Abbott and Patrick defend Texas election bill against companies ‘that don’t share our values’

The governor and lieutenant governor of Texas both rang the bell Thursday after companies including American Airlines criticized the state’s GOP proposal to revise voting laws in the Lone Star State.

The Texas Senate approved the bill earlier Thursday. He calls for changing voting times, the number of voting machines at polling stations and would give the state greater authority over elections at the local level, the Dallas Morning News reported. The bill now goes to the Texas House.

Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, defended the bill as an attempt to “protect electoral integrity,” according to the report.

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, also Reoublican, slammed critics of companies for their involvement in state policy debates and specifically called out American Airlines.

COMPANIES LINE UP TO CONDEMN TEXAS VOTING LEGISLATION

“Texans are fed up with companies that don’t share our values ​​trying to dictate public policy,” Patrick said in a statement. He also claimed that an American Airlines lobbyist “admitted that neither he nor the CEO of American Airlines had actually read the legislation.”

“Texans are fed up with companies that don’t share our values ​​trying to dictate public policy.”

– Lieutenant Governor of Texas Dan Patrick

The lieutenant governor added that the same airline had opposed a 2017 proposal regarding transgender athletes participating in school sports.

Other companies that have spoken out against Texas election laws include Southwest Airlines and Dell Technologies, both based in Texas.

“The right to vote is fundamental to our democracy and a right coveted by all,” Southwest spokesman Chris Mainz said, according to the Morning News. “We believe that every voter should have a fair chance to have their vote heard. This right is essential to the success of our nation.”

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Businesses and other critics have argued that GOP-backed efforts to change voting and voting rules are attempts to place limits on minority voters. Republicans countered that the Democrat-backed proposals represented efforts to centralize elections and relax eligibility requirements, allegedly to ultimately grant illegal immigrants the right to vote.

The election law proposals across the United States have drawn backlash from companies including Apple, Facebook, JP Morgan Chase and Microsoft, as well as Business Roundtable, a group of CEOs of 72 large companies, the Morning noted. News.

Democrats opposed to the Texas proposal included former US Representative Beto O’Rourke of El Paso, who called electoral reform efforts in Texas, Georgia and other states a “coordinated attack.”