The Texan Podcast - Daily Rundown - April 24, 2026

Starting point is 00:00:04 Howdy folks, today is Friday, April 24th, and you're listening to The Texans Daily Rundown. I'm the Texans Managing Editor Rob Lauchess, and here is the rundown of today's news in Texas politics. First up, there are over 100 school bond proposals on the May 2nd ballot, with a majority focused on facility construction and renovations, according to the Texas Bond Review Board. Receiving the most attention is Dallas Independent School District's 6.2,000, billion dollar proposal, the largest school bond in state history. The proposal is made up of four propositions, and the district's bond committee said it will result in a one-cent tax increase. For a Dallas resident with an average home worth $500,000 at market value, it is projected to cost an

Starting point is 00:00:53 additional $33.48 cents per year. Similar to Dallas ISD, other districts are proposing bonds that will refinance existing debt. Early voting for the May 6th, election began on April 20th and lasts until April 28th. Visit the Texan. News for the full list of school district bond elections. Next, with just weeks to go before early voting begins in the Republican primary runoff for Texas Attorney General, State Senator Mays Middleton and U.S. Representative Chip Roy sought to prove their experience and conservative bona fides at a Dallas candidate forum on Thursday evening, where they continue to spar over their respective voting records. Taking the stage first, Roy touted his experience as an attorney, saying, quote,

Starting point is 00:01:40 I think it matters that the attorney general be someone whose practice law in a meaningful way, who has been a prosecutor. Middleton, who is also an attorney, said he would bring business experience to the Texas office of the attorney general, an office that manages more than 4,000 employees and 750 attorneys at full staff. Middleton said, quote, I'm the only one in this race that has executive level experience. I've started companies. I've run companies. I've signed a paycheck. I know where the buck stops. Roy argued that the OAG should have greater authority to prosecute criminal activity, but did not repeat allegations his campaign has amplified online that Middleton voted against crime-related bills while serving in the state house and Senate.

Starting point is 00:02:25 Middleton touted legislation he supported to give the OAG more authority to prosecute election fraud and human trafficking, and to crack down on sanctuary cities and counties that refuse to cooperate with U.S. immigration and customs enforcement. The winner of the GOP primary runoff will face either Texas Senator Nathan Johnson or former Galveston Mayor Joe Jaworsky, who are running for the Democratic nomination. In other news, Texas's two largest cities have revised their police department policies after Governor Greg Abbott warned that limitations on law enforcement cooperation with U.S. immigration and customs enforcement would jeopardize millions in public safety grant funds, while Austin has been granted a deadline extension. Earlier this week, Houston City Council voted 13 to 4

Starting point is 00:03:13 to amend an April 8th ordinance that kept police from waiting for federal agents to take custody of a suspect with an ICE administrative warrant. But Abbott warned that afternoon that restoration of $114 million in grant funding to the city would depend on how the Houston Police Department implemented the changes. On Thursday, HPD issued a new directive that requires a sergeant to come to the scene if a suspect has an ICE administrative warrant but no other criminal warrants. Sargent's then should authorize the officer to wait a reasonable amount of time to enable the ICE agent to obtain custody of the individual, but may not transport any individual that solely has an administration warrant from ICE. Last but not least, with significant cuts to rail funding in the Trump

Starting point is 00:04:00 administration's recently released fiscal year 2027 budget request, including for high-speed rail, the implications for future government funding of the proposed Dallas-to-Huston high-speed rail route are unclear. According to the American Public Transportation Association, the budget proposal cuts public transit funding by 23%, or $16.3 billion, and passenger rail funding. funding by 82%, or 2.8 billion. The administration said that it will cancel prior awards, such as, quote, $4 billion in unspent funding for California's high-speed rail boondoggle, end quote. Thanks for listening. To support the Texan, please be sure to visit the texan. News and subscribe to get full access to all of our articles, newsletters, and podcasts.

The Texan Podcast - Daily Rundown - April 24, 2026

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