88th Legislative Session: we were there

1/19/2023

BSBCR members spent 2 days last week at the Capitol

Tuesday the 10th was opening day of the 88th Legislative Session. A ‘procedural’ day, it was filled with visiting Representatives’ & Senators’ swearing in ceremonies, and election of the Speaker of the House.
The Senate swearing in was dignified and orderly, and the President of the Senate (Lt Governor Dan Patrick) respectful of the Senators’ and guests’ time.
The House swearing in was interesting. And once the Speaker was elected, his ‘acceptance’ speech was almost painful to watch - one word: arrogance. And disdain for the US Congress Republicans and the Texas Senate.

View archived and live Legislative sessions:
House at https://house.texas.gov/video-audio/
Senate at https://senate.texas.gov/av-live.php

BSBCR presented Representatives Carrie Isaac and Mark Dorazio with "In God We Trust" posters for their offices.

BSBCR members in the Capitol rotunda

Thursday the 12th was all about showing up in force (from all across Texas) to send a message: we will fight to get our Texas GOP Legislative Priorities passed - just because one was defeated doesn’t mean we will stop.
Note: the "Ban Democrat Chairs" Legislative Priority was not passed on Jan 11. The Speaker, aided by Democrat AND Republican Reps, killed it before a vote could be taken.
The House Gallery was filled with conservative activists wearing "Ban Democrat Chairs" t-shirts - BSBCR was in good company! (One report said at least a thousand activists showed up.)
The House proceedings were, however, not impressive: the Speaker called for “House is at ease” breaks more than anything else. The House and Senate joint session that followed the morning proceedings was to appoint committee members to canvas the 2022 election votes for Governor & Lt Governor.

The highlight of the morning was during an "at ease" break when Rep Bryan Slaton and Rep Tony Tinderholt showed up in the gallery. The "Ban Democrat Chairs" activists essentially shut down the House showing our support for the 2 Reps.
For more and a video of the 'shut down', please click for the Luke Macias Show: Conservatives in the House!

BSBCR waiting to get into the House Gallery

The Gallery was packed with conservative activists!

The afternoon of the 12th, we attended the Press Conference organized by SREC member & Chair of the RPT Legislative Priorities committee Jill Glover. It was packed!!! And it was informative & necessary -
keep the pressure on to pass our priorities.

View the Jan 12th Press conference: https://youtu.be/Y4bpKXBV-P8

Read about the circumstances leading up to the press conference:
Texas Scorecard
Epoch Times
Post Press Conference: Listen to Jill Glover talk about our Legislative Priorities on George Rodriguez's El Conservador Radio show - starting at 7 minutes into the show. Jill Glover with El Conservador

Press Conference Photo from Texas Scorecard.

Photo courtesy of Robert Phillips Photography.

The first week of the Session strengthened our resolve to focus on lobbying for our Legislative Priorities. On the bus trip home, we started planning our next trip. Our goal is to visit every Republican Representatives' office with Legislative Priorities handouts. And will talk with them if they are available.