State Houses Thread

[AmazonGrace]

 

[HerNameIsBuffy]

I have been in a state of anger and just despair for our country over this whole thing, I don't have the words.

But that in this country sedition is something people are asked to resign for (Trump, Cruz, Hawley, this douche, et al) absolutely sickens me.

People get fired and walked off jobs every day but being part of a violent attempt to overthrow our government and you're asked to resign?  

I know it's not simple and I don't have the answers but we HAVE to address this and find a way as a country to put into law a way to remove people who are true threats to others immediately.  The hard part is crafting a policy that can't be subverted to be used against political opponents operating in good faith, or attempting to declare a political rival mentally unfit because they misspeak, or hold beliefs protected by our constitution with which the other party doesn't agree.  And that's the hard part because we can't rely on them to apply anything fairly or refrain from weaponizing the process.

I ugly cried last night as I was trying to explain to one of my sons why this is worse for me than 9/11.  As horrific as that was for our nation most of us didn't fear the collapse of our very society.  It was a heinous act perpetrated by cowards...as was this.  But this time the calls are coming from inside the house and I don't know how to quell the fear.

My ex believes Biden voters should be stripped of our citizenship and forced to leave,  He doesn't consider our children, myself, or anyone else who voted blue to be Americans anymore.  We're traitors unwelcome in his country.

(No, he was not in DC and yes, I'm sick that I felt compelled to check.)

He was always a conservative jackass, but nothing like this.  His views, if not his actions (thankfully), have been so radicalized I don't even recognize him anymore.  

That's why this terrifies me in a way 9/11 didn't.  I didn't know anyone personally in a terrorist cabal.  I didn't know anyone who was taking flying lessons to aim planes at buildings.  But I once shared a life, a bed, children with someone who shares the ideals of the people who did this.  

And seriously, wtf that the house is taking the weekend off and introducing articles of impeachment on Monday?  And the senate is in recess until the 19th?  How about they do what the rest of us have to do when there is a crisis at work and that's stay until the work is done even if it means skipping a Saturday lie in.  I am so angry that man has not been removed I am physically shaking.  Exactly what is it going to take?

Idk what kind of nest of cowardly yet vicious spiders make up the psyche of Mike Pence, but if terrorists invaded a place where I was holding a work meeting chanting "Hang Buffy" I'd be a little more proactive about trying to remove their ringleader from a position of power than he seems to.

Pelosi and others tried calling him to talk 25th and he left them on hold for 20 minutes and then refused to take the call.  How does he consider ghosting them on a discussion of protecting our very country an acceptable thing to do?  

Sorry for the angst dump, and I know I'm preaching to the choir but damn....I shouldn't need a therapist to help me cope with the news.

 

 

Edited January 9, 2021 by HerNameIsBuffy

[47of74]

2 hours ago, AmazonGrace said:

 

And his latest bullshit excuse?  He said he was a journalist who got pushed in. 

Quote

 During his livestream inside the Capitol, Evans reportedly said, “We’re in! Keep it moving, baby” in a packed doorway around others of President Trump's supporters, according to The Associated Press. 

However, following the surfacing of the footage, Evans and his lawyer both claimed the video shows him recording an event as a “journalist” and not being a part of “riotous” behavior, according to Metro News. 

“Given the sheer size of the group walking in, Evans had no choice but to enter,” John Bryan, Evans’s attorney, wrote in a statement obtained by the West Virginia news outlet.

Fuck you Evans you piece of SHIT. Trying growing the FUCK up and not giving bullshit excuses. 

 

[fraurosena]

37 minutes ago, HerNameIsBuffy said:

I know it's not simple and I don't have the answers but we HAVE to address this and find a way as a country to put into law a way to remove people who are true threats to others immediately. 

I agree it's not simple, and I won't even pretend to have an answer. But I do think a law that demands putting seditionists on trial immediately (as soon as evidence is clear, and the perpetrator is in custody), no matter the day, no matter the time, wouldn't be too hard to craft. If politicians are suspected to be seditionists, they should be temporarily banned from their office and remanded in custody, until said trial has been held. If acquitted, said politician will be re-instated to their office. If found guilty, part of said politician's sentence should be a permanent ban on ever holding public office. Punishment for sedition should be severe. Take away their finances, take away their possessions, and long prison sentences.

Until then, going after the current perpetrators -- and especially those with positions in Congress and LE -- should be done thoroughly and to the fullest extent of current law. 

46 minutes ago, HerNameIsBuffy said:

I didn't know anyone personally in a terrorist cabal.  I didn't know anyone who was taking flying lessons to aim planes at buildings.  But I once shared a life, a bed, children with someone who shares the ideals of the people who did this. 

Sweet @HerNameIsBuffy, I can imagine it's disconcerting to have somebody you knew so intimately having such terrible ideals, but it in no way reflects on who you are, and I hope you realize that.

34 minutes ago, HerNameIsBuffy said:

And seriously, wtf that the house is taking the weekend off and introducing articles of impeachment on Monday?  And the senate is in recess until the 19th? 

To be fair, having the House work through the weekend needs unanimous consent. It takes only one dissenter, and the House can't work over the weekend, and with so many trumplicans in the House, the chances were next to nothing they would get it. 

55 minutes ago, HerNameIsBuffy said:

Idk what kind of nest of cowardly yet vicious spiders make up the psyche of Mike Pence, but if terrorists invaded a place where I was holding a work meeting chanting "Hang Buffy" I'd be a little more proactive about trying to remove their ringleader from a position of power than he seems to.

Pelosi and others tried calling him to talk 25th and he left them on hold for 20 minutes and then refused to take the call.  How does he consider ghosting them on a discussion of protecting our very country an acceptable thing to do?  

Pence is snivelling and obsequious. He is just as guilty as any other who enabled Trump. However, I do understand why he's afraid to use the 25th amendment.. But because he finally used his tiny balls to stand up to Trump and refuse to stop the count he himself into his current predicament. Trump riled up his base and as good as told the mob to lynch him. And so they came into the Capitol shouting "Hang Pence." It must have scared the hell out of him. It took the rest of the little courage he had to then hold the count anyway. And then there were calls for the 25th. And he's deathly afraid of using it. Why? 

What do you think Trump's mob will do if he does? Pence is afraid, and rightly so, for his very life. I can't say I sympathize, but I can't blame him for that either.

1 hour ago, HerNameIsBuffy said:

Sorry for the angst dump, and I know I'm preaching to the choir but damn....I shouldn't need a therapist to help me cope with the news.

 Never apologize for posting your feelings here. It's what we're here for. ?

[HerNameIsBuffy]

7 minutes ago, fraurosena said:

What do you think Trump's mob will do if he does? Pence is afraid, and rightly so, for his very life. I can't say I sympathize, but I can't blame him for that either.

You're absolutely right, the danger for him will escalate if he does.  I guess I'm just mad at myself thinking that because he showed a tiny bit of leadership he would see it through.  I would be afraid too, and I get that, but that's why I wouldn't run for office that would require me to put the needs of the country ahead of my own personal safety.  It's an onerous obligation to be sure, but he wanted his position badly enough to be Trump's stooge for 4 years he should pay the piper now with action.  

And thanks for the sweet comments...I don't think my ex is a reflection on me, but what scares me is that this isn't a handful of people from outside the US.  It's god knows how many of our people who support this walking among us, in our families, people we used to love...people we work with.  And we have no idea how many of the Trump voters support what happened.  Not all for sure, probably not even most, but a big enough number that we all likely know someone who would have been fine had they started lynching congress and that's why this is so much scarier for me.

[Ali]

I looked for anyone I knew when I watching videos and looking at pictures. I hate that I might know someone who was there. I am not sure if we can heal from this. I am very concerned about the future.

[fraurosena]

12 minutes ago, Ali said:

I am not sure if we can heal from this. I am very concerned about the future.

You can heal, I promise you. This has been a festering boil in American society for a long, long time. It's painful, and yes, concerning and scary as hell. But you know that there is a boil now. You know you need to do something about it. And that gives you the chance to lance it and flush it clean. It will take some hard and difficult effort, it may leave a scar, but there is no doubt in my mind you can heal from this.

[Destiny]

This is as close as I can think of to the right place to put this. Just when you think the Republican Party has reached the bottom, they still somehow manage to surprise.

There's a thread but the important bit is in the first post. 

[AmazonGrace]

 

[AmazonGrace]

It is apparently very easy to get elected if you're an evil minion.

 

[47of74]

Ralston and Clark are both Republicans 

[Audrey2]

I thought about finding the voter suppression thread but I decided to go ahead and put this here. Please do not feel badly about giving an angry reaction. I am so angry and upset about these different state ideas for voter suppression that I want to give myself an angry reaction. I very rarely quote the entire article but this is so egregiously awful that I want to make it easily accessible to everyone.

GOP lawmakers seek tougher voting rules after record turnout

https://www.yahoo.com/news/gop-lawmakers-seek-tougher-voting-144253626.html

Spoiler

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Republican lawmakers in statehouses across the country are moving swiftly to attack some of the voting methods that fueled the highest turnout for a presidential election in 50 years.

Although most legislative sessions are just getting underway, the Brennan Center for Justice, a public policy institute, has already tallied more than 100 bills in 28 states meant to restrict voting access. More than a third of those proposals are aimed at limiting mail voting, while other bills seek to strengthen voter ID requirements and registration processes, as well as allow for more aggressive means to remove people from voter rolls.

“Unfortunately, we are seeing some politicians who want to manipulate the rules of the game so that some people can participate and some can’t,” said Myrna Pérez, director of the voting rights and elections program at the Brennan Center.

The proposals are advancing not only in Texas and other traditional red states but also in such places as Arizona, Georgia and Pennsylvania that supported Donald Trump four years ago, only to flip for Joe Biden in November.

Many Republicans have said the new bills are meant to shore up public confidence after Trump and his GOP allies, without evidence, criticized the election as fraudulent. Those claims were turned away by dozens of courts and were made even as a group of election officials — including representatives of the federal government’s cybersecurity agency — deemed the 2020 presidential election the “the most secure in American history.” Trump’s former attorney general, William Barr, also said he saw no evidence of widespread fraud that would have changed the election results.

In last year’s presidential election, nearly 70% of all ballots cast nationwide came before Election Day, with an estimated 108 million people voting through the mail, early in-person or by dropping off absentee ballots. The surge came after states expanded access to mail voting and early voting, with a few states sending absentee ballots to all registered voters in response to the coronavirus pandemic that raised safety questions about large crowds at the polls.

In Texas, the nation’s largest Republican-controlled state, the 2020 presidential election was considered a resounding success by almost any measure. Millions took advantage of early in-person voting to shatter the state’s turnout record. There were no reports of widespread system meltdowns, voter disenfranchisement or fraud.

But some GOP lawmakers there are seeking new criminal offenses to deter voter fraud, even though actual fraud is exceedingly rare. Other bills would prohibit independent groups from distributing application forms for mail-in ballots and clarify who can request an application. In September, the state sued Harris County, home to Democratic-leaning Houston, to stop officials from sending mail ballot applications to the more than 2 million registered voters there.

Texas Rep. Jacey Jetton, a Republican, said he hopes lawmakers will pass new regulations for verification of voters’ identity for mail-in voting to ensure “elections are accurate and that people feel it is conducted in such a way they are getting a fair, accurate election result.” Absentee voting already is limited in Texas, mostly allowed for voters who can’t make it to the polls on Election Day because they will be out of town or have a medical condition.

Thomas Buser-Clancy, senior staff attorney for the ACLU of Texas, said the state already is known as a “voter suppression state," noting that Texas does not allow online voter registration or broad mail voting.

"I think it is fair to call Texas a voter suppression state where election laws are largely aimed at making it harder, more difficult and scary for individuals to exercise their fundamental right to vote,” he said.

Buser-Clancy said laws such as prohibiting online voter registration or requiring certain forms of ID create burdens that “disproportionately fall on poor communities and communities of color,” where some individuals may not have the resources and ability to go out and get or fix specific necessary items to exercise their right to vote.

A bill to eliminate no-excuse mail voting has been introduced in Pennsylvania, though the proposal would need approval from the state’s Democratic governor. In Arizona, Republicans have introduced bills that would eliminate the state’s permanent early voting list, require mail ballots to be notarized, require mail-in ballots to be hand-delivered to a voting location and allow lawmakers to overturn presidential election results.

In Georgia, where Biden's win was verified in three separate tallies, Republicans in the GOP-controlled Legislature are gearing up to impose new barriers on mail voting, which was used heavily by Democrats in the presidential and Senate run-off elections.

A Republican senator has introduced a bill that would require voters to make copies of their photo ID and mail it to election officials twice in order to cast an absentee ballot. The state's Republican governor, lieutenant governor and secretary of state have backed the idea of requiring a photo ID for mail voting, though it's unclear if they support that specific bill.

“Despite the fact that Republicans know and understand there was no fraud, they are scared of their base,” said Georgia Democratic Rep. Debra Bazemore. “That's the base that is loyal to Donald Trump. If they do not do anything, if they go against him, they might not be in office long.”

I think the posters who talked about how easy it is to manipulate the electronic voting machines in the favor of the Republicans and who were appalled about the overwhelming paper ballot turnout for Democrats are right. This is a way to manipulate elections and force people to vote at the polls where their ballot can be changed.

[thoughtful]

4 hours ago, Audrey2 said:

I think the posters who talked about how easy it is to manipulate the electronic voting machines in the favor of the Republicans and who were appalled about the overwhelming paper ballot turnout for Democrats are right. This is a way to manipulate elections and force people to vote at the polls where their ballot can be changed.

It's certainly yet another fuckery intended to shut out non-white voters. Again. For the umpteenth time in a hundred years.

They're so fucking scared of not being the people in charge of everything.

 

 

[Audrey2]

7 hours ago, thoughtful said:

It's certainly yet another fuckery intended to shut out non-white voters. Again. For the umpteenth time in a hundred years.

They're so fucking scared of not being the people in charge of everything.

 

 

I don't have words strong enough to express how much this infuriates me. I remember seeing an article that talked about the efforts to register more Navajos, who live in Northern Arizona. This is the same tribe that sent their best young men to be Code Talkers during World War 2. The Navajo language code was never broken. They were given a Congressional Gold Medal in 2001 by President Bush. Other Arizona tribes who have bravely served in the military include the Hopi, Havasupai, Tohono O'odham, Yaqui, Cocopah, Quechan, Apache, and others. I am beyond incensed that the cretins in Phoenix are trying to restrict the rights of the children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren of these veterans to vote.

I'm equally appalled and livid with the efforts to suppress the voting rights of African Americans. President George Bush honored the Tuskegee Airmen with the Congressional Gold Medal. The 761st Tank Battalion was an African American tank battalion in WW2 that received a Presidential Unit Citation, and were honored with  one Medal of Honor, 11 Silver Stars, and around 300 Purple Hearts, according to Wikipidia. While the Republicans suppress votes with one hand, they wave the flag with the other, forgetting again that they are working to prevent the children, grandchildren, and great grand children of these heroes, these brave men who have paid for their freedom and voting rights with their blood and some even their lives. It is absolutely despicable.

I hope this isn't too long. I've been infuriated and stewing about this all day.

[GreyhoundFan]

So he clutches pearls at the sight of jeans, but is totes okay with superspreading: "Iowa’s House speaker said he can’t make lawmakers wear masks — but he did enforce a ban on jeans"

Quote

Iowa House Speaker Pat Grassley (R) has repeatedly pushed back against imposing a mask mandate inside the legislature, saying that he cannot force lawmakers to cover their faces — just as he cannot stop someone from voting on the House floor in their bathing suit.

But when one Democratic lawmaker attempted to speak during a floor debate on Tuesday — not in a bikini or one-piece but in jeans — Grassley called her out for violating the chamber’s dress code.

“You will not be recognized to speak for debate,” he told state Rep. Beth Wessel-Kroeschell (D), according to the Des Moines Register. “You can continue to vote from the floor.”

That was, perhaps, exactly as she had planned it. As the Register first reported this week, Wessel-Kroeschell told members of her party that she wanted to challenge Grassley’s remarks by sporting jeans inside the statehouse, defying an established rule on formal attire.

“Not wearing a mask can kill people,” Wessel-Kroeschell told the newspaper. “So if they can enforce a denim dress code, they can also enforce a mask mandate.”

Catch up on the most important developments in the pandemic with our coronavirus newsletter. All stories in it are free to access.

Grassley, who is the grandson of Iowa Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R), did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In a statement to the Associated Press, Melissa Deatsch, a spokeswoman with the speaker’s office, said Grassley had the right to decide if and how he would direct state representatives to follow the rules.

“There is no way to enforce a mask mandate short of having state patrol remove a duly-elected representative from the floor, which is not something he is willing to do, for masks or for jeans,” Deatsch said in a statement. “Rep. Wessel-Kroeschell was in violation of House rules and it is within the speaker of the House’s discretion to handle such violations as he sees fit.”

Wessel-Kroeschell’s stunt, and the ensuing tiff between the two state lawmakers, is emblematic of a broader political fight over whether to require masks in government buildings. Months after face coverings emerged as a tension point in the pandemic — and as some Americans still refuse to wear them — Republicans in a number of statehouses have refused to cover their faces while legislating.

In states like Pennsylvania and Ohio, some of the most conservative lawmakers have regularly flouted mask rules that have been in place for months. Outbreaks have emerged in the legislatures of Missouri, Mississippi and Arkansas, all of which did not require face coverings at the time.

In the U.S. Capitol, at least three Democratic lawmakers announced they had tested positive for the coronavirus after taking shelter with their maskless GOP colleagues during the Jan. 6 riot. Two others have since proposed a bill that would penalize members of Congress with a $1,000 fine if they insist on leaving their faces exposed inside the Capitol.

Iowa has also seen masks come to symbolize a partisan divide. After refusing to require them for months, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) abruptly shifted course in November, reportedly buckling to pressure from health and business officials. More than 321,000 infections have been reported across the state, according to data tracked by The Post, and at least 4,975 people have died.

Yet vocal opposition from a small but loud group of Iowans remains. On Jan. 11, the first day of the new legislative session last month, a crowd of mostly maskless protesters packed into the statehouse rotunda to protest Iowa’s coronavirus restrictions.

The following week, Republicans voted down Democrats’ attempted edit to the chamber rules, which would have required all legislators and visitors to cover their faces inside. (Rules banning “jeans of any color” from the House floor have, however, been in place for at least the past year, according to the Register.)

At his virtual news conference on Jan. 21, Grassley said he did not see how he could enforce a mask policy without calling in law enforcement — a move he did not want to make.

So Wessel-Kroeschell, who has served in the statehouse since 2005, began her challenge to the speaker by looking inside her closet for the perfect pair of denim.

“They’re brand new, they’re clean, they don’t have any holes in them. They’re not hurting anybody,” she told the Register.

While it appears that Grassley let the state representative remain and vote on the floor, he did not recognize her when she requested to speak. She suggested that he might take a similar step when dealing with maskless lawmakers.

Over the weekend, several positive coronavirus test results were announced for people who work at the Iowa Capitol, including one Democratic lawmaker who is now isolating at home. But a handful of Republican peers, she noted, continue to show up at the statehouse with their faces uncovered.

“This is dangerous,” Wessel-Kroeschell said. “They’re putting all of us in danger.”

 

[fraurosena]

3 hours ago, GreyhoundFan said:

So he clutches pearls at the sight of jeans

The mental image this gave me of Grassley in drag clutching his pearls made me laugh out loud.

[GreyhoundFan]

Good grief:

[fraurosena]

1 hour ago, GreyhoundFan said:

Good grief:

But why? What’s the point?

 I really don’t get it. 

[47of74]

Now the Republicans want to ban tenure at the public universities here in Iowa.

Quote

On Wednesday, the House Education Committee passed a measure that would ban tenure at the University of Iowa, Iowa State University and the University of Northern Iowa. A Senate education subcommittee advanced a similar proposal on Thursday.

Lawmakers have introduced bills to ban tenure at public universities in Iowa over the last several years, but the bills have died early in the legislative process. The idea may be getting more traction this year as Republicans have criticized incidents that they say show political bias on the part of university faculty and administrators.

Democrats and officials representing the Iowa Board of Regents, which governs the three state universities, say banning tenure would be devastating for the state's ability to attract and retain talented faculty members and could have a damaging economic impact on the state.

"There would be no more sure or certain way to destroy our regents universities, especially the two research universities, than to pass this legislation. The effects would not only be felt at the university, they would be felt throughout the local and statewide economies," Sen. Herman Quirmbach, D-Ames, said at Thursday's Senate subcommittee. Quirmbach is a retired tenured faculty member at Iowa State University.

Sigh.  I wish the Republicans in the Iowa Legislature would just come right the fuck out and say they don't want anyone with an IQ above room temperature to stay in the state anymore. 

[Audrey2]

I just ran into this article on Yahoo and it is absolutely chilling.this is yet another power grab attempt by the Pennsylvania Republicans.

If you can't win at The ballot Box and if you can't win the courts then change the way you elect judges so you can gerrymander the heck out of their districts so they're all Republican and will do your bidding.

As usual I'm going to put the first part under the spoiler.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/pennsylvania-gops-push-more-power-130112826.html

Pennsylvania GOP's Push for More Power Over Judiciary Raises Alarms 

Spoiler

When the Pennsylvania Supreme Court unanimously rejected a Republican attempt to overturn the state’s election results in November, Justice David N. Wecht issued his own pointed rebuke, condemning the GOP effort as “futile” and “a dangerous game.”

“It is not our role to lend legitimacy to such transparent and untimely efforts to subvert the will of Pennsylvania voters,” wrote Wecht, a Democrat who was elected to a 10-year term on the bench in 2016. “Courts should not decide elections when the will of the voters is clear.”

Now Pennsylvania Republicans have a plan to make it less likely that judges like Wecht get in their way.

GOP legislators, dozens of whom supported overturning the state’s election results to aid former President Donald Trump, are moving to change the entire way that judges are selected in Pennsylvania, in a gambit that could tip the scales of the judiciary to favor their party, or at least elect judges more inclined to embrace Republican election challenges.

The proposal would replace the current system of statewide elections for judges with judicial districts drawn by the Republican-controlled Legislature. Those districts could empower rural, predominantly conservative areas and particularly rewire the state Supreme Court, which has a 5-2 Democratic lean.

 

I am absolutely appalled by this effort and I am so sick in general of these Republican morons dressing themself in the flag and waving the flag and claiming patriotism while trying to take away the votes and the voice of anyone who opposes them. Patriotism is not stacking your deck to get the results you want all the time. That is most definitely not a democracy.

I am so angry about this I just want to put the caps lock on!

 

 

 

[AmazonGrace]

An Arkansas GOP leader dumping the party.

 

[GreyhoundFan]

This is what happens when you have decades of repug control of the state legislature and governorship: no regulation. "Some Texans received electric bills up to $17,000 after the storm. How does that happen?"

Quote

They kept the lights off, limited their use of electronics and scarcely watched television, except to catch up at night on the bone-chilling news of the winter storms brutalizing their area.

Like many other Texans, Houston resident David Astrein and his wife did what they could to save power last week, even while both were working from home with their 5-month-old son.

Having conserved power after briefly losing it twice during rolling blackouts, Astrein, 36, said he was shocked when he logged on to view his electric bill from his provider, Griddy: $2,796.85 since Feb. 1.

Ahead of the storms, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which manages about 90 percent of the state’s electric load, underestimated how much power it would need. Because Texas is the only state in the Lower 48 that operates an independent electric grid, it could not receive help from neighboring states. Supply could not keep up with demand, leading the Public Utility Commission of Texas, which regulates Texas utility rates, to raise energy prices in an emergency meeting Monday.

On the same day, the wholesale price of electricity spiked more than 10,000 percent, leaving many Texans with dizzying bills in the wake of the storms — ranging from four digits to one for more than $17,000.

“It’s funny to say, but if you look at news outlets and social media outlets, you see pictures that are posted and I’m one of the lower bills,” Astrein said. “To be thankful for that is actually crazy.”

The state’s unregulated market allows customers to pick their utility providers, with some offering plans that allow users to pay wholesale prices for power. Variable plans can be attractive to customers in better weather, when the bill may be lower than fixed-rate ones. Customers can shift their usage to the cheapest periods, such as nights. But when the wholesale price increases, the variable plan becomes the worst option.

“Everyone in Texas is about deregulation, and Griddy as a wholesale electricity provider is the most deregulated you can get,” said Nicholas Milazzo, who received a $3,000 bill. “And this just goes to show why regulation is important, because, sure, in the short term it’s great, but then situations like this arise where it just gets out of control.”

People with exorbitant bills have demanded solutions. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) announced that he is opening an investigation of the power failures, including the high prices.

A day after the emergency meeting Saturday convened by Gov. Greg Abbott (R) with Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (R), Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan (R) and other lawmakers to discuss what they could do to address the spike in costs for residents, the Public Utility Commission held another meeting, issuing two orders about high costs, including one that would direct energy providers to temporarily stop disconnecting electricity from customers who have not paid.

“The legislature and the governor’s office is working on a plan to figure out the financial piece of this, and so we’re trying to give them time to do that,” said DeAnn Walker, chairman of the utility commission.

Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Tex.) offered hope that the cost for people will be alleviated by federal assistance provided by President Biden’s emergency disaster declaration and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

“The current plan is with the federal assistance to be able to help homeowners both repair — we have a lot of water leaks, a lot of water damage, pipes bursting — but also their electricity bills, as well,” McCaul said Sunday in an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

Meanwhile, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner (D) said on CBS News’s “Face the Nation” that the state has emergency funds that can be used to help overwhelmed consumers.

“Those bills, those exorbitant costs should be borne by the state of Texas and not the individual consumers, who did not cause this catastrophe this week,” Turner said.

A resident confronted the Public Utility Commission during the public comments section of a meeting Friday, asking the commissioners whether they would change practices to aid customers after they had allowed the increased prices.

Commissioner Arthur D’Andrea responded that many utility customers have a fixed-rate plan, locking them into a set price per kilowatt-hour of electricity. But, he acknowledged, no one should be stuck with an unexpectedly and unreasonably high bill.

“Those customers would have really suffered,” he said, “and that’s something we have to look at.”

It’s not publicly known how many customers faced higher costs. Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins posted a tweet Friday asking residents to which companies they paid wholesale prices. Hundreds replied, including people who sent screenshots of their bills.

“Variable rate plans are predatory as we all clearly are seeing now!” Jenkins wrote.

Expecting the increase in wholesale prices, Griddy, a company offering variable-rate plans with a $9.99 monthly fee, urged its nearly 30,000 customers in an email to find a different provider.

The provider, which did not respond to a request for comment, said in a statement that it was aiming to be transparent by telling customers to leave.

“We intend to fight this for, and alongside, our customers for equity and accountability — to reveal why such price increases were allowed to happen as millions of Texans went without power,” the company wrote.

Many customers who tried to switch said other companies were not immediately accepting new customers.

Milazzo, 31, said he received the email from Griddy minutes before the other providers were to wind up operations for the day. Because he gets his email on his phone, he scrambled and was able to find a new plan a few days later. But his parents, who are in their 70s and use Griddy, didn’t immediately know about the email and increased costs. His bill is more than $3,000, while theirs is higher than $4,000.

Milazzo criticized the “price gouging,” saying that electricity is a necessity and that companies should not be allowed to overcharge.

When Houston resident RonDeLu Robinson, 36, tried to find a new fixed-rate plan, she said, the costs for a contract were higher after the storms, leaving her with no option but to stay with her costly plan. Robinson, a nursing student, tried to conserve power during the storm as much as she could with her 78-year-old father living with her after his bypass surgery. She and her husband, Doug Robinson, 42, used less energy in February than they did the prior month. Still, their bill, typically around $100 a month, was more than $6,500 in 17 days.

Because Griddy is connected to customers’ credit or debit cards to make automatic withdrawals, her credit card bill is now more than $2,500 — which she cannot afford to pay. She canceled her card before she could face more charges.

Her husband, a bookkeeper, said many are in the same situation and hope their high bills are addressed. But despite politicians’ assurances about relief, RonDeLu Robinson is not optimistic.

“I’m assuming the worst,” she said. “I’m assuming Griddy is going to take my collections for $6,500. I have really great credit, but I’m assuming they’re going to ruin my credit, or we’re going to have to sell a car, or I don’t know what.”

 

I saw this reaction:

 

[Becky]

3 hours ago, GreyhoundFan said:

This is what happens when you have decades of repug control of the state legislature and governorship: no regulation. "Some Texans received electric bills up to $17,000 after the storm. How does that happen?"

 

I saw this reaction:

 

I am really, really sorry for the people facing these bills, but I do NOT want federal funds going to pay them off.  This is on the state of Texas, and the cost should be borne by the state.  Don't want the feds telling you how to run your power grid?  Then don't come running to the feds for help when the grid fails.

[GreyhoundFan]

Boy, this R state senator in Utah is really on the ball /s

[thoughtful]

3 hours ago, GreyhoundFan said:

Boy, this R state senator in Utah is really on the ball /s

Even if he forgot which number goes with which bill, doesn't he even know the utah.gov site exists?

Imagine how many students I'd have if I claimed to be a piano teacher and couldn't tell you whether to put your hands on the piano palms up or down.

It's that idiotic.