Appalling Priorities Demonstrate Texas Republicans’ Contempt for Compassion, Decency, Democracy
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 31, 2021
AUSTIN, Texas – Texas Freedom Network President Val Benavidez has the following statement on the end of the regular session of the 87th Texas Legislature:
“Republican leaders spent a lot of precious time this legislative session focused on appalling priorities. Instead of advancing the great state of Texas, they used their power to torment transgender kids and their families, block local efforts to help working Texans earn paid sick leave, ban abortion, censor classrooms, and attempted to make it harder for Black and Brown and disabled Texans to vote.
“These bills took cruelty and recklessness to new levels even as the COVID death toll rose and Texans worked to recover from a deadly power outage that left millions of us freezing in our homes just three months ago. We are relieved to see the failure of some of these reprehensible bills to pass in the chaotic final days of this session, but Gov. Abbot and Lt. Gov. Patrick have made clear they want taxpayers to spend millions of dollars on a special session to try again to pass them.
“But just as Texas Freedom Network and Texas Rising Action worked to bring out massive amounts of people, even in the middle of a pandemic, to voice their opposition against anti-democratic bills, we’ll keep up the same energy for the upcoming special session. Republican leaders will have to do that work under the glare of intense public attention, in Texas and across the nation. Everyone will watch as they demonstrate again just how little they value compassion, decency and democracy. And then voters next year can send a clear message that they have had enough at the ballot box.”
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The Texas Freedom Network (tfn.org) is a grassroots organization of religious and community leaders and young Texans building an informed and effective movement for equality and social justice.
