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Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick needs the Texas Senate to reexamine how the state conducts runoff elections and suggest new legal guidelines geared toward stopping protesters from masking their faces when the Legislature meets subsequent 12 months.
On Tuesday, Patrick — who oversees the Senate and has severe energy over what payments it passes — launched a second spherical of directives for Senate committees, constructing on an inventory of 57 objects from earlier this 12 months that centered on, amongst different issues, housing prices, faculty vouchers, property tax reduction and strengthening the ability grid.
The brand new listing contains a lot of right-wing priorities, and would escalate Republicans’ wars towards variety, fairness and inclusion applications.
Final 12 months, Texas lawmakers banned such applications at public universities — prompting layoffs and protests at some colleges. Now, Patrick needs lawmakers to “examine programs and certificates” at increased schooling establishments that also have DEI insurance policies, after which “expose” them as “damaging and not aligned with state workforce demands.” He then needs lawmakers to suggest “any needed reforms to ensure universities are appropriately educating students to meet workforce needs.”
Patrick additionally directed senators to suggest laws geared toward masked protesters, a few of whom he claims have hid their identities to be able to commit crime. Lawmakers in New York and North Carolina have already pursued related laws in response to pro-Palestinian protests all through this 12 months, although such masks bans have been closely criticized by civil liberties teams and immunocompromised individuals.
He additionally requested senators to guage impeachment proceedings, and make suggestions to “ensure a fair and transparent process,” in a request launched virtually precisely one 12 months after the Texas Senate acquitted Legal professional Basic Ken Paxton of all impeachment expenses. Patrick served because the decide for the Senate trial and, after the votes, gave a fiery speech condemning the method and Home leaders who allowed it to maneuver ahead.
Patrick additionally directed senators to review the principles and timing for runoff elections, hinting he thinks that he could also be involved too many main races are being determined within the second spherical head-to-heads. Runoff elections are presently required if no candidate receives greater than 50% of vote in a main. Patrick needs lawmakers to review that threshold, significantly in races with 4 or extra candidates, and whether or not it ought to be lowered “in some instances.”
He additionally needs lawmakers to suggest laws to take away noncitizens from voter rolls and forestall them from registering to vote — one thing that specialists say is uncommon however has fueled a brand new spherical of Republican fears forward of the 2024 presidential election. Texas already has among the strongest voting legal guidelines within the nation, and state and federal legal guidelines already prohibit noncitizens from voting. In 2021, Gov. Greg Abbott additionally signed two payments that require citizenship checks of voter rolls, and permit the secretary of state to withhold funds from counties that don’t take away noncitizens from voter rolls. Each of these payments originated within the Texas Senate.
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