Texas Political Update 9/2/2021
New Laws Effective Yesterday
666 new Texas laws went into effect yesterday, which were debated, passed, and signed during the 87th Texas Legislature. Not every bill signed into law during the regular session went into effect Sept. 1st, as some bills went into effect as soon as they were signed, or won’t be effective until the beginning of 2022. Controversial new laws are getting plenty of attention and news coverage this week, including permit-less carry of firearms / “constitutional carry”; abortion restrictions / “fetal heartbeat” bill; punishing cities who cut police budgets; a statewide ban on public homeless camping; and banning critical race theory from being taught in public schools.
Election Security Bill Passed
Three months after House Democrats first broke quorum to stymie a previous iteration of the legislation, Republicans in the House and Senate on Tuesday signed off on the final version of Senate Bill 1 to further tighten the state’s voting security rules and rein in local efforts to widen voting access. Gov. Greg Abbott said he will sign it into law. The votes mark the end of a legislative saga that encompassed two sessions of legislative overtime and featured marathon hearings, a dramatic decampment to Washington, D.C., and escalating tensions between the Democrats who fled in protest of what they saw as a danger to their constituents’ votes and the Republicans left behind unable to conduct business. Republicans pushed for SB 1 citing their desire to further safeguard elections from fraud and to standardize election procedures. The legislation establishes new ID requirements for voting by mail, enhances protections for partisan poll watchers, and sets new rules, and possible criminal penalties, for those who assist voters. The second special session convened on August 7th and will conclude on Labor Day.
Redistricting
The first volley in what is expected to be a fierce war over Texas redistricting kicked off Wednesday in the form of a federal lawsuit filed by two Democratic state senators who argue that state lawmakers cannot legally redraw the state’s legislative maps this fall. State Sens. Roland Gutierrez of San Antonio and Sarah Eckhardt of Austin are asking a federal district court in Austin to take over the work of drawing up new political maps for the Texas House and Senate to reflect the state’s growth in the last decade. The senators argue the Legislature cannot constitutionally carry out that work in a special legislative session. The Texas Constitution states the Legislature “shall” redraw the state’s legislative maps “at its first regular session after the publication” of each decennial census. But significant holdups in finalizing the 2020 census delayed the release of the detailed population numbers needed to redraw those districts for several months — far past the end of the regular legislative session in May. Texas House and Senate Committee hearings are scheduled to begin next week.
HD 10 Special Election Goes to Run-off
Former state Rep. John Wray (R-Waxahachie) is advancing to a runoff against fellow Republican Brian Harrison in Wray’s bid to reclaim his old seat. With all precincts reporting Tuesday night, Wray finished with 36% of the vote, 5 percentage points behind Harrison, who won 41%, according to unofficial results. Harrison is the former chief of staff at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under President Donald Trump. Harrison rode late momentum after being endorsed Saturday by U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz. The sole Democratic candidate, Pierina Otiniano, finished a distant third with 11%. None of the five other candidates broke double digits. The run-off election date has not been set.
