The Texan Podcast - Daily Rundown - August 13, 2024

Starting point is 00:00:00 Howdy folks, today is Tuesday, August 13th, 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. First up, the Democratic Precinct Chairs of Texas' 18th Congressional District will select the late Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee's replacement on Tuesday evening. Since there is no formal candidacy or filing for this position, any individual nominated by the precinct chairs on Tuesday night is a candidate for the district. Any number of candidates could be nominated. Former Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, who announced he would be joining the race on August 2nd, has received endorsements from 30 of the 88 precinct chairs. The 18th congressional district heavily favors Democrats with a D73% rating in the Texans-Texas Partisan Index, making the general election all but a formality. The meeting will be conducted at 6 p.m. at Wheeler Avenue Baptist

Starting point is 00:01:06 Church in Houston. The same or similar candidates may also file for the seat's special election that Governor Greg Abbott set for November 5th, the same day as the general election. The winner of that would hold the seat for less than two months. Next, Texas Department of Criminal Justice Director Brian Collier admitted for the first time that heat caused the death of three inmates in state prisons and expressed a desire for more funds to air condition all state lockups. a lawsuit filed by prisoner Bernard Tita II in April, which alleged that Texas prisons are, quote, cooking prisoners alive due to lack of air conditioning in justice facilities. The lawsuit was preceded by State Representative Carl Sherman's House Bill 1355, which mandated that the Texas Department of Criminal Justice ensure indoor prison facility temperatures are maintained between 65 and 85 degrees Fahrenheit, in accordance with a 1994 Texas Administrative Code requirement.

Starting point is 00:02:11 The bill reached the Calendars Committee but was never set for consideration on the House floor. Tita's lawsuit followed seven months later. A hearing was held in federal court last week to discuss arguments regarding the need for air conditioning in Texas prisons and whether the heat experienced by inmates is an unconstitutional form of cruel and unusual punishment. In other news, a Travis County District Judge has granted a temporary restraining order against the Texas Education Agency and its Commissioner Mike Marath, halting their release of A-F ratings for the 2023-2024 school year. Presiding Judge Karen Crump of the 250th District Court issued the order, requiring a

Starting point is 00:02:53 hearing be held on August 26th of this year to make a decision on a temporary injunction. The original petition, filed just a day earlier by several Texas school districts, argued that the TEA has, quote, failed to ensure the new State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness, or STAR test, is valid and reliable, and, quote, failed to provide fair notice of the measures, methods, and procurements he would use to calculate the A through F ratings. The filing references a previous ruling that prohibited the TEA from assigning retroactive performance rating scores to schools as part of the agency's refresh plan. Last but not least, a recent decision by the board of the Texas State Fair reversing an existing

Starting point is 00:03:38 policy that allowed concealed carry by license-to-carry holders has sparked widespread attention and now a response from state lawmakers, with over 70 Republicans joining a letter to the fair's governing board asking that the policy change be rescinded. The annual fair is held in Dallas every year at Fair Park from September 27th to October 20th and regularly sees a high of over 100,000 attendees per day. Last year, the fair attracted over 2.3 million people and had an economic impact of nearly $500 million. Licensed-to-carry holders have been allowed to carry their concealed weapons in the past. However, the state fair's governing board issued a press release on August 8th, noting that policy had been changed for this year's fair,

Starting point is 00:04:24 explaining that in working with the Dallas Police Department and other security partners, several new guidelines were developed to ensure the event remains secure. Elected officials and peace officers are excluded from the prohibition. State Representative Dustin Burroughs

Starting point is 00:04:39 has been vocally critical of the policy change and announced the joint letter to the fair's government board on Monday, writing, quote, gun-free zones don't make us safer, they make us targets. Texans have the right to defend themselves. Thanks for listening. To support The Texan, please be sure to visit thetexan.news and subscribe to get full access to all of our articles, newsletters, and podcasts.

The Texan Podcast - Daily Rundown - August 13, 2024

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