Texas Republican Party Unveils New List of Priorities
Jose Nino
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The Texas Republican Party has recently released its 2020 Legislative Priority outlining some of its main legislative items heading into the 2021 legislative session.
The 2019 legislative session was filled with many disappointments, such as the death of Constitutional Carry at the hands of the political establishment. Now, grassroots activists want to set things right and make sure the GOP gets the memo.
The first of its priorities was election integrity. In the report, the GOP wants to “Require citizenship verification of each voter, and felony penalties for Election Code violations that threaten election integrity.”
Religious freedom was also listed, with GOP leadership calling for the restoration of “the rights of individuals, organizations and businesses, to exercise their sincerely held religious beliefs by prohibiting local ordinances, state laws, or executive orders that violate those rights.”
On a more controversial front, the Texas GOP is standing firmly against gender reassignment surgeries. It is in favor of the abolition of “the following practices for minors: intervention to prevent natural progression of puberty; administration of opposite sex hormones; and performance of any type of gender reassignment surgery.”
The right to life is also another major plank of reforms the GOP is advocating for in the 2021 legislative session. The Texas GOP ultimately wants to “Abolish abortion by ensuring the right to life and equal protection of the laws to all preborn children from the moment of fertilization.”
Texas gun laws are solid, but still lag behind other states such as Oklahoma which have Constitutional Carry. The Texas GOP wants to change that by restoring “legal Texas firearms owners’ rights to carry them openly or concealed without a permit, while maintaining the option of a permit for reciprocity purposes.”
There’s a massive culture war taking place in America that is witnessing many states being under assault by leftist iconoclasts. The pressure has been so great that even Republican-controlled states have been forced to take down monuments of historical figures because of leftist outrage.
The Texas GOP vows to not follow in those footsteps, which it highlighted in its list:
All monuments or markers in our state shall be protected by law from being removed, defaced, destroyed, or otherwise dishonored. In particular, specific protection shall be given to the Alamo Cenotaph which shall not be removed from its current location off the Alamo Battlefield footprint.
The Texas GOP is also strongly in favor of school choice and wants to “Empower parents and guardians to choose from public, private, charter, or homeschool options for their children’s education using tax credits or exemptions without government restraint or intrusion.”
Last but certainly not least, the Texas GOP wants to “abolish all forms of taxpayer-funded lobbying.”
Republican leadership in the Lone Star State recognizes that the grassroots has been disappointed after multiple legislative sessions of flaccid action by Republican officials on issues that greatly impact the base.
The question will always be the same: Will elected officials in the Texas State Legislature actually listen to the grassroots?
Time will tell.
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