(TCAN is doing amazing work and is really keeping on top of this. - promoted by Karl-Thomas Musselman)
Despite the hundreds of phonecalls and emails made by concerned voters over the past few days to its members, the Texas House Elections Committee this afternoon passed HB 218 and CSHB 626 (a committee substitute to the original bill that made it less redundant with HB 218) -- two bills that create financial and other barriers to voting and registering to vote, respectively. That means we'll be taking the fight to the floor. We salute the three members who cast the minority "nay" votes: Reps. Rafael Anchía, Lon Burnam, and Joe Farías.
And now the good news: The committee did unanimously pass Rep. Alma Allen's HJR 39, calling for post-ratification by Texas of the 24th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, ending the poll tax, which was originally ratified in 1964.
In testifying on behalf of Rep. Allen's joint resolution, True Courage Action Network chair John Courage chastised the committee for having earlier in the meeting voted to pass the voter roadblock bills. John pointed out that the multiple ID provisions will cost people money, time, and inconvenience. We know that seniors, the disabled, and highly mobile populations may not have their birth certificates, passports, naturalization papers, driver's licenses, or state-approved IDs. TCAN has recognized that these barriers to registration and voting are really voting suppression tactics and vigorously opposed them.
Undaunted by an interruption from Chairman Berman (saying he disagreed), John challenged the committee members to reconsider, in the spirit of the 24th Amendment, their vote for those anti-voter bills when they come up on the House floor later in the session.
Thanks again to all of you who heeded our call to action (and those of other hard-working public-interest groups). Please stay tuned, stick with us, and help kill this bad legislation on the floor once and for all.
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