Opinion

With the 87th Texas Legislative session underway, those of us advocating for the approximately 146,000 state employees were—like other groups—looking for a way to make the case for funding their needs. Then a winter storm brought brutally low temperatures, shaking our power grid and cutting off water for many.

As Texans across the state continue to deal with the damage from the mid-February winter storm, so does the political fallout in Austin.

As we approach the first anniversary of pandemic-induced lockdowns, hundreds of thousands of Texans are still grappling with job loss, eviction, or domestic violence stemming from the stay-at-home orders, among other issues. Now, we have just endured one of the worst winter storms on record— plunging millions of Texans into frigid temperatures and darkness due to a days-long loss of power, along with loss of clean water.