AUSTIN, Texas — On Saturday, state lawmakers heard from the public on two controversial measures on Gov. Greg Abbott’s special session agenda: proposed changes to Texas voting laws and bail reform.
Bail reform and changes to voting laws directly impact the Houston area and have drawn national attention.
The first hearing started at 8 a.m., and the last could very well go into Sunday.
People traveled from all over the state, including Houston, to give lawmakers in Austin their take face-to-face.
Early Saturday morning in the State Capitol Extension, hundreds of people packed social-distanced committee rooms and overflow chambers.
First up, bail reform.
The House and Senate bills would create a portal showing a defendant’s entire criminal history. They’d also train the magistrates that set bail.
“They have to pass this bill,” said Melanie Infinger, whose pregnant daughter, Caitlynne, was murdered in Pasadena in 2019.
Prosecutors charged her husband, who was out on multiple bonds, including for assaulting Caitlynne days earlier.
“Never had a chance to start over because of Harris County,” Infinger said.
Andy Kahan with Crime Stoppers showed lawmakers photos of other similar victims from Harris County.
“There has to be a time where you say, enough is enough,” Kahan said.
Opponents worried about the bill’s limits on charitable bail organizations.
“There’s ways you can do it. We’re concerned about the violent offenders,” said Sen. Joan Huffman (R-Houston).
The other big issue was changes to Texas voting laws.
The House and Senate bills both ban drive-thru voting, 24-hour voting and sending unsolicited mail ballot applications.
They’d also add new ID requirements for vote-by-mail and strengthen protections for partisan poll watchers.
Republicans say it will standardize election rules across the state and prevent fraud. Democrats say it will make voting harder.
“This is not voter suppression when citizens demand a fair and transparent election process and vote tabulation,” said Robert L. Green who is for the bill.
“We have people that work all day and get off in the middle of the night,” said Cecilia Fontenot who is against the bill.
Fontenot of Houston was one of the people -- including some well-known names -- speaking against the bills.
“In 2020, you would have been more likely to have been struck by lightning than to have encountered voter fraud in the state of Texas,” said former congressman Beto O’Rourke.
Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo is in Austin to support the bill’s opponents.
Any bills passed out of committee still need to be set for a full vote by the House and Senate.