Legislative Update

January 2012

BARW,

Happy New Year to you all. I want to thank all of you for the support and hard work this past year. It is a pleasure to represent you all in Washington. 2012 is going to be a busy and eventful year; I want to give you a quick glance at my objectives moving forward:

1. Continue to fight for America energy independence - As a member of the Energy and Commerce committee I will push for the implementation of the Keystone XL pipeline and fight to develop American sources of energy - like natural gas.
2. Continue to cut federal spending - Last November we defeated Nancy Pelosi and now House Republicans have changed the debate in Washington from how much can we spend, to how much can we cut. We have taken positive steps but we have a long way to go.
3. Most importantly, we have to defeat Barack Obama and Harry Reid - It is imperative that we beat Barack Obama and Harry Reid this November and elect Republicans that will help me change the destructive nature of Washington.

Below are some pieces of legislation that I have introduced in 2011 that I believe are important to America:

HEALTHCARE

• H.R. 593, the Taxpayer Conscience Protection Act - This legislation requires each state to report to HHS how many funds went to organizations that promote or perform abortion services, and then report those numbers to Congress

ENERGY

• H.R. 1341, The Establishing Public Accountability Act - This legislation seeks to protect domestic energy jobs in the U.S. by requiring the EPA, when issuing a new rule affecting industry, to include a jobs impact statement, identifying any net gain or loss of domestic jobs that is likely to result if the rule is adopted

BUDGET / SPENDING

• H.R. 2585, the Instituting Responsible Spending Act - As a member of the RSC “Sunset Caucus”, this legislation is a “Sunset” bill, which seeks to increase congressional oversight by requiring the IRS to deposit fees they receive from services (such as processing payment plans) into the Treasury for deficit reduction; this bill will save taxpayers $1.839 billion over 10 years and is endorsed by the Citizens Against Government Waste

Again, thank you all for all that you do. If there is anything that I can do to help, please let me know.

Very Respectfully,

Pete Olson

November 2011

The U.S. Department of Justice said in a recent court filing that Texas' new voting maps for Congress and the Texas House do not meet federal anti-discrimination requirements, setting up a legal battle that will likely be decided by a federal court in Washington, D.C. The Justice Dept. agreed with the state attorney general that the maps for the Texas Senate and education boards met requirements under the federal Voting Rights Act, which gives special protection to districts that contain mostly minorities. Texas received four new congressional seats following the last census, more than any other state. The new congressional map was drawn with the goal of protecting the 23-9 majority enjoyed by Republicans in Texas' delegation to Washington. Opponents argued that GOP mapmakers denied Hispanics voting power since Hispanics accounted for 2/3 of the state's growth.

Important Update: Federal Panel Changes Filing Period for March Primary Elections Houston, Texas - Today, Harris County Republican Party Chairman Jared Woodfill issued an advisory for all precinct chairs, elected officials and announced candidates with an update on the 2012 primary election filing period and changes to the election calendar over the next several weeks and months.

"As a result of a court order from a federal panel of judges in San Antonio, the new filing period for the March 2012 Primary Elections has been condensed and pushed back to November 28 to December 15, 2011. These changes apply to all races on the March 2012 Primary Election ballot in Texas - federal, state, county, and local offices" , said Woodfill.

In a court order this past weekend, a three-judge federal panel in San Antonio overseeing the legislative redistricting trial, issued the mandate of these changes in order to allow for enough time to complete the process of drawing interim legislative maps for the 2012 Texas Primary Elections.

Chairman Woodfill remarked, "At this time, it is not clear what legislative lines and districts will be ordered by the court, and this delay in their ruling has necessitated the changes in the election calendar. We do expect that the federal panel will be handing down interim maps later this month.

In a related topic for our Harris County Commissioners Court to decide, once those interim maps are implemented, the federal panel in San Antonio has granted a deadline of December 13 for new precinct lines to be enacted so that our county's precincts can be properly organized along the lines of the new districts." To comply with the new filing period, Chairman Woodfill also announced the Party will be available to receive applications for a place on the Republican primary ballot at the following location and dates:

Harris County Republican Party Headquarters

3311 Richmond, Ste. 219, Houston, TX 77098

9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. (6:00 p.m. on 12/15/2011)

November 28, 2011 through December 15, 2011

GETTING READY FOR 2012 ELECTIONS

Required Identification for Future Elections in Texas - New Forms of Identification: Upon U.S. Justice Department approval of a photo identification law passed by the Texas Legislature in 2011, a voter will be required to show one of the following forms of photo identification at the polling locations before the voter will be permitted to cast a vote:

• Texas Driver License
• Texas Election Identification Certificate
• Texas Personal Identification Card
• Texas Concealed Handgun License
• United States Military Identification Card containing the person's photograph
• United States Citizenship Certificate containing the person's photograph; or
• United States Passport

With the exception of the U.S.. citizenship certificate, the identification must be current or have expired no more than 60 days before being presented for voter qualification at the polling place *

* If you do not have a valid form of photo identification, you may apply for a free election identification at your local Texas Department of Public Safety office.

Exemption: Voters with a disability may apply with the county voter registrar for a permanent exemption. The application must contain written documentation from either the U.S. Social Security Administration evidencing the applicant's disability, or from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs evidencing a disability rating of at least 50 percent. In addition, the applicant must state that he or she has no valid form of photo identification. Those who obtain a disability exemption will be allowed to vote by presenting a voter registration certificate reflecting the exemption.

Provisional Voting: If voters do not present one of the forms of photo identification listed above and do not have a permanent disability exemption indicated on their voter registration certificates, voters may cast a provisional ballot at the polls and will have six (6) calendar days after election day to present a valid form of photo identification in the presence of the county voter registrar. Voters who have a consistent religious objection to being photographed and voters who do not have any photo identification as a result of certain natural disasters as declared by the President of the United States or the Texas Governor, may vote a provisional ballot, and if they appear at the voter registrar's office within six (6) calendar days after election day and sign an affidavit swearing to the religious objection or natural disaster, then their ballot will be counted.

Information from the office of Stan Stanart, Harris County Clerk and Chief Elections Official.

Ruby Cubley

Legislative Chair