"People's Summit" Aims to Refocus State's Attention on Last Year's Freeze Disaster
The Austin Chronicle - This week’s People’s Summit, led by state Rep. Vikki Goodwin, D-Austin, and joined by many Travis County lawmakers, was intended to put a question to the Texas Legislature: How can the state walk away from a man-made catastrophe a year ago that led to hundreds of deaths?
The answer, it appears, is “very easily,” even in an election year. Last year’s regular and three special sessions of the 87th Texas Legislature were brutally devoid of much acknowledgment of the actual human toll of February’s Winter Storm Uri, as opposed to its consequences to state energy regulators at the Railroad Commission (oil and gas) and Public Utility Commission (electric power) and the grid managers at the Electric Reliability Council of Texas. “We were caught unprepared,” Goodwin said in a pre-summit press conference. “That’s not acceptable. We have to learn from what has happened. And so that’s why we are here today.”
Texas truth and reconciliation panel dissects Winter Storm Uri one year after the disaster
Courthousenews.com - A year after Winter Storm Uri brought freezing temperatures to Texas that triggered catastrophic power outages, a group of Democratic state lawmakers held a truth and reconciliation hearing Tuesday to discuss the death toll, what went wrong and whether legislative reforms to shore up the state’s grid went far enough.
“We call this event or this incident Winter Storm Uri and that always frustrates me because this was not a natural disaster, this was a man-made disaster. It was entirely predictable. And it hasn’t been fixed. And it will happen again,” said state Representative James Talerico.
The state’s official count of 246 deaths attributed to Uri came under fire with Representative Vikki Goodwin questioning why just 77 out of the state’s 254 counties reported deaths. She said it was surprising there were 28 deaths in Travis County, home to Austin, and none in neighboring Hays County.
State lawmakers demand more reform on anniversary of last year's deadly storm
CBS AUSTIN, Texas — Exactly one year after last year's deadly winter storm, state lawmakers are pointing the finger at themselves for not doing more to reform the power grid and improving its reliability.
On Tuesday, a group of Democratic state representatives gathered at the Texas Capitol to plead with their Republican colleagues to call for more changes to the power grid.
"We have to learn from what has happened," said state Rep. Vikki Goodwin, D-Austin, who organized the event. "The purpose of today is to to make sure we're holding our legislators accountable for passing initiatives and policy that will make us more resilient in the future."
State representatives honor victims, seek answers on one-year anniversary of winter storm
CommunityImpact.com - Several state representatives held a hearing Feb. 15 to recount Winter Storm Uri on its one-year anniversary. The event featured testimony from health care professionals, government representatives, climate experts and Texas residents.
“We were caught unprepared, and that’s not acceptable,” said Representative Vikki Goodwin of House District 47. “We must be prepared because what we’re hearing from climatologists is we’re going to have more extreme and intense weather in the direction that we’re going.”
PEC reduces incentives for solar customers
Despite heated public comment surrounding incentives for solar customers, Pedernales Electric Cooperative will nearly cut in half the amount of money paid back to customers who produce energy for the grid.
Rep. Vikki Goodwin, of House District 47, noted this might discourage people from moving to clean energy, which could impact our climate in the long-term, especially for the population of people generally covered by PEC.
“Solar power being clean energy is something that we should be encouraging and incentivizing,” Goodwin said. “We are going to have to take some bold steps to move forward towards clean energy.”
TEA returned money to help students. Where did it go?
More than $5 billion in federal funds intended to help our students recover from the pandemic were diverted, and this diversion has mostly gone unnoticed. Those billions of dollars sent to the Texas Education Agency (TEA) were intended to help our students and teachers, and instead were absorbed into the state coffers to be spent on other things.
These are not intractable problems. Potential solutions include:
Require TEA to distribute any “surplus” to school districts or return it to property taxpayers.
Require the state to share equally in school funding, limiting the portion from local property taxpayers to no more than 50 percent.
Simplify funding formulas and minimize reliance on average daily attendance.
Texas law falls short in protecting Natalia Cox, Austin college student killed in her apartment
Goodwin said Cox’s situation highlights the need for a stronger law to protect victims and said Texas should permit extreme risk protective orders.
“If somebody comes to your door and threatens you with a gun, you can go before a judge and have the judge say that the gun needs to be removed from that person who's been a threat,” Rep. Goodwin said. “I do think that we can do better when there's a situation where someone's life is at imminent risk.”
'No established legal authority' for Texas election audit, 25 Texas House members argue
AUSTIN, Texas — Texas Rep. Vikki Goodwin (D-Travis County), along with 24 members of the Texas House of Representatives, has written a letter to Gov. Greg Abbott asking him to end what she calls “illegal election audits” in the state of Texas.
Rep. Goodwin’s letter makes four arguments against the audit and cites the recently passed GOP-backed election reform bill, SB 1.
She says the Senate failed to confirm the last Secretary of State, Ruth Hughs, who has since vacated the office. She says the deputy director has called for the audits without transparency.
Goodwin also argues there is no legal authority granted by the Legislature or state law to conduct the audits, saying it has been 10 months since the election, and thus not “immediately” after the election as required under SB 1, which is set to take effect December 2021.
Abbott has chosen four of the largest counties in Texas for the audit, which Goodwin says is also in contradiction to SB 1, which allows for two small counties and two large counties to be randomly selected for an audit, once the law takes effect.
Gov. Greg Abbott signs tougher anti-critical race theory law
Many worry about the law’s vague language.
Rep. Vikki Goodwin, D-Austin, said in August that teachers should have the latitude to be able to nurture and engage with students’ interests in what’s happening outside of school.
“Helping students make connections between what they read in books and what they see in the public square is something that we should celebrate in our educational system,” she said, “not something that we should discourage.
TX Democrats re-energized after U.S. Senate Democrats propose new voting rights bill
State Rep. Vikki Goodwin, D-Austin, is one of the more than 50 Texas House Democrats who made the trip to Washington, D.C., to push for these kinds of reforms.
"It will make the ballot box accessible to all people. It will bring greater transparency," Goodwin said. "These things will all help our democracy stay intact."
This bill also proposes making Election Day a federal holiday.
On the U.S. Senate floor Monday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., specifically pointed to Texas' new state election law - SB 1 - as a reason he wants to get a vote on this new bill as soon as possible.
Here's who voted for (and against) Texas' new abortion law in the House and Senate
The law, signed by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott in May, bans abortions when a fetal heartbeat is detected, which can occur at six weeks. It doesn't include exceptions for rape or incest but allows women to have the procedure for "medical emergencies." It is one of the most restrictive abortion laws in the nation.
Rather than having the state government enforce the ban, the Texas law allows private citizens to sue anyone who helps a woman receive an abortion after a heartbeat is detected. A successful plaintiff in such a case could receive at least $10,000 from the abortion provider or others in damages.
Texas Dems Take the Voting Rights Fight to D.C.
Rep. Vikki Goodwin, D-Austin, wasn't buying Abbott's folksy Texas kitsch. "He says he's going to round us up, corral us and 'cabin' us, whatever that means," Goodwin said. "It's just threats until he gets his way. And that's not the way democracy works."
Among its sweeping changes, HB 3 would prohibit the drive-through and 24-hour voting options implemented by Harris County election officials in 2020. Those options were welcomed by voters, but Republicans say they are prone to fraud; in Nov. 2020, the Texas Supreme Court threw out a case from conservatives alleging drive-through voting was illegal. Proposed requirements for mail-in ballots would result in counties dumping ballots, according to Harris County Elections Administrator Isabel Longoria. But lawmakers may not remember that, because Longoria testified at 5am on Sunday.
After Austin shooting, advocates and Texas Democrats renew calls for action on gun violence
A shooting in downtown Austin that killed one person and injured 13 others early Saturday morning has renewed calls from Democratic lawmakers and gun safety groups for the Legislature to take action to reduce gun violence.
Rep. Vikki Goodwin, an Austin Democrat, also called on Abbott to veto the permitless carry bill. She said in an interview that although permitless carry would not have applied to this situation, “it’s just the tone that you set.”
Following Austin shooting, Rep. Vikki Goodwin asks Gov. Abbott to veto permitless carry bill
In light of Saturday’s mass shooting on Sixth Street in Austin that killed one person and injured 13 others, State Rep. Vikki Goodwin has sent a letter to Gov. Greg Abbott asking him to veto a bill allowing permitless carry in Texas.
HB 1927 was approved by the Texas Legislature last month and would allow Texans to carry handguns without a license.
WATCH: House Judiciary Committee holds hearing on reducing gun violence and mass shootings
In 2021, the U.S. has already experienced at least 194 mass shootings, which the Gun Violence Archive defines as an incident in which four or more people are killed.
Vikki Goodwin, a Democratic member of the Texas House of Representatives, will testify at the hearing. She recently opposed a bill that would let election judges carry guns in most polling places in her state.
Texas House Advances Bill That Would Ban Homeless Encampments In Public
During Wednesday’s floor debate, some Democratic legislators criticized the bills, saying that they would criminalize unhoused people.
"We need more state dollars going to substance use disorder programs, job training programs and rental assistance,” said Rep. Vikki Goodwin, D-Austin. “If we truly want to end homelessness, we need to address the root causes, not just sweep the homeless population back into the woods."
Carrying a firearm in Texas without a permit? Here’s why it could become legal
State Rep. Vikki Goodwin, D-Austin, was one of the three lawmakers who voted against approving the measure.
“Texans want more protections from gun violence, not less,” she said in a statement. “HB 1911 removes safeguards that ensure that those who are carrying handguns have been confirmed as eligible to do so. In voting against HB 1911, I reject the idea that public safety depends upon greater access to guns and stand with survivors of gun violence who wish to promote safety in our firearm policies,” Goodwin continued.
In western Travis Co., open dialogue encouraged to address racial issues
Living in Southwest Austin, 65-year-old Alice Yi said she has a “fear of just walking in her neighborhood.” She’s cut out brief treks to the grocery store down the block and her 91-year-old father doesn’t leave the home’s grounds for fear of being accosted.
For Yi, that anxiousness stems from acts of violence exacted across the country on Asian Americans, especially during the past year as some people, including some government leaders, have blamed the spread of COVID-19 on her culture, referencing the coronavirus as the “China virus,” she said.
No action against gun violence in first legislative session since El Paso mass shooting
“I feel the legislature is letting our communities down by not taking sensible steps after the multiple mass shootings we’ve had here in Texas,” says State Representative Vikki Goodwin from Austin.
This year lawmakers had hoped to close a loophole that allows people who fail their background check to still buy a gun at a gun show or from a private individual. But their hope is fading. State Representative Lina Ortega from El Paso says, “I had an expectation that there was a chance for that bill because of the comments that were made by the lieutenant governor at our roundtable discussions in El Paso, but now I don’t believe that’s the case.”
Austin's grocery workers stayed on the front lines of COVID-19 for a year. Then the Texas freeze hit.
The lack of inclusion prompted state Rep. Vikki Goodwin, D-Austin, to send a letter to Gov. Greg Abbott and Department of State Heath Services Commissioner John Hellerstedt calling on the state to revise the rollout. The letter, signed by nine colleagues, said Texas should prioritize front-line workers who can’t work remotely, including grocery store employees.
“Those who risk COVID infection by going to work should receive the vaccine before others who are fortunate enough to hold jobs that they can perform safely from home,” Goodwin wrote, including grocery employees “who are and have been risking their own lives so that we can have food on our tables.”