Voter Suppression? Election Integrity? READ THE BILL! July 23, 2021

The most frustrating part of politics is hearing people (including elected officials) make incendiary claims about legislation that seem to have nothing to do with the actual bill. At a time when it has never been easier to read bills for yourself, it seems very few actually do so before commenting. People seem content to shout their team’s slogans and accuse others of having the worst of motives.

I have outlined some of my thoughts on what HB 3–the election integrity bill making the news recently–actually does on the following pages, but if you’d like to read the bill yourself, you may do so by going here. You may not agree with everything that’s in it or you may have specific questions. If that’s the case, I invite you to reach out to me at votejamesfrank@gmail.com and I’d love to respond.

The Texas Constitution requires 100 of the 150 House members be present for the body to act. Enough House Democrats fled the state a couple of weeks ago to deny that quorum. Regardless of your thoughts about HB 3 or other elections bills, there are several other important issues that should be before the Legislature during this special session, but are currently on hold due to the lack of quorum. Among these items are increased benefits for retired teachers, property tax relief, and important reforms to the bail system that would keep our state safer.

With the decision by House Democrats to leave the state, the members remaining took the extraordinary step of issuing a Call of the House. It’s been a procedure rarely used in the past and I explain the specifics later on in the newsletter. If you’re interested in reading about elected members of the Legislature being locked inside the House chamber, read on!