Governor Gary R. Herbert’s Schedule
December 24, 2018 - December 28, 2018
**The Governor’s schedule is subject to frequent change**
Monday, December 24
Christmas Eve - No Public Events
Tuesday, December 25
Christmas Day - No Public Events
Wednesday, December 26
No Public Events
Thursday, December 27
No Public Events
Friday, December 28
No Public Events
Lt. Governor Spencer J. Cox’s Schedule
December 24, 2018 - December 28, 2018
**The Lt. Governor’s schedule is subject to frequent change**
Monday, December 24
Christmas Eve - No Public Events
Tuesday, December 25
Christmas Day - No Public Events
Wednesday, December 26
No Public Events
Thursday, December 27
No Public Events
Friday, December 28
No Public Events
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The first 200 fully dressed (Red Suit, Red Hat and White Beard) Santas will receive complementary lift ticket.
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Happy Saturday! This is our last newsletter of 2018 and all of us at Heritage Action want to thank you for fighting with us all year long! As you know, the fight is ongoing, and never is that more clear than today.
Last week, we raised awareness to the fact that many lame duck members of Congress were skipping votes. All week long, you worked hard to pressure them to return to D.C. and do their duty. This turned out to be a crucial move on the grassroots’ part, as President Trump stood firm and refused to sign the Senate’s continuing resolution (CR), as it lacked the $5 billion in border security he requested. On Thursday, House members were in D.C. (largely thanks to you), and answered the President’s call by voting for the $5 billion to secure the border (you can see how your representative voted here).
On Friday, the Senate held a 5+ hour long vote—the longest in Senate history—on border security funding. Again, we were there and key voted in support of border security funding. The Senate did not vote for the CR (and $5 billion in border security funding) by Friday night at midnight. This led to a partial government shutdown pending an agreement for border security. Negotiations will continue between President Trump, Speaker Ryan, House Minority Leader Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader McConnell, and Senate Minority Leader Schumer. You can read our press statement here.
As we wrote in our post-election memo: “The first duty of government is to defend its people and sovereign territory.”
The fight we have seen on border security this week is sure to not be the last. Sanctuary cities continue to be a threat to American citizens’ safety; illegal immigration undermines low-skilled American workers looking for jobs; and our legal immigration system must be reformed to be one that is merit-based.
With Nancy Pelosi leading the incoming Democratic House Majority in 2019, we must be prepared to stand tall and push back against their open border agenda.
We must use the strengths we hold in having a Republican President and Republican Senate Majority to secure our borders, reform our legal immigration system, and push forward with our other conservative priorities.
News from Washington
Sentinels Taking Action
Sentinel Jackie Archer and her husband Jay hosted the Middle Tennessee Sentinel group at their home for a Christmas party and cookie swap this week. Incoming Congressman Mark Green (R-Tenn.) and Governor-elect Bill Lee were the guests of honor and enjoyed getting to know Sentinels.
Over the course of the night, Sentinels were able to meet and build lasting relationships with the newly elected Congressman and Governor. Creating these relationships and building trust equity with your elected officials is some of the most important work you can do. When Congressman have questions about policy and how their constituents feel about a specific bill or issue, they will turn to people they know and trust.
Katherine Hudgins and Governor-elect Bill Lee share a laugh.
MESAs (and how to win multi-year fights)
This past year, Heritage Action advocated for a new policy, Military Education Savings Accounts (MESA). Many military families struggle to find good public schools for their children to attend, and so they leave the armed services in order to seek out better educational opportunities for their kids.
MESAs give military families money to pay for the school of their choice; and with better education opportunities for their children, our servicemen and women will be able to continue serving our country without jeopardizing their children’s futures.
In 2018, we put in hundreds of hours educating lawmakers on the hill; activists made thousands of phone calls, wrote letters, and met in person with representatives to express their support. Ultimately, there was not yet the political will—and consensus on funding—necessary to enact this policy into law.
Still, we achieved a major milestone in raising awareness to the issue and securing public statements from the Trump Administration that MESAs are good policy.
And just this week, the Heritage Foundation released a report on MESAs, detailing another way in which Congress should fund them. And with a new way to fund them, we can continue fighting for MESAs in 2019.
MESAs demonstrate how we should think about many (but not all) policy fights: Fight hard and win a small victory, then come back the next year and fight again, leveraging the support we’ve already amassed in order to obtain a greater victory.
This is just another example of how Heritage Action and all of you make a real impact on Capitol Hill.
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The Christmas season is the time of giving! Thanks to the Republican tax cuts, the average household will saved $1,400 on taxes in 2018. This is the sort of news that would even put Ebenezer Scrooge in the giving spirit.
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Thank you all for your hard work in 2018. Your commitment and activism gives purpose to everything we do here at Heritage Action. We hope you have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year and we look forward to fighting alongside you in 2019!
Tim, Jessica, and the Heritage Action Team
