and rejoice with Him in the resurrection because the joy set before us is just as real—and just as certain—as it was for Him.

    He is risen. He is faithful. And He is worth it.

    April Informational Meeting!

    April Informational Meeting!

    March 27, 2025 by Stephanie Phelps in

    BCRP is excited to be hosting

    BRANDON WALTENS

    Senior Editor of  TEXAS SCORECARD 

    at our April Monthly Informational Meeting!

    Brandon will be sharing his insight on the latest news regarding the Texas Legislation. 

    Please join us April 28!

    BCRP Office

    443 Highway 71, Bastrop

    (Next to Harbor Freight)

    Doors open at 6pm

    Brandon serves as the Senior Editor for Texas Scorecard. After managing successful campaigns for top conservative legislators and serving as a Chief of Staff in the Texas Capitol, Brandon moved outside the dome in order to shine a spotlight on conservative victories and establishment corruption in Austin.

    Issue #2 of the Legislative Review: Doug Kelsay and Curtis Courtney

    Issue #2 of the Legislative Review: Doug Kelsay and Curtis Courtney

    February 13, 2025 by Stephanie Phelps in / /

    THE CLOCK'S A TICKIN!

    By Doug Kelsay, - Precinct Chair for Precinct 2014 & Curtis Courtney - BCRP Chairman

    In our last article we described, how on Saturday, December 7, 2025 Representative David Cook was selected as the Republican Caucus nominee and that the Caucus rules state that all Republicans should support the caucus nominee.

    As the Texas House opened for business on Tuesday, January 14, 2025, selecting the Speaker was the first (and only) work to be addressed.

    David Cook received 55 votes (Rep 52, Dem 3) and Dustin Burrows received 85 votes (49 Dem and 36 Rep) to win the Speaker of the House race. It was clear that not all of the 88 Republican representatives were following the Caucus agreement. It is also evident that almost all of the Democrat representatives favored Dustin Burrow. District 17 House Representative Stan Gerdes voted for Dustin Burrows for Speaker.

    No other business was conducted the rest of that day as well as for the rest of the week.

    Without previously having addressed any legislative priorities, the house convened on Thursday, January 23, 2025 to review house rules. HR4 (House Rules) was delivered at 4am to the representative’s offices which contained 213 pages.

    Some of the key changes included in the Rules package were:

    • vice chairmanship of all committee to Democrats;
    • the (Republican) chairman must ensure that Democrat vice chairman can promptly schedule any matter he or she pleases;
    • the (Republican) chairman must ensure designated witnesses, selected by the Democrat vice chair, are invited to testify at hearings;
    • provide a budget for those vice-chairmen of some $4000 per month;
    • create 12 new Permanent Standing Subcommittees;
    • allow those Permanent Standing Subcommittees to be chaired by Democrats;
    • allows the Speaker to refer bills to those Permanent Standing Subcommittees;
    • allows bills to be killed by those Permanent Standing Subcommittees.

    It is easy to see how these Rules would empower Democrats to thwart the Republican agenda.

    When the house convened, that day, 21 amendments were offered but Representative Jared Patterson (R-106) “called the question” a procedural maneuver that means there would be no debate nor amendments considered and the original proposal would go straight to a vote. A motion to call the question must have 25 seconds. Representative Stan Gerdes was one of the 25 who voted to second the motion.

    Tom Glass commented in a recent newsletter that “Because such a motion denies voices speaking for the voters and because it negates the very essence of representative democracy, it is called the “nuclear option”. One indicator of this as a raw power move was that 47 Republicans and 42 Democrats were given enough advance notice of the motion to be able to sign on to the motion which requires a minimum of 25 to be introduced. Yet the 34 Republican grassroots members who voted against the suppression were blindsided by the move. They had spent their morning scrambling to craft amendments to the package. I saw the grassroots members hustling to confer with each other that morning, but there was strangely very little visible action by the group made up of republicans and democrats”.

    Texas Scorecard reported that the new rules maintain and expand “a power-sharing arrangement between Republicans and Democrats, granting Democrat vice-chairs significant authority and introducing pathways for Democrat control of new standing subcommittees. While Republicans would only be eligible to serve as chairs, all vice-chairs would be required to be Democrats.”

    On Monday, January 27, 2025, Speaker Burrows announced that they would not vote Housekeeping Resolution (HR3-36 pages) that details the speaker’s responsibilities, powers of the House Administrative committee, employment policies, accounting, caucuses and work place conduct. Instead, Speaker Burrows said they would change the office budgets without a vote.

    On Tuesday, January 28, 2025, Speaker Burrows blocked discussion on several pre-filed amendments. Among the amendments prevented from reaching the floor were proposals to:

    • Require that all House employees be US citizens,
    • Restrict restroom access in the House chamber based on biological sex,
    • Prohibit staff from enforcing the use of “preferred pronouns,”
    • Reduce office budgets if the House does not deliver at least $12 billion in property tax relief this session,
    • Ban alcohol in any House offices, including the Speaker’s office,
    • Mandate the display of the Ten Commandments in the House Chamber.

    On Wednesday, January 29, 2025, the house met and adjourned to February 4, 2025. It should be noted that other than “No Democrat Committee chairs”, no substantive legislative priorities have yet been addressed – a full three weeks into a 140 day session!

    We are very excited to report, however, that the Texas House was able to meet on Tuesday, February 4, 2025 to pass a Resolution congratulating singer ‘Beyonce’ on her Grammy Awards. It’s comforting to know that the important work that the people of Texas demand is being thoroughly addressed. Or maybe not. 

    As of February 4, 2025, there are 119 days left in this session of the Texas Congress.

    The clock’s a tickin’.

    The Legislative Review -ARTICLE 1, by Curtis Courtney and Doug Kelsay

    The Legislative Review -ARTICLE 1, by Curtis Courtney and Doug Kelsay

    February 5, 2025 by Stephanie Phelps in / /

    Since the days of Noah (or at least just after the Civil War), Texas was run by Democrats.  Abraham Lincoln was the first Republican president and thus the states of the south consistently selected Democrat representatives and executive leaders. Texas was part of the “Solid South”, a Democrat stronghold. That changed starting in the early 1990’s and was evident in the mid 1990’s when George Bush was elected Republican Governor. The Texas House and Senate both transitioned to a majority Republican in the 78th Congressional session in 2003. By the early 2010’s Texas was solidly Republican. Many politicians that had long ran as Democrats transitioned to running as Republicans. Some were truly conservative and aligned with Republican values but many simply found it expedient to change color of their coat to maintain power.

    During this transition House Speakers, starting most notably with Speaker Straus, appointed Democrats as chairs of Committees. But as Republicans grew in numbers and power, subsequent speakers did not diminish the number of Democrat chairs. This caused a rift between the Republican voters and their elected legislators.

    Q: What defines a Republican versus a Democrat? A: Their Party Platform and the resulting Legislative Priorities.

    Things came to a head when the speaker of the 88th TX House, Dade Phelan, not only appointed Democrat chairs but actively fought legislative priorities of the Republican Party of Texas (RPT), Governor Abbott and Lt. Gov Patrick. He also led a Democrat inspired “lawfare” campaign against Attorney General Ken Paxton which included sneaky moves in changing the impeachment rules at the start at the 88th Session. The 88th Legislature was called back not once, not twice, but an unprecedented third time to work the key priorities of the Governor. Under Speaker Phelan and his Democrat chairs, they successfully avoided addressing these priorities. As a result, the average Republican voter became livid and outraged because nothing important was getting done.

    This long history lead delegates of the RPT State convention to change RPT rules so they could be used to force the Republican house members to support the Legislative Priorities. The rules were changed to allow censure which is the threat of not allowing a representative to run as a Republican.

    In order for the 89th Legislature to implement the Legislative Priorities, the House Republicans, wishing to exert their majority and the desire to align with the Legislative Priorities, held a caucus on December 7, 2024 to select a speaker who would not appoint Democrat chairs. Of the 88 Republican house members that were there to start the Caucus, 26 elected Republicans, including Stan Gerdes, walked out of that Caucus meeting before it was concluded and a Speaker selected.

    The Bastrop County Republican Party (BCRP) held a meeting on December 21, 2024 to discuss the actions of our Representative, Stan Gerdes, who was one of the 26 elected representatives who walked out on the Republican Caucus. The BCRP examined the options open to them. A committee was directed to articulate our response to his actions. The BCRP reconvened on December 30, 2024 and approved the response which came in the form of a resolution condemning his actions and reminded him of his obligation as a Republican Representative. To read the full resoluiton, click here 

    Our next article will be the results of the first day of the 89th Legislature which occurred on January 14, 2025.

    Written by: Doug Kelsay and Curtis Courtney

    BCRP Monthly Informational Meeting

    BCRP Monthly Informational Meeting

    January 23, 2025 by Stephanie Phelps in /

    Join BCRP for our Monthly Informational Meeting
    with special Guest Speaker Jeff DeCoux, Chairman of Autonomy Institute. Mr. DeCoux will be discussing the community benefits of autonomy. 

    Monday, February 24, 2025
    at the BCRP Office 
    443 Highway 71 West (next to Harbor Freight), Bastrop
    Doors open at 6 pm, meeting begins at 6:30 pm

     

    Jeff DeCoux is Founder and CEO of ATRIUS Industries and Chairman of Autonomy Institute. He leads a consortium of over 300 industry, government, and academic organizations. His role is pivotal in developing leadership and fostering collaboration in the field of intelligent infrastructure and autonomous systems. He established Urbanautics, the study and practice of designing and operating massively connected autonomous and intelligent systems in the urban environment for the public good. The core focus is accelerating the “Path to Commerce” for Intelligent Infrastructure Economic Zones. Autonomy Institute collaborates with large infrastructure investors on the creation of $100+ million Private Public Partnership programs.

    Autonomy Institute

    Autonomy Institute is a cooperative research consortium focused on advancing Intelligent Infrastructure, autonomy, and AI at the edge. Autonomy Institute aligns government, industry, academia, and the public to create the policies, industry, jobs, and community benefits of autonomy.

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