Paving the way for Prosperity and Transparency
We just wrapped up a very busy week in Washington. The House passed its Fiscal Year 2013 budget resolution and the House Committee on Natural Resources took steps to bring more transparency to the American public regarding activities inside the Obama Administration.

Natural Resources Subpoenas
On Wednesday, the House Natural Resources Committee voted to issue subpoenas for the production of documents relating to two oversight investigations. The first investigation is related to the Obama Administration’s rewrite of a coal production regulation. The second investigation is to determine why the current Administration issued a report that was edited to imply that a six-month drilling moratorium in the Gulf of Mexico was recommended by a panel of engineering experts, when the facts indicate that is not the case.

The White House has not been open, honest, or forthcoming in its decisions and actions as it continues to withhold the vast majority of requested material. This behavior left the Committee with no other choice but to move forward with subpoenas. The Committee has been waiting on some of the requested documents well for over one year.

Their secrecy and refusal to comply with simple requests can no longer be tolerated. It is distressing that it has had to come down to issuing subpoenas in order for the Obama Administration to uphold their promises of transparency and to allow Congress to conduct its constitutionally mandated oversight. At least now, we can finally have the documents turned over, which relate to two issues that directly impact American jobs and energy production.

For more information, please visit the House Natural Resources webpage at NaturalResouces.house.gov 

Budget
On Thursday, the House passed H. Con Res 112, the Fiscal Year (FY) 2013 budget entitled The Path to Prosperity. This budget resolution cuts government spending, strengthens Medicare, advances an “all of the above” strategy for unlocking American energy production, prioritizes our national defense, and lifts the crushing burden of debt in our nation. 



Congressman Flores speaks out about the energy investments in the Path to Prosperity budget. Click here or on the image above to view the video.

The passage of The Path to Prosperity budget proves that House Republicans are determined to lead America toward a path which restores America’s promise, prosperity, and security for future generations. The budget lays out an honest assessment of our nation’s finances, it offers real deficit solutions, and it offers a bold agenda to address our federal fiscal challenges. 

For the past three years President Obama has led us down a path of debt, doubt, and decline. The President’s budget plan calls for more spending and more debt, and on Wednesday evening, the House voted to unanimously reject his plan. Due to its structural flaws and failure to meaningfully address federal deficits, not one Democrat and not one Republican in the House voted for the President’s FY 2013 budget. 

The Path to Prosperity budget is a truly balanced approach which relies on improved revenues to the federal government due, not from increased taxes, but rather it benefits from improved federal revenues arising from increased economic activity and more American jobs. It also lowers federal government spending to sustainable levels to bring our budget back into balance. 



Congressman Flores speaks about the passage of the Path to Prosperity budget. Click here or on the image above to view the video.

This afternoon, the San Antonio three-judge federal panel issued an order (click here to read the order in PDF format) setting a May 29th Primary Election and a related administrative calendar for the election.

Of particular importance - the order sets a re-opened filing period for the primary ballot, which will commence on Friday morning, March 2nd at 9:00am and runs through Friday, March 9th at 6:00pm.

The Republican Party of Texas will be accepting filing applications at our Austin headquarters at 1108 Lavaca, Suite 500, Austin, TX 78701, for all candidates who are required to file with the State Party instead of their county chairman.

RPT will begin accepting applications on Friday morning, March 2nd, at 9:00am and will continue until 5:00pm. The RPT office will be closed on Saturday and Sunday and we will resume taking filings on Monday morning, March 5th, at 9:00am. From Monday through Friday, applications will be accepted from the hours of 9:00am to 5:00pm, and then on Friday, March 9th, we will continue accepting applications until 6:00pm.

Candidates who filed during the prior filing period in late 2011 who still wish to seek the same office need not re-file their applications, assuming no information contained therein has subsequently been rendered inaccurate.

For more information, you may contact RPT via email at info@texasgop.org, or call at 512-477-9821.

For a listing of County Parties and contact information for your Republican County Chairman, please visit http://www.texasgop.org/county-chairmen.

We thank all of our Republican activists and volunteers for their ongoing patience and flexibility during this process over the past few weeks and months. This has been an incredibly stressful time for many candidates and volunteers around the state, and we are grateful to each of you for your dedication. The Republican Party of Texas has brought on board additional staff to help deal with the increased activity during this re-opened filing period, and with the additional costs that the redistrict lawsuit have brought to the State Party - now is a very important time to help support the work of the RPT with your donation. If you can make even a small online contribution today, it will go a long way towards helping us offset the runaway costs that the lawsuits and changes to the Primary have brought to the State Party.

This week, the National Taxpayers Union Foundation (NTUF) looks at three related bills that focus on expanding domestic energy. The sponsors intend their legislation to bring America closer to energy independence and to create quality jobs through increased energy output. More importantly, they see their proposals as a step toward lower energy costs for Americans by opening up new areas for oil and natural gas drilling. Though each one focuses on a different geographic area, the bills serve as three (of many) bills introduced in the 112th Congress with their merits and economic impacts available to taxpayers.

In addition to increasing the domestic supply of energy, the bills could also help reduce the deficit. Each bill allows for companies to pay the government three types of compensation for the right to extract oil and natural gas from public lands: bidding fees allow companies to obtain leases on federal lands, rental payments maintain a company's right to work on the land, and royalties reimburse the government for the resources that companies take from public lands. Since all of the funds collected are the result of “businesslike or market-oriented transactions,” the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) counts all of these as offsetting receipts, or income that counts as negative spending, instead of revenues.

Alaskan EnergyThe Bill: H.R. 3407, Alaskan Energy for American Jobs Act

Annualized Savings: -$300 million (-$1.5 billion over five years)

Number of Cosponsors: 3 Congressmen

Area of Impact: At least 50,000 acres through 8 leases over 6 years

The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) is a large area of land in northern Alaska originally set aside for conservation. Congressman Doc Hastings (R-WA) has introduced H.R. 3407 because geologists have estimated that ANWR contains a considerable amount of petroleum reserves. The measure would require Department of the Interior (DOI) to offer leases in ANWR for the purposes of extracting oil and natural gas. Alaska would receive half of the proceeds generated from the leasing program.

Excluding the royalties for Alaska, CBO estimates the bill would result in $2.5 billion in offsetting receipts over the first nine years of enactment.

To learn more or discuss this bill visit WashingtonWatch.com.


Outer Continental Shelf DrillingThe Bill: H.R. 3410, Energy Security and Transportation Jobs Act

Annualized Savings: -$102 million (-$508 million over five years)

Number of Cosponsors: 10 Congressmen

Area of Impact: At least 50 percent of the Outer Continental Shelf through numerous leases over 6 years

The Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) includes the Atlantic and Pacific coasts as well as the Gulf of Mexico and the coast of Alaska. Congressman Steve Stivers (R-OH) proposes auctioning leases for a majority of the OCS to companies who wish to drill and otherwise extract oil and natural gas from the seabed. The bill allows states to maintain their sovereignty over the state-controlled portions of their shores, however, the federal government maintains control of waters and any activities beyond 12 nautical miles. States would receive royalty money in increasing amounts, starting at 12.5 percent and reaching 37.5 percent after 2022.

CBO has determined H.R. 3410 would save taxpayers $508 million over five years. The savings are wholly a result of royalty offsetting receipts.

To learn more or discuss this bill visit WashingtonWatch.com.


Shale OilThe Bill: H.R. 3408, Protecting Investment in Oil Shale the Next Generation of Environmental, Energy, and Resource Security (PIONEERS) Act

Annualized Savings: -$5 million (fifth-year savings)

Number of Cosponsors: None

Area of Impact: At least 25,000 acres through 15 leases made over 5 years

Oil Shale is a fine-grained rock that contains petroleum compounds. When heated, the rocks release an oily substance that can be refined into synthetic crude oil. The process is currently more costly than conventional crude oil collection and may have a larger environmental impact.

Congressman Doug Lamborn (R-CO) has proposed H.R. 3408 to research and develop oil shale as a viable domestic energy source. The bill would instruct the DOI to offer leases to commercially develop oil shale sources on federals lands in Colorado, Wyoming, and Utah. Those states would receive half of the royalties applicable to their state.

According to CBO, a majority of the bill would not result in new spending or savings for taxpayers. The oil shale industry is still developing and so the leases would not result in significant offsetting receipts for the government for the first five years, totaling $5 million in FY 2016. The PIONEERS Act was included into H.R. 3410, the Energy Security and Transportation Act, examined above.

To learn more or discuss this bill visit WashingtonWatch.com.

Last Wednesday's redistricting hearing in San Antonio made it clear that there would not be a Texas Primary in time for precinct conventions to be held at the same time as the primary election. Therefore, this made it an impossibility that the Republican and Democratic Parties could proceed under the provisions of the Texas Election Code relative to hosting state conventions. Upon returning to Austin from the trial that afternoon, the RPT swung into action to propose a remedy to the Court as the Court had instructed us to do.

Immediately following the Wednesday hearing, Chairman Steve Munisteri met with RPT staff to discuss all possible options regarding the convention process, in order to present alternatives to the State Republican Executive Committee (SREC). Working with the staff, the Chairman was able to determine relatively quickly that there were only a few viable alternatives. The next day on Thursday, the Chairman commenced a meeting of the RPT Officials' Committee, comprised of seven members elected from the SREC (Russ Duerstine, Josh Flynn, Rex Lamb, Jean McIver, Jason Moore, Hal Talton & Rebecca Williamson), the National Committeeman Bill Crocker and National Committeewoman Borah Van Dormolen, the General Counsel Patrick O'Daniel and Assistant General CounselEric Opiela, the Treasurer Tom Mechlerand Assistant Treasurer Tom Washington, the Secretary Mandy Tschoepe, the Parliamentarian Butch Davis and Vice-Chairwoman Melinda Fredricks. The Chairman met with them by teleconference and went over the recommendations from the staff. In general terms, the recommended process allows for delegates to be picked directly at either a county or senatorial district convention without the necessity of precinct conventions. However, under this option, the functions of the precinct conventions are preserved - that being to allow maximum grassroots participation, presentation of resolutions, and a fair allocation of delegates.

Once the outline of a consensus plan was reached, the Chairman scheduled a statewide teleconference with the entire SREC on Friday, February 17th. The Chairman set up two calls at different times of the day so that all SREC could participate and allowed every SREC member as much time as they wished to speak. The end result was that the plan developed from the Officials' Committee was modified further so as to allow each individual county the option of attempting to hold precinct conventions if they determine it is feasible and logistically possible. It was then decided that the attorneys would be given the task of drafting proposed rules changes and they did so over the next several days. In addition to counsel for the party drafting the rules, input was obtained from Rules Committee Chairman Dan Pickens and Rules Committee member Clint Moore (who had drafted the revised national delegate selection process in the past), along with input from National Committeeman and RNC General Counsel Bill Crocker.

These rules were then distributed to every County Chairman via email on Tuesday evening, February 21st. Two separate statewide conference calls were setup on Wednesday, February 22nd, in order to obtain input from the county chairmen on the process. Based on these conference calls, along with feedback from other interested party leaders around the state, the proposed rules were tweaked further. An emergency SREC meeting has been set for next Wednesday, February 29th in Austin, to approve the proposed rules. We expect to have a draft of the proposed rules completed by early next week, and the Party will post them online via TexasGOP.org.

We have received a number of questions from around the state which we would like to address in this email.
 

Q: Why can't we simply have precinct conventions as normal?

A: The Republican Party of Texas has approximately 5500 precincts where we have precinct chairmen, and thousands more where we don't. Normally, precinct conventions are held where the primary is conducted, thereby affording the opportunity for a meeting space that doesn't cost the county parties any additional funds. Moreover, voters can easily identify where the location is, and if there is no precinct chairman - Republicans can still show up at the conclusion of voting and obtain a precinct convention packet from the election judge and conduct the precinct convention. Without a primary, it will not be practical for many counties to be able to locate sites for all their precinct conventions, and/or to bear the expense - a task made even more difficult in precincts without chairmen. Therefore, under the rules, counties would be given the option of either attempting to conduct precinct conventions, or if they can't, to proceed directly to county or senatorial conventions (as the case may be).

Q: Will the elimination of precinct conventions reduce grassroots involvement?

A: Under the proposed rules, we believe that there is a chance to actually increase grassroots involvement. This is because every registered voter who takes an oath of affiliation to the Republican Party will be allowed to attend their district conventions. Arguably, this allows more grassroots participation because under the existing system which starts with precinct conventions, a certain percentage of precinct convention attendees are not eligible to participate in a county / district convention. Under the proposed rules, everyone would be able to participate.

Q: Will people be able to propose resolutions as they normally do at a precinct convention?

A: Everyone will be able to have the same opportunity to propose any resolution at the district convention, that they normally would at a precinct convention.

Q: Why can't RPT simply move the State Convention?

A: There are many reasons. First, if we move the State Convention - to what date would we move it? As it is, there is no guarantee Texas would have a primary in time to allow precinct conventions on any date that we pick for the State Convention. The reason for this is that we have to have our State Convention in time to submit our delegate lists to the National Convention, 35 days before the National Convention starts. This means that we would have to conclude a State Convention no later than July 23. If, for example, Texas has a June 26th primary, there would not be enough time to follow the Election Code (which prescribes for precinct conventions and district conventions three weeks later) and then have enough time to process all the delegates. Consequently, under some scenarios, even moving the State Convention could not preserve the existing process. Second, where would the State Convention be held if moved? There are only four convention sites in Texas that can accommodate the number of participants that we expect at this year's event. Moreover, it is necessary to block out thousands of hotel rooms in order to accommodate the vast majority of delegates and alternates who come in from out of town. These facilities and hotels have to be reserved and contracted for well in advance of the convention. For example, this year's convention site in Fort Worth was decided upon 6 years ago, and we signed hotel contracts last year. Finally, there would be significant financial penalties to both parties if the conventions are moved. With all these considerations in mind, both political parties testified to the Court that it is simply not feasible to move State Conventions.
 

We hope that this email has provided you with not only a status report on where we are relative to the convention process, but also answers some questions about why the RPT is proceeding in the way that we are. If any of you have any additional questions, please feel free to email them to us via the TexasGOP.org website, and we'll get back to you as best as we can.

from the Republican Party of Texas 

The fate of the redistricting maps now rests solely with the three-judge panel in San Antonio. As of the time of this update, a global agreement between all parties has not been reached relative to the Texas House and Texas Congressional districts. Therefore, the final decisions as to where the lines will be are in the hands of the three-judge panel. The panel set deadlines for parties to submit final briefs on various issues and that deadline has now passed. This now means that all the arguments are over and all we are waiting for now is for the Court to rule.

If the Court issues maps on or before March 3rd, then the May 29th primary date can be accomplished - assuming a re-opened filing period can be accomplished within a few days. If the Court issues new maps after March 3rd, then the next and final available primary date would be June 26th. To accomplish a June 26th primary, maps would still need to be issued by March 30th to meet the June 26th date.

There is a possibility that the San Antonio three-judge panel (which handles Section 2 challenges of the Voting Rights Act) will wait to see what the Washington D.C. three-judge panel (who handles Section 5 challenges of the Voting Rights Act) rules, and that subsequently, the San Antonio panel incorporates the D.C. panel’s findings into new maps. The D.C. panel indicated that it would not rule prior to March. Consequently, if the San Antonio panel is waiting on the D.C. panel, a May 29th primary could only be accomplished if the D.C. panel rules at the very start of March and the rulings can be incorporated into alterations of the maps within a few days. Otherwise, only the June 26th primary date is an option.

If the San Antonio three-judge panel does not view it as a necessity to wait on the Washington D.C. panel, then we would expect to get new maps any day now.

As instructed by the San Antonio three-judge panel last week, the RPT’s attorneys have been in contact with the Texas Democratic Party's attorneys to negotiate over proposed deadlines relative to a May 29th Primary Election and we are proceeding to plan as if we will have a May 29th Primary. RPT will provide you notice of any rulings as soon as practical.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas) unveils her latest “By The Numbers” video: President Obama’s FY 2013 Budget. In this brief video, Sen. Hutchison provides a straightforward assessment of the President’s budget proposal. If enacted by Congress, the President’s budget would levy the largest tax increase in American history, increase spending, and bring our national debt to an unthinkable $26 trillion in 2022. While his budget fails to address the pressing issues of chronically high unemployment and our more than $15 trillion debt, he provides no solutions for the unsustainable entitlement programs that are the single largest driver of our long-term debt. Click on the image above to watch the video.

Resources:

Release: Sen. Hutchison Speaks On Senate Floor About President Obama’s FY 2013 Budget And The Need for Entitlement Reform

Release: Sen. Hutchison Discusses Payroll Tax Cut Extension and Entitlement Reform on MSNBC’s Daily Rundown with Host Chuck Todd

Release: Sen. Hutchison’s Statement on Obama Administration’s 2013 Budget Proposal

 

“By The Numbers” Video Series:
Obama Administration Economics: By The Numbers

Social Security: By The Numbers

US Economy: By The Numbers

Military Pay: By The Numbers

Redistricting Update VI: New Maps Proposed
Unified April Primary Still Possible
 

AUSTIN - On Monday afternoon, Attorney General Greg Abbottannounced an agreement with some of the plaintiffs to the Texas redistricting lawsuit. In a released statement on Monday, the Attorney General indicated support from a significant number of plaintiffs' groups, including: Texas LULAC, MALDEF, GI Forum, The Mexican American Bar Association of Texas, La Fe Policy Research and Education Center, Hispanics Organized for Political Education (HOPE), the National Organization for Mexican American Rights, Southwest Voter Registration Education Project, the William C. Velasquez Institute, Southwest Workers’ Union, and other plaintiffs collectively known as the “Texas Latino Redistricting Task Force.” With respect to the U.S. Congress, the Attorney General was also able to reach an agreement with Democratic Congressman Henry Cuellar.

The Attorney General has posted the proposed mapsonline which are agreed to by these plaintiffs. The Republican Party of Texas has been closely analyzing these proposed lines. If the court agrees to enact these interim maps, the proposal should enable the Republican Party to have an excellent chance at preserving all of the Congressional seats we won in 2010, and would also provide a very strong chance at picking up an additional couple of Congressional seats from the four Texas has gained through reapportionment. This is an improvement over the maps originally issued by the San Antonio three-judge panel. Under those maps, there was a possibility that the Republican Party would not win any of the new four seats, and Republicans also faced a possibility of losing one or two of our existing incumbents.

In regards to proposed maps for the Texas House of Representatives, the proposal preserves the ability of the Republican Party to achieve a solid majority in that body. RPT staff has analyzed the maps over the past few hours and believe that there will be 96 State House districts with an average GOP vote of 50% or better (using vote totals for the 2008 Presidential Election.) Thus, the new proposed maps represent an improvement over the court-issued maps, with fewer Republican seats at risk than the lines drawn by the San Antonio three-judge panel last year.

On the State Senate side, there is really only one district in dispute - that being SD 10 with Democratic Senator Wendy Davis. A trial is already scheduled this week on that district, so hopefully the court will be in a position to issue a ruling early next week and issue a new State Senate map in time for there to be a single unified primary in April.

While these are only proposed maps at the present time, the filing of them greatly increases the chances that there will still be a single unified primary in mid-April. It is the Republican Party of Texas' position that even if maps are not agreed to by all parties, that the Court now has sufficient information as to the  respective positions of all parties so as to allow the Court to issue final maps in time for a single unified primary in mid-April. The RPT filed an advisory this morning to this effect, a copy of which is linked here.

Republican Party of Texas Chairman Steve Munisteri issued the following statement, relative to these developments. "I believe these lines are a substantial improvement overall when compared to the maps initially released by the San Antonio three-judge panel overseeing redistricting. These proposed maps do have some substantial differences from the originally drawn legislative maps. The unanimous Supreme Court ruling in January stated that the legislative maps (prior to preclearance) and the San Antonio three-judge panel maps were both unable to be used in the 2012 Texas primary, but the Supreme Court also said that the legislative maps needed to be a starting point. As the Attorney General announced today, this agreement complies with the Supreme Court's criteria, while at the same time preserving the opportunity for Republicans to make gains in the Congressional delegation and to preserve our solid majority in the State Legislature."

Munisteri continued, "I am hopeful that the San Antonio three-judge panel will rule in a timely fashion on these new proposed maps, so that our candidates can have certainty and so that we can move forward with a unified primary. I am particularly hopeful that we can still have a Presidential primary prior to any candidates obtaining a majority of delegates necessary for nomination, and that Texas can still have a significant voice in the Republican Presidential primary process.

Advisory to all Republican county chairmen, precinct chairmen, and party activists - It appears as though today's developments make it unlikely that there will be an April 3rd Primary. However, it is increasingly likely that there will be a single unified primary in mid-April. If the three-judge panel acts swiftly on these new proposed maps, it is still possible for an April unified primary to occur. Therefore, we recommend you still make preliminary preparations for a primary sometime in the second or third week of April. We still cannot definitively tell you when the primary will occur, but we expect there to be additional announcements within the next week, so please be on the lookout for additional emails and leadership advisories.