9 December 4 - 10, 2025 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents lines that are just going to make book buy- ing nearly impossible.” Immediately, problems arose within the law. For instance, the law requires every ver- sion of a book to be approved, meaning a pa- perback version, an audiobook version or a Spanish version of the same novel all have to be individually approved. Secondly, SLACs are only required to meet twice a school year, and librarians cannot even file the or- der forms until the books are approved. Ear- lier this month, the Observer counted the number of books pending approval in North Texas districts, tallying over 23,000 total, and an average of 2,900 books waiting per school district. Some districts had classic literature, such as Charlotte’s Web, waiting for the green light. Other districts were waiting on infor- mational picture-heavy books like The NAS- CAR Encyclopedia. By law, titles pending approval must be available online for parents to review at least 30 days before the school board or a SLAC convenes, so if a librarian does not submit their requests a month before the scheduled meeting, they would have to wait until the next meeting, usually in the following semester months away. Even af- ter a book is approved, librarians still have to wait the standard 45 days for a library or- der to be fulfilled. Most districts set their meetings in October, so after all is said and done, librarians with eager students re- questing novels would not have them until December or January. “We just really wish people realized what this is actually going to do, and that is, it’s go- ing to bring book buying in districts to a teeny, tiny, very slow trickle, if not a screech- ing halt,” Hawes said before the law went into effect. An Ironic Recommendation One of the standout suggestions for the state’s required reading plans for older stu- dents is Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, a dystopian novel inspired by the massive book-burning initiative perpetrated by the Nazis during World War II. Ironically, the book about censorship has historically been one of the most banned books by school districts across the nation, and was one of the most frequently challenged nov- els in the early 2000s, according to the American Library Association. Less than 10 years ago, Fahrenheit 451 was challenged in the Conroe Indepen- dent School District, after a parent took is- sue with the novel’s use of profanity, mention of drugs and alcohol and alleg- edly sacrilegious references to the Bible and God. The district voted not to remove the novel. However, it has remained con- troversial and has frequently been misre- ported as banned in the Frisco Independent School District, which had a number of novels challenged by the city’s Rep. Jared Patterson. A bill, the READER Act, that would have banned all books with sexual content from schools, filed by Patterson, was eventually signed into law. In a full-circle moment, Pat- terson himself referenced the Ray Bradbury classic while discussing the law. “This is not a ‘Fahrenheit 451’-style book ban,” Patterson said when the bill passed. ▼ IMMIGRATION CHASED OFF THE ROAD IMMIGRATION CRACKDOWN HITS VEHICLE REGISTRATION REQUIREMENTS. BY ALYSSA FIELDS I n a crafty move this month, the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) changed vehicle registration and regis- tration renewal policies in a move critics say directly harms immigrants living in the United States illegally, and potentially all motorists. The San Antonio Express-News first re- ported that county tax offices received no- tice of the immediate change from the state department on Nov. 18. “It’s going to be a big change,” Bexar County Tax Assessor-Collector Albert Ure- sti said to the Express-News. “There’s still a lot more information that needs to come out… it’s gonna be a learning curve.” Previously, drivers could register or re- new their registrations using licenses or passports that were up to 12 months ex- pired. Now, an overnight change has skewed the system, and based on the exist- ing waitlist for license renewal appoint- ments at DMV offices across the state, Uresti is concerned. “From everything we hear talking to people here, it takes about six months to get an ap- pointment to get your driver’s license re- newed,” he said. “So that’s going to be the other impact. … if you do not have a current driver’s license, you’re going to have to get it renewed.” Current Estimates The seemingly overnight change comes on the heels of a social media campaign headed by North Texas Rep. Brian Harrison, who personally wrote to the governor about DMVs issuing registration to non-citizens. “This is unacceptable,” Harrison wrote. “DMV’s policy of allowing illegals to regis- ter vehicles not only [incentivizes] illegal immigration but also endangers Texas drivers and causes vehicle insurance to skyrocket.” But Monica Rodriguez, an Austin-based insurance specialist, told the Express- News that this change will create unneces- sary burdens for a group of people who are already scared in the current climate. “These people drive every day, and they need reliable transportation,” she said. “Now, with the possibility of being stopped for expired registration, that puts them at risk of being arrested.” In order to maintain car insurance, a ve- hicle must be registered. So if predictions are correct, and the hurdles to register a car become too burdensome, the number of un- insured drivers will increase. According to the DMV’s website, an estimated 20% of Texas drivers are already uninsured. The change comes as Texas lawmakers seek new administrative ways to continue cracking down on immigration. Earlier this year, the state announced it would no longer issue commercial driver’s licenses to DACA recipients, refugees and asylum seekers. These specialty licenses are needed for long- distance trucking, sanitation work or other heavy machine operating industries, whit- tling available jobs for many immigrants le- gally living in the United States. “Every commercial driver license opera- tor on Texas roadways must be able to com- municate clearly in English to ensure compliance with traffic laws, follow safety directions, and prevent accidents,” Abbott said in a press release. PUBLIC TRANSIT ▼ TRANSPORTATION WHEELS FALLING OFF ADDISON BECOMES THE FIFTH CITY TO CONSIDER LEAVING DART. BY ALYSSA FIELDS A fifth North Texas city, Addison, has announced it will also consider al- lowing its constituents to vote on immediately terminating its contract with the Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART). In a special meeting held on Dec. 2, the Addison City Council will decide whether to place a measure on the May ballot that would allow voters to decide the fate of the city’s mem- bership with DART. So far, Farmers Branch, Highland Park, Irving and Plano have approved adding a similar measure to their spring special elec- tion ballots. All cities, including Addison, have been members of the system since its inception in the early ‘80s. The financial aspect of remaining within DART has been the main point of conten- tion, with many of the cities that contribute hundreds of millions of dollars each year questioning the return on investment. As part of the deal, each member city funnels one cent of sales tax revenue to the transit system. Several legislative attempts to sig- nificantly reduce this contribution have failed, and now, some cities are exploring new ways to cut their costs. According to a report from the Dallas Morning News, member cities can allow their voters to opt out of DART every six years, with the next opportunity scheduled for 2026. Following the latest, and third consecu- tive, bill, each filed by Plano Rep. Matt Shaheen, to reduce the tax contribution, which failed in March, five mayors of member cities wrote directly to Gov. Greg Abbott, requesting that the issue be added to the agenda for a special session. Addi- son’s mayor, Bruce Arfsten, was not one of them, but now the city has joined the pack. Services would end immediately in cities that choose to dissolve their contracts. For Addison, this includes 12 bus routes, the ter- mination of DART’s curbside on-demand service GoLink, and the decommissioning of Addison Station, the rail stop for the brand- new Silver Line that runs directly to Dallas- Fort Worth International Airport. Cities eyeing the exit have frequently cited a 2023 fiscal analysis from Ernst and Young, which reported that roughly half of the member cities were contributing more to DART than they received back in ser- vices. The report found that Addison had contributed $16.3 million, receiving $9.5 million in return for services. However, the report does not include any profit from the Silver Line, which all cities will con- tinue to pay for until the $908 million loan taken to build the line is repaid, regardless of whether cities end their contracts or not. Concessionary Plans Irving Mayor Rick Stopfer told the Ob- server that cities indicating their intention to leave were extended an opportunity for negotiation from the new DART Chair, Randall Bryant. Stopfer says the city of Plano was the first to respond and is cur- rently negotiating with the transit ser- vice. They’re offering to extend their contract for another six years if they can maintain certain services, such as the rail line, while reducing or eliminating others, like standard bus routes. Stopfer says his city is working through its concessionary requests and that similar requests from other cities should not be unexpected in the coming weeks. “We’re still working on it,” Stopfer said. “We need to have council approval… what we’re working on will eventually come to the city council for us to evaluate before we send it to DART… I’m tired of arguing about it.” Jacob Vaughn Vehicle registration laws in Texas are getting stricter. For some drivers.
