The bill allows Texas to explore the possibility of secession and present plans to the state legislature. If passed, the referendum will be placed on the ballot in 2024.
Republican Texas State Representative Bryan Slaton introduced a bill Monday to allow Texans to vote on whether the Lone Star State should secede from the United States.
If the Texas Legislature passes the Texas Independence Referendum Act,” or TEXIT, a referendum will be placed on the ballot during the 2024 general election.
“The Texas Constitution is clear that all political power resides in the people. After 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,” Slaton said in a statement.
H.B. 3596 would allow Texas to “investigate the possibility of Texas independence,” and “present potential plans” to the Legislature.
The bill is supported by the Texas National Movement, a grassroots movement with more than 440,000 members pushing for Texas Independence.
“The people of Texas will look back on this day as a historic first step in taking back our autonomy and our right to self-determination from the federal government,” Texas National Movement President Daniel Miller said to Fox News in a statement.
However, the measure received backlash from fellow Republican State Representative Jeff Leach, who tweeted that the plan was “ridiculous” and the “very definition of hypocritical & seditious treason & it is already dead.”
Slaton filed the bill on the 187th anniversary of the Alamo, the famous battle that symbolized the struggle for Texas Independence. He said that “Texas was born out of a desire for liberty and self-governance, and that desire continues to burn in the hearts of all Texans.”
Texas has tried to secede from the U.S. several times, including during the famous 1868 Supreme Court case Texas v. White, which established that states do not have the right to unilaterally secede from the union.