Watch What’s Happening in Red States Ronald Brownstein
It’s not just voting rights.
Though this year’s proliferation of bills restricting ballot access in red states has commanded national attention, it represents just one stream in a torrent of conservative legislation poised to remake the country. GOP-controlled states including Florida, Tennessee, Georgia, Texas, Arizona, Iowa, and Montana have advanced their most conservative agenda in years, and one that reflects Donald Trump’s present stamp on the Republican Party.
Across these states and others, Republican legislators and governors have operated as if they were programming a prime-time lineup at Fox News. They have focused far less on the small-government, limited-spending, and anti-tax policies that once defined the GOP than on an array of hot-button social issues, such as abortion, guns, and limits on public protest, that reflect the cultural and racial priorities of Trump’s base.
Republicans in Texas are already plotting to resurrect their fight for sweeping voting restrictions after Democratic lawmakers walked out of the state capitol and blocked an 11th-hour attempt to ram through legislation that would have made it harder to cast a ballot. Texas governor Greg Abbott – who leads the state’s domineering Republican majority – has announced he will include the high-stakes issue on his agenda when he reconvenes the.
Posted By Sanford Nowlin on Wed, May 12, 2021 at 11:05 AM click to enlarge Wikimedia Commons / Zereshk (talk | contribs) The Texas House of Representatives meets during a legislative session. The Texas House has approved a bill educators worry will deal a setback to honest discussions on race, harm free speech in classrooms and hinder students understanding of civics. Republican-championed House Bill 3979, which would limit what public school students can learn about the United States treatment of people of color, passed Tuesday night on a 79-65 vote. With two exceptions, the vote fell along party lines. State Rep. Lyle Larson of San Antonio was the sole Republican to vote against it, the Texas Tribune reports.