Texas lawmaker files bill to rename San Antonio’s I-35 after President Trump

As if traffic hasn’t already made I-35 a “Highway to Hell,” here’s another reason to dislike it.

A Lone Star State lawmaker has filed a bill that would name the interstate’s Texas stretch after the current occupant of the White House, Austin CBS affiliate KVUE reports.

If the bill becomes law, I-35 — which connects San Antonio, Austin and the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex — would be renamed President Donald J. Trump Highway. The new moniker would be displayed on signs at both ends of the thoroughfare, not to mention markers along the way.

First-term Texas Rep. Joanne Shofner, a Nacogdoches Republican, filed House Bill 5503 late last week. If her proposal is adopted, the highway would assume its new name Sept. 1.

Shofner took office Jan. 14 after being endorsed by Trump during her campaign.

Gov. Greg Abbott spent $450,000 to help get her elected over a GOP incumbent who refused to back school vouchers. However, she faced no Democratic opponent in the general election for the solidly red district.

If Shofner’s name sounds familiar, it may be because she also filed a boneheaded bill that would require the state to test its drinking water for mifepristone, a widely used abortion medication right-wing conspiracy theorists claim is contaminating water supplies.

Environmental scientists and engineers told Politifact there’s “no evidence that mifepristone has harmed the environment or people via wastewater.”

Meanwhile, Shofner’s highway bill mirrors others proposed by right-wing lawmakers throughout the country, including Arizona, Missouri, Kentucky and Florida.

Where have we heard this kind of thing before? Oh right.

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This article appears in Mar 19 – Apr 1, 2025.