This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things

Some bills died, some got worse, and some just made billionaires richer.

The one question that seems to keep coming up in the last few months is, “What have Republicans been focused on in their time in Austin?” In the previous few sessions, their main priorities seemed to be harming marginalized communities through anti-LGBTQ+ legislation or CRT/DEI bans. In 2021, their big pushes were stripping Texans of their voting rights and removing access to healthcare for women. But what happens in a state where the fascists have been in control and all of their culture war boxes get checked?

In the 89th Legislative Session, more than any other session in recent years, the biggest focus appears to be handouts and favors to the wealthiest among us.

This shouldn’t be surprising for a state that seemingly blocks out working people from holding state office, and whose legislative ranks are filled with multi-millionaires and billionaires.

The favors that the Texas Legislature has granted themselves and their billionaire buddies this session represent a kind of corruption so casual, so baked-in, that it barely registers as scandal anymore. From backroom subsidies and tax loopholes to sweetheart land deals and industry carve-outs, the 89th session made one thing crystal clear. When the culture war runs out of steam, the grift kicks into high gear.

Now that the legislature is winding down, you’re going to start hearing a lot about the bills that were passed.

Yesterday was the deadline for both the House and the Senate to pass bills on third reading. So, we know with complete certainty what bills have died and which will become law (pending potential vetos from Abbott).

Here are some of the significant deaths:

• HB186, the bill that would ban anyone under the age of 18 from social media.

• HB3225, which would have required public libraries to verify patrons’ ages for book checkouts.

• HB3227, the bill to preserve white supremacy statues across Texas.

• SB16, a sweeping voter suppression bill that creates major new barriers to voter registration in Texas by requiring documented proof of U.S. citizenship.

• SB18, an openly anti-LGBTQ+ censorship bill designed to defund municipal libraries that host drag storytime events or anything resembling them

• SB19, a corporate-backed anti-local power bill that bans Texas cities, counties, and school districts from using public funds to hire lobbyists or join lobbying associations.

• SB39, the pro-corporate tort reform bill that limits the legal liability of trucking companies and commercial motor vehicle operators in civil lawsuits.

• SB240, the bathroom bill.

• SB2858, a sweeping state preemption law that radically limits the power of cities and counties in Texas to govern themselves.

• SB2880, a bill to ban the mailing of abortion pills into Texas.

• SJR1, a proposed constitutional amendment in Texas that would require courts to deny bail to undocumented immigrants automatically.

• SJR87, a proposed Texas constitutional amendment that would require judges to deny bail to individuals charged with serious felonies.

There are lots of other terrible Republican wish-list ideas which are also dead, for this session at least.

Watching Democrats kill SJR1 yesterday was particularly satisfying:

It’s a good thing that they’re wrapping up for the session, because tempers these last few days have been flaring.

Watch Ellen Troxclair (R-HD19), David Lowe (R-HD91), and Hillary Hickland (R-HD55) charge up Mihaela Plesa (D-HD70) for missing the vote on SJR87:

Yes, Troxclair called Plesa a “general lady,” instead of “gentlelady.” 🤦🏻‍♀️They asked her about her knowledge of the Conservative Coalition’s position on a bill. But the true purpose of the Republicans’ line of questioning was to scold her for missing the vote for SJR87.

Only a little while later, Liz Campos (D-HD119) called Troxclair’s inappropriate questioning out:

Now, if you’re like me, you’re probably wondering, “WTF right does Troxclair, a Republican, think she has about questioning Plesa, a Democrat, against missing a vote on a bad Republican bill?”

Plesa voted in favor of the bill during the second reading, as did eight other Democrats. Now, did she miss the vote on the third reading because the base pressured her after that second vote, or did she miss it by accident? I don’t know. However, the Republican women seemed angry at her for missing it.

This incident opens up the door for a broader conversation that needs to be had.

We won’t always agree with the votes our Democratic representation makes in Austin, but we still need to hold them accountable.

Throughout the session, I’ve had conversations with Democratic voters across the state, and I frequently heard, “I am disappointed with how my Rep has been voting.” In fact, for Plesa, I had at least three people reach out to me and talk about her votes during this session.

Mihaela Plesa is someone I consider a friend, and I don’t always agree with the way she votes, but she isn’t my representative, and she is in a competitive district. That’s why it’s so crucial for y’all to watch how your Reps are voting. They work for you. So, when they are taking votes that make you unhappy, it’s your job to let them know.

Take my House Rep, Chris Turner (D-HD101), for example. I watch his votes, just like I watch everyone’s votes. And around 95% of the time, I agree with the votes he takes, and have a lot of trust in him. However, sometimes he votes badly. Like with SB3, the THC ban, he voted in favor of that bill on the second reading.

When I saw that, I immediately picked up the phone and called his office, spoke with a staffer, and told him, “I was very disappointed in that vote, please let him know.”

When the bill was read for the third time, Turner voted against it.

Maybe that was because of my call, or perhaps he was bombarded with calls, but that’s exactly how we hold our elected officials accountable.

And now that the session is wrapping up and we’re seeing which bills are crossing the finish line, and which Democrats helped make that happen, there’s going to be a bigger question that comes up in the next few months.

Which Democrats should be primaried?

Not Mihaela Plesa, even though some Democrats were disappointed in her votes this session, because Plesa is in a competitive district.

The Democrats who need to be primaried are the ones who are in safe blue seats, who have no reason to bow down to Republicans, but still do it anyway.

There are many Democrats in safe blue seats who vote as expected, such as Chris Turner. However, there are also Democrats in safe blue seats that, despite being safe, constantly vote against their Democratic constituents and the Democratic Party platform. (Richard Raymond, for example.)

As the dust settles and the scorecards and report cards are published over the next few months, we’ll get a better idea of which “safe” Democrats are voting like Republicans. Those are who should be our targets. For the most part, we already know who those Reps are. Richard Raymond, Oscar Longoria, Sergio Munoz, to name a few. But maybe we’ll see that there are some Democrats whose votes wind up surprising us. We’ll talk about this more in the coming weeks.

One thing I’ve constantly heard from grassroots activists is their desire to primary Democrats in safe blue seats who aren’t doing anything to help flip Republican seats in their area. I hear this frequently from Harris and Tarrant County.

Yeah, it sucks when safe blue Democrats won’t help campaign or donate to neighboring districts, when they can be flipped. I don’t think that alone is a good enough reason to launch a primary challenge, but I think it’s something that should always be considered, especially when considering their votes.

That’s just something for grassroots activists, PACs, and potential candidates to have on their minds as we transition into campaign season.

But as we plan for the fights ahead, we can’t ignore what already slipped through.

While we’ve been fighting to stop the worst culture war bills and calling out bad Democratic votes, the wealthiest people in Texas have been raking it in.

Because when you strip away the noise, the library bans, the drag show freakouts, the angry floor debates, what you’re left with is money. Power. Land. Handouts.

While the rest of us are watching our schools get defunded and our rights chipped away, billionaire developers are getting sweetheart deals from the state. Oil and gas giants are dodging taxes. Corporate lobbyists are writing the bills. And your average Texan is left with a broken grid, poisoned water, and an unlivable paycheck.

So when we talk about accountability, it’s not just about voting records on the most outrageous bills. It’s about asking, “Who are our lawmakers really working for?”

Because if your representative is bending over backward to help a billionaire but can’t be bothered to show up for working people, that’s not just a voting issue. That’s a values issue. And it’s time we started treating it like one.

The grift is already here. And it’s bipartisan.

I began writing about all of these corporate-elitist, pro-wealthy, anti-worker bills that passed this session. It goes way beyond the voucher scheme. There are a lot of bills that are legislative favors for the wealthiest among us, as one in four children in Texas lives in a food-insecure household, and thousands are suffering without access to healthcare.

Right now, I’m working through all 2,757 bills that passed this session. It’s a mountain of legislation, but buried in it is a roadmap of who this government really serves. I’m sorting them, tagging them, and cross-referencing the votes. I want to know, and I want you to know, which lawmakers, Democrats included, sided with oil companies, developers, corporate lobbyists, and billionaire donors over working Texans..

I’ll have something to share with y’all this summer. It’ll be a comprehensive breakdown of the worst grifts and who enabled them. Not just the bills you heard about in the news, but also the ones slipped into law without a press release or a press conference.

And remember, just because a bill passed both chambers doesn’t mean it’s law yet, although most of them will be.

Here’s how the endgame works in Texas.

The governor has 20 days after the end of the session, until June 16, to either sign or veto the bills on his desk. If he does nothing, the bill automatically becomes law. He doesn’t even need to lift a pen. In other words, silence is consent.

So no, he won’t sign all 2,700+ bills, but he won’t have to. Many will slide into law without his signature. Expect Abbott to veto anything that upsets his donors, sign the bills that serve his agenda, and let the rest pass quietly.

That means we’ve got just a few weeks left to raise hell about the worst of the worst, and to get a head start on the next fight.

I’ll be tracking what makes it, what gets vetoed, and what’s quietly waved through the back door. If you’re reading this and you want to help, stay loud, stay organized, and keep the pressure on. We might not have their money, but we’ve got numbers. We’ve got stories. And we’ve got receipts.

So let’s use them.

Texas might be run by billionaires right now, but it doesn’t have to stay that way.

Stay tuned. The grift is real. And I’m naming names this summer.

• 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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