The 89th Texas Legislative Session begins Jan. 14, and ends June 2, 2025.

Your Travis County Republican Party has established a Legislative Action Committee that will keep tabs on items important to the Austin area, such as responses to our homelessness crisis, keeping local taxes from funding abortion, and cooperating with federal immigration officials. We will also be supporting conservative legislative goals in our party platform (see list below).

SIGN UP
To get on the notification list for Texas Legislature activities email Pct. 367 Chair Bonnie Seelig at Precinct308TCRP@yahoo.com, and tell her which of our legislative priorities (below) interest you the most. She’ll be glad to hear from you! Also, sign up for Travis GOP weekly alerts here.

TEXAS TUESDAYS

Tuesdays are looking to be a big day for conservative activism at the Capitol. Make plans to be at there on Tuesdays, and see our Events calendar for any updates.

TEXAS REPUBLICAN LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIES

1. Border Enforcement

2. Secure Texas Elections

3. Stop Sexualizing Texas' Kids

4. No Democrat Chairs

5. Ban Taxpayer-Funded Lobbying

6. Secure the Electric Grid

7. Texas Is Not for Sale

8. End Federal Overreach

Bills related to each priority may be found here: https://texasgop.org/88lp-bill-list

RESOURCES:

Texas Capitol Online — Find a bill, committee meeting, and so much more on this hub for all things legislature: https://capitol.texas.gov

Legislative directory — Members of the Texas Senate | Members of the Texas House | Who represents me? | Search by party, city, county, etc.

Tracking Legislation — Watch this recording of a Town Hall with Texas Elections Network (TEN) for some tips on how to follow bills through the legislative process: Click here (use passcode B9y20H*E) or email mconway@texaselectionnetwork.org.

Writing legislators — See this helpful guide from the Texas Legislative Reference Library: https://lrl.texas.gov/genInfo/contactleg.cfm

LEGISLATIVE PRO-TIPS

Below are some topics that may help you as you navigate the hallways of our capitol this session:

How to 'drop a card' — Even if you don't have time (or the desire) to speak in front of a committee, you can always "drop a card" showing your support. Dropping a card must be done on Texas Capitol grounds through the touch-screen kiosks in the hallways of the Capitol Extension or through a laptop/tablet that is connected to the free public Capitol WiFi (http://swrs.senate.state.tx.us for Senate or http://hwrs.house.state.tx.us for House). A card can only be dropped on the day of the legislative hearing. The bill will generally be available for registering a position 30 minutes to an hour before the committee hearing is scheduled to start, and registration usually closes when public testimony is completed. Simply follow the instructions on the screen. A list of all committees and bills to be heard may be found at https://capitol.texas.gov/MnuCommittees.aspx.

Speaking before a committee — If you want to speak before a Legislative committee, follow the same instructions for dropping a card above, and indicate that you wish to speak -- but be ready to wait, for several hours if need be, while invited testimony is given priority. Public testimony is usually limited to 2-3 minutes, plus answering any questions from legislators. If providing written testimony, please provide 13 copies with your name on each copy.

Governor's priority bills — Did you know that the Texas Constitution prohibits the House and Senate from passing legislation during the first 60 days of a regular legislative session? That is, unless either chamber suspends the rule by a vote of 4/5 of its membership, or if the legislation is an appropriation or other matter declared by the Governor to be an emergency. According to the Texas Legislative Reference Library, this is part of the order of business set out by Article 3, Section 5, of the Texas Constitution. What constitutes an "emergency" you might ask? Well, that's anything that the governor wants to be prioritized in that year's session, or any issue the governor wants to support. If a bill is related to a governor's emergency item, members can decide to vote on it earlier in the session. This Sunday, Feb. 2, Governor Greg Abbott is expected to lay out his emergency items 5 p.m. on various TV stations including Austin's KXAN-TV, Channel 36. More: https://gov.texas.gov/news/post/governor-abbott-announces-2025-state-of-the-state-address

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick's legislative priorities — These items will set the direction for the Senate this session, though they are not emergency items such as the ones the Governor may set that get early consideration. Read them at: https://www.ltgov.texas.gov/2025/01/29/lt-gov-dan-patrick-announces-first-round-of-top-40-priority-bills-for-the-2025-legislative-session

More to come!

INFOGRAPHICS

See images below.