James Talarico

And so in some ways, that forces you to be loyal to the body

Rather than loyalty or party or your caucus.

Again, I'm proud to be part of the Democratic caucus, but I can't I literally can't get anything done if I don't have some kind of Republican support.

And so that just and I get a lot, you know, I'm able to pass a lot of bills as a Democrat.

And it's because I have good relationships with Democrats.

with my colleagues on the other side of the aisle.

But yeah, on the Ten Commandments issue, it kind of became one of these culture war fights.

And so there wasn't room to have kind of an honest conversation about- When did this get proposed?

So it originally got proposed two years ago in 2023 during the regular session.

I spoke out against the bill.

I kind of kicked up a bunch of dust about the bill and it went over all over social media.

And I think that pressure ended up delaying the bill enough to where it died on the deadline.

So it didn't pass.

Then it came back this session, 2025, and eventually passed both chambers and got signed by the governor.

So unless it's stopped in the courts, it's going to be law in the state of Texas.

And I, you know, here's what I try.

I try to always take someone's argument at face value and assume best intentions.

This is how I'm able to work in a place like the legislature here in Texas, because I try to listen to what someone's argument is.

And if I'm being charitable...

The best argument for this is that the kids are not all right.