A version of this post originally appeared on Candy Noble’s personal blog.

Well, another State Republican Executive Committee meeting took place this past weekend. With the Primary and Conventions just around the corner there is a lot going on. I wanted to fill you in on the latest. This was a contentious meeting, so if you didn’t like the outcome, please don’t shoot the messenger.

I’ll start with the hot topics in case you have a short attention span. There was a push to move the Texas Republican State Convention out of Dallas, due to their new controversial ordinance. This proposal was handled in the Resolutions Committee on Friday and it failed to pass that committee, so therefore was not brought before the full SREC. By the way, I had many of you talk to me about this. The feedback I got prior to the SREC meeting was firmly and overwhelmingly to not move the Convention. In fact only 3 people contacted me from SD8 asking for the move.

The most interesting thing we worked on this weekend – and most controversial—were the “Ballot Initiatives.” As you will recall, during primary years the State Party asks Republican voters their opinions on matters that will come before the legislature. This gives those in office a feel for the will of the voters. These are not legislation, nor policy. Instead, they are sort of a poll of Republican voters, and in the past they have dealt only with legislative priority issues. The Resolutions Committee had 52 Resolutions or Propositions that they considered, and the full SREC agreed to place the following four on the ballot: (I’m going to do a disclaimer here: there were a lot of revisions that happened on the floor, so my wording might not be identical to what you see on the ballot. I did do my best to keep up.)

1. Texas should replace the property tax with an alternative other than an income tax, and require voter approval to increase the overall tax burden. YES/NO

2. Texas cities and counties should be required to comply with federal immigration laws or be penalized by loss of state funds. YES/NO

3. Texas should prohibit governmental entities from collecting dues for labor unions through deductions from public employee paychecks. YES/NO

4. Texas and its citizens should strongly assert 10th Amendment Rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution which states “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States Respectively, or to the people.” YES/NO

A fifth Ballot initiative was recommended by the Resolutions Committee but failed to pass. This one generated the most press and crowd for our meeting (and emails and phone calls). The wording on this one was: “If the Federal Government continues to disregard the Constitution and the sovereignty of the State of Texas, the State of Texas should reassert its prior status as an independent nation.” I heard from folks from all over the state on this—boy oh boy, you should listen to some of these voicemails. Senate District 8 folks were lopsided: 5 that I heard from were in favor, and so many against it that I lost count. In the end the vote wasn’t even close (I think 16 for it out of 62 possible voters).

We also passed a resolution calling for the immediate Federal de-funding of Planned Parenthood.

There were three vacant SREC positions that we voted to fill. Gail Stanart will serve SD15, Mike Alcott will serve SD30, and there were three very qualified men vying for the opening in SD23: Stephan Broden, Rick Cook and Chris McNutt. Stephen Broden won the seat after a run-off. SREC terms run from State Convention to State Convention, so every spot will be voted on in May. I am running one more time, and would love to have your support.

There was also a vacancy on the Officials Committee and Tina Gibson was elected to serve on that body. JT Edwards and Becky Berger also ran for that spot.

Our Party is doing very well financially. We have $1,110,474 cash on hand. This is good news going into the Primary and General Election. We approved the Texas Republican Party budget for 2016 with a bare-bones priorities budget and a second “wish list” budget as funds allow.

Now for some opportunities for you:

Rhonda Lacy will be leading “The Mighty Texas Strike Force” to campaign around the state and nation in swing areas for solid Republican candidates. If you’d be interested in making a difference, send Rhonda your contact information: [email protected]

If you are a member of the Grassroots Club, then you will have the chance to join a “members only” call with the U.S. House Chair of Ways and Means Kevin Brady. This call is set for December 14. Grassroots Club members will also have the opportunity to register for the Texas State Convention hotels before everyone else. Finally, Grassroots Club members will be invited to a “Grazing with the Elephants” breakfast at the Convention. All this for only $8.25 a month! Not a member yet? Let your membership lapse? Join the Grassroots Club today!

If you would like to help elect some outstanding down-the-ballot Republicans in the General Election, you may do so by donating to the “Candidate Resource Committee.” Together with Republicans across the state we are able to help Republicans get elected to office in Democratic strongholds. I am proud that I received my 5th key-pin at the meeting for donating $1000 each year I’ve been serving on the SREC. You may join me by donating any amount at www.texasgop.org/crc and enter our Senate District tracking code: Noble8.

One final way you can help: we are looking for some exceptional attorneys to volunteer their help with election contests and election law violations. Charles Sartain, RPT Associate General Counsel, is putting together a team from across the state. This work will take place around the March Primary and really gear up for the November General Election. Let me know if you know anyone interested in serving the Party this way.

During the meeting we heard from several elected officials and Candidates. Mike Massengale, candidate for Texas Supreme Court, Place 3, Susan Combs spoke on behalf of Carly Fiorina (one of our meeting financial sponsors), Justice Debra Lehrmann, Texas Supreme Court Place 3, John Greytok, Candidate for Texas Railroad Commissioner, Rick Green, candidate for Texas Supreme Court Place 5 (interestingly running against Texas Supreme Court Justice Paul Green), and Judge Mary Lou Keel, candidate Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, Place 2. The other meeting sponsor was Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush, and one of his staff spoke on his behalf.

The SREC made five changes to our Bylaws, mostly for cleaning them up. These were presented to us at the last meeting, so they had already been discussed.

We had an interesting proposal from Vice Chairman Amy Clark on behalf of the Platform Process Review Committee. This committee has done a great deal of work, not on the Platform’s content (this is up to the Convention), but on the Platform’s process. The top recommendation that they heard in all their hearings and research polling was that delegates want the opportunity to vote for or against each and every plank in the platform. The committee has formulated a plan on how that could be done using individual hand-held devises issued to each of the voting delegates, so the tabulations would be accurate and instant. They are going to recommend this to the Temporary Rules Committee of the Convention. This could be a train wreck or amazing. I’m not sure which yet.

The other recommendation that the Platform Process Review Committee brought to the full SREC was to ask the Rules Committee to direct the Platform Committee to include five legislative priorities in the Platform. They will bring more recommendations to the SREC at our next meeting.

After all this we were able to finish up our meeting by 2:30 in order to attend a Christmas Open House at the Governor’s mansion. The mansion was decorated for Christmas and the Governor and First Lady were delightful hosts. My daughter Danielle drove down to Austin just to attend with me. A nice end to a stressful two days.

On a personal note, Robert and I welcomed twin grandchildren to the family on November 21. Issac Robert weighed 7lbs 1 oz and Alexandra Kristen weighed 7lbs 5oz. They are the first two children of our daughter Christian and Son-in-law Chad. They join Melissa and Francis’ three- William (4), Robert (2) and Hannah (4 months) –to make a total of 5 grandkids in 4 years for us. We are so very blessed.

May you have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.