When it comes to laws, there's more than just federal to consider. States have their own laws, as well. As a big state, Texas has a lot of big laws. This paper considers some of those laws, in an effort to address the differences between parties. It is also important to consider how bills get passed and whether the partisanship of the state directly affects the majority of those laws.
TX Government
Texas Government
Like the federal government, the State of Texas passes legislation and creates laws that are specific to that state. That does not make the state immune to the laws federally required, but it does ensure that citizens there are aware of the beliefs, desires, and goals of the state within the confines of legal issues. As such, many of the bills that are created and passed into law in Texas are based on party lines. Democrats and Republications often have differing opinions on very serious issues such as the right to life, gun control, and immigration. With this in mind, the bills they try to pass are generally very different from one another based on those beliefs. It can easily be seen that people who follow their party lines carefully and seriously will create and attempt to pass bills that are based on the beliefs and ultimate goals of that particular political party to which those people belong.
Republican Bills
Allen Fletcher, a Texas House Member, introduced house bill 55 - a bill that would make it illegal to have an abortion based on the sex of the fetus (Fletcher). In other words, a person could not choose to abort a healthy fetus because it was a boy or a girl and the person did not want a child of that particular sex. The bill was authored during the regular session, but did not get through the legislative process (Fletcher). There are three other states that currently ban the practice of sex-selective abortions (Fletcher). Fletcher has stated that the overwhelming majority of abortions in sex-selective cases are for children who would have been female, and that the practice also occurs in many other countries (Fletcher). While Fletcher realizes he can do little about the overall use of the practice, he does not want it to be an acceptable choice in Texas. Similar bills have been introduced before, but have not gained the two-thirds majority they needed to pass. Republicans have, as a majority, always believed that abortion should not be an acceptable practice.
Another bill introduced by republicans in Texas was HB 533, authored by John Otto (Baysinger). This bill was designed to make the recent changes to gun legislation proposed by President Obama null and void within the State of Texas. It was co-authored by Jim Pitts, Bryan Hughes, and a host of other republicans (Baysinger). It would preserve the second amendment very strongly and stop the federal law changes from taking effect in that state. However, it is technically not legal for a state to pass a law that goes against an enforceable federal law (Baysinger). Some have done so, though, and it remains to be seen whether the federal government would take any steps to block the Texas law if it were to pass. This bill clearly shows the dedication of republicans, who are deeply committed to having the freedoms provided by the second amendment and who do not believe the federal government should be making any attempt to take guns away from the public or to reduce a person's ability to own one under normal circumstances.
Democratic Bills
In response to Texas' overall strong stance on abortion, State Representative Harold Dutton Jr. introduced a bill (HB 45) that would stop the state from enforcing anything that was passed in the special session about abortion until the death penalty has been abolished in that state for 60 days (Culp-Ressler). Texas leads the country in executions, and democrats who want that practice stopped see the value in tying the issue to abortion, which some also argue is a form of execution based on when a "life" is actually created (Culp-Ressler). The goal of the bill is to make it illegal to put into motion many of the restrictions that have been passed on abortion, because there is an alleged discrepancy between not allowing abortions but yet executing so many people. Democrats as a majority have long believed that abortions should be the woman's choice and that Texas is far too restrictive on trying to find reasons to stop nearly every abortion from taking place in the state.
Texas State Representative Yvonne Davis recently introduced a bill on gun control (HB 2167) that would remove sheriffs from office if they refuse to comply with and enforce federal law changes regarding who can own guns and what kinds of guns these people may possess (Howerton). Some sheriffs believe the proposed changes violate the constitution, and have stated they will not enforce them (Howerton). The bill would remove any sheriff who did this, but there is a concern over doing this because sheriffs are not appointed to their posts. They are elected officials chosen by the people. However, the bill is on par with what democrats generally believe, in that they want tighter control on guns -- and some want guns banned altogether, at least for ownership and use by private citizens.
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