Texas Democratic Party’s Statement On Greg Abbott’s Special Session

AUSTIN, Texas – Today, Greg Abbott released a proclamation to announce his priorities for his special session. While this special session call includes disaster relief and preparedness in response to the recent Hill Country floods, it is important to note that the governor already has the full authority to grant flood relief within his emergency powers, meaning that he disgustingly placed this on the agenda to hide his true intentions for this session. As a consequence, flood victims’ relief could be delayed over Abbott’s political gamesmanship.

Hidden behind the flood relief agenda is a coordinated redistricting plan, at Donald Trump's behest, designed to mitigate forecasted Republican losses under his unpopular administration. Unsurprisingly, the targeted districts—TX-09, TX-18 (whose special election Abbott delayed), TX-29, and TX-33 are all Democratic. These districts, originally drawn by Republicans, are now subject to a power grab aimed at undermining voters who do not align with their ideology and protecting Donald Trump’s assault on working families.

This session will be costly to Texas taxpayers and appears to serve Republican special interests rather than Texans. Texas leadership should be laser-focused on flood relief and prevention. Any attempts to pull attention away from these relief efforts are a gross injustice to all of the Texans affected by this natural disaster.

We are committed to accomplishing meaningful flood relief for families and supporting our Texas Democratic officials who are serving the people of Texas, not authoritarian interests in Washington, D.C.  

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