Daniel Miller opens this Late Night Coffee Talk broadcasting across every TNM social channel for the first time, no tie, fueled by coffee from members Bill and Alec, and he spends the night unpacking the one subject that flooded his inbox: the fate of House Bill 1359, the Texas Independence Referendum Act, after the 2021 legislative session. He has no patience for the handful of viewers ready to throw in the towel. Travis signed his Alamo letter victory or death, not victory until it gets uncomfortable, and Miller frames the session not as a failure but as the next step in a 25 year fight. The bill stalled because the game was set by the 2020 primaries, not because Texans failed to show up. They showed up by the hundreds of thousands, many engaging their legislators in a substantive way for the first time.
The promise the movement made was simple. Give us a vote on TEXIT in 2021, or we will have a referendum on you in 2022. Miller argues the political class does not believe Texans will hold their anger past the next election cycle, and the whole strategy is built to prove them wrong. The immediate ask is concrete: call Governor Greg Abbott and demand House Bill 1359 be added to the special session already scheduled for September on redistricting. The bottleneck that was Chris Patty in committee now sits with Abbott, who is more exposed to pressure with a credible primary challenger in Don Huffines. Miller also calls out the legislators who piled an amendment onto Kyle Biederman’s Alamo bill to reaffirm Texas staying in the Union, proof the establishment is still thumbing its nose at supporters.
The other half of the answer is candidates. The TNM has launched a recruitment, vetting and training pipeline at the run for office page, and Miller wants Texas nationalists running everywhere from the state house to the schoolhouse. He teases a bombshell announcement for June 14 that could yet deliver a vote on TEXIT, urging viewers to sign up to volunteer now because it will take an all hands on deck effort. He closes refusing to concede a single inch of Texas, cities included, and quotes Sam Houston: Texas will again lift its head and stand among the nations.
Questions answered in this episode
- How do we get rid of the legislators who blocked House Bill 1359, and can we recall, sue or impeach someone like Chris Patty?
- Is there a path to a binding referendum without going through the Texas Legislature, and if not, why not?
- Is there a second special session this summer that gives HB 1359 another chance, and does the September redistricting session block it?
- What is a realistic timeline for Texas to become its own nation after a referendum passes?
- Has the TNM actually vetted real candidates to run for office, and will it run single issue candidates or judge them across conservative issues?
- Were there really as many people calling in against the bill as legislative staffers claimed?
- How do the heavily blue cities factor in when three quarters of voters live in 35 counties?
- Why is the referendum not on billboards all over Texas, and why is there no booth at the State Fair?
- Do any foreign powers support TEXIT or the TNM, and does that matter?
- Did the TNM form political action committees to oust anti TEXIT politicians?
- How do we convince other Republicans to support Texas independence?
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