AUSTIN, TEXAS — The 89th Regular Texas Legislative Session came to a close today, after 140 days of Republicans passing an extreme agenda that put billionaire donors ahead of Texas families’ needs. Despite being heavily outnumbered and facing the most emboldened Republican majority in recent memory, House Democrats successfully blocked many dangerous proposals while passing critical legislation to help working Texans.
"What we saw happen this session in the Texas Legislature is exactly what you get when the people are no longer in charge of their government," said Texas House Democratic Caucus Chair Gene Wu. "The scariest part to every Texan should be that even Governor Greg Abbott and Lt. Governor Dan Patrick are not really in charge anymore — they are now completely beholden to their billionaire donors, passing laws at their request while dismissing the wants and needs of their constituents."
House Democrats have seen over 90 bills reach the Governor’s desk. Democrats also successfully blocked attempts to criminalize reproductive healthcare information, create a “gender fraud” crime, further limit local control, allow anyone to challenge someone’s voter registration, and deny constitutional bail rights.
Over Democratic objections and attempts to stop them, Republicans pushed through a multibillion-dollar voucher scam that will defund neighborhood schools and a THC ban that would eliminate 50,000 jobs overnight — creating bipartisan anger across Texas. “I do believe that the Republican Party will face a reckoning for their actions this session,” said Chairman Wu. “With this session ending, Democrats have two critical jobs: we must convince our voters that it's worth continuing to fight and show them we've been carrying that torch, and we must convince other voters that their daily struggles — property taxes, skyrocketing prices, traffic, grid failure, and more — aren't caused by the communities that Republicans continuously scapegoat, but are actually caused by the Republicans who've been running this state for the last 30 years.”