Continued on Page 2

President Lisa Townsend

1st VP - Programs

Rosemarie Hubbard

2nd VP - Ways and Means

Becky Clepper

Secretary

Amy Castillo

Treasurer

Diane Holland

Membership Chairman

Grace Handley

Newsletter Chairman

Diane Holland

Ways & Means

Becky Clepper

Newsletter Editor

Diane Holland

Campaign/Legislative

Chairman

Rosemarie Hubbard

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

8 9 10 11 12 13 14

15 16 17 18 19 20 21

22 23 24 25 26 27 28

29 30 31

February 2015

2014 ~ Keep Texas Red

The Rose Review

President’s Message: January 2015

January 2015 Volume 6, Issue 6

The Yellow Rose of Texas Republican Women

Lisa Townsend - President of The Rose didates and our elected representa-

tives. We have ongoing State of

Texas Deputized Voter Registrar’s

to increase voter registration and

further “Get Out The Vote” pro-

grams.” From our beginning in

2007 it has been a priority to pro-

vide learning materials to local

school children, and additionally,

our members help fellow Ameri-

cans through various Care For

America projects. We support,

recognize, and honor our troops

and veterans with memorials, care

packages, and tribute. Together

we can and will make a difference!

Invite those you know to attend

our monthly meetings, to become

a member, and most importantly to

be involved. There is a place for

you at our table!

I am very grateful and would like

to say “Thank You” to our Yellow

Rose officers and chairs who

agreed to continue to serve in

2015...because of you our organi-

zation continues to function and

reach goals. I would like to

“WELCOME” our new Secretary,

Amy Castillo and “Thank You”

for accepting your new role on the

Board of Director’s! We look for-

ward to working with you. There

are opportunities available for

committee chairs: Care For Amer-

ica, Literacy, and Americanism.

We’re on the web:

Yellowroserw.net

We’re on FaceBook

Yellow Rose of Texas

Republican Women

We’re in Tomball, Texas

We’re “kicking some donkey!”

The Rose Page 8

Board of Directors

Schedule of Events

Board of Directors

Happy New Year! After a great

election year for Republicans in

2014, I am excited looking ahead

to 2015! It is a time to renew and

grow membership, stay informed

on national and state, as well as

local issues, and prepare for what

is ahead in 2016...Take back our

country and the

Whitehouse! It

will be a time to

observe our

elected officials

and when they

vote as they

promised let them

know you appre-

ciate them with a

big “Thank You” and when they

are off-track let them know with a

phone call, email, or letter remind-

ing them who elected them and

their election promises.

The Yellow Rose of Texas RW is a

diverse, talented, intelligent, and

educated group working together

to promote the principles and ob-

jectives of the Republican Party.

We strive to inform members and

our community through political

education and activity, increase our

effectiveness as women in govern-

ment, and elect Republican candi-

dates to public office. At our

monthly meetings there are opptu-

nities to meet and speak with can-

Please consider one of these and let

me know your interests.

We have a new meeting location -

Harris County Smokehouse, lo-

cated on FM 2920 in Tomball!

Over the last year we made several

changes allowing us to remain at

our former location. Over several

months we were faced with a num-

ber of requests which led to our

relocation. Please join us in sup-

porting our new meeting location

by making your personal dinner

selection and dining with us in the

private dining room at Harris

County Smokehouse. There is no

♦ Feb 12—Board Meeting 7:00PM

Handley Home

♦ Feb 7- GHCGRW’s Annual Presi-

dent’s Recognition Day! 8:00AM

General Sosa Center

1414 Wirt Road @ Westview,

Houston, TX 77055

♦ Feb 24—6:30PMMember Mtg., Har-

ris County Smoke House. Call a

Board Member for information.

AD PAID FOR BY THE YELLOW

ROSE OF TEXAS REPUBLICAN

WOMEN, P.O. Box, 1323 Tomball,

TEXAS 77375 CONTRIBUTIONS

TO YRTRW, PAC ARE NOT TAX

DEDUCTIBLE AS CHARITABLE

CONTRIBUTIONS FOR FEDERAL

INCOME PURPOSES CORPORATE

CONTRIBUTIONS ARE NOT PER-

MITTED NOT AUTHORIZED BY

ANY CANDIDATE OR COMMITTEE.

Librarian Brenda Ross, at St. Anne’s Catholic School (Center) received books from

President Lisa Townsend (right) and Literacy Chairman Pat Blair. St. Anne’s also par-

ticipated in “Operation Kaitlyn” with students providing over 3,000 items to be

shipped to our military.

Calendar of Events

President’s Message . . .1

Yellow Rose in Motion . 2

Rep. Brady Article . . . . . 2

NFRW Report. . . . . . . . . 3

Legislative Chronicles . . 4

Cartoon . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Rep. Harless Report . . . .6

Historic Day in Texas . . . 7

Calendar of Events . . . . .8

According to Grace

The Yellow Rose Republican

Women’s Club helps to elect gov-

ernment officials who share our

Republican values. We have as-

sisted in the election of Republi-

cans to all three branches of gov-

ernment, as well as at the state and

national level. Membership is open to any woman who is a Texas resident and is interested in becoming more involved in the Republican Party. Members will hold mem-bership in only one Republican Women’s Club, will be eligible to make motions and vote, to hold office, and to serve on committees. Associate membership is avail-able to those who are regular mem-bers of another Republican Federal

The Yellow Rose in Motion

The Rose Review 2 Keep Texas RED!!

Club. Men, too, can become asso-ciate members of our club. Active Membership: – Dues are

$35.00 per year. When you become an Active member, you also become a mem-ber of the National Federation of Republican Women (NFRW) and the Texas Federation of Republi-can Women (TFRW). Associate Membership: – Dues are $25.00 per year. Associate membership is open to any man or woman who is a member of an-other Republican Woman’s Feder-ated organization. Associate members have lim-ited rights and privileges. You may attend meetings, but cannot make motions. Grace Aguilar Handley Membership Chairman

Brady Votes to Reverse Bills ObamaCare Provision and

Restore 40-Hour Work Week

Continued from Pg. 6

House and Senate, HB 1 will be sent

to the Governor's office where Gov-

ernor Abbott will have the opportu-

nity to veto any provisions of the bill

he finds objectionable, before signing

the bill into law. Once signed, the

state of Texas will officially have a

budget for fiscal years 2016 and 2017.

To check the progress on any legisla-

tion or to watch any of the legislative

hearings or floor debate, go to: http://

www.legis.state.tx.us/Home.aspx.

During the coming months I plan to

use this email update to get feedback

from my constituents in District 126

on issues being proposed. Once we

have begun debating bills in commit-

tee and on the House Floor, the up-

dates will include one “response re-

quested” issue. We want to keep it as

easy as possible, so all we ask is, if

you have an opinion, please send a

reply email with a simple “I support”

or “I oppose”. We get hundreds of

emails a day so you won’t get a per-

sonal follow up response. Your vote

will be added to our database so that a

report can be generated to take to the

House floor or committee when I am

voting on the issue.

I hope this information is helpful. It

is a great privilege to represent the

constituents of District 126 at the

State Capitol. If you have any ques-

tions or concerns, please contact my

office or email me at

Patricia.Harless@house.state.tx.us.

Please feel free to forward this email

update. If you would like to have an

email address added to or removed

from this distribution list please send

us a reply.

Sincerely

Patricia Harless

A truly historic debate and vote would be taken Wednesday. The first act of business of most legis-lative bodies is to vote on the rules they will operate by during the ses-sion. In the absence of rules, Roberts Rules of Order is the default, but most deliberative bodies have addi-tional rules that supersede Roberts for at least some procedures. Usually rules adoptions are non-debated, The pro-forma adoptions of prior session rules, whether for the legislative bod-ies or even the SREC. This year was different. A workgroup to study needed rules changes to im-prove the functioning of the Texas Senate (which has at times been called dysfunctional due to the "Rose Bush Blocker Rule". The rule, in place for most of the readers' lifetimes, required a 2/3 supermajority to even bring a piece of legislation to the floor. 2/3 of 31 Senators is 21, mean-ing that only 11 Senators can block a bill (hence the name), even if 20 oth-ers are in favor of the bill. It is

An Historic "New Day in Texas"

By Mark Ramsey, SREC SD7

a higher threshold than even the US Senate has for breaking a filibuster, which is 60 of 100)was ably led by Senator Kevin Eltife. Importantly, the workgroup solicited input from all 31 senators, and was itself made up of four Republicans and three Democrats. A few weeks ago changing this blocker rule was identified as one of the top eight "Grassroots Legislative Priorities" by the State Republican Executive Committee. Why the big deal over going from 2/3 to 3/5? Do the math. Instead of 21 votes being needed to bring a bill to the floor the number drops to 19.. The GOP now has 20. Simply put, the Democrats would no longer have veto power. One day. One SREC, grassroots priority accomplished One campaign goal achieved. Democrat Senator Whitmire was heard to say that yes, indeed, it was a "new day in Texas."

Washington, DC – After the U.S.

House of Representatives passed the

Save American Workers Act, the

Chairman of the Ways & Means

Health Subcommittee, Texas Republi-

can Kevin Brady, released the follow-

ing statement:

“Real working-class Americans have

seen their hours cut and paychecks

shrink since ObamaCare redefined

full-time as 30 hours instead of the

traditional 40 hour work week. The

Save American Workers Act reverses

one of the worst provisions of

ObamaCare and gives many Ameri-

cans the opportunity to bring more

money home. Until we can fully re-

peal ObamaCare, I’m going to keep

working to dismantle it, piece by

piece.”

charge to attend the meeting. I look

forward to seeing you January 27th

at our meeting with special Guests

Texas Federation of Republican

Women, Red State Women, and

Panel Discussion Facilitator, Lana

Shadwick, Lawyer & Brietbart-

Texas Contributing Writer/Legal

Analyst, and former Harris County

Associate Judge. Remember to

shop the Republican Jewelry Show

too!

May God Bless Each of You,

Lisa Townsend

The Rose Page 2 The Rose Page 7

The Rose Review 3 The Rose Review 6

etc. The members of the Appropria-

tions Committee are assigned to sub-

committees which hear testimony and

review the budget requests from the

various state agencies that fall under

their purview. The Appropriations

process is so extensive that these sub-

committees are essential for delving

into the complexities of everything

the state is spending money on. For

example, there is a single subcommit-

tee for Articles 1(General Govern-

ment), 4 (Judiciary), and 5 (Public

Safety and Criminal Justice), and an-

other for Articles 6 (Natural Re-

sources), 7 (Business and Economic

Development), and 8 (Regulatory)..

However Article 2 (Health and Hu-

man Services) and Article 3

(Education) each have their own sub-

committee as these are the most ex-

tensive appropriations in our

budget. Every state agency comes

before their subcommittee and must

Opening Day for the 114th Congress: NFRW Was There To Celebrate!

NFRW Campaign Committee

Chair Carolyn Hodges intro-

duces committee members who

spearheaded NFRW efforts to

help Republicans take back the

U.S.. Senate.

From the White House

NFRW President Kathy Brugger

welcomes Congresswoman

Marsha Blackburn (and sons)

and RNC Co-Chair Sharon

Day, both of whom are strong

friends and supporters of the

Federation.

Audit Committee

Accepts 2014 Books The Audit Committee, Becky Clep-

per, Grace Handley, and LaDonna

Lubeck, met and scrutinized the fi-

nancial reports and unanimously

approved the records for 2014.

Said Becky Clepper, past President,

“It is crucial that our accounting be

accurate so as to reflect the work of

our club and to assure our members

and sponsors that all donations,

membership investments, and adver-

tising dollars are used for the pur-

poses for which they are intended.

We had a very successful year and

expanded our membership greatly.

2015 promises to be a banner year.”

for us.”

justify their funding request and pro

vide detail as to how the monies they

have requested will be spent. The

Appropriations Committee strives to

ensure that each agency is utilizing

their funds in the most efficient and

effective manner in order to achieve

their purpose and serve the needs of

the citizens of Texas. As the subcommittees hold hearings

on their various topics, they report

that information back to the full Ap-

propriations committee and the indi-

vidual budgets are incorporated into

the full bill, HB 1. Once HB 1 is

passed out of the Appropriations

Committee it will be debated on the

House floor. Every member will have

the opportunity to submit amendments

(typically 250+ are submitted) which

are debated on the House floor. The

final product is then voted on by the

House and sent to the Senate. When

the Senate receives HB 1, their proc-

ess for review begins in the Senate

Finance Committee.

By the time HB 1 makes it out of the

Senate Finance Committee and is

voted on by the Senate Chamber, it

will look drastically different from the

version passed in the House and a

conference committee will be ap-

pointed to work out the differ-

ences. Both the House and Senate

will appoint 5 members to the confer-

ence committee, and their job is to

reach a compromise and present a fi-

nal version to their respective cham-

bers. The budget is the only bill we

are constitutionally required to pass,

so if both chambers are unable to

reach an agreement before the session

ends on June 1, we will be called into

Special Session until it is

passed. Once passed by both the

Continued on Pg. 7

Patricia Harless

State Representative

District 126

Congressman Paul Ryan (above) greet NRFW members at the

Swearing-in Day Reception.

President Obama Threatens

Veto on Keystone - Even as

the new Congress was being

sworn in, the White House is-

sued veto threats for legisla-

tion to move the Keystone

Pipeline forward and fix

Obamacare to restore the 40-

hour work week. Senate Re-

publican Leader Mitch McCon-

nell responded: "Threatening

to veto a jobs and infrastruc-

ture bill within minutes of a

new Congress taking the oath

of office -- a bill with strong bi-

partisan support -- is anything

but productive."

Republican Women’s Clubs Offer The

Opportunity to Make That Difference You

Keep Wishing You Could Make!

Dear Friends,

On January 13, numerous friends and

family converged at the State Capitol as

the members of the 84th Legislature

were sworn into office. Each chamber

has many new faces with 28 new mem-

bers in

the House and 9 new members in the

Senate. All took the oath of office at

noon and the work of the 84th Session

got underway.

The Governor and Lieutenant Gover-

nor's inaugural festivities took place

January 20th. Governor Abbott and Lt.

Governor Patrick took their oaths of of-

fice on the steps of the Capitol with

thousands of supporters looking

on. This inauguration marks the first

time in 15 years that a new Governor

will be running our state. Additionally,

2015 marks the first time in recent mem-

ory that every major statewide office has

a new leader at the helm.

With the ceremonial events concluded,

the real work will get underway. In the

next couple of weeks, committees in

both the House and Senate will be

named, and bills will start to make their

way through the legislative process. The state budget, in the form of the Ap-

propriations Bill, is arguably the most

important bill we debate in the legisla-

ture. Every session, it alternates be-

tween originating in the House or Sen-

ate. This year, the budget begins in the

House as HB 1. There are 12 Articles

(sections) of the Appropriations Act,

with every state agency being assigned

to a specific article based on subject

matter. For example, Article 1 is Gen-

eral Government, Article 2 is Health and

Human Services, Article 3 is Education,

The 114th Congress convened

on January 6 with the swearing in

of the largest Republican majority

in nearly a century. Members of

the National Federation of Re-

publican Women flocked to

Washington D.C. to cele-

brate, paying tribute to the Re-

publican Women of the 114th

Congress with a special recep-

tion on Capitol Hill. (for

more pictures, check out

the NFRW Facebook Page; to

request copies of pitures, contact

Political@NFRW.org).

Legislatures Should Curb

Judicial Supremacy Over

Marriage

by Phyllis Schlafly

It’s Roe v. Wade all over again, as the

Supreme Court is poised to invent a

new right to same-sex marriage found

nowhere in the four corners of the

Constitution. Fortunately, the Foun-

ders gave us checks and balances

against this overreaching in power.

The Framers understood the tendency

of a branch of government to expand,

and they empowered both Congress

and the States with the legislative

tools necessary to avert the encroach-

ment. A branch of government will

transgress its boundaries until the

other branches exercise their au-

thority to restrain the breach.

When the Supreme Court ruled that

the State of Georgia should give land

back to an Indian tribe, President An-

drew Jackson reportedly responded

by saying, Chief Justice “John Mar-

shall has made his decision, now let

him enforce it.” Both Georgia and

Jackson then ignored and declined to

enforce that act of judicial suprem-

acy.

President Abraham Lincoln, him-

self an esteemed attorney, reacted

similarly when the Court

subsequently overstepped its

bounds in the Dred Scott case.

He rejected submission to “that emi-

nent tribunal.”

It is the duty of legislatures to step

up and limit the federal judiciary’s

expansion of power, particularly on

marriage, a matter central to state

With breathless anticipation, the crowd awaits the

unveiling of the Obama statue.

Legislative Chronicles...by Rosemarie Hubbard

The Rose Review 5

sovereignty. Both Congress and the

States should fulfill their obligations to

safeguard the Constitution and the

American people against a usurpation

in power by the Supreme Court over

marriage.

Congress should enact laws denying

funding and withholding jurisdiction

from enforcement of any redefinition

of marriage by the federal judiciary.

Congress has repeatedly withdrawn

power from the federal courts over

many other topics, ranging from Medi-

care reimbursement to the clearing of

underbrush in South Dakota, and mar-

riage is certainly no less important an

issue.

On the Second Amendment, Con-

gress passed and President Clinton

signed the “Protection of Lawful

Commerce in Arms Act,” which

abruptly shut down pending litigation

against gun manufacturers for crimes

committed with guns. That legislation

properly ended judicial activism against

guns

On the Establishment Clause, President

Clinton signed the Consolidated Appro-

priations Act of 2001, which had passed

by unanimous consent, including a pro-

vision to deny funding for the enforce-

ment of an order to remove a Cross

from public land. Courts do not enforce

Continued on Pg. 5

As part of The Rose’s

Literacy Program,

Chairman Pat Blair,

(left) and President

Lisa Townsend

(right) presented

books to Kinsey

Friedrichs, Librarian

at Tomball Junior

High School.

Continued from Pg. 4

their own orders, and the withholding

of funding to enforce overreaching

federal orders is a proper curb on

judicial supremacy.

Congress should also exercise its

special authority under Section Five

of the Fourteenth Amendment to

clarify that States retain full au-

thority to limit marriage between

one man and one woman.. Unlike

the first ten amendments to the Con-

stitution, which

depend on the federal courts for en-

forcement, the Fourteenth, which con-

tains the equal protection clause relied

on by same-sex marriage advocates,

gives Congress the power to enforce

its provisions against the States.

Republican presidential candidates

should make clear that, if elected,

they will not allow the executive

branch to bully States into adopting

same-sex marriage against the will

of their residents.

States should act on their own to

protect their sovereignty over mar-

riage, without waiting for Congress

or the election of a new president.

Good bills have already been intro-

duced in South Carolina (H3022)

and Texas (HB 623) to ensure that

no taxpayer dollars, including

official salaries, are spent on

same-sex marriages that are pro-

hibited by state law there.

The costs of same-sex marriage in-

clude billions in new entitlements,

consumption of family court re-

sources, and lawsuits for alleged

discrimination. The elected

branches of federal and state gov-

ernment, which

retain the “power of the purse,”

should not have to foot the bill for

those costs, and the Constitution

ensures that they can cut off the

money.

Mandy Watson, Librarian at Decker Prairie Elementary School, accepts the books

presented by The Rose. Pat Blair (left) and Lisa Townsend made the presentations.

The Rose Review 4

Tomball Elemen-

tary School Assis-

tant Librarian,

Myra Griggs, was

visited Pat Blair

(Left) Grace

Handley (Center

Left), and Presi-

dent Lisa Town-

send as outlined

by the 2014-2015

Literacy Commit-

tee.