Republican Liberty Caucus of Texas Sets Its Legislative Priorities

Republican Liberty Caucus of Texas Sets Its Legislative Priorities

September 20, 2018

HOUSTON, TX – The Republican Liberty Caucus of Texas has decided on its top three legislative priorities  for the coming legislative session in Texas.  The board met and came up with a list of ten items we may want to dedicate our resources and energy to, and members voted for the top three they wanted to pursue.

We feel these issues are important to Liberty-Minded Republicans and keep with the spirit of the Republican Party of Texas and its platform.  We will be dedicating a lot of time and energy in the following three items. All members should pay attention during this coming session to these items and their opportunities to work on them. The RLCTX plans on many trips to Austin as well as working with Representatives who are willing to also support these items. Janie Melendez & Michael Deffendall will be working hard as the Legislative Directors this session, and members should reach out to them to assist in any way.

1. Work on moving the M&O portion of School Taxes from Property Tax to a consumption form. RPT Legislative Priority – “Abolish the Maintenance and Operation School property tax and replace it with a consumption tax or other mechanism other than income tax while broadening the tax base, eliminating the appraisal board and taxing the property at the purchased value or the free market value upon change of hands for local government funding and special district funding. School Maintenance and Operation funds shall be allocated from the state’s general fund to Texas’ Independent School Districts via an inflation-adjusted, per-student-allocation. ”

2. Abolishing or reforming Civil Asset Forfeiture .RPT Plank 94 – Civil Asset Forfeiture: “We call upon the Texas Legislature to abolish civil asset forfeiture and to ensure private property only be forfeited upon a criminal conviction. We also request the State Party Chair and the SREC consider the abolishment of civil asset forfeiture as a legislative priority for the Republican Party of Texas for the 2019 legislative session and to utilize reasonable Party resources necessary to promote and support its passage.”

3. Expansion of the compassionate use program of medical marijuana in Texas. Either expand covered conditions or ask the Legislature to clarify a doctor and their patient are to make such decisions. RPT Plank 246 – Compassionate Use Act: “We call upon the Texas Legislature to improve the 2015 Compassionate Use Act to allow doctors to determine the appropriate use of cannabis to certified patients.”