The Texan Podcast - Daily Rundown - August 7, 2025

Starting point is 00:00:00 Howdy folks, today is Thursday, August 7th, 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, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is launching an investigation into Beto O'Rourke's organization powered by people for allegedly bankrolling the Texas House Democrats' ongoing quorum break. The office of the Attorney General asserts that according to public reports, powered by people, is potentially one of the top funders of the recent quorum bust by Texas Democrats, who left the state in protest to House Republicans' proposed redistricting map, alleging racist motivations and unconstitutional actions. The OAG ordered on Tuesday that all

Starting point is 00:00:52 quorum-breaking Democrats must return by Friday morning when the House gavels in, per House Speaker Dustin Burroughs' declaration or else face removal from their membership. This followed Governor Greg Abbott's petition to the Texas Supreme Court on Tuesday night to declare that House Democratic caucus leader Gene Wu forfeited his office by his departure alongside over 50 of his Democratic colleagues. Next, a Texas senator's request for assistance from the Federal Bureau of Investigation in locating Texas Democrats who fled to other states to block Congress. redistricting has been approved amid escalating political tensions. U.S. Senator John Cornyn sent a letter

Starting point is 00:01:34 on Tuesday to FBI director Kosh Patel to encourage the agency in aiding Texas law enforcement to, quote, locate or arrest potential lawbreakers who have fled the state. Moreover, Cornyn told the FBI that the Texas Democrats who broke quorum, quote, may be guilty of bribery or other public corruption offenses. Cornyn then announced the next day that Patel had approved the request. Attorney General Ken Paxton has been hesitant to involve the FBI in what he characterized as a state issue, saying he is, quote, working on alternatives we can at the state level. In other news, Harris County Commissioners blocked County Judge Lena Hidalgo's proposed property tax increase at a volatile public meeting on Thursday, during which the county

Starting point is 00:02:21 attorney's office attempted to restore order as Hidalgo repeatedly interrupted her colleagues and to follow parliamentary procedure. Last month, Hidalgo announced her penny proposal to increase property taxes by one cent for every $100 of a property's valuation during a recent media interview as a means to continue and expand a pilot child care program created with American Rescue Plan Act funds in 2022. Her announcement drew consternation from commissioners who said they were blindsided by the plan. After over an hour of public testimony in favor of the proposal, Hidalgo motion to place the issue on the November 2025 ballot for voter approval. But when Commissioner Leslie Briones attempted to voice her concerns, Hidalgo repeatedly interrupted her,

Starting point is 00:03:10 holding up signs, and at times calling on children in the audience to vocally respond. Also, the Fort Worth City Council voted this week to adopt a new small business development program that it believes complies with federal grant requirements about diversity, equity, and inclusion programs and to suspend other DEI ordinances that jeopardize its federal grants. Recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions and federal directives have made clear that race, color, national origin, sex, and religion may not be used as criteria for participating in city programs and services. A city will not be eligible for grant funding if it does not certify that its programs and services comply with these requirements. Fort Worth currently has $277 million

Starting point is 00:03:57 in programs and projects that are funded by federal grant dollars, which could be in jeopardy if it failed to comply. Last but not least, the Houston Federation of Teachers sued Houston Independent School District Superintendent Mike Miles and the district's board of managers over the decision to award state-funded teacher raises based on performance instead of experience. The Federal is a labor union that represents about 6,000 members, primarily teachers employed by HISD. The lawsuit alleges that, quote, HISD is not paying its teachers the teacher retention allotment, end quote, established by House Bill 2, which was signed into law on June 20th, 2025. HB2 allows districts to use the funds in one of two ways.

Starting point is 00:04:43 Experience-based raises that use at least the amount received under the bill for teachers with more than three years of experience or performance-based raises if the district is applying to join the enhanced teacher incentive allotment system. 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.

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The Texan Podcast - Daily Rundown - August 7, 2025

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