Ty Rillorta / Staff Reporter
Member of the Texas House of Representatives, Kyle Biedermann, submitted the Texas Independence Referendum Act on January 26, which lets Texans vote to secede from the United States and become an independent nation.
The bill, also known as Texit, will decide if Texas lawmakers create a plan to leave the U.S., as well as many other decisions dealing with the future state of Texas. The movement has recently gained many supporters with Biedermann wanting Texans the vote to be on the November 21 state ballots.
The main thing that others are criticizing is that Texas has no legal ground to secede from the United States “The Civil War played a very big role in establishing the power of the federal government and cementing that the federal government has the final say in these issues.”, said Eric McDaniel, a professor at the University of Texas.
The bill has been heavily compared to Brexit, a recent event on January 1, 2021, where the United Kingdom withdrew from the European Union. This has let people draw comparisons between Brexit and Texit. “Very similar to what happened in Great Britain; When they had the people vote for Brexit, then it took many years after that for the government to work things out with the European Union,” Biedermann said on a Fox 7 interview.
The website the Texas Nationalist Movement has over 400,000 supporters. Their goal is for Texas to become an independent nation, alongside letting Texas can make its laws and to keep taxpayer’s money inside the state. “It means that we get a government that begins and ends at the borders of Texas” written on the website.
Biedermann responded to many of the misinterpretations about the bill’s purpose in an interview with NEWS4SA “…it’s not a bill for Texas, secession is what the media and so many other people are reporting,” Biedermann said. “This is a bill to let Texans vote on the future of Texas.” He claims the idea behind the bill is to give Texans more power when it comes to deciding the future of the state, the bill acting as a starting point. “This bill is not about leaving the union, this bill is about the Texas Legislature starting a plan and discussions and dialogue about the future of Texas and about our economy, and whether it’s a possibility to even have this discussion.”
SOURCES
State Rep. Kyle Biedermann Files “Texas Independence” Bill
Representative who filed ‘Texit’ bill clears up what it means
What the Newest Lone Star Secessionists Really Want
Texas can’t legally secede from the U.S., despite popular myth
FOX 7 Discussion: Representative to file bill to allow Texas to secede