Greenville State Rep. Bryan Slaton introduces bill to discuss Texas secession

TYLER, Texas (KLTV) - A state senator from Van Zandt County wants Texans to vote on whether the state should investigate seceding from the United States of America.

Rep. Bryan Slaton (R-Greenville) recently filed H.B. 3569 which, if passed, would place a referendum on the 2024 election ballot to decide “whether or not the State should investigate the possibility of Texas independence, and present potential plans to the Legislature.” Titled the “Texas Independence Referendum Act,” Slaton is colloquially referring to it as TEXIT and, in a statement posted to Twitter on Monday, said “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 joined East Texas Now’s Jeremy G. Butler to discuss the filing, as well as the particulars of moving it along including the legality of secession, criticism from within his own party, what the framework of the bill would such as who would sit on the the secession exploratory committee and who would appoint its members. Slaton emphasized that H.B. 3569 it is not a bill that would be a full-on vote for or against secession, but a bill that would allow for exploration and discussion of the concept.

“People are frustrated with the federal government not listening to us, not listening to our values,” Slaton said. “If this passes in the general election, a committee would be formed among elected officials to see what would Texas do for trade. What would Texas do for defense, education, healthcare, and just go down the list and answer questions about what we would have to do to take care of our society. Then report to the people if we could do it or not.”

Although the United States Supreme Court ruled in 1868, in the case of Texas v. White, that states do not have the right to unilaterally secede, Slaton claimed that the Texas constitution does allow for secession.

“We have seen this play out. A Supreme Court has a ruling that is unconstitutional, and we saw that with Roe v. Wade. Texans lived under that for 40, 50 years. That’s been struck down and we don’t have that in place. I believe (Texas v. White) is unconstitutional and we absolutely can have a discussion about what we want to do different,” Slaton said.

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