Eight Days Left Of Legislative Hell

Republicans race to outdo each other in cruelty and stupidity.

The Texas Legislature will conclude in eight more days and will not meet again until 2027. But how much more damage can they do in the next eight days? If it is anything like yesterday, then the answer is plenty. While their inferior intellect was proudly on display yesterday, giving us lots to laugh about, their malice cannot be discounted.

Take their Ten Commandments bill, for example…. which actually has 12 commandments:

Listen to James Talarico (D-HD52) call out the Republican hypocrisy regarding lying and cheating on their spouses during the Ten Commandments bill:

This is why I could never run for office. I would have been a lot more direct than Talarico was (even though he hit the nail on the head). I would have said, “Did Lacey Hull (R-HD138) violate the Ten Commandments when she used a strap-on in Cole Hefner’s (R-HD05) butt?” Or “Did Jared Patterson (R-HD106) violate the Ten Commandments when he cheated on his wife with a married Shelby Slawson (R-HD59)?” Or Brooks Landgraf (R-HD81)? Or Charles Schwertner (R-SD05)?

Most Republicans in the Texas Legislature are a bunch of horn-dogs, and almost all of them sleep with their married co-workers. They DO NOT follow the Ten Commandments. But want to tell your kids to. Hypocrites. Every single one of them.

Then, one of the amendments tried to remove the reference to slavery (manservant/maidservant) from this list. But Republicans voted against it. Each classroom’s Ten Commandments will say (basically), “Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s slave.”

Republicans have been trying to rewind the clock of humanity for years, decades, even. This amendment only proved how much they were willing to turn the clock back. After all, Republicans’ racism runs bone deep.

Another bill passed on misinformation and fear.

Stan Gerdes (R-HD17), a.k.a. Confederate Stan, read a bill to ban “lab-grown” meat in Texas. The bill’s original author, Charles Perry (R-SD28), is another slow-witted individual who believes every video he sees on Rumble.

SB261 is a reactionary protectionist bill driven by agribusiness lobbying and anti-science posturing. It aims to ban innovation in food production, specifically cell-cultured meat, not to protect consumers but to protect the economic dominance of the conventional meat industry.

Future food alternatives? Sustainable, cruelty-free meat? Republicans say, “Not while we’re in charge.”

Texas’ very own “Don’t Say Gay” bill.

SB12 is designed to erase LGBTQ+ students and teachers, outlaw DEI, and turn Texas public schools into surveillance zones for right-wing ideology. The bill bans any instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity, prohibits any school-sponsored DEI policies, roles, or trainings, and imposes strict parental surveillance over all health, curriculum, and library decisions.

It’s a legislative purge of anything resembling anti-racism or inclusion, while they are shoving their religion into every classroom. Hypocrisy at its finest. This is part of a long game to defund, discredit, and destroy public education. Another Trojan horse for white Christian nationalism in schools.

Texas Republicans are in a war against public education, identity, and equality, and they’re waging it through legislation that weaponizes bureaucracy against the most vulnerable.

On top of that, they don’t understand anything about the legislation they’re passing. Watch this exchange between Harold Dutton (D-HD142) and Mitch Little (R-HD65).

Dutton asked, “What does DEI mean?”

Little could not answer. He fumbled, dodged, said it was “defined in the bill” (spoiler: not really), and then gave a word salad about exceptions, loopholes, and military readiness plans. It was like watching someone try to explain algebra without knowing what a number is.

Dutton, a Black man who has served in the Legislature for nearly 40 years and knows exactly how school systems fail Black children, tried to get at the heart of the issue. “Do you think it matters if we have more Black male teachers?” he asked. Little responded with a shrug: “I don’t know.”

Little did one know one thing. He didn’t want schools doing anything race-specific to address disparities. To him, treating every student the same on paper is more important than acknowledging how students are treated differently in real life. When Dutton pushed him, offering actual evidence of racial disparities in education, trying to get a straight answer, Little admitted, “I don’t think about that at all.”

Let that sink in.

He is writing a bill that bans DEI programs, which are specifically meant to help marginalized students, and he doesn’t think about race-based disparities at all.

This is what happens when culture warriors try to write education policy. They can’t define the terms. They don’t understand the problems. They just want to ban the solutions, because they’re racist and want to harm children of color.

Then, Alan Schoolcraft (R-HD44) added an amendment to ban LGBTQ+ clubs.

They’re banning something they can’t even define. When asked for examples, Schoolcraft panicked, muttered about “letters getting added,” and desperately tried to steer the conversation back to the bill text, because he didn’t understand what he was talking about.

Then it got even dumber. When asked about gender identity, he said it was male or female. When asked about pronouns, he pulled out a list from the Gender & Sexuality Alliance, read off some pronouns he didn’t understand, and sneered about how confusing it all was. He seemed more offended by people having self-determination than by the idea of stripping kids of rights.

The same lawmakers screaming about parental rights voted for an amendment that bans parents from allowing their children to attend LGBTQ+ student clubs. So much for “the rights of the parent.”

But if you thought Republicans were done trying to wedge their ignorance between kids and counselors, let me introduce you to the amendment to ban emotional abuse counseling, because apparently, caring about children’s mental health is now too woke.

Nate Schatzline (R-HD93) stood up and told the chamber that emotional abuse is just too “subjective” to be trusted in the hands of school counselors. According to him, a kid saying, “My dad says I throw like a girl,” could be twisted into a loophole, one that allows a counselor to “talk about anything” without parental consent.

Schatzline doesn’t trust trained professionals to do their job if it involves listening to a child say something their parents wouldn’t like.

And guess what gets swept under the rug when emotional abuse isn’t protected?

• LGBTQ+ kids are being told they’re an abomination.

• Girls are shamed into silence for being assaulted.

• Kids are mocked, bullied, or degraded by the very adults meant to raise them.

This is the Republican education agenda in Texas: Silence. Obedience. And the illusion of parental authority is used as a weapon.

Republicans want to turn every county jail into an ICE outpost.

SB8 will weaponize the state against vulnerable people, this time, under the guise of “border security.” This bill forces every sheriff in Texas to agree with ICE, turning county jails into federal immigration enforcement hubs. It mandates participation in the “warrant service officer” model of the 287(g) program, a previously voluntary and locally decided program.

David Spiller (R-HD68), who carried the bill, called it a “public safety measure,” but what it really does is use local law enforcement resources to serve federal immigration warrants, sometimes for nothing more than a missed hearing or an expired visa. When asked about this, Spiller admitted the bill could cause jails to hold people longer than they otherwise would. Even people arrested for things like unpaid traffic tickets.

Someone could be jailed longer because ICE didn’t show up fast enough. And if ICE still doesn’t show? Tough luck. The person stays locked up. Welcome to Texas justice.

Democrats tried to insert accountability. But Republicans voted against all of it.

Even worse, the bill allows private contractors to take on these ICE roles. Republicans want to defund your public schools, but they’re fine handing immigration powers to for-profit jailers with eight hours of online training.

It’s about punishment. It’s about fear. It’s about making life so unbearable for immigrants that they leave. And it’s about making sure no future immigrant ever feels welcome again.

Now let’s discuss SB37, the “University Thought Police” bill.

SB37 is a full-on power grab. It strips faculty senates of their already limited authority, lets politically appointed regents override curriculum and hiring decisions, and requires public universities to review degree programs every five years for “workforce relevance.” Your degree might get axed if you’re not majoring in accounting or engineering.

Degrees in philosophy? History? Gender studies? Ethnic studies? All under threat.

And in a truly Orwellian twist, the bill creates an ombudsman’s office, a fancy name for a state surveillance office where anyone (students, other faculty, angry donors) can file complaints. Those complaints can then be used to freeze funding, pressure faculty, or even eliminate courses. That’s political blackmail.

What makes it even worse is that this isn’t being driven by educators, students, or workforce leaders. It’s being pushed by right-wing ideologues who don’t understand the first thing about higher education. They say the bill will “align degrees with workforce needs,” but that’s a cover. The real goal is ideological conformity.

The Legislature is trying to do to colleges what it’s already done to public schools, which is muzzle teachers, erase history, and politicize every decision from textbooks to tenure. The result? Students who know less, question less, and fear more.

It’s about control. It’s about using bureaucracy to punish dissent. And it’s about replacing academic freedom with political obedience.

The GOP also passed a bill to gut basic tenant protections for anyone who rents.

SB38 streamlines the eviction process in favor of landlords. It makes it faster and easier to throw someone out of their home, regardless of the reason or circumstances. One missed rent check? Goodbye. Lost your job, had a medical emergency, or are waiting on aid from Catholic Charities or a city program? Doesn’t matter. You’re out.

Renters in Texas are already vulnerable. There’s no rent control, no statewide tenant protections, and no real enforcement of safe housing standards. And now, with this bill, landlords will be able to push people out faster than ever, and they will, especially in cities where the real estate market is red hot and tenant turnover means bigger profits.

This bill makes the housing crisis worse.

Once again, the Republicans have chosen cruelty if you’re poor, sick, or unlucky, tough. If you miss a payment, you’re out. If you have kids, it doesn’t matter. If your city has a program that could help, I hope it acts in time. Because now, landlords can start the clock faster and end it quicker.

Stupid and evil is a terrible combination for a government of 30 million people.

At some point, you must stop calling it incompetence and start calling it what it is. Intentional cruelty, wrapped in God talk and cowboy cosplay. These people are not trying to govern. They are trying to control, punish, erase, and privatize. They’re not passing policy for the good of Texans. They’re passing bills to appease their base, their donors, and their warped sense of righteousness.

In one day, Texas Republicans have attacked kids, professors, renters, immigrants, queer people, public school teachers, and anyone who isn’t white, wealthy, straight, or obedient. And they still have eight days left.

So don’t look away. Watch what they do. Write it down. Remember it. And when 2026 rolls around, make sure every single one of these cowards, crooks, and culture war clowns has to answer for it.

Because if this session has made anything clear, it’s this:

They’re not done ruining things. But we sure as hell can be done with them.

• June 2: The 89th Legislative Session ends.

• June 3: The beginning of the 2026 election season.

• Click here to find out what Legislative districts you’re in.

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