Vicki Truitt, State Representative District 98

Campaign Falsehoods Being Spread By Opponents

Honesty does matter - even in politics.

Former President Abraham Lincoln contemplated the same, himself, early in his political career, and concluded:

"I believe it is an established maxim in morals that he who makes an assertion without knowing whether it is true or false, is guilty of falsehood..."

Never before have I ever witnessed such an ugly primary season in Tarrant County. Many candidates, in my race and others, are slinging mud and making claims that range from ridiculously outrageous to deceitfully dishonest and mean-spirited.

For the past few months, some of you have experienced NEGATIVE robo phone calls and received outlandish mailings, door-hangers, and e-mails attacking me personally and politically. They characterize me as different than the Vicki you know.

The substance in all of these attacks is FALSE and shameful.

And the individuals behind these libelous and slanderous attacks are being secretly funded by an extremist PAC in Austin, which receives most of its money from a millionaire in Midland, Texas who is trying to divert our regional road money from Northeast Tarrant County to Midland, Texas.

Most shameful in these attacks is the grossly false and manipulative use of "legislative" rating scorecards.

Selectively using 20 or so votes out of the 1,700 recorded votes during a legislative session to slant an agenda is deceitful. I proudly stand on my FULL record of conservatism for review every day as I work hard to represent our district.

The truth is I have been honored and commended by conservative groups such as the Texas Taxpayers and Research Association, Texas Alliance for Life, the NRA; as well as recognized for my legislative service by small businesses with a recent "Fighter For Free Enterprise Award" from the Texas Association of Business.

I was also recently named “Legislator of the Year,” by the Texas Retired Teachers Association, for my service during the last legislative session. And more importantly, last week I was honored by a large, local organization of recognizable Northeast Tarrant County business and community leaders, the Northeast Leadership Forum, with their annual, prestigious “Distinguished Leadership Award.”

As did former Republican President Abraham Lincoln,

I, too, favor honesty in both campaigning and the elective process of government.

My conservative support from Republican leaders like Congressman Michael Burgess and our new Republican Texas House Speaker Joe Straus, my district accomplishments, and my voting record - from cutting taxes to working for our schools, to law enforcement, road improvements, and economic freedom - speak for themselves.

HERE is evidence of who I am, who I have been, and who I’ll always be:

I am a native and lifelong resident of NE Tarrant County who passionately cares for the people and area where I grew up.
For 26 years, I have been a small business owner right here in Northeast Tarrant County.
I’m a wife, mother and grandmother, and I’m honored to serve as the Republican state representative for the people of the 98^th District.
I am a conservative who believes in RESULTS - not rhetoric.
As your state representative, I ACTED during the 81^st Legislature to pursue strict state’s rights by co-authoring a bill (HCR 50) to AFFIRM that Texas claims SOVEREIGNTY under the Constitution’s 10^th Amendment. This bill served notice to the federal government to CEASE AND DESIST certain mandates, and REPEAL other costly legislation.
I co-authored a proposed constitutional amendment requiring a 2/3 MAJORITY vote of BOTH houses of the Legislature to pass ANY new taxes.
I have voted AT LEAST 8 times to LOWER PROPERTY TAXES, including the largest property tax cut in history
I have authored and voted FOR property appraisal reform to HELP taxpayers. (I held three town hall meetings in 2008 to help seek constituent input and prepare for appraisal reform.)
I carried and passed legislation several sessions ago that is saving Texans in fast-growth school districts hundreds of millions of dollars in unnecessary interest on school bonds (Keller ISD, alone, estimated that my bill would save Keller ISD taxpayers more than $40 million over a ten-year period.)
I have consistently voted to DECREASE the state’s budget to LESS than what it was during the PREVIOUS budget cycle, even in the face of exploding population growth. (The Texas Legislature is NOT Congress. Texas has NO deficit spending! It is constitutionally prohibited here – as IT SHOULD BE in Washington.)
On Appropriations committee, I PERSONALLY cut hundreds of millions of dollars from the state budget as a member of the Subcommittee on Health and Human Services.
Last session, I voted to cut taxes for over 40,000 Texas small businesses, and will look for ways to give more relief.
As a member and Vice-Chair of the Texas Sunset Advisory Commission, I RECOMMENDED and voted FOR the elimination of unnecessary state agencies, cutting their operational costs from the budget.
I have VOTED multiple times during multiple legislative sessions FOR requiring strict PHOTO ID for voters
The local option transportation bill I authored - that is being so vilified by some - raised NOT ONE PENNY OF TAX, and created NO new bureaucracy. Obviously, people who claim otherwise have not read the bill. It simply EMPOWERED LOCAL VOTERS to take an active role in solving our traffic nightmares. My bill was highly praised by a REAL taxpayer watchdog group, the Texas Taxpayers and Research Association. What is NOT conservative about local control and self-determination?
And although on multiple occasions the Ethics Commission ruled it both legal and ethical, I carried authored, carried and passed a bill making it illegal for legislators to use campaign funds to rent any property owned by family members.

I cannot and I will not try to address every ridiculous allegation of my opponents. The truth is EVERY single allegation is either totally false or grossly mischaracterized.

My staff and I work hard to represent you.

· I have an Annual, District 98 Coffee Tour, during which I go out into each community I represent and make myself available to constituents so they don’t have to come looking for me.

· I have had many “town hall meetings,” the most recent of which was in October, in Colleyville.

· Either I, or my representative, attend just about every monthly chamber meeting in each our communities, as well as many other regularly scheduled civic or local service groups. I support many of these groups, as well with charitable contributions.

· I personally read every e-mail, letter, fax that comes in to our office, and I am made aware of every phone call taken by my staff, and I try to respond to most of them.

· I have countless meetings with constituents to listen to any concern they have about state government.

· I take very seriously my obligation to make state government responsive to the people I represent. It is impossible to completely satisfy every constituent request, but we do try hard to help when and where we can. We receive many letters of thanks from constituents for doing so.

· Much of my legislative agenda comes directly from constituents with whom I’ve met regarding their issues.

· My office and I are often complimented about being one of the “most accessible and most responsive” members of the Texas Legislature.

I make no apologies for being conservative, honest, hardworking and responsive… and for using good old “conservative common sense” in executing my duties as your state representative. Again, I am far more interested in RESULTS, and not RHETORIC.

Please call us at 817.897.0056 - or – visit www.VickiTruitt.com to voice your desire to keep District 98 moving forward in a POSITIVE direction!

With this said, I want to personally ask for your continued support and vote in the March 2 primary

Respectfully,

Vicki Truitt

State Representative
District 98

817.897.0056

RepTruitt@VickiTruitt.com