Transparency Takes A Hit In the House

This Week in the Texas Legislature: Tantrums, vouchers, and the war on SNAP.

A few weeks ago (or days ago?—it’s all running together at this point), the House Committee on Appropriations passed a budget bill, even though the line-by-line discussions and decisions were held off camera. We all laughed at Brian Harrison (R-HD10) because he threw a temper tantrum. But we laughed because he behaved like a petulant child, rather than a professional adult. A broken clock is right twice a day.

Today, on the 81st day of the 140-day Legislative session, Republicans attempted to hold an off-camera meeting for the voucher bill, despite being in a committee room.

It’s somewhat common for hearings to be held in the nearby Agricultural Museum without live-stream cameras. However, in recent years, I have no recollection of important hearings on key Republican priorities being held in committee rooms without cameras.

Luckily, CBS Austin was there to live stream most of it. (They cut out in the end.)

Democrats raised a stink about this hearing’s lack of transparency. Rightfully, so.

It got me thinking. What if Republicans thought it was cool to hold a secret meeting because Democrats didn’t object to the Appropriations SubCommittee hearings happening off-screen?

If we want total transparency, we should expect every single hearing to be broadcast. Otherwise, Republicans will try to pull a stunt like they did today.

The Committee took up SB2, the Senate voucher plan, which Senators already voted on. And of course, James Talarico (D-HD52) stood fiercely against this bill.

One stand-out moment is when Talarico explains, using Elon Musk as an example, how this bill could be funneled into the pockets of billionaires.

Now, here’s the interesting thing about this hearing, especially as it pertains to Committee Chairman Brad Buckley (R-HD54). In 2023, Buckley also tried to get a voucher bill pushed through without a formal meeting or being open to the public. Republican Rep. Ernest Bailes, who was primaried this last year over vouchers, called Buckley out on it, and killed his bill right there. At least for the time being.

From 2023:

Although Bailes is no longer in the Texas House, I don’t see why the argument wouldn’t still stand. This meeting was held behind closed doors, and Buckley decided that the voucher bill is no longer HB3 but SB2 without public comment.

If anything, this will be a reason why Democrats have to call a Point of Order on vouchers to try and kill it. Not to say the Point of Order would stick and they will probably have other Points of Order, but the argument is essentially the same.

Let it be known that this is the second session in a row that Buckley has tried to make some dirty, underhanded moves to push through vouchers.

The voucher bill is still pending in the Committee and hasn’t been voted out yet.

The House Legislative Progressive Caucus’ response:

Catching up on the rest of the week.

I missed several key moments this week, but I wanted to go back and clip them to make sure everyone saw them.

On Monday, the Senate passed SB379, banning people on food stamps from drinking soda and eating cookies. Mayes Middleton (R-SD11), whose net worth is around $500 million, presented this bill as a cost-saving measure for healthcare expenses. According to Middleton, soda and cookies make you fat, and if we ban poor people from consuming them, then they won’t be as unhealthy and won’t put such a strain on our healthcare system.

Restricting certain food items in SNAP does not lead to healthier eating habits. Studies indicate that SNAP participants consume sugary drinks at similar rates to other low-income individuals who are not in the program. Therefore, such bans won’t alter overall consumption of these products.

Limiting food choices for SNAP recipients is paternalistic, undermining their autonomy and dignity. Such measures contribute to the stigmatization of individuals who rely on assistance programs, implying they are incapable of making informed dietary decisions.

Plus, focusing solely on restricting certain food purchases overlooks the systemic factors contributing to poor nutrition, such as limited access to affordable, healthy foods in low-income communities. Comprehensive strategies that address these underlying issues are more likely to be effective in improving dietary habits. For example:

• Expanding the SNAP Healthy Incentives Pilot

• Subsidies for fruits, vegetables, and whole grains; modest taxes on soda and junk food. One study found that a 10% soda tax leads to a 10% drop in consumption.

• Fund grocery stores, farmers’ markets, and mobile produce trucks in underserved areas. (Food deserts.)

• Provide free meals for all students.

• Offer grants, land access, and zoning support for local food production. This would build self-reliance, nutrition, and community.

I could go on. At the end of the day, banning soda and cookies for SNAP recipients is an ineffective and harmful policy that targets some of the most vulnerable among us. When I saw the discussion over this bill on social media, someone mentioned that the vote on this bill was 22 Yeas and 8 Nays. That means that a Democrat(s) would have voted for this bill.

The votes from the journal:

As I scrolled through Monday’s journal, I noticed an uncomfortable pattern. Senate Democrats are not voting as a team. Maybe that’s not as big of a deal, because Republicans could still pass all of these things without one Democratic vote, but they still aren’t operating as one team.

Like for SB875, which gives criminal penalties to school employees if a campaign sign is on school property for more than 48 hours.

Or SB961, which adds more requirements for those receiving Medicaid and SNAP.

Or SB1038, which increases surveillance and fear among Medicaid recipients, especially non-English speakers, the elderly, and disabled people. Under this bill, small clinics, rural doctors, or nonprofits might be hit with crippling fines for technical violations, even without malicious intent.

And SB1024, which favors Republican’s wealthier, NIMBY base. A bill like this could easily block progressive initiatives, like affordable housing, green energy projects, or public transit. It’s all about limiting how local governments can borrow money.

I won’t belabor the point, but Senate Democrats do not have their shit together as well as House Democrats. Sometimes they vote for Republican priorities, sometimes they don’t, and some, like Chuy Hinojosa (D-SD20), vote with Republicans 95% of the time.

When Hinojosa was up for election in 2024, I wrote about his voting record, even pointing to the Mothers Against Greg Abbott Report Card, but he never got a primary challenger. He won’t be up for election again until 2028.

An analysis of Hinojosa’s votes thus far, in the 89th Legislative Session, suggests that he’s moved further to the right of his positions in the last session.

The SNAP ban was far from the only awful thing the Senate passed this week.

On Tuesday, the Senate passed SB965, which will allow teachers to pray out loud in front of the students during instructional time. Every Democrat voted against this one.

Personally, I can’t wait to hear the Christian Nationalist freakout over the first time a Satanist recites an infernal blessing or a Wiccan calls the four corners in their homeroom class. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Then, there was SB16, which required Texans to provide a passport or birth certificate to register to vote. Just more voter suppression targeting marginalized and low-income communities. Every single Democrat voted against it.

Also passed in the Senate was SB8, which requires Texas county sheriffs in counties with 100,000+ residents to enter into agreements with ICE under the federal 287(g) program, which deputizes local law enforcement to enforce federal immigration law. Every single Democrat voted against it.

Then, the Senate passed SB689, bans diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) offices, programs, and trainings in state government entities.

Any expansion of DEI bans is part of the right-wing backlash against civil rights progress. It explicitly bans government entities from even acknowledging systemic racism, sexism, or LGBTQ+ discrimination in hiring or policy. That’s not neutrality, it’s state-sanctioned erasure of marginalized groups’ experiences.

While claiming to be “race-neutral,” the bill bans speech and concepts like allyship, intersectionality, and even pronouns in official capacities. It’s an authoritarian restriction on thought and part of a culture war campaign rooted in white grievance politics, not genuine public policy reform.

Below are some clips from Senate Democrats debating the bill’s author, Bryan Hughes (R-SD01), on this bill. Every single Democrat voted against this bill.

Borris Miles (D-SD13), who always excels at taking Republicans over the wringer over their racist priorities.

This bill punishes agencies for making the workplace safer or more inclusive. That’s not neutrality. That’s regression.

Then there was Molly Cook (D-SD15), whom I was excited to see. She’s finding her feet as a new lawmaker and handled the debate well. I really hope we see more of her pushing back on Republicans as we progress to the end of the session.

Last clip for this debate. Senator Gutierrez (D-SD19), held Hughes’ feet to the fire over this racist bill, even at one point asking, “Do you think Black and brown people in this state are only good for being the help.” It was excellent.

Brian Harrison (R-HD10) is back on his bullshit.

On the House floor, in what might be the most dramatic performance of the session, Harrison delivered an extended tantrum disguised as a series of “parliamentary inquiries.” It was April 1st. A fitting date, considering the performance was a clown show.

Problem is, shouting into a microphone doesn’t magically change House rules or make it 2005 again when stunt drama still felt novel. Undeterred by reality or decorum, Harrison insisted he had the right to make a motion to vacate the chair. When told to file a resolution if he wanted to raise a question of privilege, he pivoted to Rule 5, Section 24, cherry-picking phrases to pretend they gave him the right to demand a motion on the spot.

They did not.

And yet, like a toddler who learned the word “no” and decided it meant “try again louder,” Harrison kept going. He asked, “What must I do to force you to recognize me to make the privileged motion to vacate you?” And when that didn’t land, he accused the Speaker’s staff of cutting off his mic. (“My constituents pay for this microphone!” Honestly, I could hear the veins popping through the livestream.)

By the end, he begged fellow members to join his delusional crusade: “I would invite every member who opposes corruption to sign the motion to vacate you.”

No one did.

But they all laughed at him, loudly. You could hear the laughter in the background.

Since none of his peers were willing to sign his petition to vacate the chair, Harrison started an online petition asking his Twitter followers to sign.

Brian Harrison works in the government and has ZERO idea of how the government works.

But it feeds his ego.

This week has been a masterclass in dysfunction, where bad governance and skewed priorities took center stage.

Republicans are quietly advancing harmful policies behind closed doors, when they’re not busy making a mockery of the House floor. And Democrats in the Senate can’t even seem to vote as a bloc.

Voucher schemes disguised as “choice,” food policing for the poor, religious grandstanding in public classrooms, voter suppression, DEI bans, this is the agenda. And they’re moving it forward while the cameras are off, the rules are bent, and the opposition is scattered.

If there’s one thing to take away from this week, it’s that transparency is necessary for accountability. And unfortunately, when that transparency is missing, we’re all left with billionaires shaping policy, marginalized communities getting punished, and Brian Harrison unraveling in real time, as if grandstanding counts as governing.

The legislature still has 59 days to go. Buckle up.

• 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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