I concur with this report by the staff of the Texas Observer. I know that it's difficult to summarize an entire legislative session in one article, but the attack on higher education via anti-DEI bills—as covered in this blog—was notable, albeit absent in this report. It appropriately makes note over the lost fight over Gov. Abbott's dream for school vouchers. Never think for a moment, however, that this agenda for public school privatization is dead. It seems to always come back, session after session, in some form. Without a doubt academic freedom, DEI initiatives, and public education, as a whole, remain at risk in our state under our current leadership.
It is also a bit curious that the Texas Observer staff didn't mention the vicious attack on Harris County elections in this report where it would have fit perfectly in any description of just how awful the last session was. I am aware that they were struggling for financial solvency this session, too.
To wit, the legislature itself engaged in outright election subversion. This should be illegal!
Remember that Houston's Harris County went for Biden over Trump by a wide margin (read: In Texas, Biden’s urban wins couldn’t offset Trump’s millions of votes in rural, red counties). Harris County is thusly a Democratic stronghold. We'll see if that holds in the next general election considering the changes Republicans made this session.
Specifically, Republican leaders in the form of both Senate Bill 1750—that eliminated the non-partisan position of elections administrator and Senate Bill 1933—that gives the Secretary of State, a partisan appointee, the authority to take over elections administration, are beyond worrisome.
When we consider that Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton joined six states in suing the U.S. government over alleged election fraud in four states, namely, Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, the Texas Republican party's credibility is strained. Fortunately, the U.S. Supreme Court threw out the case, albeit for procedural reasons (read: U.S. Supreme Court throws out Texas lawsuit contesting 2020 election results in four battleground states).
These dangerous affronts to democracy are tantamount to political repression in our state where voter disenfranchisement, in the forms of Senate Bill 1750 and Senate Bill 1933, bear the imprimatur of legislative legitimacy—when they're anything but legitimate.
Clearly, we need to expand, rather than limit, voting rights. And state government itself should not be used as a tool to protect the incumbencies of those in power. That's why we have elections.
Rather than winning the hearts and minds of the electorate, a morally degenerate party has opted to cut into the heart of a democratic stronghold like Harris County. Harris County was thus also a major loser this legislative session.
My best guess is this will continue to occur unless people of good conscience unite to vote these election thieves out of office. Aside from this, we must all come to democracy's vigorous defense, lest we lose, in effect, the franchise without which democratic governance is impossible.
-Angela Valenzuela
by TEXAS OBSERVER STAFF JUNE 6, 2023, 2:12 PM, CDT
As the 88th session of the Texas Legislature opened in January, Texas Observer writers scanning the political horizon noted a faint glimmer of hope that, perhaps this time, lawmakers would locate their statesman-like qualities and, at long last, spend the spring giving relief to taxpayers, the environment, electricity-users, public schools, teachers, and other long-neglected government workers.
Well, it was only ever a faint hope. Instead, the Lege lived down to its reputation, and, for the most part, spent this session in, as Observer Senior Writer Justin Miller imagined it then, a race to the bottom that took us to depths “previously unknown and unimaginable.” Think of it as the Awful 88th.
Republicans, riding a wave of authoritarian successes, wasted most of the session on an assortment of cruel social policy proposals aimed at making points with their far-right supporters and, as feared, failed to address truly important things like the electric grid, gun control, and school funding. They didn’t even accomplish their own top priority, which was property tax cuts. It wasn’t all bad, but parts were very, very bad, especially for LGBTQIA+ Texans. And now there’s a special session for added thrills. Here are a handful of highlights and a lot of lows.
