AUSTIN, Texas — As the start of the 2021 legislative session inches closer, Black lawmakers across the state continue to prepare for what’s to come in the new year and plan for how new laws will affect their constituents.

In a preview to the session expected to begin Jan. 12, State Rep. Nicole Collier, D-Fort Worth and State Rep. Harold Dutton, D-Houston, sat down with The Texas Tribune on Thursday to discuss issues ranging from the impact of COVID-19 on Black communities to police reform.

“For years, ever since the Legislative Black Caucus was formed, it has been our mission to be the voice and advocate for the black community in Texas,” said Collier, first vice chair of the Texas Legislative Black Caucus. “And now, today, is no different. We have over the summer, over the interim, as a caucus have made it very clear what our agenda is and that is to continue the efforts to reform the criminal justice system.”

Finding a solution to better policing across the state was a topic of concern as both Dutton and Collier expressed the need for change within most, if not all, law enforcement agencies.

“There’s not a person in our caucus or anywhere that I know of that [doesn’t] back police officers – good police officers,” said Dutton. “I have lots of friends, like we all do, who are police officers. The question was never about whether or not we ought to back the police officers? The question was whether or not we ought to do those things and provide those guide posts, so that police officers engage in conduct that’s acceptable to all of Texas.”

Dutton admitted that when he first heard that Gov. Greg Abbott was advocating for “Back the Blue” legislation, he was worried that that’s not where lawmakers should “choose sides.”

“This is not where we should have a red team and a blue team,” he said. “This is not that kind of contest. I mean what we ought to be doing is recognizing that we’re all on the same playing field and as a consequence our efforts ought to be designed to come up with the best solution in terms of what the problem is.”

On the topic of defunding police departments, Collier insisted that agencies should have the ability to use the resources how they see fit. But she also noted it was critically important to begin viewing law enforcement agencies through a different lens.

“… What he’s talking about making sure that we have additional collaboration between health care workers and law enforcement is the same thing that those people who are talking about defunding the police are talking about because it’s reimaging policing,” she said of Abbott. “It’s taking away or relieving them of some requirements that they originally did not have and putting it where it should be. We shouldn’t expect them to be mental health providers. We shouldn’t criminalize people who are having a mental health crisis. So, that’s what we’re talking about when we’re saying reimagining policing. So, if there’s efforts that are put forth that’s going to do that and it so happens to defund a portion of the police department, but puts it into another fund that has the same goal of providing protection for our communities then yes I’m going to support that and is so is the caucus.”

Even so, Dutton said the legislature tends to be the place “where good ideas go to die,” he’s hopeful that some of the proposed bills will pass in the upcoming session.

“We hope that as we move along this process, all the good members of the legislature will at least entertain the discussion about this and let’s see if we can agree to do something that changes the outcome of policing in Texas,” he said.  

As the number of COVID-19 cases continues to grow in Texas and across the United States, local and state agencies work to find ways to keep their communities as safe as possible, whether it’s limiting capacities of businesses or shutting down entirely for weeks and days at a time. Collier said with the increase, the state has “work to do,” especially with citizens in her district without access to clinics in the community.

“It’s about making sure that people have access, making sure they know where to go and we want to do that,” she said. “We want to break those barriers to access to health services and health care and we want to also make sure that the information that’s out there is funneled to our community especially with this vaccine.”

On Thursday evening, a Food and Drug Administration advisory panel recommended Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine for emergency distribution. The news could allow the agency to begin administering the vaccine with days, according to public health officials. The recommendation comes one day after the U.S. broke its single daily record for deaths linked to the novel coronavirus with more than 3,000.

“We know that the Black community has been hoodwinked when it comes down to participating in trials and we want to make sure that the information about these vaccines that are out there are provided in a transparent measure, so that we can get our community on board and make sure that they will participate and weigh their options to be vaccinated.”

Dec. 11 will conclude the weeklong symposium hosted by The Texas Tribune in partnership with Spectrum News 1 Texas. Click here for a full schedule of events.