"Texas Democrats May Be The Most Potent Force For Voting Rights," Jan. 15, 2021

That's the point! We wish our dems well!

-Angela Valenzuela

Texas House Democratic walkout successful with Washington arrival, plans to goad U.S. Senate by Maria Recio

There is absolutely no more time. The U.S. Congress must pass federal voting rights legislation before their August recess. Extremism in Texas by Texas republicans that want to strip people of color of their vote requires desperate means, even as the Texas House authorizes warrants for their arrest. From an Austin American-Statesman piece from today, Governor Abbott says that "he intends for House members to be detained upon their return to the state."

This is what makes our House Democrats courageous defenders of democracy, my friends. 

Do link to the video press conference to listen closely to our representatives' expressed statements of the situation in which we find ourselves.  They are so incredibly inspiring. We cannot thank our brave House Democrats for representing the cause of fair and equitable voting rights and elections. Congress must act now!

-Angela Valenzuela

#votersuppression #DemocracyAtRisk

Texas House Democratic walkout successful with Washington arrival, plans to goad U.S. Senate

By Maria Recio

Special to American-Statesman

July 13, 2021

WASHINGTON DULLES AIRPORT — More than 50 Texas House Democrats arrived at the Dulles International Airport Monday evening, leaving the state in a gambit to deny Republicans a quorum and thus prevent a vote Democrats say curbs voting rights that is stacked against them.

Their only weapon, they say in the GOP-controlled Legislature, is to remove themselves and force gridlock.

It is the second time this summer that Texas Democrats have resorted to this tactic — avoiding the House chamber — but this time they fled the state, not just the state Capitol building, arriving in Washington in style by two private jets.

An irate Republican Gov. Greg Abbott had called the special session that is now underway on a number of issues to force Democrats to vote.

More:Texas Democrats leave state to block GOP voting bill in special session

The hurried nature of the way things had come together as Texas Democrats reverted to their exit strategy was clear at the Washington press conference, with a gathering at nightfall scheduled for 7:15 p.m. CDT near the picturesque Dulles terminal hastily pulled away to the much less scenic cell phone waiting area parking lot. The move was made at the insistence of airport officials, though no reason was given.

“We left Texas, not because we want to,” state Rep. Chris Turner, D-Arlington and chair of the House Democratic Caucus, told reporters in the Dulles parking lot. “It breaks our heart to do it. We are in a fight to save our democracy."

Turner confirmed an earlier report made to the American-Statesman that the $100,000 cost of the two flights was being paid for by the Caucus.

Another press conference is scheduled at the U.S. Capitol House triangle at 9 a.m. Central.

More:Some Senate Democrats plan to leave Texas too, but quorum appears safe

Turner said the Texas House Democrats would stay in Washington until Aug. 7th, the end of the special session, and would work on getting the U.S. Senate to approve two voting protection bills. He told the Statesman that the state lawmakers were still formulating their plans to visit U.S. senators to make the case for voting rights, which they said the Texas GOP was determined to restrict.

“Texas is the hardest state to vote in already,” Turner said. As for the determination on display by the dozens of state Democratic lawmakers, he said, “Our democracy is at stake.”

More:Can Texas Democrats be arrested for fleeing the state? What does it mean for the special session?

Texas lawmakers see the way out for them is to have the Congress pass voting rights law that would override state efforts to eliminate such conveniences as drive-through voting or same day registration.

“We need Congress to act now to pass the For the People Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Act to protect Texans — and all Americans — from the Trump Republicans’ nationwide war on democracy,” Turner said.

Texas Rep. Senfronia Thompson, D-Houston, known as Ms. T, said, “I left because I am tired of sitting like a hostage while Republicans take away the rights of our citizens to vote.”

State Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer, D-San Antonio, said, “There is nothing special about this session. This is a suppression session.”

But Republicans kept up a chorus of complaints back in Texas.

“This taxpayer funded vacation was taken at the expense of Texans who elected us to lead,” said state Rep. Jacey Jetton, R-Sugar Land. “Without even attempting to negotiate or debate the issues, the House Democrats took a private jet to D.C. in order to avoid hard conversations, all while continuing to receive a paycheck from the tax dollars of hard-working Texans.”

Texas House members will be able to press their case for the Senate to pass voting rights measures during their impromptu lobbying visit — the U.S. House has already passed them.

U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Austin, welcomed his fellow Democrats. “Greg Abbott and his Republican cohorts have messed with Texan voters one too many times. Our Texas Democrats are breaking quorum rather than being accomplices to breaking democracy. They rightly recognize that our democracy is only as strong as our voting rights.”

These Texas republicans' days are numbered and they know it. They legislate like they're backed into a corner, fighting for their lives despite being the party in power. And they still lack a legislative fix to the Texas electrical grid where over a hundred Texans lost their lives in February's winter storm.

Their focus instead was on disenfranchising lower-income, people of color from the ballot box. In the long term, and the short term, as well, this is not sustainable. 

There is no grand, lofty vision here. It's all about survival and protecting their incumbencies, the lowest level of resonance for a polity. 

They're showing their every card and can no longer hide from their self-serving decisions and commitments, even despite their 6am vote when none of us were awake to observe this. 

My friends, it is abundantly clear to me that if political disenfranchisement is their only play, they do not deserve to govern. For the rest of us, let this be the very same ground for radical hope.

To members of Congress, do take notice and pass "For the People Act (HR 1) and the John Lewis Voting Rights Act. 

-Angela Valenzuela

In 6 a.m. vote, divided Texas Senate approves GOP elections bill after all-night debate

Chuck Lindell

Austin American-Statesman

May 30, 2021

The Texas Senate, voting along party lines, approved a sweeping Republican elections bill shortly after 6 a.m. Sunday after a lively overnight debate led mostly by Democrats that had begun 7½ hours earlier.

Senate Bill 7, known as the Election Integrity Protection Act, must be approved by the Texas House before midnight Sunday. The bill is eligible for a vote at 4:50 p.m. according to the House calendar.

Democrats criticized the bill's restrictions, particularly a ban on 24-hour voting and drive-thru voting that was popular with nonwhite voters last year in Harris County, for disproportionately affecting people of color.

"I represent a majority African American district, and we benefited from the drive-thru voting that you're trying to ban now. I feel like you're coming for my district," said Sen. Borris Miles, D-Houston, adding that leaders with the FBI, Department of Justice and Texas secretary of state's office acknowledged that the 2020 election was safe, secure and free of widespread fraud.

Sen. Sarah Eckhardt, D-Austin, said SB 7 was an overreaction.

"We've had next to no fraud, and this has been documented at the federal level and the state level. But instead you're rewriting the Election Code," she said.

A look at the bill:GOP unveils final version of Texas elections bill, which includes more restrictions

SB 7 is one of several GOP efforts in statehouses around the country to narrow voting opportunities, particularly in urban counties that tend to vote Democratic, after Republicans echoed former President Donald Trump's claims that last year's presidential election was stolen. No widespread fraud was ever uncovered.

But Sen. Bryan Hughes, R-Mineola, defended his bill as Saturday became Sunday, and he was still at it as sunrise neared — rejecting claims that the bill targeted nonwhite voters or that it was a solution in search of a problem.

"The provisions apply equally across the state. They are not limited to a particular group or particular area," he said.

A rush to debate

The Senate and House had passed widely different versions of SB 7, leading to a conference committee to work out the differences.

That committee's final version of the bill was filed and distributed to senators at 3:36 p.m. Saturday. Less than three hours later, Hughes stood in the Senate and proposed waiving the rule that requires a 24-hour delay before the bill could be considered by the Senate.

Democrats, who had been huddling in private to discuss their options only a few minutes earlier, objected to the speed of events.

More:After House roadblock, GOP senators revive bill limiting school discussions of race, social issues

"I would ask that we take the time that's necessary to understand the changes, to understand the entirety of this before we are asked to vote on a bill that affects every single voter in Texas," said Sen. Beverly Powell, D-Burleson.

Hughes replied that he planned to give senators a private briefing at 8 p.m., bringing them up to speed on a bill that grew from 23 pages to 67 pages in conference committee — adding that there would be plenty of time to discuss SB 7 in public during what he expected to be a long and vigorous floor debate that would not begin until after 10 p.m. to allow more time to study the legislation.

Sen. Jose Menéndez, D-San Antonio, said the late debate would occur when most Texans would not be watching in person or online.

"How did you decide that 10 p.m. tonight was the right time? Does that seem like the best time to be creating very important policy-making decisions after 10 p.m.?" he said. "Tomorrow we have the full day to debate any legislative measures, do we not?"

But Hughes noted the looming deadline — all conference committee reports must get a vote by midnight Sunday — and Republicans voted as a bloc to waive the 24-hour delay.

The Senate returned to SB 7 shortly after 10:30 p.m. by taking up a resolution giving the conference committee permission to include provisions that had not been part of the bills passed by the House and Senate.

Hughes, who was co-chairman of the conference committee, said many of the sections added to SB 7 were taken from other GOP election bills that had passed the Senate or were considered in committee, while other ideas cropped up during negotiations with his co-chairman, Rep. Briscoe Cain, R-Deer Park.

Sen. Nathan Johnson, D-Dallas, called the resolution an affront to the legislative process.

"This seems more like you’re trying to get in bills that you couldn’t pass, or you thought of some other way to do some things that many of the members of this chamber don’t want you to do," Johnson said.

After the Republican majority voted to approve Senate Resolution 547, senators began debating SB 7 at 12:30 a.m. Sunday.

A pattern of late nights

Partisan disagreements have pushed lawmakers into several late-night and early-morning sessions in the past several weeks as Republicans pressed an aggressively conservative agenda this session.

A rancorous debate over SB 7 pushed the Texas House beyond 3 a.m. on May 7, setting the stag for this weekend's showdown.

And a fight over House Bill 3979 found the Senate voting at 2 a.m. on May 22 over legislation to limit how public school teachers handle discussions of race and racism in the classroom.

The Senate made wholesale changes on the floor, putting the bill in danger when House Democrats successfully argued that several amendments violated House rules.

With no time to fix the bill by traditional means, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick allowed Hughes to make a motion to recede, a little-known parliamentary maneuver that stripped the bill of all Senate changes and passed HB 3979 in its original House form on a party-line vote.

Democratic objections that the Texas Constitution did not allow bills to be passed that late in the session were overruled. 

The session ends on Monday, with lawmakers still not having agreed upon priority legislation, including fixing the Texas electrical grid after millions of Texans were plunged into cold and darkness during the deadly February winter storms.

Voting groups fear Texas about to exceed Georgia's limits by Stef. W. Kigh | Axios

It's been that kind of legislative session. We must get Congress to vote on the "For the People Act (HR 1) and the John Lewis Voting Rights Act. Why? This piece in Roll Call says why: 

Why Congress must pass HR 1 and the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Act:Republican state legislators nationwide are already moving fast to restrict our freedom to vote

This should be a priority for the federal government.

-Angela Valenzuela

Voting groups fear Texas about to exceed Georgia's limits

Stef W. Kight

Voters in El Paso, Texas, wait to cast their ballots in the 2018 race between Beto O'Rourke and Sen. Ted Cruz. Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Local advocacy groups, big business and former presidential candidate Beto O'Rourke are fighting a pair of Texas voting bills they brand as suppressive, each of which could pass the Republican-controlled legislature as soon as next week.

Why it matters: Advocates say Texas' pending changes are worse than those that recently caused an uproar and boycotts in Georgia. The fight comes as the Texas population is rapidly growing and diversifying — and turning more Democratic.

• "So much of what we learned about Georgia, we learned after it was too late," O'Rourke told Axios. "In Texas, if there's anything positive about the situation, it's that we could still win this."

Driving the news: Republicans have the political muscle to pass the provisions whenever they want. "Hands down something is going to get passed," Chris Hollins, a former Harris County clerk who opposes the bills, told Axios.

• Democrats and groups like Texas Freedom Network and the ACLU are ramping up the pressure. After seeing the outrage from big business over the Georgia bill, groups are trying to get major companies to speak out and force Republicans to back off.
• Texas is already considered to be one of the most restrictive voting states. It saw the highest voter turnout in 30 years in 2020 but came in 44th of the 50 states for turnout rate, according to data from Elect Project.

What to watch: American Airlines and Dell Technologies have already come out against the bills.

• Advocates have been pressuring other Texas-based companies to get on board, and they expect to see more speak out in the coming days.

Details: The bills in the Texas Senate and House would end 24-hour and drive-thru voting — options that were disproportionately used by voters of color last year, according to the Texas Civil Rights Project.

• They also would add criminal penalties for election officials who send out applications to vote by mail to voters who had not requested them and would provide more access for partisan poll watchers.
• The changes would especially impact more progressive Texas cities, the New York Times reported.
• The sweeping legislation has been pushed by Texas House Elections Committee Chairman Briscoe Cain — who drove to Pennsylvania to help the Trump campaign fight the 2020 election results.

The state of play: The House bill — HB-6 — is already out of committee and could make it to the floor as soon as next week.

• The Senate bill — SB7 — was passed at the start of this month. It is now expected to be voted on in committee in the House as soon as Thursday evening after Cain brought it up at the last minute, Charlie Bonner, communications director for the nonpartisan advocacy group MOVE Texas, told Axios.
• Republicans also have a flurry of duplicative, piecemeal bills ready to roll if the bigger packages fail.

The other side: Texas Republicans have pushed the legislation, saying that it will normalize voting across the state.

• In response to American Airlines' opposition to the Senate bill, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick released a statement, saying, "The majority of Texas supports maintaining the integrity of our elections. ... Senate Bill 7 includes comprehensive reforms that will ensure voting in Texas is consistent statewide and secure."
• Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, said in a statement: “Texas is protecting the number of early voting days, which is longer than allowed in states like New York and Delaware. And, we are extending hours for early voting."
• "Also, Texas ensures that voting by mail is protected from fraud, which is important."

Sen. Ossoff: 'We May Need To Revise The Senate Rules In Order To Govern'

The two Georgia Senators John Ossoff and Raphael Warnock are a powerful team, as Lawrence O'Donnell states. I shudder to think of what would have happened had they not won their elections. Among other things, as we all know, President Biden's $1.9 Trillion Pandemic Relief Bill would not have happened. 

Major lesson? Voting matters without which democracy is in peril. Now, we must pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Act to preserve and extend access to the vote for all Americans to the ballot box.

-Angela Valenzuela

#ProtectTheVote #VotingMatters #VotingRightsAct

He suggests a way to recast the notion of partisanship ..overwhelming bipartisan support.