Dallas

Texas Bill Would Let Voters Decide on Confederate Monuments

The bill would take removal powers away from local governments and other public entities

Removal of Confederate and other historical markers would need approval from voters or state lawmakers under a bill that won initial approval by the state Senate on Tuesday.

The bill would take removal powers away from local governments and other public entities who have grappled with calls to remove Confederate markers that are now facing protests over the era's racist history.

The Dallas City Council voted last year to remove a statue of Robert E. Lee from a park and the University of Texas in 2017 removed several statues of Lee and other Confederate figures.

Earlier this year, Gov. Greg Abbott and other top state Republicans agreed to remove a Capitol plaque that said slavery was not the underlying cause of the Civil War.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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