Author: victoria

Real Estate Agent within Coastal Bend. Community activist. Island Democrats. Coastal Bend Tejano Democrats. Precinct 40. Voter Registration.

Texas Trivia

Texas’s state flower is the beautiful bluebonnet which can be found growing wild in the country sides of South Central Texas. Named for its color and resemblance of a woman’s sunbonnet, the flower blooms in early spring, making Texas hillsides appear as endless seas of blue.

The mockingbird is the state bird, known to have the “prettiest song of any bird in North America”. The song of the bird is a medley of the calls of many other birds, thus nicknamed the “mocker”. But don’t be fooled. A mockingbird is known to be a viciously fierce protector of its nest and environment, often seen swooping down on a dog, cat or predator that may be venturing too close to the bird’s protected territory.

Pecan trees are the official state trees of the state. Native pecan trees have shown to be an estimated 150 years old and can grow an average of 70-100 feet tall! The edible nuts the trees produce can be found in brownies, cookies and other foods. How about some pecan pie?

Texas blue topaz was chosen as the state gemstone. Its crystal-like appearance occurs in many natural colors including blue, orange, brown, green, pink, beige and red.

Texas’s state insect is the beautiful monarch butterfly. This type of butterfly is special because it is the only species of butterfly that does not hibernate, but migrates in changing seasons. Three to four generations of these gorgeous black and orange butterflies are produced each year.

A seashell called a lightning whelk is the state shell, named for its colored stripes. Only found along the Gulf Coast, it is unique because it is one of few shells that open on the left side.

Here are some other interesting state symbols you should know:

  • The state pepper is the jalapeño.
  • The state grass is the sideoats grama.
  • The state motto is “friendship”.
  • The state vegetable is the 1015 sweet onion and the state fruit is the Texas red grapefruit.
  • The official dish of Texas is chili.
  • Texas’s official dance is the square dance.
  • The Armor-plated armadillo is the offical state small mammal and the Guadalupe bass is the state fish.
  • Texas’s official flying mammal of the Mexican Free-tailed Bat.
  • The state large mammal is the Longhorn.

Legislation Updates from Austin

Senate Bill 990 eliminates programs that allow voters to vote at any polling place on Election Day – even though it allows for countywide polling programs during early voting. This will increase wait times on Election Day and increase confusion about where folks can vote. It will impact larger (and more Democratic) counties most.

Senate Bill 220 creates election marshals that can intervene in local election administration. This would basically create an elections police force, like DeSantis has instituted in Florida. 

Senate Bill 1750 eliminates the election administrator position – but only in counties with a population of 3.5 million or more. Harris County is the only county with that population, so this is clearly targeted at Harris County (Houston). It gives election administration authority to the county tax assessor-collector and county clerk. 

Senate Bill 1938 gives the Secretary of State the authority to withhold funds from a registrar who “fails to perform duties related to challenges to voter registration eligibility.” These voter challenges have been used by partisan Republican groups to purge voters in large numbers. 

Senate Bill 260 starts the process of de-registering a voter if they haven’t voted in the last 25 months. This makes it harder for otherwise eligible voters to vote, without any benefit to election integrity. 

Senate Bill 1807 creates penalties for “officials who change any election procedure required by law without authorization.” 

Senate Bill 1600 requires voters to prove citizenship when registering to vote – and would likely disenfranchise hundreds of thousands of eligible voters while creating additional hurdles to voting. 

Senate Bill 2433 adds new reporting requirements for county administrators and subjects them to penalties – and, in the process, creates administrative hurdles to set election administrators up for failure (rather than seeking to improve processes).

These bills are awful, right? They passed the State Senate and they’re headed to the State House. They’re expected to pass there, too.

The sponsors of these bills weren’t challenged in 2022.

You can make sure we don’t make that same mistake in 2024.

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