A state lawmaker has filed a bill in the legislature that would let voters determine whether Texas should remain part of the United States. Bryan Slaton [R-Greenville] filed HB 3596 Monday.
"The Texas Constitution is clear that all political power resides in the people," Slaton wrote on Twitter. "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."
Slaton said he filed the bill Monday to coincide with the anniversary of the fall of the Alamo.
"Texas was born out of a desire for liberty and self-governance, and that desire continues to burn in the hearts of all Texans," he wrote.
The bill would place a referendum on the ballot allowing Texas voters to determine whether the state should secede with the proposition asking voters, "Should the State of Texas reassert its status as an independent nation?"
If the measure passed, a "Texas Independence Committee" would be established to "study and make recommendations regarding the most effective and expeditious method by which Texas may be returned to its status as an independent nation." The committee would consider how to create elected and appointed offices, the identification of fundamental rights and functions of government and "the removal of unnecessary or undesirable provisions that exist solely as a consequence of Texas’ status as a state within the United States of America."
When Slaton posted his plan on Twitter, some showed support.
"Thank you!!! Hopefully this time it will make it through!" one person wrote.
"I can finally say thank you for doing what is right. I’m frustrated you appear to have held on to it for a little bit pomp (filing it today instead much earlier) but nonetheless, thank you," another wrote.
Others questioned whether the idea was feasible.
"Dumbest thing I've seen all day," one wrote.
"Your independent power grid can't even handle a snowstorm, but go on," another said.
A similar bill was proposed two years ago by Kyle Biedermann. Biedermann did not run for reelection in 2022.
His bill did not advance out of committee.
In 2006, Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia responded to a letter from a screenwriter who said he was working on a story where Maine would secede from the Union to join Canada.
"To begin with, the answer is clear. If there was any constitutional issue resolved by the Civil War, it is that there is no right to secede. (Hence, in the Pledge of Allegiance, "one Nation, indivisible.")," Scalia wrote.
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