On Tuesday at the state Capitol, Governor Greg Abbott signed into law two bills aimed at strengthening the electric grid and reforming the agencies that regulate it. It was the culmination of the Legislature’s response to a devastating winter storm that crippled the state’s energy system and killed as many as 700 Texans, according to a recent Buzzfeed investigation.
Before signing the bills, Abbott confidently declared that “everything that needed to be done was done to fix the power grid in Texas.”
But for all the self-congratulation among state leaders this week, grid reform was but a minor feature of the legislative session. Republicans spent most of their time passing through extreme legislation that all but bans abortions, permits most anyone to carry a handgun without a license, restricts how race and history can be taught in Texas classrooms, punishes budget cuts in urban police deparments, and on and on.
