Yes. Amazingly, the legislation required to initiate a Texit referendum is incredibly simple when contemplating the large impact it will have. The text of the legislation is below.
The Texas Independence Referendum Act
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
to make provision for the holding of a referendum on whether Texas should reassert its status as an independent nation.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Title 16 of the Election Code is amended by adding Chapter 279 to read as follows:
CHAPTER 279. TEXAS INDEPENDENCE REFERENDUM
SUBCHAPTER A. REFERENDUM
Sec. 279.001 THE REFERENDUM
(1) A referendum is to be held on whether Texas should reassert its status as an independent nation or remain a member of the United States.
(2) The referendum shall be held on the next regularly scheduled general election date after the passage of this act and any subsequent general elections dates as called by the Governor, a 2/3rds vote of the Texas Legislature or upon the submission of a petition of Texas voters in accordance with chapter 172 of the Texas Election Code.
(3) The day appointed under subsection (2) must be no later than 31 December 2018.
(4) The question that is to appear on the ballot is—
“Should the State of Texas reassert its status as an independent nation?”
(5)The alternative answers to that question that are to appear on the ballot are—
“Yes” and “No”.
Sec. 279.002 DUTY TO PUBLISH INFORMATION ON OUTCOME OF PREVIOUS EFFORTS TO REFORM THE FEDERAL UNION AND ASSERT TEXAS SOVEREIGNTY
(1)The Secretary of State must publish a report which contains (alone or with other material)—
(a) a statement which details previous efforts by the State of Texas to initiate reform in the relationship between the State of Texas and the Federal union as well as efforts to retain or reassert the sovereignty of the State of Texas, and
(b) the opinion of the Secretary of State on the success of those efforts.
(2) The report must be published no later than 10 weeks before the scheduled referendum date.
(3) A copy of the report published under this section must be submitted to the Legislature of the State of Texas, the Governor, the Lieutenant Governor, the Texas Congressional delegation, and the President of the United States.
Sec. 279.003 DUTY TO PUBLISH INFORMATION ABOUT TEXAS MEMBERSHIP IN THE UNITED STATES
(1)The Secretary of State must publish a report which contains (alone or with other material)—
(a) information about rights and obligations of the State of Texas and its citizens that arise under Federal law as a result of Texas membership in the United States, and
(b) examples of countries that are not part of the United States but do have other arrangements and agreements with the United States (describing, in the case of each country given as an example, those arrangements).
(2) The report must be published no later than 10 weeks before the scheduled referendum date.
(3) A copy of the report published under this section must be submitted to the Legislature of the State of Texas, the Governor, the Lieutenant Governor, the Texas Congressional delegation, and the President of the United States.
Sec. 279.004 CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS AND EXPENDITURES FOR THIS REFERENDUM
(1) For the purposes of this referendum,
- Campaign expenditures shall only be made from funds contributed by eligible Texas voters.
- Only political action committees registered in Texas no later than 6 months after this legislation takes effect shall be allowed to make campaign expenditures.
- No campaign expenditure can be made from the campaign account of any current or former elected official or from any specific purpose political action committee unrelated to this referendum.
- All offenses committed under this section and Chapter 253 are enhanced to State Jail Felonies.
- Other than these specific provisions, all sections of Chapter 253 apply to campaign contributions and expenditures for this referendum.
Sec. 279.005 RESULTS OF THE REFERENDUM
(1) The results of the referendum shall be reported first and foremost to the citizens of Texas, to both houses of the United States Congress and to the President of the United States by the Governor of the State of Texas.
(2) Should the vote of the citizens result in a YES decision for Texas independence, the Texas Legislature shall, within twelve calendar months following the referendum, craft an Ordinance for Texas Independence defining and outlining a plan to implement the decision of the referendum, to include an operational plan, to establish Texas as an independent republic.
While this language is, in and of itself, a complete bill that could be filed in the next session of the Texas Legislature, it should only be treated as a starting point and not a finished product. There should be plenty of deliberation on the framework for the referendum, but it should not be a victim of “paralysis by analysis.”
