The Texan Podcast - Daily Rundown - August 20, 2025

Episode Date: August 20, 2025

Want to support The Texan and help us continue providing the Lone Star State with news you can trust? Subscribe today: https://thetexan.news/subscribe/The Texan’s Daily Rundown brings you a quick recap of the latest stories in Texas politics so you can stay informed with news you can trust.Want more resources? Be sure to visit The Texan and subscribe for complete access to our in-depth articles, subscriber-exclusive newsletters, videos, podcasts, and more.Enjoy what you hear? Be sure to subscribe and leave a review!

Howdy, folks, today is Wednesday, August 20th, and you're listening to The Texans Daily Rundown. I'm the Texans assistant editor Rob Lauchess, and here is the rundown of today's news in Texas politics. First up, the new Texas congressional map is expected to clear the largest hurdle on Wednesday evening and pass the house in expedited fashion along party lines, putting the project. five-seat gain map on track to Governor Greg Abbott's desk by the end of the week. Republicans assert the map was drawn with political performance in mind, while Democrats argue the proposal violates existing federal law regarding race-based redistricting. Democrats filed a dozen amendments to the proposed bill, all of which were shot down by Republicans. The House's

passage of the map comes after a two-week-long quorum break by Texas Democrats, who decamped to blue states like California and Illinois. Upon returning, they declared victory for killing the first special session and for sparking a national fight over mid-decade redistricting. California is planning to redraw its map to counteract Texas. The Texas Senate is expected to move quickly on the map, with its congressional redistricting committee meeting Thursday morning to vote out the House's bill once it's referred. Next, a federal district court judge issued a preliminary injunction blocking a recently passed Texas law that requires public schools to display donated copies of the Ten commandments in classrooms. Senate Bill 10, which requires public schools to display copies of the King

James Bible version of the Ten Commandments in classrooms if donated by an outside source, was passed during the 89th regular legislative session and signed into law by Governor Greg Abbott on June 20th. The author of SB 10, Senator Phil King, told the Texan, quote, have the highest level of confidence that this injunction will be overturned on appeal, and in the next few days, I will be meeting with the state's litigation team to discuss our next steps. In other news, state senators heard from grieving parents during the Texas Senate Disaster Preparedness and Flooding Committee hearing Wednesday, as many relayed their anguish and made calls for reform to safety standards. Chairman Charles Perry said he sent an invitation to every family member

of a lost child who wished to provide invited testimony. On July 4th, rapid flooding swept through the hill country and took the lives of more than 130 people, including many children at Camp Mystic. The committee hearing was also called to take up Senate Bill 1, which will be titled Heavens 27 Camp Safety Act. The committee substitute that was presented will prevent camps from bypassing state safety requirements and clarifies that camps near lakes or ponds can still be licensed, but if their cabots sit in a 100-year floodplain, they must follow all safety reforms and evacuate children during flood warnings. The committee substitute will also ensure disclosure of evacuation plans at campgrounds. Also, the city of Kerrville unanimously approved a

resolution to publish a property tax rate that includes an 8% increase allowed by the Texas tax code for cities declared a disaster area. Curville suffered extensive damage. Curville suffered extensive damage as a result of the Guadalupe River flooding on July 4th. City manager Dalton Rice pointed out that the 8% tax rate increase is allowed to be calculated for three years or until the property values are restored to the base as they were before the disaster damage. The tax rate increase would not be permanent and would not increase the floor for calculating the no new revenue rate, Rice said. The city staff also recommended that revenue raised based on the 8% rate be used to create a disaster minimum.

mitigation and recovery fund, set aside for present and future disaster costs, but not for recurring expenses. Last but not least, five public school districts, Connolly, Lake Worth, Wichita Falls, Beaumont, and Fort Worth ISDs, are vulnerable to state intervention following last week's release of A through F accountability ratings by the Texas Education Agency. Each district has at least one school with five consecutive years of failing ratings, which under the state education code will result in either a state-appointed board of managers or closure of the campus. A rating of D or F is considered unacceptable and counts toward the five-year streak. Schools were not rated in the 2019 through 2020 and 2020-20-201 school years because of the COVID-19

pandemic. 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. Thank you.