Secede? TEXIT supporters push for proposal to come up in special session after failing to get hearing - The Dallas Morning News

AUSTIN — Texas Nationalist Movement president Daniel Miller called on Gov. Greg Abbott on Tuesday to include in a special session a proposal to let Texans vote on whether the state should leave the United States and become an independent republic.

The news conference by supporters included Republican Reps. Kyle Biedermann of Fredericksburg, who filed the bill for what is known as TEXIT, Jeff Cason of Bedford and Bryan Slaton of Royse City. Cason and Slaton are co-authors.

The bill failed to receive a hearing in the House Committee on State Affairs and appears dead unless it is tacked on to another proposal. In response, the Texas Nationalist Movement, a group that has pushed for over a decade for a vote on Texas becoming an independent nation, and its supporters held the presser to kick off 15-plus hours of virtual testimony, according to Miller.

“Chairman [Rep. Chris] Paddie, R-Marshall, has ignored the pleas of Texans who have done all but begged for this bill to be heard,” Miller said. “He has not scheduled it for a hearing, effectively killing it this session. The only reason to not give this legislation a public hearing is to perpetuate the lie that TEXIT supporters are old, white and uneducated.”

Added Miller: “In short, the political establishment doesn’t want the world to see the true face of TEXIT.”

Asked why Paddie didn’t give his bill a hearing, Biedermann pointed to the numerous hot-button issues being addressed this session and blamed the media and other lawmakers for labeling it a “secession bill.”

Biedermann said this is not a bill for secession but rather is meant to bring about a dialogue. Cason called the proposal a “starting point” and echoed Biedermann’s sentiment, saying, “Being allowed to have a dialogue about this referendum doesn’t mean we’re leaving the union.”

Cason added, “We shouldn’t be afraid to start this dialogue.”

When asked directly if he personally favors secession, Biedermann said he favors the discussion and giving a vote to the people in order to give the state the “leverage so that we can bring our country back to what it should be through our Constitution.”

Biedermann filed the bill in January, weeks after he was spotted with the pro-Trump crowd during the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

In a statement, Biedermann said: “On Jan. 6, I, along with thousands of Americans, peacefully marched on our nation’s Capitol to make our voices heard. It was unfortunate that some used this gathering to sow discord and promote violence.”

Biedermann told Dallas-Fort Worth talk radio host Chris Salcedo on Jan. 7, one day after the insurrection, that a “few radicals … caused the trouble.”

“We came because we wanted to be heard and we’re sick and tired of what’s been going on by the elite media and the elite politicians who continually ignore us,” Biedermann told Salcedo.

As KSAT-TV San Antonio first reported, a video from Jan. 6 that surfaced in March showed a maskless Biedermann observing the mob clash with officers on the Capitol steps. Several photos captured Biedermann near the Capitol steps, though there is no photo or video evidence of his having set foot inside the Capitol.

The insurrection resulted in five deaths and 140 injuries. Over 440 people face charges, a number that is expected to grow.

The bill has received pushback from both sides of the aisle. In January, Rep. Jeff Leach, R-Plano, called it “anti-American” and a waste of time.

“It’s a joke and should be treated as such,” Leach said on Twitter. “Yes, I have concerns for our Nation. But I still believe in the promise of America — and the vast majority of Texans do too!”

Just last month, though, Sen. Lois Kolkhorst, R-Brenham, said people’s voices need to be heard and that this would not be a discussion if states’ rights weren’t being “ripped away.”

“My gosh, we’re having to have this discussion, and that’s what should scare us, that we really have to have this discussion,” Kolkhorst said.

Her spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment on whether she would support the bill or vote for Texas to secede.

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