
Take a stand for our Republican legislative priorities
BE HEARD AT THE TEXAS CAPITOL
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
CAPITOL CONTACT LIST
Representative District 19 Ellen Troxclair -R (512) 463-0490 (only Republican)
Representative District 46 Sheryl Cole -D (512) 463-0506
Representative District 47 Vikki Goodwin -D (512) 463-0652
Representative District 48 Donna Howard -D (512)463-0631
Representative District 49 Gina Hinojosa -D (512) 463-0668
Representative District 50 James Talarico -D (512) 463-0821
Representative District 51 Lulu Flores -D (512) 463-0674
* * *
Senate District 14 Sarah Eckhardt -D (512) 463-0114
Senate District 24 Donna Campbell -R (512) 463-0125 (only Republican)
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
IMPORTANT CONTACTS AND WEBSITES
Grassroots America/We the People (JoAnn Fleming’s group)
Grassroots Priorities will help you see how your legislator's vote reflects the promises that he or she made in his or her campaign.
https://grassrootspriorities.com
Texans for Fiscal Responsibility (Check out the INDEX)
Texans for Fiscal Responsibility
Texas Citizens Defending Freedom recommendations on Election Bills
Texas Election Network (TEN) - Melissa Conway & Quinton Hitchcock
https://www.texaselectionnetwork.org/about
Texas Legislature Online Training from TEN
https://www.facebook.com/texaselectionnetwork#
Texas GOP Legislative Priorities Bill List - Support or Oppose
https://texasgop.org/89th-lp-bill-list/
Texas GOP Legislative Online Training Portal
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFUcg26Iucc
Texas Gunowners share their secrets of the Texas Legislature
https://texas.gunowners.org/txlege/
Texas Legislature Online Sign up for Alerts and watch the Upcoming Committee Calendars on the Texas Legislature Online.
https://capitol.texas.gov/Home.aspx
Texas Policy Research (Jeremy Kitchen)
https://www.texaspolicyresearch.com/
Texas Scorecard (Michael Quinn Sullivan - Luke Macias) Sign-up for the Texas Minute
THE TEXAN (Konni Burton - subscription)
True Texas Project (Fran Rhodes Friday Message)
INFOGRAPHICS
See images below.


