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
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8 9 10 11 12 13 14
15 16 17 18 19 20 21
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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
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
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.