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A Texas state lawmaker wants the Lone Star State to secede from the United States — and he’s putting it to a vote.
If passed in the state Legislature, the Texas Independence Referendum Act, or TEXIT, would allow Texans to vote on whether the state “should reassert its status as an independent nation” during the next general election.
“The Texas Constitution is clear that all political power resides in the people,” state Rep. Bryan Slaton (R-Houston) said in a statement.
“After decades of continuous abuse of our rights and liberties by the federal government, it is time to let the people of Texas make their voices heard.”
If a majority votes “yes” on H.B. 3596, “a committee will be established to investigate the feasibility of independence from the Union and propose options and potential plans for independence to the Texas Legislature.”
Slaton included a petition supporting the bill’s passage in his announcement of the proposal on Twitter. He noted that similar legislation had previously been proposed but failed to receive a hearing from the State Affairs Committee and died.
The lawmaker added that he was “proud” to be filing the bill on the anniversary of the fall of the Alamo.
“On this 187th anniversary of the fall of the Alamo I’m proud to file this bill to let the people of Texas vote on the future of our State. Texas was born out of a desire for liberty and self-governance, and that desire continues to burn in the hearts of all Texans,” Slaton said.
The bill is supported by the Texas National Movement, an organization of about 440,000 pushing for the state’s independence, but it has also been condemned by state lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.
“This ridiculous bill is the very definition of hypocritical & seditious treason & it is already dead,” tweeted state Rep. Jeff Leach (R-Plano).
Texas has tried to secede from the US on several occasions, but the 1868 Supreme Court case Texas v. White established that states cannot unilaterally secede from the union.
Slaton’s “TEXIT” proposal comes two weeks after US Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) called for a “national divorce,” a phrase she has frequently used to suggest dividing the country along political lines.
“We need a national divorce,” Greene tweeted on Presidents’ Day.
“We need to separate by red states and blue states and shrink the federal government. Everyone I talk to says this. From the sick and disgusting woke culture issues shoved down our throats to the Democrat’s [sic] traitorous America Last policies, we are done.”
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