Texas’ last legislative session ended with one lawmaker threatening to shoot another after reporting Hispanic protesters to immigration agents, and corporate giants from Amazon to the NFL issuing warnings over a “bathroom bill” targeting transgender people.
More than a year later, comes a test: whether a humbling 2018 for Texas Republicans will soften one of the most conservative statehouses in the country.
The Texas Legislature returns Tuesday, and unlike places such as Colorado and Minnesota where Democrats seized control of legislative chambers in November’s midterm elections, Republicans remain firmly in power. They’re ringing in a 20th consecutive year of controlling every statewide office. But they also took their licks: Democrats flipped 14 seats in the Legislature, closing the gap. […]
All the while, Texas was passing one of the nation’s toughest crackdowns on “sanctuary cities,” allowing police to ask people during routine stops whether they’re in the U.S. illegally. Tensions over the bill spilled into chaos on the session’s final day, when Republican state Rep. Matt Rinaldi called U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Latino protesters in the House gallery. Democratic state Rep. Poncho Nevarez angrily confronted Rinaldi, who later wrote on Facebook that he had warned Nevarez that he would “shoot him in self-defense.” …
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