The Texan Podcast - Daily Rundown - April 1, 2024

Starting point is 00:00:00 Howdy folks, today is Monday, April 1st, and you're listening to the Texans Daily Rundown. I'm the Texans Assistant Editor Rob Lausches, and here is the rundown of today's news in Texas politics. Attorney General Ken Paxton has filed a request to examine Spirit Aerosystems Holdings as he seeks information on their dealings with Boeing, issues related to airplane parts, and the company's diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. In the request sent to Spirit, Paxton requested a return date of April 17th, 2024.

Starting point is 00:00:37 He is seeking documentation on Spirit's DEI policy, incentive compensation plan, and misdrilled aft pressure bulkhead holes defect, among other issues. There has been a streak of incidents involving Boeing and Spirit Aerosystems, who supply Boeing with a variety of parts for both the 737 and 747 passenger aircraft. The Federal Aviation Administration released a report earlier this month following a six-week auditing of Boeing and Spirit Aero Systems. The FAA stated the audit was prompted by an incident in January involving a Boeing 737-9 MAX aircraft that found,

Starting point is 00:01:12 quote, multiple instances where the companies allegedly failed to comply with manufacturing quality control requirements. A door plug blew out during an Alaska Airlines flight of a 737 MAX 9 in January, which left a large hole in the plane's fuselage at 16,000 feet in flight. Passengers aboard the flight have since sued both Boeing and Alaska Airlines. Both Boeing and Alaska Airlines have denied liability for any damages alleged by the passengers. The FAA report goes on to say it has, quote, halted production expansion of the Boeing 737 MAX, end quote, in addition to increasing on-site presence at multiple Boeing and Spirit Aerosystem facilities. More than two years after Harris County's chaotic 2022 general election, the last remaining election contest trial began in Houston on Monday regarding a judicial court race in which the candidates were separated by a mere 128 votes of more than 1 million cast. Tammy Pierce, a candidate for the county's 180th district criminal court, was one of 21 Republicans who filed legal election contests,

Starting point is 00:02:17 but her case was delayed after defendant Judge Deshaun Jones filed an anti-strategic lawsuit against public participation, or SLAPP, motion to dismiss. While anti-SLAPP motions are typically used in free speech cases, Jones argued that the election contest infringed on his constitutional right to participate in government. In February 2023, visiting judge David Peoples denied the motion, calling it frivolous and solely intended to delay. Jones' attorney, downtown Oliver Brown, then filed an appeal with the Texas First Court of Appeals. A three-judge panel did not take up his appeal in November 2023, and earlier this year issued an opinion agreeing that the motion was frivolous.

Starting point is 00:02:58 Administrative issues further delayed the trial until this week. Last November, Peoples dismissed all other pending Harris County election contests, but in a 35-page opinion noted that under former elections administrator Clifford Tatum, the county had also violated state law mandating the number of ballots provided to each polling site. Peoples also found that the county illegally counted ballots cast by voters who were not eligible because their registrations were canceled, they resided outside of the county, or they did not provide a signature or valid identification substitutions. Despite the county's inappropriate handling of the election, Peeples calculated that the number of votes affected totaled 2,779, not enough to warrant a new election in the other pending

Starting point is 00:03:41 contests. The Texan has released the first episode of Send Me Some Stuff, where reporters Brad Johnson and Cameron Abams dive deep into content that goes beyond the scope of their usual reporting. This week, they talk about the pullback in ESG, the future of AI regulations, possible changes to the Texas House rules surrounding the speakership race, and the latest developments at Elon Musk's Neuralink. Send Me Some Stuff is available right now to subscribers of The Texan and will be available on all platforms tomorrow. Breaking news. In a social media post on Monday morning, the Texas Comptroller stated, quote, The Texas Comptroller's office announces a new tax on all

Starting point is 00:04:20 sweet iced tea, effective immediately. Aimed at promoting healthier lifestyles, proceeds will support nutrition and wellness initiatives. More details to follow. Happy April Fool's Day, everyone. But yes, they really did post that. Thanks for listening. Be sure to visit thetexan.news and subscribe to get full access to all of our articles, newsletters, and podcasts.

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The Texan Podcast - Daily Rundown - April 1, 2024

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