events in Texas, Governor Abbott — in a “me too!” gesture to Mr. Patrick’s pandering — told league
officials “to get the hell out of politics.” The Senate passed the bathroom bill in March.
One Senate bill threatens local law enforcement officials
and department heads with criminal prosecution and police departments with loss of state money if they fail to comply with federal immigration orders.
The Texas Senate also recently passed a school vouchers bill that would drain millions from public school funds to pay for private tuition.
Even before the bill passed the Senate in February, Governor Abbott cut $1.5 million in criminal justice funding to Travis County
(which includes Austin) to punish it for its policy of reducing cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The result was the passage in March of a Senate bill
that limits the ability of cities and counties to raise the revenue needed to pay for education, health care and public safety.
Lieutenant Governor Patrick also championed a “bathroom bill” modeled on the one North Carolina recently repealed,
which would require transgender people to use public bathrooms that match the sex on their birth certificates.
Under his sway, the Senate has already passed bills
that starve government, crack down on undocumented immigrants and discriminate against transgender people.
Frequent public rallies and marches have drawn record crowds around the state, including
the nearly 50,000 people who turned out for the Women’s March in Austin.