On new Texas state laws.
// Week of August 30 //
Happy Friday!
I just made it through my first full week of classes- so far, so good. I’m looking forward to a long weekend to relax, work on this month’s Impactfull series, and going to Veracruz All Natural for their famous tacos!
I also need to start composting… It’s one of those things that will be so easy to do once I start, but I just have a mental block about actually sitting down and learning how to do it.
New Texas State Laws
Two weeks ago, our Instagram followers voted for me to learn about the local government here in Austin.
And if you’ve been even half paying attention to the news this past week, you know that the new Texas state laws are at the center of national discussion.
While the abortion ban at six weeks is the most highly publicized (learn more about that bill here), hundreds of new laws went into affect on Wednesday. I’ll break down a few of the less publicized and more concerning new laws.
Mirroring the nationwide discussion of critical race theory, HB 3979 limits how teachers can discuss current events and race in their classrooms. At the same time, it requires that students learn about “the founding documents of the United States,” including the Federalist Papers and, quite vaguely, “the writings of the Founding Fathers of the United States.” I am reminded of how we’ve been learning about the Constitutional Convention and the founding fathers in my Constitutional Law class. I’m grateful that our professor has stressed that the Founding Fathers were not representative of the population as a whole, and that the protection of slavery was a core motivator for many early policy decisions in our country.
Learn more about the importance of teaching history from Shoshanah’s recent article.
HB 1900 punishes municipalities with more than 250,000 inhabitants that decrease funding for police forces from one year to the next. Municipalities that do decrease police funding will lose tax revenue. This law is particularly confusing to me. If police departments are effective in reducing crime, wouldn’t we hope that ultimately their presence is less needed in communities, and that eventually their budgets could be decreased? This bill creates a permanent police force that can only grow in metropolitan areas.
You probably heard that some Democratic state legislators fled the state to prevent the passage of a restrictive voting rights bill. Many returned in August, and the state legislature is currently discussing the bill in a special session.
What Now?
Personally, watching the fear and worry that these new laws created forced me to reflect on my privilege. Many of these laws wouldn’t even be introduced in Minnesota’s liberal legislature, and as I’ve previously mentioned, I wasn’t very aware of Tennessee politics.
These laws are very personal for many. They are making national headlines for that reason, and because they could signal a new era of state politics across the country.
I was angry with Texas politics a few weeks ago when my law school orientation was online a few weeks ago. I felt that if the governor hadn’t written orders banning mask and vaccine mandates, I would have been able to meet my classmates in person that week. In that way, state politics did affect my life– at least for a week.
But for many Texans, these new laws will impact them much more profoundly and for longer than whether or not their professional school orientation is in person or online.
This makes me very sad. But it also reminds me of my privilege, and of the responsibility that comes with that privilege.
I will use my privilege to learn and to advocate for change here in Austin.
Welcoming New Residents
Now for a bit more hopeful news. With the fall of Kabul to the Taliban, there are thousands of Afghan refugees. By the end of September, Austin will welcome 185 of those refugees!
There are already 114 Afghan refugees living in Austin. Hundreds more Afghan refugees will resettle in other parts of Texas this month.
I’m on the lookout for ways to support these new members of the area!
That’s the end of this week’s Alexa in ATX. This was a heavy one. I encourage you to learn more about the new Texas state laws. Then, compare them to state laws where you live.
Be sure to follow Novel Hand on Instagram for more frequent updates.
Is there something you’d like to read about in this column? Let me know with a comment below!
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