First, let’s all thank the stars that Democrats won this year, because looking at what the GOP has filed in the first three days is bonkers.
Second, if you haven’t already, call your Texas Democratic House member and tell them that Republicans passed the rule not to give the minority party committee chairs last session, and you want that rule to stay in place.
Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, I’ve been watching all of the bills coming in this week. Democrats are starting strong with a few hardline progressive must-haves. However, the Republicans are filing the same far-right, Christian nationalist, conspiracy-backed bills they would have if they had won the election.
Carrie Isaac has filed the most wacky bills.
So far. The House has until March to file bills, so we’re just seeing the things Representatives are especially excited about.
Despite living in a state that is only 39% Anglo, Carrie Isaac (R-HD73) represents an area that is 71% Anglo.
That’s due to racial gerrymandering, and Representative Isaac’s seat is a reminder of how the GOP treated the people in this state.
HCR7, the Anti-Lesbian Resolution by Carrie Isaac, included the line, “Data supports the hypothesis.” Her Resolution admits it’s a hypothesis, a guess. The hypothesis was “having strong male role models in the home helps prevent suicide, behavioral disorders, juvenile detention, substance abuse, aggression, violence, and teen pregnancy.”
Resolutions are not the same as bills. They’re basically statements from the government and don’t change the law. It goes on to say, “two parents in a committed, long-term marriage.” It doesn’t apply to lesbian couples. It doesn’t apply to kids who lost a parent. It doesn’t acknowledge why there are single-parent homes. It’s a cookie-cutter picture straight from the Church of Christ.
Most of us living on planet Earth know there’s no such thing as a cookie-cutter family. The verdict on Isaac is still out.
Then, Isaac introduced HB283 to allow election judges to carry concealed weapons to the polls. That way, if Republicans don’t like how you vote, they can just shoot you. New Yorker Carl Tepper (R-HD84) filed a similar bill.
Isaac would also like to require establishing gold and silver as state currency, with HB165, like it’s 1805. This is a bill that comes straight from the Texas Nationalist Movement (Texit), which is a far-right fringe group that wants to turn Texas into a white ethnostate.
The most egregious is HB261 by Isaac, which would make it illegal to wear a head covering in public. This is an extremely bigoted bill targeting Muslim women. Carrie Isaac wants to regulate how other people practice their religion.
Isaac is not the only bigot targeting the Muslim community.
Janis Holt (R-HD18) filed HB109 to bar members of designated “foreign terrorist organizations” from testifying at public meetings. This is aimed at CAIR, which Abbott appointed to that designation because of the unchecked racism that permeates the Republican Party. CAIR filed a federal lawsuit against Abbott and Paxton as a result.
Janis Holt is another Republican whose seat in the Texas House is a result of racial gerrymandering.
Joanne Schofner (R-HD11) filed HB733, using the same racist label that Greg Abbott applied to CAIR, and wants to make it illegal for Muslims in the state of Texas to use a notary. Does Schoefner also sit in a racially gerrymandered seat? You bet.
Brent Hagenbuch (R-SD30) wants to add CAIR members to the state’s gang intelligence database with SB184. Yes, of course Hagenbuch sits in a racially gerrymandered seat.
Why do I keep pointing out how all of these Republicans are in racially gerrymandered seats?
Because the maps explain these bills, we had a huge Democratic wave in Texas, but it never reached these Republicans because of how their seats are drawn.
These Republican members don’t write bills for their districts. They write them for the extremists in the Republican primaries. They’re the only people they answer to.
And while Texas is 39% Anglo, these Republicans live in majority-Anglo districts and write bills to harm the majority populations of this state. That’s the whole point of racial gerrymandering. It gives them the comfort of targeting people they perceive as “others” without consequences.
Brian Harrison wants to burn down the government and take Texas with it.
Former Labradoodle breeder Brian Harrison filed a slew of bills that prove how much he hates Texas.
HB831 would wipe out all data showing that Black mothers die at a higher rate in Texas, Black drivers get stopped more, and health outcomes differ by race. You can’t fix disparity if you can’t measure it.
HB836 would ban “DEI” from every state agency. And when Brian Harrison says “DEI,” he means Black people. He made that clear last session.
HB822 would repeal the Dementia Prevention and Research Institute, which voters approved in 2025. HB820 would kill the Quantum Initiative and Advanced Nuclear Energy Offices. HB842 would ban public libraries from joining the American Library Association.
If it wasn’t already clear, the King of the Brainworm Brigade plans to spend this legislative session being an obnoxious, racist, out-of-touch pest, just as he did in the sessions before.
The absurd.
Terri Leo-Wilson (R-HD23) filed a bill, HB486, which would allow people to pick up dead animals in the middle of the road, after they are killed by their car, and eat them.
You heard that right. Leo-Wilson wants to legalize eating roadkill.
Perhaps this is her solution to Texas being the number one state for food insecurity. Who knows what goes on in the minds of GOP lawmakers? “Children in Texas are hungry, so let’s legalize eating raccoons with tire tracks.”
79-year-old Drew Darby (R-HD72) wants to make the Texas two-step the “official state dance,” with HCR17.
He’s an old white guy who lives in the middle of nowhere, Texas. So, it’s not surprising that he would pick the Texas two-step as an official state dance. However, if we’re going to pick an “official state dance,” it should be the most famous dance in the world that came out of my hometown of Dallas.
That’s right, I’m talking about the Dougie.
The Dougie is a 20-year-old dance craze that people around the world still do, and it was invented in Dallas, Texas.
In my opinion, if we’re going to have an official state dance, the Dougie is better than the Texas two-step.
HB511, by Jared Patterson (R-HD106), bans surrogacy based on citizenship status and “terrorist affiliations.” In layman’s terms, Patterson wants to ban immigrants and Muslims from starting a family in Texas if they need a surrogate. It’s hard not to call Republicans white supremacists when these are the types of laws they are pushing.
HB575 by Brent Money gives equal protection to embryos and would charge a woman with capital murder if they received abortion care, making them eligible for the death penalty.
To explain to you what kind of person Brent Money is, here he was last session “both-siding” sexual assault.
Texans fired Dan Patrick and Greg Abbott, handing Democrats the House for the first time in 24 years.
House Republicans are responding to that by filing bills to ban headscarves, cut Muslims off from notaries, erase the data of dying Black mothers, and let you pick up possums off the road for dinner on your way home.
These are people who are in their seats partially because of racial gerrymandering, and partially because of billionaire Jeff Yass’ attempt to buy our state.
The Republican caucus was built on racist maps and billionaire money.
Which brings me back to my first point. In 2025, Republicans passed House rules banning the minority party from chairing committees. Their activists showed up on opening day with red shirts that said, “Ban Democrat Chairs.” Yes, they said “Democrat” and not “Democratic.” The rules gave the minority party vice-chair seats. Brian Harrison and other Brainworms still cried about Democrats having too much power.
Republicans are in the minority now. Gene Wu said it best. He said that the best revenge is to flip the House and “make Republicans live under their own rules.” Texans did their part.
Call your representative and tell them to keep the rule. No gavels for the people who wish to harm Texas. They can be vice-chairs. Even Brian Harrison said those seats still hold too much power.
Republicans wrote the rule; now they should live with it.
January 12, 2027: The 90th Legislative Session begins.
Click here to find out what Legislative districts you’re in.
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In the olden days, you weren't supposed to present a law for enactment without first identifying a problem which only government could rectify and then stating the general policy behind the law was to rectify this problem.
So, I'm imagining the "whereas" clause of the Free Roadkill Law. "Whereas, Texans have been prevented from exercising their fundamental right to free meat caused by collisions on roadways and there has been a public outcry about this outrage, be it enacted....Therefore it is the policy of the Free Roadkill Act to allow any Texas citizen with first dibs on a dead animal on state roads to take it home and prepare it for consumption as they see fit.
I don't think it is actually against the law now to remove and eat roadkill. Of course, we must anticipate the Buzzard Lobby opposing this law. Come to think about it, buzzards should be protected too. We should not be removing their main source of food.
What is the point of the notary ban?