Texas Republican Bryan Slaton has presented a bill that could set up a referendum to \u201cinvestigate the possibility\u201d of independence for the state of Texas from the US. Should the proposal be approved, a vote on whether to explore the option to leave the Union will be scheduled.
The bill, which state representative Slaton posted to Twitter on Monday, is officially titled the \u2018Texas Independence Referendum Act\u2019 \u2013 or \u2018Texit\u2019 for short. If it passes, the referendum on whether Texas \u201cshould reassert its status as an independent nation\u201d will be scheduled for November 7, 2023.
Under the Texas constitution \u201call political power resides in the people,\u201d Slaton wrote. \u201cAfter 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,\u201d he said.
He filed a similar bill in 2021 along with fellow republicans Kyle Biedermann and Jeff Cason, who cautioned at the time that the bill was not one for secession, but intended to start a \u201cdialogue\u201d on the idea. However, that first proposal \u201cfailed to receive a hearing and died,\u201d Slaton recalled.
The Texas Nationalist Movement welcomed the news on Twitter, calling Slaton \u201cour friend\u201d and urging Texans to contact their representatives to support the bill.
In another post, the movement promised that a so-called Texit could \u201copen possibilities that we\u2019ve never even dreamed of.\u201d
Not all Republicans are on board with the idea, however. Fellow state representative Jeff Leach slammed Slaton\u2019s bill. \u201cThis ridiculous bill is the very definition of hypocritical and seditious treason and it is already dead,\u201d he tweeted.
The bill comes after prominent Georgia Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene called for \u201cnational divorce\u201d in February, saying that the US \u201cneeds to separate by red [Republican] states and blue [Democrat] states.\u201d
The deepening division was confirmed by pollster Jeremy Zogby, who told conservative outlet the Washington Examiner last month that the idea of a breakup had been receiving \u201cstaggering support\u2026across all demographics.\u201d
Texas is not the only US state within which certain groups are vying for independence. Alaska, California, Hawaii, New Hampshire and Vermont, among others, all have their own secession movements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n