At the beginning of the session, legislative members prioritized filing bills, which is the first step in the legislative process. The deadline for bill filing is on the 60th day of session, which landed on March 12, 2021. I authored a total of 43 bills, in response to the needs of my constituents across Carrollton, Lewisville, Highland Village, and Dallas. My legislative priorities this session were expanding access to the ballot box, Medicaid expansion, and reforming the electrical grid. Due to hyper partisanship House Democrats struggled to have their priorities heard.

February quickly rolled around… and as we all know, so did Winter Storm Uri. Winter Storm Uri devastated the state, leaving millions without electricity and water and eventually leading to the death of hundreds of our most vulnerable Texans. This unforeseen event unveiled previously unaddressed problems with Texas’ power grid, and showcased the importance of confronting the issues caused by climate change. After the devastation of Uri, I filed a handful of bills to ensure that Texans would have readily available access to emergency information and better protections against future storms. However, the largest piece of legislation that passed in relation to the electrical grid was Senate Bill 3. SB 3 relates to preparing for, preventing, and responding to weather emergencies and power outages; increasing the amount of administrative and civil penalties.

Throughout the 87th Texas Legislative Session - I have prioritized offering support for Texans across the state. I even voted against the state budget, due to the lack of direct funding for Winter Storm Uri recovery and for rural hospitals. Time and time again, the people of Texas are not offered support during times of need. Instead of focusing on robust legislation to truly address our need to reform the electrical grid… and on expanding healthcare access in the middle of pandemic, the majority of our Texas legislators were preoccupied with giving Texans more access to guns, practically banning abortions, and trying to make it harder to vote. Overall, Republican legislators largely overlooked much needed policy in favor of politics, partisanship, and wedge issues, rammed through by their most conservative members. 

 
Instead of addressing gun violence in our state, Republican lawmakers saw fit to remove training and licensing requirements for Texans to carry handguns. Instead of expanding reproductive healthcare to the most vulnerable of Texans, Republican lawmakers curtailed abortion rights, regardless of whether the patient was a victim of incest or rape. Instead of focusing on better training and more accountability for police officers, Republicans decided to pass fake “Back the Blue” bills that serve only to punish Texan cities if they lower their public safety budgets for any reason. 

My Democratic colleagues and I fought against several other pieces of harmful legislation and were ultimately successful. We made sure that bills seeking to limit the rights of the LGBTQ community, take away local control, limit and criminalize voting, and curtail workers rights never made it out of the House in the 87th Session. 

On May 30, a day before the last day of the Regular Session, Democrats successfully “killed” Senate Bill 7. For all of you paying attention, Senate Bill 7 is the omnibus voter suppression bill that I fought all session. Upon my appointment to the Elections Committee, I knew that this role would be challenging and filled with ridiculous GOP antics based on the Trump lie. My predictions were right, and Republicans broke rules time and time again to push their uber-conservative agenda. Surprisingly, when Senate Bill 7 was reintroduced on the House Floor, Chairman Briscoe Cain publicly apologized to me from the dais. He was well-aware of my legislative priority, bringing vote centers to Denton County, and apologized for the lack of leadership from the Republican party in getting this bill passed. Chairman Cain promised that HB 661, my Bringing Vote Centers to Denton County Bill, will be a priority if a Special Session is called. Democrats, however, were eventually backed into a corner, and had to use the last remaining tool in the toolbox to defend our voting rights- breaking quorum to defeat Senate Bill 7. As defined, a quorum is the minimum number of members of a group or committee required to be in attendance in order for that group to be able to take official action. Texas Democrats knew that this voter suppression bill, disguised as an election integrity bill, needed to fail and strategically planned to make sure it did not reach the Governor’s desk. I have never been more proud to be a part of a group of people in my entire life, and I offer a warm thank you to my colleagues within the Texas House Democratic Caucus. 

Senate Bill 7 did not make it through the legislative process during the Regular Session for the 87th Texas Legislature, which concluded on May 31, 2021. The fight does not end here, however. Governor Greg Abbott has indicated that he will call a Special Session for the Texas Legislature; he declared that the “integrity of our elections”' and reforming a broken bail system remain emergencies in Texas. If a special session is called, Texas Democrats will continue to rise up to the challenge, and will work towards defeating this awful bill, among others. 

To fight back against the attacks on our democracy - you should become a Volunteer Deputy Registrar! Volunteer Deputy Registrars (VDRs) help Texas citizens register to vote. For more information on how to become a VDR, visit this resource.

It's been a pleasure serving my constituents and Texans across the state. I will continue to fight for what's right and for your rights. Once again, thank you for electing me to serve House District 65! 

Sincerely, 

State Representative Michelle Beckley