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LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIES

84th Legislature Regular Session

WE AT THE TEXAS YOUNG REPUBLICANS

are excited to see the advancements of Liberty and Prosperity in Texas in the 84th Legislative Session. We applaud Governor Greg Abbott, Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, and the many Republicans within the House and Senate that are fighting to pass legislation that would reduce regulations on Texans, ensure the state’s continued economic prosperity, provide tax relief, allow for Texans to protect themselves through 2nd Amendment rights, and implement many more common sense measures that ensure the preservation and expression of Rights and further the cause of limited government.

In the past months, we surveyed our Young Republican members about important issues in Texas. These issues included Civil Liberties & Local Control, Firearms/2nd Amendment, Life & Abortion, Immigration, Marriage, and Drugs & Alcohol, among others. The results of our survey show that our membership is ideologically diverse, with fiscal conservatism, social conservatism, libertarian ideals, and center-right viewpoints being well represented in our organization.

We ask that our Governor, Lieutenant Governor and elected Representatives and Senators take these opinions into consideration when various bills come forward. Young Republicans are the Leaders of the Next Generation who want to see steps toward Liberty and Prosperity taken in the 84th Legislative Session. While a majority of our members have some differences of opinion on certain legislative policies with other Republican activists in the party, it is important to remember that we are united with them in the cause of electing Republican candidates and advancing conservative ideals in Texas.

TYRF Mission

Texas Young Republicans Logo

The Texas Young Republicans Federation mission is to provide education and training for Republican Leaders of the Next Generation. We encourage our members to volunteer countless hours to campaigns for Republican candidates across Texas, and to get involved with the county parties to make a difference locally.

Texas Young Republicans Priorities

Firearms/2nd Amendment – 79%
Abortion & Life – 78%
Immigration – 81%
Civil Liberties & Local Control – 82%
Marriage – 73%
Drugs & Alcohol – 69%

Percentage of the average rating of those surveyed that responded to the importance of issue rating.

SCORING AND LEVEL OF IMPORTANCE QUESTIONS

The following issue areas are important to our members. Survey respondents were asked to rank, on a scale of 1 – 5, how important a category of issues are to them, with 5 being the most important.

Additionally, some survey respondents did not answer all questions in the survey, with some issue categories being answered by more people. To provide further insight, we have created an additional statistic in which the averaged score is divided by the number of people that answered the level of importance questions, and then extracted that number to a percentage.

  • Firearms/2nd Amendment
  • Abortion & Life
  • Immigration
  • Civil Liberties and Local Control – #1 Priority
  • Marriage
  • Drugs & Alcohol

LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIES AND POSITIONS

Based on the results of our policy survey covering social issues & civil liberties and internal discussions within our organization, the Texas Young Republicans endorse the following positions, and ask that our elected officials SUPPORT legislation that does the following:

Requires law enforcement agencies to verify the legal immigration status of all individuals arrested before they are released on bail, requires employers to use EVerify to verify that all employees are authorized to work in the U.S., makes it a criminal offense to knowingly hire or continue to employ an individual who is in the country illegally, prohibits in-state tuition for illegal immigrants, prohibits illegal immigrants from obtaining a drivers license.
  1. Achieves the immediate reform of marijuana laws in Texas and nationally. We ask that this reform, at a minimum, reduce the punishment for marijuana offenses to no more than a civil penalty or small fine.
  2. Allows licensed individuals to grow low-THC hemp for industrial use.
  3. Requires able-bodies adults without children to pass a drug test before receiving any form of welfare.
  1. Allows licensed individuals to carry concealed firearms on public college campuses.
  2. Allows licensed individuals to openly carry handguns.
  3. Allows licensed individuals to carry firearms in all places (absent a 30.06 handguns prohibited sign) with the exception of court rooms and court offices, bars and nightclubs, and correctional facilities.
  4. Allows licensed faculty and staff to carry concealed firearms at a K-12 school.
Prohibits abortion when the known motivation for the abortion is the sex of the fetus, after the end of the first trimester, during the first trimester so long as the life of the mother is not at risk, and when a child under the age of 17 does not have parental consent.
  1. Allows restaurants, bars, and nightclubs to serve alcohol until 4 AM, allows for the sale of liquor in stores until midnight, and allows for the sale of liquor in stores on Sundays.
  2. Allows non-profit and political organizations to hold raffles as fundraisers.
  3. Prohibits the use of red light cameras for purposes of detecting traffic violations.
  4. Allows individuals to opt out of having Smart Meters installed on their property.
  5. OPPOSE legislation that bans smoking in restaurants and bars.
  6. OPPOSE legislation that repeals the Texas State Lottery.

Legislation Stances

We urge our elected officials to vote FOR these bills:

  • HJR 50 – Proposes a constitutional amendment to allow certain persons under the age of 18 to vote in a primary election.
  • SB 120 – Increases the penalty for theft of an official ballot or official carrier envelope for an election.
  • HB 2440 – Sets aside a standard that all ride sharing companies must operate under.
  • HB 507 – Creates a civil penalty for 0-1 ounce of marijuana possession and eliminates the criminal conviction and the collateral consequences of that conviction, including loss of a driver’s license for six to twelve months, loss of student financial aid, and harm to employment and housing options.
  • SB 1530 – Removes the civil offense for leaving a running motor vehicle unattended when that vehicle is either on private property or started remotely.
  • HB 1387 – Gives a franchise tax credit for entities offering internships to certain college students.
  • HB 1490 – Completes truancy reform and gives schools the option whether or not to report truancy to law enforcement/judges.
  • HB 1653 – Allows automobile manufactures, such as Tesla, to sell directly to consumers in Texas.
  • HB 76 – Establishes electronic voter registration in Texas.
  • HB 3171 – Relating to repealing civil asset forfeiture provisions and establishing criminal asset forfeiture in this state.
  • SB 441 – Relating to the sale of motor vehicles on consecutive Saturdays and Sundays.
  • SB604 & HB 824 – Relating to the sale of alcoholic beverages to customers of a package store during certain hours.

We urge our elected officials to vote AGAINST these bills:

  • HB 2918 (withdrawn) – Makes it illegal for citizens and independent media to record police activity within 25 feet.
  • HB 80 – Makes it a criminal offense to use a portable wireless communication device while operating a motor vehicle.
  • SB 626 & HB 1596 – Relating to the Hidalgo County Healthcare District; decreasing the possible maximum rate of a tax.
ADDITIONAL LEGISLATION TOPICS

We applaud efforts by our legislators to make significant cuts to the state’s franchise tax and increase the effective threshold that would exempt more businesses from having to pay the tax. This tax on businesses’ gross margins is complicated and can even burden businesses that have shown a loss. Furthermore, the status quo harms the ability of Texas to compete for new business. We ask that the legislature does everything possible to get franchise tax cuts and reforms passed.


We ask that Texas legislators remove the cap from the number of charter schools that can exist in Texas.


We ask that Texas legislators support reforms to the Texas Enterprise Fund by increasing accountability and creating specific structures of fund oversight.

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