House Bill 274, filed by Rep. Briscoe Cain (R-Deer Park), was first announced in December and would allow the state to effectively assume control over the city. The district would still follow city laws currently in place, but would allow the state to amend or repeal laws, ordinances and policies it chooses.
Fuck. No. Tired of Republicans pretending they care about small government, then go on to say “but there’s crime and drugs,” as if that empty vaguery justifies their authoritarian impulses. What crime and drugs? What specific crimes? Which specific drugs? How does that compare to the rest of the state?
You would never do this to a rural city, even if it had more crime and drugs per capita than Austin. This is a naked power grab designed to take control of a Democratic stronghold, to ensure Republican power.
This is not democracy, it’s autocracy.
Eta: and if the problem really was having the Seat in such a “problematic” city, you could just move the seat. Move it to Tyler or Waco. There’s no reason to take over an entire city, except for authoritarian purposes. Pretending this is the only reasonable option is madness.
Given that the bill is a constitutional amendment, it is very unlikely to pass. An amendment to the state constitution would require two-thirds of both the Texas House and Senate to pass, meaning a handful of Democrats would have to vote in favor along with all Republicans. If it were to reach that point, the amendment would then have to be approved by Texas voters.
Yeah this bill is political theater. It’s DOA as actual legislation.
In a civilized society, this wouldn’t even be introduced.
So much for small government.
The western part of Briscoe Cain’s district covers Pasadena, which has a higher crime rate than Austin (which has a really low crime rate for a big city). Maybe all the fumes from industry in Deer Park have affected his brain.
Deer Park regularly has large-scale chemical fires that barely hit the news there, where in other places they’d evacuate a two-mile wide swath of homes. Maybe Briscoe Cain should urge the state to do something about that instead