The Texas Sovereignty Act as a GoP Legislative Priority

The Texas Sovereignty Act: A GoP Platform Priority
By
James Scott Trimm

 

 

The Legislative Priorities for the new 2024 Republican Party Platform have been released and Priority Eight is "End Federal Overreach."  This priority item reads:

End Federal Overreach - Resisting unconstitutional federal acts and mandates that restrict transportation, including mandatory kill switches in vehicles, road diets, and restrictions on the owner’s right to repair vehicles and equipment. Ensuring that Texans have medical freedom and can give or withhold consent for any vaccine or medical treatment without coercion, are not discriminated against based on vaccine status, and are not faced with any vaccine or medical mandate by public or private entities.

Some Platform Planks also involve invoking Texas Sovereignty, for example:

186. State Authority Over Marriage: We support withholding jurisdiction from the federal courts and nullifying federal Executive Branch rules, orders, regulations, or licensing requirements in cases involving family law, and especially any changes in the definition of marriage.

187. Nullify Unconstitutional Ruling: We believe the Obergefell v. Hodges decision, overturning the Texas law prohibiting same-sex marriage in Texas, has no basis in the Constitution and should be nullified.

Nearly ten years ago, in 2015 I wrote a blog titled How Texas Can Reclaim Our Sovereignty in which I proposed the idea of a Texas Sovereignty Act that would create a mechanism for Texas to enforce the Tenth Amendment and put an end to unconstitutional Federal Overreach by the Federal government.

Working with my friend Tom Glass, I wrote the Texas Sovereignty Act into an actual bill (see my 2016 blog The Texas Sovereignty Act Unveiled.) I then found a State Representative, Cecil Bell, who was happy to file the bill, as reported in the Texas Nationalist Movement News (June 15, 2017) from their interview of Representative Bell about the Act:

"A gentleman by the name of James Trimm, who is a precinct chair up in North Texas, sent me a prospective bill that he had labeled Texas Sovereignty Act,” began Representative Bell on the origins of the Act he introduced."

(Texas Sovereignty Act: Representative Bell Goes on the Record; June 15, 2017) 

In the 85th Legislative Session the Bill was filed in the House by Cecil Bell (HB 2338) and in the Texas Senate by Creighton (SB 2015).  In the House four "joint authors" added their names to the bill along with eight "Coauthors" including conservative hero Jonathan Stickland.  The Bill received a favorable hearing with recommendation from the State & Federal Power & Responsibility Committee and was referred with recommendation.  Unfortunately, like so many good conservative bills, it died in the Calendars Committee.  In the Texas Senate, the Bill was not even given a hearing.

Cecil Bell has faithfully refiled the bill in every session since.  Now with "End Federal Overreach" as a Texas Republican Legislative Priority, I believe we can finally get the Texas Sovereignty Act passed in the 89th Texas Legislative Session!  Lets all work together to make this happen finally End Federal Overreach and Enforce the Tenth Amendment in Texas!