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The White House insists its not done trying to cut a deal with Republican lawmakers on its jobs and infrastructure agenda, but by the end of last week, few Senate Democrats seemed eager to keep bipartisan talks going. Its just not particularly genuine, Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) told Politico about the GOPs $928 billion counteroffer to President Joe Bidens infrastructure proposal, which was more than $1 trillion short of what the White House is seeking. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) wrote a letter to his Democratic colleagues on Friday informing them that they must pass comprehensive jobs and infrastructure legislation this summer. Work on that legislation, he added, would happen with or without the support of Republican Senators.

Biden and White House aides have spent the last several weeks in talks with GOP lawmakers in hopes of finding common ground by a self-imposed Memorial Day deadline. As the talks continued, Congress typically vocal left flank held back. Weve tried to give a little bit of space on these bipartisan negotiations because we understand there are some Senate Democrats who need to see that, Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, told me on Friday.

The holiday came and went, but the negotiations will continue, a strategy the White House believes will showcase Bidens bipartisan bona fides and reflect well his party within the halls of Congress and among the voting public. But progressive lawmakers refused to hold back any longer. On Friday afternoon, the Congressional Progressive Caucus issued a statement urging for Bidens economic proposals to move through Congress quickly via the budget reconciliation process, which requires only a simple majority in both chambers to pass. It also insisted that the priorities the left flank have coalesced aroundincluding universal child care, affordable housing, and lowering drug pricesbe included in that package.The dwindling attempts at bipartisanship have opened the door to debate within the Democratic party, and a return to the dynamic that shaped the COVID relief bill Congress passed in March.

As the fate of Bidens economic legacy looks increasingly to rest on a party line vote, Congress left flank is threatening to assert itself in a narrowly divided House and Senate to quash legislation that doesnt meet their demands. As they prepare, in the words of one aide to a progressive lawmaker, they are telegraphing clearly and openly to Biden, Schumer, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) that their exertion of pressure is forthcoming.

But in terms of what those hard lines might actually be, well, there arent any yet. Our approach has been to push really hard on every frontwith the Speaker, with the White House, with the Senate, to make sure our priorities get in, Jayapal explained. I wouldnt say, necessarily, that theres a way to say This is the point at which we vote no.

Since Democrats retook the House in 2018, progressives have threatened to disrupt proceedings if they dont get their way. So far, theyve rarely exercised that power, and the CPC and the squad have yet to behave like the liberal equivalent of the tea party representatives that made former House Speakers John Boehner and Paul Ryans lives hell. But as Democrats negotiated the COVID relief package earlier this year, the left flank in the House drew a hard line on keeping a proposal to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour in the final bill. Their push succeeded until the Senate parliamentarian ruled that raising the federal minimum wage did not qualify for consideration under the budget reconciliation process. Progressives had threatened to vote against the final bill if Vice President Kamala Harris did not exercise her power to overrule the parliamentarian but, ultimately, they stood down, unwilling to block Bidens first major legislative effort.

For the jobs and infrastructure package, the Congressional Progressive Caucus identified five of its top issues back in April. They include $450 billion in Medicaid funding for caregiving, universal child care, a massive expansion of affordable housing and efforts to combat homelessness, and major investments in climate jobs and climate justiceincluding a large-scale Civilian Climate Corps modeled after the New Deals Civilian Conservation Corps. These negotiating points also include apush to lower the cost of prescription drugs, dropping the Medicare eligibility age, and providing a roadmap to citizenship for undocumented essential workers, Dreamers, and TPS recipients. Nearly all of these proposals, such as lowering the cost of prescription drugs, go far beyond the scope and price tag the White House has suggested. Others, such as the caregiving investments, closely mirror Bidens proposalsand simply hold the line.

For now, Jayapal and other progressive leaders are assessing what appetite fellow lefty lawmakers have for making demands during reconciliation negotiationsand if there is enough support to force their inclusion in the final package, according to several sources familiar with the conversations. The demands may end up being more narrow than what the list outlined initially: On climate, for example, some members are considering drawing a line in the sand on keeping natural gas from qualifying as clean energy in both the clean energy standard the White House seeks to pass through Congress and its related line items in the jobs proposal.

But a lot of progressive energy seems focused on getting the White House to yes instead of forcing its hand with a no. Last Thursday, for example, more than 150 House Democrats signeda letter pushing the president to support an expansion of Medicare, something the White House has not included in its various economics proposals. As she explains the public strategy, Jayapal acknowledged the risks of being too forceful and doesnt sound ready to endanger any reconciliation bill yet. We have to be very careful, and we have to negotiate what can get through, she told me. But I think thats why were trying to show that there is support across the caucus for something like Medicare expansion, which she described as a big, bold, popular, populist thing to do.

Other progressives echoed Jayapals combination of concern and caution. Talk to me in a week or two, Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.) told me last week when I asked if hed vote against a package that doesnt include progressive priorities. Nothing to say at this moment, but well see, going forward. We want to be as green as possible and as equitable as possible overall. Rep. Marie Newman (D-Ill.) said progressives arent going to cheap out and give up on all the things we need to do that are outlined in Bidens proposal. But as far as whether the left flank should take a hard line, Newman offered no specifics. We do have a powerful voice, and we are going to use it, she said.

Progressives in the Senate Democratic caucus, meanwhile, face similar considerations. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) has led the push to expand Medicare and lower the price of prescription drugs in the next reconciliation package. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) has been demanding even greater spending than what Biden proposed for affordable child care. When I asked her in May if she would hold up a Senate infrastructure package if it did not include child care, she was still undecided. But, she warned, I want to make clear that when the infrastructure train moves forward, child care will not be left in the station once again.

Forcing these progressive priorities into a reconciliation package is one thing, but passing it is another. In the end, the $15 federal minimum wage proposal did not have full support among Senate Democrats, and its exclusion from the COVID relief bill helped the party avoid a skirmish that could have tanked the package altogether. A similar dynamic would surely play out if line items from the progressives wish list made their way to the Senate. Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.V.), for example, said last month that he wants to see a more traditional infrastructure proposal that avoids additional funding for child care and health care. And so far, its the moderates like Manchin who have demonstrated a willingness to actually slam the breaks on legislation thatdont suit them.

Read more:
Are Progressives Finally Ready to Throw Their Weight Around? Mother Jones - Mother Jones

The Racism Is Virulent

To The Editor:

On February 20th, 1939 the German American Bund a/k/a the American Nazi Party rallied in New Yorks Madison Square Garden. Their aim was to Stop Jewish Domination of Christian America. Charlottesville had some very fine people shouting Jews will not replace us!

Congresswoman Marjorie Green advocates the Q-Anon conspiracy that a cabal of cannibal Jews are kidnapping and eating Christian children. Only a very few members of the Republican Party find reason to reject her rantings.

Asian Americans are attacked nationwide following Trumps claims that COVID-19 was set upon the world intentionally by the Chinese. The Hong Kong Flu as Trump called the virus has his supporters raging and determined to seek retribution. Asians who have been vilified during American history by the Exclusion Act and other legislation are once again walking the streets of the nation in fear.

One year after the murder of George Floyd, Congress has failed to pass meaningful legislation. African-Americans have paid an enormous price over 400 years of our history allowing the nation to achieve economic success, while making the ultimate sacrifices in our wars. African-Americans and Jews have manned the front lines from the Boston Tea Party till today in the sands of the Middle East and Afghanistan.

Perhaps it is unfair to believe those who attacked our democracy on January 6th from outside the nations Capitol and on the Floor of the House to dispute the legitimacy of a duly elected President are anything other than racists. Yet they support conspiracy theories which at their core simply mean they reject anyone not white and Christian. It is hard not to visualize the Nazi salute, the burning cross, the pogrom and the lynching.

Ed HornBaldwin, LI

Zero Waste

To The Editor:

Conservation is getting a make-over with updates that reflect the lessons learned from the past; challenges of climate change, and a lean toward environmental equity. I am referring to the definition of conservation that focuses on a careful preservation and protection and planned management of resources to prevent exploitation, destruction, or neglect with a particular focus on waste or trash. And yes, to recall a popular phrase from 2020, I am adding that We are all in this together; although judging from the mounds of sidewalk trash, pet waste, discarded masks, shipping boxes, furniture and gloves, we are in an ever growing worsening garbage nightmare. We can continue to view this scene from the sidelines, or think about taking our personal responsibility and aiming it at this problem. I generally do not scold or chastise folks for their actions, but like every parent who has ever admonished their child for not picking up after themselves, I am standing in for Mother Nature here to unapologetically raise the volume and create a picture to hopefully spark a bit more attention to waste management in our neighborhoods and city.

Time has run out on the pandemic excuses for why we have let things slip, so lets get started on getting informed and busy taking whatever steps, large or small, to improve the quality of life in our Queens neighborhoods; then consider tackling the larger picture through our vote and active citizenship. You may be surprised to know that the free orange shopping bag that you might have been given or have seen others using, with references to Zero-Waste, leads back to the first ever Mayors Office of Sustainability committed to reducing or eliminating waste to landfills and incineration by 2030 because of the social, environmental and economic implications of waste and pollution. This is also compatible with the United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development initiative proving that what we do locally (right now) will affect global outcomes related to the larger goals of eliminating poverty, ending hunger and food waste, ensuring universal access to clean water and sanitation, improving infrastructure, as well as conserving and restoring ecosystems, land and marine areas. Other goals include living a less wasteful life and implementing community-based solutions. For those who think that this is too boring and they would rather watch a show about a zombie apocalypse with doomsday action; be advised that such scenes may soon hold more reality than fantasy.

Looking back to the history of waste management in New York City, it might surprise you to know that ocean dumping and incineration represented progress for the crowded 19th century neighborhoods of New York City where, according to Robin Nagle, anthropologist-in-residence at the Department of Sanitation and author of Picking Up, gunk, horse urine and manure, dead animals, food waste and furniture crap was found everywhere; and throwing it out simply meant that it wouldnt go anywhere. People were engulfed in filth under disease promoting conditions that eventually led to the creation of the New York City Department of Street Cleaning in 1881, under the leadership of Civil War veteran George E. Waring, Jr., described as an American sanitary engineer, civic reformer and advocate of sewer systems that keep domestic sewage separate from storm runoff. Clearly, the mixing of sewage and water produces serious potential for threats to public health then and now. The idea of street cleaners in the dirtiest targeted neighborhoods led to the residents of tenements meeting this new initiative with hostility. It is reported that they threw bricks at the street cleaners and came out to fight them with sticks. Waring supposedly said to his men: You keep going back. You show them what youre going to do and see if you dont change their hearts. When I read this, I immediately developed a fondness for this champion reformer. It is said that After two weeks, residents of the tenements became ardent fans because they cleaned their streets. During her presentation in the first session of the Zero Waste Academy that started May 8 (concluding May 28), Nagle talked about how the street cleaners wore white uniforms and became celebrated as heroes among the other uniformed public servants beginning at the 1882 Labor Day Parade that also included tailors, bricklayers and cobblers. They wore hats and white gloves like the police, took a vow to serve and were called White Wings with a military style operation that included captains and chiefs. In the 1930s the uniform changed to green and the name became the Department of Sanitation. This history becomes the foundation of our understanding of how important waste management is to our health and quality of life, among many other dimensions of basic survival.

Edward Humes, journalist and environment author, is quoted as saying that each resident of our densely populated city throws away an average of 7.1 pounds of waste per day equaling a total of 22 million pounds. If we add all the new classes of e-waste, PPE discarded waste and the increase in mail order package waste, we see a virtual tsunami of garbage that we are currently sitting with right in our own communities. We cant fully appreciate the urgency unless we understand how this problem affects our air, water and land. I have been impressed with the quality and quantity of information and resources that are available to help us in managing what is clearly a crisis. The Zero Waste Academy is an excellent example of the effort to educate advocates, civic leaders, private citizens and others in what the total picture looks like so that they can go back to their communities and constituents and rally for the cause. The Environmental Justice Alliance (nyc-eja.org) and the NYC Environmental Study(www1.nyc.gov/ejsudy) that is underway are other examples of efforts being made to create viable solutions for the problems produced by mounting waste. Public schools and large waste-generating businesses and institutions such as hotels, arenas, food wholesalers, manufacturers, commercial building owners are all being targeted as part of the agenda to divert 50% of waste from landfills and incineration. Public schools have been working with GrowNYC using the NYC Zero Waste School Program since 2010; and there is a free on-line NYC Schools Guide to Zero Waste. There is also an Environmental Justice Study Guide, produced by Washington University in St. Louis that highlights factors of racial/class disparities and environmental hazards (students.wusl.edu) available on-line. Zero Waste information is available on social media including Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.

If you have ever had your sewage back-up; a water pipe break; a tree falling on your block; a power outage; a rodent problem from trash; a flood, or experienced a water main break; been without clean water or hot water, you may have a humble appreciation for the importance of sanitation and responsible care of our natural resources. I urge us all to do our part to safeguard our communities against the ravages of unchecked consumerism that leads to excessive waste; littering; environmentally unsound methods of personal waste disposal and industrial pollution. We can recycle, reuse, restore and take the Zero Waste Pledge: Theres no away when we throw garbage into a bag or pail. A majority of our waste can be reused, recycled or composted. By pledging to reduce waste sent to landfills, New Yorkers can help fight climate change and support green jobs in our City! I pledge to recycle metal, glass, plastic, paper and cardboard, food scraps and yard waste, electronic waste, safely dispose of harmful household products, reduce waste by using shopping bags, bottles and mugs and donate clothing and textiles. In addition, we can try biodegradable disposables such as bamboo toothbrushes, forks, knives and spoons. We can make a difference simply by thinking differently and taking small, manageable steps that sustain clean, sanitary conditions in our communities now and into the future.

Dr. Sharon M. CadizTo read the full letter, visit Qgazette.com.

Dangerous Withdrawal

To The Editor:

The planned withdrawal of all U.S. and European troops from Afghanistan by September 11 will probably allow the Taliban to reconquer Afghanistan and impose a strict Islamist regime within the country, and establish terrorist organizations devoted to attacking the United States.

The Taliban followers are terrorists who are aligned with al-Qaida, and they are the same groups who have launched terrorist attacks in the world over the past 30 years, including the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States.

We need to keep adequate military forces in the region outside of Afghanistan to counter Taliban and al-Qaida moves in Afghanistan and to keep them off balance to prevent attacks against us. Approximately 3000 U.S. troops should be based on the Arabian peninsula in case they are needed as a quick reaction force. U.S. Special Forces in the region will probably have to be beefed up.

We need ground assault aircraft available in Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Additionally, a squadron of B-52s should be based in the region.

A U.S. Navy carrier battle group and an amphibious assault force must be deployed in the region to provide the capabilities for air bombardment and missile attacks as necessary.

The Taliban are the enemy and must be treated as such.

Donald MoskowitzLondonderry NH

The rest is here:
Letters to the Editor - Western Queens Gazette

Misbehavior

The misbehavior of parents who showed up at the Timberlane Regional School Bossed meeting, by refusing to respect the current expectation to wear masks at public meetings, represents the worst kind of role modeling. Maybe they would support their kids not following school rules by rowdy protest in place of organized discussion, too. Imagine if any group who disagreed with something took actions like theirs.

Law and order

After Senate Republicans scuttled an impartial, bipartisan Jan. 6th commission, despite pleas from Capitol Police and relatives of a fallen officer, how exactly are they the party of patriotism, law and order? What blatant hypocrisy. They've failed their constitutional duty to protect our country.

Preventing votes

It's simple, if you work hard to prevent people from voting, you pretty much admit your ideas arent popular and you fear the verdict of the people. In other words, you can't handle the truth.

Still closed

I was in Boston over the weekend. The restaurants were all fully open, no one was wearing a mask. However, when I've tried walking into the local storefronts of a national pizza chain, the dining rooms were still closed. Why is that? It's not COVID-19 or science related.

Breakfast menu

During a softball, damage control interview on one of the many Democratic friendly networks, Vice President Kamala Harris said of her critics, "I eat 'no' for breakfast," clearly insinuating that valid criticism of her job performance was just naysaying against a disadvantaged victim of white male culture turned vice president. Well, it's not. I don't care what she eats for breakfast. I just hope she does her job after she's eaten.

Harm's way

If every bad-run in with a disgruntled person launches an investigation that could potentially yield disciplinary action or the end of a career, who will want to go into policing? Maybe police should be able to sue for putting them in harm's way after the next domestic dispute call.

Not over

For those who think this virus is over, keep reading the obituaries and see that people are still dying. We still have a long ways to go.

Tea Party

I remember a group who took action against something they disagreed that was tyrannical, like the mask mandates, especially for children. It was called the Boston Tea Party. If it weren't for that, we wouldn't be here now.

Help wanted

How laughable. The city of Methuen has an ad in The Eagle-Tribune for a new police chief. Get a new honorable, respectable candidate with no previous ties to the city, along with a new mayor of the same background, and maybe Methuen will stand a chance at moving forward to a better future.

Living wages

My heart bleeds for the daycare owners and other businesses who want to cut unemployment benefits. Maybe if they paid decent wages with benefits, they wouldn't have trouble finding help. I shouldn't need to take the first dead-end, minimum wage job that comes along.

Professional staff

I want to give a shout-out to the wonderful personnel at Salemhaven Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Salem, N.H. I went to visit a patient today and everyone involved with getting me in for the visit was extremely friendly, caring and professional. Thanks to all of them for their hard work and dedication.

We are making critical coverage of the coronavirus available for free. Please consider subscribing so we can continue to bring you the latest news and information on this developing story.

See the rest here:
Sound Off | Opinion - Eagle-Tribune

On a night in mid-December 1773, a group of about 60 men who had disguised themselves as Native Americans boarded three merchant ships at a Boston wharf and dumped dozens of chests of imported tea into the cold dark waters an act of civil disobedience that damaged private property in protest against government tax policies.

Conservatives these days hail that moment; in fact, a faction on the right a few years ago co-opted the name tea party as its own. Yet conservative state legislators across the country have been behaving less like the revolutionary rebels for whom they express admiration and more like British colonial overlords by introducing, and in some states passing, dozens of laws aimed at curtailing the fundamental right to public protest.

How counter-revolutionary.

The murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer a year ago prompted waves of protests across the country. But Floyds killing was hardly the first such outrageous act by government officials, and the Floyd protests were not the first outpouring of anger and opposition to such acts. In fact, the Black Lives Matter movement so feared and reviled by the right began with a hashtag campaign after George Zimmermans 2013 acquittal in the death of Trayvon Martin.

It is in our national DNA to respond to the objectionable through public protest. Street actions in the late 1950s and the 1960s spurred watershed changes in civil rights protections and helped bring an end to U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. Three decades of protests also helped change public awareness and national policy on nuclear energy and weapons. And dont forget the 1999 anti-World Trade Organization protests, or the Occupy Wall Street movement a decade ago.

But some conservative politicians dont like such protests. Since Donald J. Trumps election as president which spurred massive protests by women around the world 45 states have considered a total of 226 bills addressing free assembly and free speech rights, many of which would restrict public protests or reduce protections for protesters, according to the International Center for Not-for-Profit Law, which focuses on supporting civil societies.

Of those, 18 states primarily Republican-led ones in the South and Midwest have enacted 34 bills; 64 measures are still pending.

Montana, North Dakota, Texas and several other states increased penalties for people protesting near oil or gas installations, fallout from the protests against the Keystone XL pipeline; the measures seem to be part of a national campaign by the conservative pro-industry American Legislative Exchange Council, which drafted model language for the bills.

North Dakota also made it a crime to wear a mask during a protest. Utah criminalized protests that disrupt public meetings.

Florida made it so all protesters in groups of more than three can be held criminally liable if any of them damages property.

Anti-protest bills are of a piece with voter suppression efforts. They are attempts to shut off the political participation first of Black Americans, but also of anyone else moved to stand with them, or anyone who would stand against other actions that the government supports.

This is dangerous ground, no matter where on the political spectrum you may stand. Democracy is predicated on the free exchange of ideas and the ability of people to openly express support, opposition or even ambivalence regarding government actions.

Of course, the right to protest is not the right to rampage or block a highway or halt a pipeline or derail a public hearing. Yet we already have laws attending to those issues, and people engaged in civil disobedience anticipate that they will face arrests for their actions. Its a step they are willing to take.

Tellingly, the same Republicans who rail about violent protests last summer seem to have no problem at all with the protesters who stormed the U.S. Capitol and assaulted police officers in hopes of overturning the results of a presidential election. For the record, had Trumps supporters on Jan. 6 marched from his rally on the Ellipse to the police lines at the Capitol steps to decry the certification of Joe Bidens victory, we would have defended their right to do so (while also blasting the lies they were espousing). But they didnt do that; an assault on the seat of government to usurp democracy is not protest but insurrection.

All the same, the indefensible acts of property destruction and violence by the few cannot be used as a mechanism to muzzle the many regardless of the content of the message. That includes voices that express hatred, racism and intolerance.

The best counter to a Klan rally is widespread voices raised in condemnation. We disagree with those who deny the existence of white privilege in our society, but they certainly have a right to utter their bigotry and those who recognize the echoes of history have a right to offer counterarguments, whether these take place in quiet conversations, the letters pages of this newspaper, or on the streets of cities coast to coast in a spontaneous movement decrying police violence.

Democracy can be contentious, loud and messy. Thats the way ours began and the way it must continue.

Elected officials in state capitals should not be allowed to undermine it.

The Los Angeles Times

More:
In Their Opinion: Another victim of the Floyd killing: The right to protest - The Sun Chronicle

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Gov. Greg Abbott had big plans. It was Feb. 1, and he took to the podium prepared to deliver his annual State of the State address. He wanted Texans to know the state was brimming with promise, words that must have rang hollow to those who were still shell-shocked from the U.S. Capitol riot less than a month earlier. Still, he vowed that this years legislative session would provide relief.

Just three weeks earlier, state lawmakers had convened the 87th Legislature. And another two weeks after Abbotts address, Texas would plummet into darkness as a deadly winter storm cut off the lights for millions across the state.

On Feb. 1, though, Abbott was busy laying out his legislative priorities. Speaking to the camera, he urged lawmakers to tackle five emergency items, including so-called election integrity bills. Among the non-emergency priorities were expanding gun rights and banning abortion.

The ground was laid for what became a historic legislative session, one that some Republicans have celebrated as the most conservative session yet.

Rockwall state Rep. Justin Holland is among the Republicans championing the session. Taking to Twitter on May 5, with only a few weeks of lawmaking left, Holland insisted that it was perhaps the most conservative session in Texas history.

While many liberals would begrudgingly agree with that claim, some Republican Party leaders have slammed lawmakers for not moving the needle far enough right.

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Rockwall state Rep. Justin Holland has claimed this was the most conservative session yet

courtesy Rep. Justin Hollands office

On May 24, Holland apparently dressed to make history. He sported a navy and red tie and a plaid blazer. The state Senate had just passed one of his bills, all but ensuring that Texas would become a so-called Second Amendment sanctuary state. Soon, itd be on its way to the governors desk.

Holland was beaming as he posed for a photo beside Republican colleagues. State Reps. Shelby Slawson and Matt Schaefer had also advanced the conservative cause this session, spearheading two of the Houses anti-abortion and pro-gun bills, respectively.

With time running out on the clock, Holland knew the 87th Legislature would be one for the books. We have addressed a very large number of conservative priorities, Holland told me. And I do think it is when the dust settles the most conservative session weve ever had, certainly since Ive been here, but I think ever.

Gov. Abbott celebrated Hollands Second Amendment sanctuary bill onTwitter, writing it would protect the Lone Star State from any new federal gun control regulations. Dont tread on Texas. The Senate had also approved a compromise on Schaefers so-called constitutional carry bill, which would allow Texans to carry a handgun without a license. And the previous Wednesday, the Senates heartbeat bill was signed into law, effectively banning abortions statewide. Slawson had authored an identical companion bill in the House.

On top of tending to regular responsibilities, such as passing the states budget, the Legislature also had the once-in-a-decade redistricting process to contend with. Last year, state lawmakers expected theyd have to make a grueling series of budget cuts, but the federal government helped by providing COVID-19 aid.

And a special session for redistricting will be held later this year because of a delay in receiving census data. That further freed up the Republican-majority Legislature to focus on issues important to its base.

Soon, Holland said, conservative lawmakers had passed religious liberties and bail reform bills, plus those pertaining to election integrity or, as Democrats call it, voter suppression. The way Holland sees it, those were all major victories and conservative lawmakers had delivered the goods for Texas voters who resoundingly reelected them in November, despite Texas Democrats hopes of reclaiming a House majority. Instead, they didnt pick up a single seat.

Holland isnt the only one who thinks this was the most conservative yet. On May 11, Texas Tribune CEO Evan Smith echoed the sentiment in a tweet: this is my fifteenth #txlege and it is, hands down, not even close, the most conservative session ive ever seen, he said, along with the hashtag #electionshaveconsequences.

**

Republicans want to keep police in Texas well funded.

Brian Maschino

Last year, after a police officer killed George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man, in Minneapolis, Black Lives Matter protests surged around the country. Activists rallied around the slogan defund the police. But conservative state lawmakers fought back, threatening to fiscally punish cities that slash law enforcement funding. They also pushed legislation that would make it more difficult for educators to teach about racism.

On Thursday, May 6, state Rep. Jasmine Crockett booked it up to the House mic. The Dallas Democrat had a few pointed questions for House Bill 1900s author, and she didnt hold back.

State Rep. Craig Goldman, a Republican from Fort Worth, had authored a bill that would punish certain municipalities that cut their police funding. The legislation would penalize cities of more than 250,000 people, including Dallas, which last year had opted to decrease its police overtime budget, though the departments overall budget increased.

Crockett battered Goldman with questions that day, her attorney skills on full display. For her, it was personal. Sadly enough, plenty of people havent been to South Dallas, where Black people are afraid most of the time because they dont know if theyre going to get killed, Crockett said, fighting back tears. And instead of us doing something to protect people in this state, we decide to punish punish people who are already suffering. Last week, the bill passed out of the Senate.

Other Texas Democrats have also felt helpless to keep conservative legislation from advancing.

On May 11, the Texas Democratic Party slammed House lawmakers for passing Senate Bill 7, which would limit the ways Texans can cast their ballots. The bill joined hundreds like it across the country, proposals to impose tighter restrictions on voting. The wave of legislation came in response to the 2020 presidential election, which many Republicans falsely claim was rigged against former President Donald Trump.

Texas Democrats had again failed to stir up a blue wave last November, but the partys chair, Gilberto Hinojosa, issued a scorching statement on Republicans voter suppression efforts, calling it their only hope of staying in power.

Even some Republicans were unhappy with the bill, albeit for different reasons. Take Allen West, chairman of the Texas GOP. He said SB 7 had been gutted and replaced, a fact that disappointed him, given that election integrity was a priority.

I caught up with West by phone on May 20, two days after his first grandsons birth. He gave lawmakers credit for passing the heartbeat bill that practically outlaws abortion an end to the dismemberment of unborn children, he called it but that wasnt enough.

West insisted the grassroots conservative base was disappointed with the Republican majority they worked so hard to elect. When I think about some of the other things that have been wasted upon I mean, declaring Dr Pepper the official drink of Texas or San Marcos as the official mermaid capital of Texas I dont think the people want those to be priority issues, he said.

Lawmakers let die bills that would protect Confederate monuments. Important legislation regarding school choice and taxpayer-funded lobbying also fizzled out, West said. Plus, certain bills that would essentially ban gender-affirming care for transgender minors failed to make it to the finish line. So to come out and say this was the most conservative legislative session in history for the state of Texas, West argued, thats delusional, and I dont understand why anyone would say that.

State Rep. Holland thinks West is merely posturing for personal gain and positioning himself to run for higher office. The Republican Party of Texas has been hijacked by a carpetbagger from Florida, and so Allen West does not represent all of the Republicans in Texas, Holland said.

The type of Republican I am is to work on issues that mean things to our party and mean things to our conservative values, he continued. [Wests] is to stoke up his base and make them think were not doing a good job.

**

Gov. Greg Abbott is laying out a conservative agenda for the legislative session

Lynda M. Gonzalez-Pool/Getty Images

Theres no denying fissures within the Texas GOP have grown since Wests ascension to state GOP chair last summer.

A former Florida congressman and Tea Party favorite, West moved to Texas sometime after he was defeated by a Democrat in his 2012 bid for reelection. Since then, hes carved a name for himself as a political firebrand and one of the governors greatest Republican foes. Last October, he protested against Abbotts coronavirus restrictions outside the governors mansion. Legislation that would have reined in some of Abbotts executive powers also died, West said, which was another state GOP priority.

When we spoke, West said hed give the 2021 legislative session a D grade. But Thomas Marshall, a political science professor at the University of Texas at Arlington, disagrees: As of last Tuesday morning, hed give the session, from a conservative point of view, an A-minus.

After holding onto a legislative majority in the 2020 election, Republicans set themselves up for success, Marshall said. They changed the Senate rules to require 18 votes instead of 19 for a supermajority, ensuring an easier route to pass conservative legislation. From there, they deftly avoided progressive legislation, such as skirting some of the provisions in the George Floyd Act, a police reform bill.

Until around a decade ago, the Texas Senate was run by more moderate Republicans, Marshall said, but some have since lost reelection or retired. The remaining Senate Republicans are a more conservative bunch, certainly more so than those of the 1990s.

But during the 2020 election, Democrats failed to gain enough ground in the Legislature, and that harmed their chances of blocking legislation they saw as particularly damaging, Marshall said. Republicans would have offered red-meat bills anyway, but this time around, it was easier to advance them.

Although politics have become increasingly polarized for some time, Marshall said, last years contentious presidential election and social justice protests sharply escalated the tension at the grassroots level. Republican voters expected their lawmakers to make big moves, even if they were symbolic.

Legislators already anticipated a special session for redistricting in the fall, during which officials will take census data and redraw voting districts. But the legislative session got more complicated last Wednesday, with less than a week left to go before adjournment.

Last Tuesday was the final day for the House to advance Senate bills, and as the clock struck midnight, Democratic House lawmakers celebrated: Time had run out on three of Lt. Gov. Dan Patricks priorities. One bill would have prevented local governments from paying lobbyists with taxpayer funds. Another would have prohibited social media giants from "censoring" Texans for their political viewpoints. The third bill was even more controversial: It would have kept young transgender athletes from playing on school sports teams that align with their gender identity.

But Patrick had one last trick up his sleeve. In a tweet last Wednesday morning, he petitioned Abbott to call a special June session to pass those priorities.

Things got even muddier late Sunday night after Democrats walked off the House floorto block the passage ofSB 7, the "election integrity" bill.The move may have stalled that issue for now,but Gov. Abbott plans to add it to the special session agenda.

By and large, though, legislators like Holland are pleased even if critics arent. Soon, some lawmakers will ask voters to reelect them in November 2022. I cant wait to go and brag on what a session we had, Holland said. And people that dont think we did enough, well just have to work on that next time for them.

If they didnt think we did a good job, he continued, then we dont get to go back.

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Simone Carter, a staff news reporter at the Dallas Observer, graduated from the University of North Texas' Mayborn School of Journalism. Her favorite color is red, but she digs Miles Davis' Kind of Blue.

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Conservative Lawmakers Ran Roughshod Over Dems, but Some in the GOP Wanted More - Dallas Observer