House prepares to pass voting bill
Phelan tries to ban term ‘racism’ from debate on legislation
The Texas House on Thursday was preparing to pass the priority elections bill that’s dogged Republicans for weeks, after walkouts by Democrats wiped out two previous attempts to pass it.
The debate was off to a tense start when House Speaker Dade Phelan warned the Democrats: “The chair would appreciate members not using the word ‘racism’ this afternoon.”
After decrying the legislation for the past six months as a racist attempt to suppress the vote, the Democrats broke Phelan’s rule less than an hour after he implemented it.
Rep. Gina Hinojosa, D-Austin, defied the speaker as she asked questions of Rep. Rafael Anchía, D-Dallas, who was bringing attention to past findings of discrimination in lawsuits against the state, including a 2012 federal judge’s decision over political maps and another in 2017 on the state’s voter ID law.
“When you speak about the disproportionate impact, are you talking about a disproportionate impact on people of color?” Hinojosa asked him.
“Specifically, the courts have pointed out over and over and over again: intentional discrimination against African Americans, intentional discrimination against Latinos, intentional discrimination against people of color. These are not my words. These are three federal courts across this country making 10 findings of that intentional discrimination.”
“Intentional discrimination against people of a different race. Is that racism?” Hinojosa asked. Gasps could be heard across the room.
“Ms. Hinojosa,” Phelan interjected.
“I think it can be fairly characterized in that manner,” Anchía said.
“We can talk about racial impacts of this legislation without accusing members of this body of being racist,” Phelan said.
“Respectfully, I’m not accusing members of this body,” Hinojosa started as some in the room began to applaud. Phe
lan shut down the outbursts, and debate continued with no further consequences beyond the warning.
The bill’s author, Rep. Andrew Murr, R-Junction, pushed through a series of changes to the legislation, some of which addressed Democratic concerns. But dozens of Democratic amendments were shot down almost immediately during a solid day of argument and counterpoint.
Republicans say the Democrats are twisting their words and purposely misstating the intent of the legislation. The bill would make voting more secure, they say — just as they have been saying for years as they have made Texas elections laws among the nation’s strictest.
Murr had said during a hearing on the bill that he did not want to accept amendments at that time and instead preferred to hear them on the floor. Rep. Toni Rose, D-Dallas, on Thursday expressed her frustration with Murr and other Republicans’ inflexibility despite that promise.
“That fact that you already have made a clear choice — it’s so disingenuous to me for you to make those comments and you have no intention on trying to work with your colleagues,” Rose said.
And while several of the most contentious provisions from earlier versions of the bill were left out of the House version — which would limit early voting hours on Sundays when Black churches host Souls to the Polls events and make it easier for judges to overturn elections — the bill, after passing the House, will need to be reconciled by a joint committee including members of the more conservative Senate.
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has said that neither provision will return, and Republicans in both the House and Senate have disavowed them. That’s little consolation for Democrats, who have repeatedly pointed out the ways in which the bill would discourage participation in elections by communities of color and people with disabilities.
Democrats have stressed that reducing early-voting opportunities primarily exercised by minority Texans, such as those enacted in Harris County, and creating new requirements for voters with disabilities who require assistance will further disenfranchise those groups.
They’ve used emotional rhetoric and drawn similarities between the legislation and Jim Crow-era voting restrictions.
Republicans have rejected those characterizations, and some have taken personal offense.
“You’re in essence calling us racist, and that will not stand,” Patrick said in April about critics of the bill, whom he accused of “race-baiting.”
On the floor Thursday, those feelings came through with a vengeance. Rep. Matt Shaheen, R-Plano, insisted that the bill does not create extra obstacles for minority voters, as Democrats have alleged.
“I’m the grandson of immigrants. I would never obviously suppress my own vote,” said Shaheen, who is of Middle Eastern descent. “This bill doesn’t do that; those are falsehoods.”