With eight years in the Texas House of Representatives, Rep. Ron Reynolds (D-Missouri City, District 27) expects more opposition than ever from his Republican colleagues in passing legislation during the 89th legislative session.
He has filed 109 bills that confront Make America Great Again (MAGA) policies on school vouchers, DEI ban, health care and environmental justice that Reynolds believes disproportionately impact Black Texans.
Passing his legislation is challenging, which he attributes to Republicans’ fear of a far-right MAGA base that votes in Republican primaries. Although he has learned to “work relationships” and discuss bills from a “fiscal impact” perspective, Reynolds has noticed increased polarization.
“Because of these policies at the federal level with (Donald) Trump and the MAGA, they’re now not even doing what a majority of Texans [need],” Reynolds said. “It is necessary to have the conversation about filing legislation that is good public policy.”
According to Reynolds, the 2026 midterms will see a power shift in the House with a Democrat majority, when people are “sick and tired of these bad policies and vote out these MAGA extremists.”
On education
Reynolds filed several bills during the 89th legislative session that pertain to public education, including HB 3295, which seeks to offset the impact of the bill banning DEI (SB 17). He said since Texas universities implemented the anti-DEI policies, African American and minority students and faculty members have decreased, although the state has the largest Black population (nearly 4.3 million).
“I wanted to offer a solution of how we fix it, even though I know realistically the likelihood of me being able to pass it is probably 0.1%,” he said.
Reynolds added that he also strongly opposes HB 3, which will establish an education savings account program (vouchers) to use public funds to help pay for private schools. He pointed out that many families relying on aid will likely lose it, and that voucher programs will divert funding from public schools, disproportionately harming Black and Hispanic school districts that are already underfunded.
“These policies are designed and targeted to help the rich at the expense of the poor, and even the middle class that disproportionately would be Black and brown,” he said.
On health care
Through HB 726 and HJR 61, Reynolds proposed Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act, foreseeing difficulty in passing them. He said these bills are to ensure low-income people get treatment that otherwise costs “tens of thousands of dollars out of pocket.”
“When people don’t have access to healthcare, they don’t get that early detection more times than not,” he said. “It’s cruel to me that in this state, we continue to have partisan politics instead of prioritizing human health and dignity for people that can get healthcare regardless of their income levels.”
On gun control and criminal justice
Criticizing the National Rifle Association and Texas Rifle Association for opposing gun reform and prioritizing profits over safety, Reynolds said he advocates for closing the gun show loophole, raising the age to buy assault rifles to 21 and implementing red flag laws.
“Owning the gun is something that is not essential to our democracy like voting is. But we made it more difficult to vote and easier to purchase a gun,” Reynolds said.
Reynolds added he proposed a bill that calls for the Texas Commission on Jail Standards to study Harris County Jail living conditions and safety after a record number of inmates died while awaiting trial.
On environmental justice
Several of Reynolds’ bills (HB 838, HB 853, HB 866, HB 3298) address environmental regulations and energy reform. He criticized the proliferation of concrete batch plants and other environmental hazards in Houston’s Black and Brown communities, stating that affluent, predominantly white areas are not targeted for such developments.
“These neighborhoods [Black and Brown] don’t have the ability to fight back. They don’t have the lobbyists,” he said.
He highlighted environmental justice issues, including higher rates of asthma and cancer clusters, especially near schools. Reynolds has filed legislation to prevent the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) from granting permits for unsafe plants in marginalized areas.
“Unfortunately, our state is on the wrong side of this,” Reynolds said. “The safety of a community shouldn’t be dependent on your zip code.”
Committed to fighting for policies that benefit working-class Texans, Reynolds said he will continue advocating for his constituents and Texans.
“On our watch, we must be the resistance. We must be the agitators,” he said. “We’re not going to back down and let them walk over us and take us back to dark days. We made tremendous progress in this country because of those people who took a stand…But if we’re not careful, many of those rights that we won will be lost.”
