For Tea Party, a Successful Legislative Session

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http://www.texastribune.org/texas-politics/tea-party/for-tea-party-a-successful-legislative-session/

The ideological partnership of the raucous Tea Party movement and fiscally conservative Texas Republicans has dominated the agenda of the state lawmaking session that is sputtering to an end. Gov. Rick Perry embraced the Tea Party ideals before most knew the movement was brewing, and the conservative, anti-tax activism helped bring a supermajority of Republicans into the Texas House.

As a result, the Tea Party’s objectives have been the top priorities of lawmakers. And in case the politicians lost sight of those goals, the Legislature’s new Tea Party’s caucus has been a constant reminder.

“It’s been a huge success,” said Sen. Dan Patrick, R-Houston, chairman of the Tea Party Caucus of Texas.

A month before the legislative session began Patrick declared the Tea Party “the most important political movement of our lifetime” and announced the formation of the Tea Party Caucus with 48 fellow Republican legislators. The lawmakers would take cues from an advisory board of citizen Tea Party members and ensure that the message they sent at the ballot box was translated into legislation.

The Tea Party caucus agenda included balancing the budget without increasing taxes, securing the border and ending illegal immigration, asserting state sovereignty and requiring voters to show photo ID at the polls.