The Texas state legislature is entertaining a potentially controversial bill regarding the state’s ability to leave the United States.
According to a bill sponsored by a member of the Texas legislature, voters may soon have a say on whether or not the Lone Star State has the ability to leave the union.
Rep. Bryan Slaton’s bills would place a question on the ballot next election that would ask voters about the possibility of secession.
The Texas Independence Referendum Act would allow voters to approve a measure that would then empower lawmakers to set up a commission about the topic. The report and legal implications would then be recommended to the legislature.
Today, I filed HB 3596, which is commonly known as the “Texas Independence Referendum Act," or TEXIT
If passed, it will place a referendum on the ballot during the next general election, allowing the people of Texas to vote on whether or not the State https://t.co/WWnGUi4btL… https://t.co/KyfozJMRc4 pic.twitter.com/OJbrWySnWa
— Bryan Slaton (@BryanforHD2) March 6, 2023
Slaton’s proposed bill also comes with considerable support from the public, including the growing Texas Nationalist Movement, which has more than 400,000 members. The state’s Republican Party formally supports the idea of a referendum on independence.
The concept of a Texas exit from the union has been nicknamed “Texit.”
The concept of a Texan secession has followed a similar naming dynamic of several events. This includes the British exit from the European Union, nicknamed “Brexit” and the exodus from the Democratic Party by Black voters known as “Blexit.”
Texas was an independent country, the Republic of Texas, from 1836-1846 after achieving independence from Mexico. The accession into the United States was backed by voters in Texas with a public ballot.
The 1845 Congressional resolution that entered Texas into the United States also included elements that activists see as justification for major changes. The first is that up to four new states could be added to the union from the territory of the state (with the state’s permission). Texas also retained its public lands, rather than handing them to the federal government.
The concept of a state leaving the union also came after comments by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) calling for a “national divorce,” splitting the country by political preferences.
The member of Congress wrote on Twitter in part, “People are absolutely fed up and disgusted with left wing insanity and disaster America Last policies”
