Business coalitions urge Texas lawmakers to reject voting restrictions
Reuters
Published May 04, 2021 04:30PM ET
Updated May 04, 2021 07:36PM ET
By Jessica DiNapoli
(Reuters) -Two coalitions of business leaders on Tuesday urged Texas state lawmakers to reject any laws that would limit voters' access to ballots, adding corporate America's voice to a statewide debate over proposed voting restrictions.
American Airlines (NASDAQ:AAL) Group Inc, based in Forth Worth, Texas, Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) Co, Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT), Salesforce.com Inc (NYSE:CRM) and Unilever (NYSE:UL) Plc are among more than 50 companies, chambers of commerce and business leaders in one of the coalitions, Fair Elections Texas.
"When more people participate in our democratic process, we will all prosper," the group wrote in a letter released on Tuesday.
State legislators are considering two Republican-backed bills, one from the House and one from the Senate, that would limit early voting, change polling locations, restrict how voters can apply for mail-in ballots and give partisan poll watchers more power.
The House will bring its proposal to the floor on Thursday for a possible vote, according to a legislative schedule posted online on Tuesday. If the legislation is approved, a committee of lawmakers from the House and Senate would then work to reconcile differences between the bills.
Republicans have also introduced or passed voting limits in Georgia, Arizona and Florida, citing unsubstantiated claims by former President Donald Trump that the November election he lost to Democrat Joe Biden was stolen. Democrats have condemned the restrictions as an attack on democracy.
Top U.S. companies decried Georgia's law, and Major League Baseball moved its All-Star game out of the state in protest.
In a second letter to Texas lawmakers, a group of about 175 Houston-area business and community leaders said the bills under consideration would "damage our competitiveness in attracting businesses and workers to Houston."
The office of the state's Speaker of the House, Republican Dade Phelan, did not return a call for comment.
After American Airlines first criticized one of the proposed bills in April, Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick accused American's chief executive of failing to read it, which the airline denied.
Get The News You Want
Written By: Reuters
Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.