A shooting in downtown Austin that killed one person and injured 13 others early Saturday morning has renewed calls from Democratic lawmakers and gun safety groups for the Legislature to take action to reduce gun violence.
Rep. Vikki Goodwin, an Austin Democrat, also called on Abbott to veto the permitless carry bill. She said in an interview that although permitless carry would not have applied to this situation, “it’s just the tone that you set.”
In light of Saturday’s mass shooting on Sixth Street in Austin that killed one person and injured 13 others, State Rep. Vikki Goodwin has sent a letter to Gov. Greg Abbott asking him to veto a bill allowing permitless carry in Texas.
HB 1927 was approved by the Texas Legislature last month and would allow Texans to carry handguns without a license.
In 2021, the U.S. has already experienced at least 194 mass shootings, which the Gun Violence Archive defines as an incident in which four or more people are killed.
Vikki Goodwin, a Democratic member of the Texas House of Representatives, will testify at the hearing. She recently opposed a bill that would let election judges carry guns in most polling places in her state.
During Wednesday’s floor debate, some Democratic legislators criticized the bills, saying that they would criminalize unhoused people.
"We need more state dollars going to substance use disorder programs, job training programs and rental assistance,” said Rep. Vikki Goodwin, D-Austin. “If we truly want to end homelessness, we need to address the root causes, not just sweep the homeless population back into the woods."
State Rep. Vikki Goodwin, D-Austin, was one of the three lawmakers who voted against approving the measure.
“Texans want more protections from gun violence, not less,” she said in a statement. “HB 1911 removes safeguards that ensure that those who are carrying handguns have been confirmed as eligible to do so. In voting against HB 1911, I reject the idea that public safety depends upon greater access to guns and stand with survivors of gun violence who wish to promote safety in our firearm policies,” Goodwin continued.
Living in Southwest Austin, 65-year-old Alice Yi said she has a “fear of just walking in her neighborhood.” She’s cut out brief treks to the grocery store down the block and her 91-year-old father doesn’t leave the home’s grounds for fear of being accosted.
For Yi, that anxiousness stems from acts of violence exacted across the country on Asian Americans, especially during the past year as some people, including some government leaders, have blamed the spread of COVID-19 on her culture, referencing the coronavirus as the “China virus,” she said.
“I feel the legislature is letting our communities down by not taking sensible steps after the multiple mass shootings we’ve had here in Texas,” says State Representative Vikki Goodwin from Austin.
This year lawmakers had hoped to close a loophole that allows people who fail their background check to still buy a gun at a gun show or from a private individual. But their hope is fading. State Representative Lina Ortega from El Paso says, “I had an expectation that there was a chance for that bill because of the comments that were made by the lieutenant governor at our roundtable discussions in El Paso, but now I don’t believe that’s the case.”
The lack of inclusion prompted state Rep. Vikki Goodwin, D-Austin, to send a letter to Gov. Greg Abbott and Department of State Heath Services Commissioner John Hellerstedt calling on the state to revise the rollout. The letter, signed by nine colleagues, said Texas should prioritize front-line workers who can’t work remotely, including grocery store employees.
“Those who risk COVID infection by going to work should receive the vaccine before others who are fortunate enough to hold jobs that they can perform safely from home,” Goodwin wrote, including grocery employees “who are and have been risking their own lives so that we can have food on our tables.”
Last month’s winter storm left millions of Texans without electricity. So what is the Legislature doing about it?
In the latest episode of The Austin Common Radio Hour, we sit down with state Representative Vikki Goodwin to find out. Vikki Goodwin represents Texas House District 47 (which includes western Travis County & far south Austin).
Normally, disaster planning involves constant communication between state agencies to create protocols for any possible emergency situation, according to Redlener. The Texas House Homeland Security and Public Safety Committee oversees the Division of Emergency Management, but Rep. Vikki Goodwin, D-Austin, said the committee only meets with TDEM officials on an as-needed basis.
“When it comes to disaster preparedness, I would say that they don’t really give us instructions or advice or even a network to say in an emergency ‘Here’s who you should be reaching out to,’” Goodwin said.
Goodwin added that she plans to bring up the lack of communication during the legislative session, and she wants to see TDEM use the national Emergency Alert System during future disasters because an automatic cellphone message would be the most effective way to share information. Committee Chair Rep. James White, R-Hillister, also said he has already contacted House Speaker Dade Phelan about scheduling committee hearings to improve the state’s disaster planning and preparedness strategies.
HB 1676, named Cati's Law, would prevent drownings of children in day camps or child care by ensuring staff put life jackets on non-swimmers when at a pool. KVUE visits w/Cati's parents who want to keep others from experiencing their heartbreak.
This isn't the first bill filed in the Texas Legislature attempting to raise the minimum wage. Rep. Vikki Goodwin filed HB 615 in November that proposed raising Texas' minimum wage each year based on the preceding year's consumer price index.
State Rep. Vikki Goodwin, an Austin Democrat, introduced House Bill (HB) 1494 that would, among other things, impose a 25% tax on the market value of gas flared and vented. The gas byproduct now is exempt from state taxes normally levied on gas production, as it is burned off and released instead of being captured and marketed.
“Texas is one of the top oil and gas producing states, and as a byproduct of pulling oil out of the ground, this gas comes out — the same gas we use in our homes to cook our food,” Goodwin said. “But for oil producers, they see it as a waste product. Rather than figuring out how to sell it or how to use it onsite, they’re basically just throwing it away.”
“Texas is one of the top oil and gas producing states, and as a byproduct of pulling oil out of the ground, this gas comes out — the same gas we use in our homes to cook our food,” said state Rep. Vikki Goodwin, an Austin Democrat who wrote a bill to tax flared or vented gas. “But for oil producers, they see it as a waste product. Rather than figuring out how to sell it or how to use it on-site, they’re basically just throwing it away.”
Three House Democrats — Vikki Goodwin and Gina Hinojosa of Austin and Erin Zwiener of Driftwood — told The News they declined the vaccination opportunity.
“Everybody who can get the vaccine should get the vaccine at some point in time, and I definitely look forward to being able to get it,” Goodwin said. “But it would give a wrong impression to people that I valued my own health and wellbeing above others if I was skipping the line.”
A bill filed in the Texas House would ban the display of firearms at public demonstrations, creating a misdemeanor charge.
State Rep. Vikki Goodwin, an Austin Democrat, filed the bill in response to threats of violence at the Texas Capitol in the run-up to the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden on Wednesday.
The Texas Capitol grounds remain closed through Wednesday after the Texas Dept. of Public Safety warned of violent extremists intending to demonstrate at the Texas Capitol, where it is legal for licensed-to-carry individuals to possess firearms.
Texas House Representative Vikki Goodwin says she was also approached, but didn’t accept receiving the COVID-19 vaccine.
“Like everybody else I am anxious to receive the vaccine, but I don’t think it’s right to skip the line,” said Goodwin. “The CDC and the state government has set up guidelines of who should be receiving it, and I don’t fall in those guidelines.”
What State Rep. Vikki Goodwin, D-Austin, said was supposed to be cause for celebration, has turned into confusion and frustration.
Access to COVID-19 vaccines, and according to Goodwin, public information about how to get vaccinated, is lacking.
Goodwin wrote a letter with 37 other Texas House Democrats calling on Gov. Greg Abbott and Dr. John Hellerstedt, commissioner of the Texas Department of State Health Services, to clear up confusion on the state’s vaccine rollout.
“The dearth of reliable public information leads to skepticism over the government’s ability to look out for the public health,” state Rep. Vikki Goodwin wrote in the letter, which 37 other House Democrats signed.
Like all candidates must do these days, Goodwin is rethinking her outreach to voters in light of the pandemic, using tactics like phone banks, social media, and online events. And with the shift to remote campaigning, she sees a silver lining. “While the energy in the room during a public event just can’t be replicated online, so many more people from across the state are participating,” she says. “I much prefer seeing people’s faces and body language, but we have to be flexible and adapt.”
