The Texan Podcast - Daily Rundown - April 2, 2024

Starting point is 00:00:00 Howdy folks, today is Tuesday, April 2nd, 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. El Paso District Attorney Bill Hicks held a press conference today on the foreign nationals who rioted and assaulted National Guard soldiers on March 21st. Hicks said 425 were involved on the assault at the border. About 326 will face criminal charges, and the Department of Public Safety has arrested 221 so far. Seven have been indicted on felony assault and rioting charges so far. Those who push through the border in a cohesive group will be or have been charged with Class B misdemeanor rioting charges. Addressing the public defender's request to keep the defendants in custody, Hicks said he understands that move, because otherwise their clients would be turned over to Customs and Border Protection and be taken away, where the public defenders could not consult with them. Hicks said his office is prepared to address all of the cases, as he is one of the

Starting point is 00:01:09 largest DA's offices along the border, and said CBP has offered to assist with prosecution resources if needed. The U.S. Department of Transportation exceeded its regulatory authority when it established a policy requiring states to calculate vehicle emissions on interstate highways, a Texas judge has ruled. When a regulation attempts to override statutory text, the regulation loses every time. Regulations can't punch holes in the rules Congress has laid down, Texas Judge James Hendricks wrote in an opinion last week. The DOT issued the rule in July 2022, directing states to establish their own benchmarks and systems to monitor and reduce greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles using federal highways.

Starting point is 00:01:53 It then required states to report those findings to the federal government. The section of law used to justify the directive is the National Highway Performance Program, a provision that requires states to track the conditions of roads and the pavement therein. In early March, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and a group of Texas business organizations sued the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau after a new rule was implemented that would limit credit card late fees, arguing that the CFBP not only exceeded its statutory authority, but did so by relying on the use of secret data collected for an unrelated purpose. The lawsuit came just days after President Joe Biden announced he would create a new rule to quote, slash credit card late fees

Starting point is 00:02:45 from the current average of $32 to $8, saving consumers $10 billion a year or an average savings of $220 per year for the more than 45 million people who are charged these late fees annually, end quote. The lawsuit, filed in a Fort Worth district court, asked the judge to declare the CFPB's rule as arbitrary, capricious, or otherwise contrary to the law within the meaning of the Administrative Procedures Act. The Arlington Independent School District announced in March that it will be cutting 275 jobs as Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief, or ESSER, funds are set to expire during the next school year. The 275 positions that the district is cutting are all paid for by ESSER funds and include positions related to classroom support, mental health resources, after-school care, tutoring, and more.

Starting point is 00:03:39 ESSER was a COVID-19-era program that funded public school districts' spending during the pandemic. In total, Texas school districts received $17.3 billion in taxpayer money across three funding packages. Awarded funds must be spent by the program's end date. Otherwise, the leftover money will be surrendered back to the federal government. Arlington ISD was granted nearly $210 million in ESSER funds. Fort Worth is launching a new program to support those who spend their careers supporting others in their worst moments, the city's first responders. R3, which stands for Respond, Restore, Resolve, is a public-private partnership between the city of Fort Worth and the American Warrior Association to address moral injury. Anna Heil, managing director of AWA, told the Texan that moral injury is often the precursor to post-traumatic stress disorder. If moral injury is left unaddressed, it can turn into other mental health issues like PTSD,

Starting point is 00:04:39 Heil said. 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 2, 2024

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