HOUSTON- This morning I said a prayer for Texas.  I honestly didn’t know what else I could do.  In fact, it occurred to me that I probably should have started praying months ago, when the legislature started.  Maybe it was my hope that reason would prevail, and surely our legislators would decipher what was in the best interests of the people of this state.  Perhaps it was my hope that a common sense bipartisan approach to governance would prevail and Texas would continue to be an example for the rest of the country.
 But this morning was different.  This morning I opened the newspaper and realized that our extreme ideological differences would bring about the misery of millions of Texans from every walk of life.  The 82nd Texas legislature will have a damaging effect on this state that will last decades.  Sanctuary cities were the headline of the day.  We decided yesterday to create a state where millions of our citizens could be stopped at a moment’s notice and asked if they had the right to be called an American.  Sanctuary city policies create an environment powered by racial profiling and a culture of fear.  They have no place in this state.
 Recently, the Texas Legislature decided to pass a redistricting plan that limited the voting rights of minority communities across the state. We decided to create a state where the voices of the majority of our citizenry would be drowned out by those of the minority.  In the Texas House where the super majority lives they limit debate because they don’t want to be proven wrong.  They reject intellectual discourse and replace it with an old west style gun fight approach to law making. In one legislative session, we have found a way to limit or infringe upon the rights of women, the poor, children, ethnic minorities, and anyone that could use a hand up in this state.
 We focus on these issues here in Texas to avoid talking about the real problems that we are facing.  We rather examine the idea of letting our children carry guns on their way to class, as opposed to insuring they have books to read when they get there.  We believe it’s a bigger emergency to discuss the process by which a woman has an abortion, as opposed to insuring the children that are indigent in our communities can keep the health care they so desperately need.
 I said a prayer for Texas because Texas has lost its way.  In the prayer I thanked my creator for sending champions that are fighting day in and out to prevent regressive public policies from driving our state into more of a hole. I prayed the majority of Texans in this state will understand that elections have consequences and unfortunately we will feel the effects of these for years to come.  Texans are fighters, from Goliad to the Alamo; we have a tradition of fighting back against anything that would make our state less than Texas.  I pray when the time to fight comes we can focus on the real enemies of this state. We can do better.  Amen.
 Dallas S. Jones is the CEO of Elite Change, LLC a public affairs and political consulting firm.  He resides in Third Ward with his wife, Angela.