Texas Republicans are a preview of national GOP rule
It's just like Texas to out-Texas itself. That's exactly what the Lone Star State's Republican-dominated legislature has done this spring. On Monday, the latest Texas' legislative session came to a close, pulling off, as The New York Times described, "one of the most conservative… sessions" in recent history.
That session included a bill that ended the state's handgun permit and training system and another that effectively banned abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, a time when most women do not know they are pregnant.
Only a last-ditch political maneuver by Texas Democrats kept the legislature from passing one of the most restrictive voting bills in the nation. On Sunday, enough members of the legislature's Democratic minority used a walkout to break a quorum, thereby forcing the chamber to miss its deadline for voting the bill through. The proposed legislation included a raft of provisions that most experts acknowledge were designed to disproportionately impact voters of color in the state, including outlawing drive-through voting and 24-hour voting, new restrictions on mail voting, and increased punishments for local election officials who violate the new rules while, at the same time, granting alarmingly expansive authority to partisan poll watchers.
The Republican push to dramatically suppress voting rights has already triumphed in states like Arizona, Florida, Georgia, and Iowa, where, in addition to other restrictions, bills have shortened voting hours and ended early voting. Other states, like Ohio and Michigan, may soon follow suit.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/texas-republicans-preview-national-gop-192033806.html