The Texan Podcast - Daily Rundown - April 23, 2024

Episode Date: April 23, 2024

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Howdy folks, today is Tuesday, April 23, 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 announced an agreement has been reached with Seattle Children's Hospital, which will now abandon all attempts to do business in Texas. Paxton had previously sent a letter to the Washington state-based hospital in an effort to obtain documents

related to their alleged violation of the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Consumer Protection Act. In turn, Seattle Children's sued Paxton, asking the court to set aside the request, as well as find that Texas does not have quote, personal jurisdiction, unquote, and that the hospital cannot comply with the request pursuant to controlling Washington laws. On Monday, Paxton announced that a joint motion

to dismiss the case had been agreed to, and the hospital would no longer be providing gender transition treatments to Texas children. After the U.S. Department of Justice promulgated a rule to regulate home-built firearm kits, or what the Biden administration calls ghost guns, two Texas residents filed a lawsuit challenging the legality of the rule that will now be heard by the Supreme Court of the United States. Represented by the Firearms Policy Coalition, the lawsuit from plaintiffs Jennifer Vanderstock and Michael Andron contends that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives exceeded the boundaries of federal law by implementing the new rules, which treat unfinished firearm kits as finished firearms and requires all firearms to possess a serial number.

The DOJ argued it simply wants to make sure the unfinished parts kits are treated like any other firearm, and says implementation of the rule will not prevent anyone who is lawfully allowed to possess a gun from obtaining one. The plaintiffs disagree, writing in their SCOTUS brief that they believe the federal government's goal in implementing the rule isn't simply to regulate the firearm kit industry, but to get rid of it. Paxton will ask the Supreme Court of Texas to block the implementation of a Harris County Guaranteed Basic Income Pilot Program, while a district court judge considers the constitutionality of a plan to award no-strings-attached monthly stipends to select

residents. Approved by commissioners last year, the Uplift Harris program proposes to use $20.5 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds to provide a $500 monthly stipend to 1,900 individuals for 18 months. To qualify, recipients must earn less than double the federal poverty line, about $60,000 for a household of four, and either reside in one of 10 high-poverty zip codes or already participate in the county's Accessing Coordinated Care and Empowering Self-Sufficiency, or ACCESS, program. Officers with the Texas Department of Public Safety made a traffic stop in the border community of McAllen last week that resulted in a significant drug seizure and multiple arrests. According to a DPS statement, both Criminal

Investigation Division agents and Highway Patrol officers conducted an afternoon traffic stop on a semi-truck. The stop led officers to discover 90 bundles containing cocaine that weighed a total of 216 pounds with an estimated street value of $2 million. Officers were then led to a residence in McAllen associated with the traffic stop, which led to the discovery of multiple semi-automatic rifles used in connection with the drug trade, including three AR-15 rifles and one AK-47. Priscilla Villarreal, the citizen journalist from Laredo who was arrested for, quote, illegally soliciting information, unquote, about a police matter, has appealed her case to

SCOTUS. She was arrested in 2017 and charged with violating a section of the Texas Penal Code, which establishes a felony offense for soliciting or receiving from a public servant information that has not been made public. Now, attorneys from the non-profit legal group Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression have filed an appeal to SCOTUS on her behalf. On its May 2nd agenda, the City of Austin will be proposing a resolution to, quote, protect the health, welfare, and safety, unquote, of transgender residents. The resolution will make it the policy of the city to prohibit the use of city personnel, funds, or resources for

investigating, prosecuting, or imposing penalties on transgender or LGBT individuals seeking gender affirming health care or any individual or organization that provides or assists in providing such health care. The resolution emphasizes the city's commitment to protecting LGBT individuals and those who support them through, quote, vigorous enforcement of hate crime and anti-discrimination laws and providing other forms of support, unquote. Thanks for listening. Be sure to visit the texan.news and subscribe to get full access to all of our articles, newsletters, and podcasts.