The Texan Podcast - Daily Rundown - April 29, 2025

Episode Date: April 29, 2025

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Howdy folks, today is Tuesday, April 29th and you're listening to the Texans Daily Rundown. I'm the Texans Assistant Editor Rob Lauschis and here is the rundown of today's news in Texas politics. First up, President Donald Trump has endorsed Speaker Dustin Burroughs and every House Republican who voted for education savings account legislation earlier this month, according to Governor Greg Abbott. Abbott relayed the news to a meeting of House Republicans on Tuesday morning before the chamber gaveled in for the

day's business, the Texan reported. The endorsement goes to the 86 House Republicans who voted for Senate Bill 2 on April 16th. It comes for the 2026 midterms and for Burroughs himself, it's also an endorsement for reelection as Speaker. Trump told the caucus the morning of April 16th in a closed-door meeting that he would endorse them if they voted for SB 2. All but two Republicans, former Speaker Dade Phelan and State Representative Gary Van Deaver, voted for it. Burroughs finds himself navigating choppy waters in a chamber with conservative

opposition on one side and democratic frustration on the other. The conservative opponents, supported on the outside by the Republican Party of Texas, among others, argue that the House isn't working fast enough on the party's legislative priorities, and much of the Democratic caucus is still upset with how things unfolded on April 16th. Next, two Texans are among President Donald Trump's 13 newly appointed members of the Federal Emergency Management Agency Review Council, Governor Greg Abbott and Nim Kidd, chief of the Texas Division of Emergency Management. The FEMA Review Council was established in order to create a bipartisan team, quote,

tasked with reforming and streamlining the nation's emergency management and disaster response system, end quote. The US Department of Homeland Security said in a press release upon Trump's announcement, the appointment of these members comes after a national dustup regarding FEMA's competency in the wake of various natural disasters,

hurricanes barrel in Helene and wildfires in Los Angeles, particularly after news broke that an employee of FEMA, who was later fired, had been instructing her team to avoid assisting houses with flags or signs endorsing Trump for president. Additionally, concerns were raised that FEMA funding had been used for housing and caring for illegal immigrants, allegedly leaving little for hurricane or wildfire-stricken American citizens. In other news, the Texas House passed legislation regarding the emergency response failures that led to 19 schoolchildren and two teachers being murdered in the Uvalde Elementary School shooting in May 2022. Named the Uvalde Strong Act, House Bill 33 by State Representative Don McLaughlin

tasks the Texas Department of Emergency Management with designing a uniform chain of command response plan for active shooter incidents. It also permits inter-jurisdictional mutual aid agreements and creates a grant program worth $25,000 for the purpose of active shooter preparedness accreditation. The legislation passed 147 to 0 on Monday. 81 lawmakers across both parties signed onto the bill as co- or joint authors. McLaughlin, a freshman who flipped his

seat from blue to red last cycle, was the mayor of Uvalde at the time of the massacre. Last but not least, as the Texas Education Agency releases its 2023 A through F school accountability ratings, Fort Worth Independent School District finds itself in potential jeopardy as one of its schools received an F and said accountability score for the

fifth consecutive year. The TEA accountability ratings have been an embattled issue between the agency and over 100 school districts, who sued back in August 2023 over revised criteria for the 2023 ratings. Said ratings were prevented from being publicly disclosed until April 24, 2025, due to Texas's 15th Court of Appeals vacating previous orders, blocking their release. The reason that the district potentially finds itself in jeopardy is because its leadership academy

at Forest Oaks Sixth Grade School received an F rating for its fifth consecutive year. Schools were not rated during 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2022, the campus was not rated due to a law that gave an extra year to struggling schools to raise performance. The last time the Academy passed the state standard was in 2015.

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