The Republican party has a power trifecta in Texas. They control all the statewide offices along with the House and Senate.
Of the 150 seats in the Texas House of Representatives, Republican lawmakers have an 88-to-62 seat majority, which is an increase of 2 seats from the last session.
In the upper chamber, in the state senate, there are 31 seats. Republicans control 20 of them.
In this political atmosphere there doesn’t seem to be much oxygen available for progressives.
But that’s not stopping organizations with a progressive agenda from showing up and fighting for the bills they want to see passed.
We are going to be hearing from three of those groups as they prepare for their uphill battles with their focus on what they see as best for Texans.
Cyrus Reed is the legislation and conservation director of the Lone Star Chapter of the Sierra Club.
AFL-CIO
The state historically has not been friendly to organized labor. Nevertheless, Labor unions remain a political force in Texas. The Texas AFL-CIO is a state labor federation of about a quarter-million members. Leonard Aguilar is the secretary treasurer of Texas AFL-CIO.
MOVE Texas
Young Texas progressives are looking to the 89th legislative session with dreams of pushing forward their plan for Texas. Claudia Yoli Ferla is the Executive Director of MOVE Texas.