Welcome to the Texas Legislative Round-up! We are here to break down the latest news from the Texas Legislative session in Austin. Every week, we’ll give you the honest take on the news that impacts you – without pretending it doesn’t.
Week in Review
Every week, Speaker Dade Phelan shows that he is the least known yet critical component to the evil trifecta that is Texas’s Republican leadership.
The Texas House used to be the closest thing we had to a sane, pragmatic, and semi-decent check on the cruel ploys of GOP statewide officials. However, under Phelan’s short tenure, that reputation has vanished.
Dade Phelan has embarked on the terrifying venture to turn our state into a vigilante paradise where extremists are rewarded for normally illegal behavior. It began with abortion the last session under the notorious Senate Bill Eight. Phelan was a key proponent of passing SB 8, which banned abortion at 6 weeks in Texas and incentivized citizens with a cash “bounty” if they succeed in suing anyone who has helped a person get a now-illegal abortion.
Now, this new lawsuit has been filed and unsurprisingly has one of Phelan’s hand-picked leadership members, extremist Representative Briscoe Cain, listed on the lawsuit. While this case was brought as a wrongful death suit there is no doubt that the SB8 legal atmosphere Phelan created allowed this.
If this wasn’t bad enough, now rumors are flying that Phelan will back a bill to deputize vigilantes at our Texas border.
What to Watch
Bill filing deadline is today. The Senate usually doesn’t keep to these calendars, but we’ll get a sense of most of the bills filed in the House. What Phelan continues to prioritize will give us a key insight into the question of this legislative session: how low will Phelan go?
