The Texan Podcast - Daily Rundown - August 27, 2025

Starting point is 00:00:00 Howdy, folks. Today is Wednesday, August 27th, 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, Congressman Al Green has all but officially declared his candidacy for Congressional District 18, which largely holds his prior constituency following Texas mid-decade redistricting. Green stated during a press conference on Tuesday afternoon that the new CD-18 more closely resembles his current CD-9. The Texas legislature passed its new Republican-favored congressional map on August 20th, following a two-week quorum break by members of the Texas House Democratic Caucus to prevent the vote. While Green's CD-19 is not one of the five districts,

Starting point is 00:00:54 expected to flip from blue to red, as requested by President Donald Trump, a majority of CD-19 is now folded into the existing Democratic stronghold CD-18. Green stated that he would not be making an announcement for CD-18 because he wanted to avoid confusion, as he will not be running in the 2025 special election to fill the seat after the death of its previous occupant, Congressman Sylvester Turner, in March. Next, a bill to make Ivermectin available with without requiring a prescription order from a licensed health care provider sparked a heated debate on the Texas House floor, as the medication has become an overt point of partisan contention. State Representative Joanne Schoffner, the author of House Bill 25, presented the legislation before the House on Wednesday, arguing that, quote, like penicillin and aspirin, Ivermectin is a safe, affordable medicine with minimal side effects. Governor Greg Abbott expanded the agenda for

Starting point is 00:01:54 the ongoing second special session to include allowing Texans to purchase Ivermectin over the counter. With HB. 25 passing through the lower chamber, the Texas Senate will now have to take it up in committee and then on the floor before it reaches Abbott's desk. In other news, both the Texas House and Senate have passed a bill that creates new criminal offenses for real property theft and real property fraud. Senate Bill 16 by Senator Royce West passed the Senate on August 18th, House on August 26th. It was added to the special session call by Governor Greg Abbott after he vetoed a related bill that passed during the regular session. SB 16 creates separate criminal offenses for real property theft and real property fraud. Those offenses are currently subsumed under the

Starting point is 00:02:43 general theft and fraud categories. Separating them will allow for a longer statute of limitations of 10 years, for tracking their frequency and prosecutions around the state, and for enhanced penalties for those who victimize people with disabilities or who are over the age of 65. Also, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is seeking an end to a controversial federal court consent decree that has governed misdemeanor bail in Harris County and mandated spending on pretrial services and a federal monitor since 2019. In court documents filed Tuesday, the Texas Office of the Attorney General stated that the terms of the decree violate state law by mandating the release of suspects without a judicial review in accordance with the Code of Criminal Procedure. The consent decree stems from

Starting point is 00:03:33 the 2016 lawsuit O'Donnell v. Harris County. Approved by the district court, but essentially without a defendant to challenge any terms, Harris County not only ended pre-trial detention, for most misdemeanor offenders, but also embraced an array of services to assist suspects charged with crimes and submitted to the oversight of a federal monitor at taxpayer expense. Last but not least, the Supreme Court of Texas denied Attorney General Ken Paxton's request to reverse a court order that prevented him from taking expedited addition against former Congressman Beto O'Rourke for his involvement in funding Texas Democrats' recent quorum break. Paxton submitted an emergency appeal to the Supreme Court on Tuesday, requesting that it vacate a 15th Court of Appeals order that came down in favor of O'Rourke.

Starting point is 00:04:24 The appeals court had paused Paxton's ability to place a temporary restraining order on O'Rourke by freezing a hearing on the latter's fundraising activity. Paxton first launched an investigation into O'Rourke and his powered-by-people pack on July 30th for potentially violating state bribery laws by funding so-called runaway Democrats of the Texas House who left the state for two weeks so as to avoid a vote on the mid-decade congressional redistricting. 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. Thank you.

Starting point is 00:05:07 Thank you.

The Texan Podcast - Daily Rundown - August 27, 2025

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