The Texan Podcast - Daily Rundown - August 6, 2025

Starting point is 00:00:00 Howdy folks, today is Wednesday, August 6th, 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, Governor Greg Abbott has asked the Texas Supreme Court to declare that House Democratic caucus leader Gene Wu has forfeited his office by breaking quorum in the middle of the ongoing special session. fleeing with over 50 other House Democrats to other states. Abbott's petition reads, If a small fraction of recalcitrant lawmakers choose to run out the clock today, they can do so for any and every regular or special session,

Starting point is 00:00:46 potentially bankrupting the state in an attempt to get their way. He added, quote, if representatives are free to not show up whenever they choose, then Texans simply do not have a representative government. Abbott first threatened the idea of vacating seats on Sunday, shortly after the lawmakers boarded flights to Illinois, New York, and Massachusetts. The governor asked the Texas Supreme Court to declare Wu's seat, House District 137, vacant, triggering a special election for which the governor would set the date. Next, the Texas Senate is moving full steam ahead with hearing and

Starting point is 00:01:23 passing legislation during the first special session of 2025, including its own congressional redistricting map, despite missing multiple senators amid Texas House Democrats' quorum break. Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick stated on Fox News on Tuesday night, quote, Here's the truth. I still have a quorum in the Texas Senate. And we will pass out the redistricting map next week. That's our legal right. That's what we're going to do, because we are now in this fight, not just for Texas, but I think for taking the country back everywhere, end quote. The Texas House had its second day of no quorum on Tuesday after Democratic members fled to blue states to prevent the lower chamber from voting on its redistricting map, which was initially scheduled for Monday afternoon. In an expression of solidarity with their lower chamber colleagues, a handful of Texas senators held a press conference on Wednesday morning in Boston commemorating the 60th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act, shortly before their chamber gabbled in back home to continue forward with regular business.

Starting point is 00:02:27 In other news, Tarrant County is seeking the dismissal of a lawsuit that claims its redistricting plan is racially discriminatory. On August 1st, Tarrant County filed a motion to dismiss in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas. The motion claims that the plan was not racially discriminatory, but, quote, from conception to enactment was an unambiguous, explicit, and unabashed effort to increase Republican power and decrease Democratic power on the commissioner's court. In June by a three-to-two vote, the Tarrant County Commissioner's Court adopted new maps that redraw the precinct district boundaries. Tarrant County Judge Tim O'Hare told the Texan about the plan, quote, I am hopeful that we will pass a map that will give us a solid three-to-one majority on the commissioner's court, which I believe will be better for everyone in Tarrant County.

Starting point is 00:03:19 The two Democratic commissioners, Roderick Miles and Elisa Simmons, opposed the redistricting plan, their precincts, one and two, were changed the most in the new maps. Last but not least, the Tarrant County Commissioner's Court voted four to one to eliminate the Department of Human Services for the upcoming fiscal year, with only Commissioner Elisa Simmons opposing the motion. As part of the process before adopting its fiscal year 2026 budget, Tarrant County has been, quote, reviewing opportunities to create financial efficiencies within its assistance-focused departments, while increasing the amount of funding to support Tarrant County's most vulnerable residents. One such department is the Department of Human Services,

Starting point is 00:04:03 whose fiscal year 2025 budget was over $4.5 million. Instead, community assistance will now be offered through grants to nonprofits already working in the arena within Tarrant County. The fiscal year 2026 community assistance budget would be $2.3 million, with $2 million designated for direct assistance and $300,000 for administrative costs. The estimated budgetary savings would be almost $1.8 million. 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.

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The Texan Podcast - Daily Rundown - August 6, 2025

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