The Texan Podcast - Daily Rundown - December 3, 2024

Starting point is 00:00:00 Howdy folks, today is Tuesday, December 3rd, and you're listening to the Texans Daily Rundown. I'm the Texan reporter Cameron Abrams, and here's the rundown of today's news in Texas politics. First up, as state lawmakers gear up for the 2024 legislative session, Republicans are eyeing election law reforms that would enhance consequences for violations, crack down on controversial innovations, and offer more remedies for problematic elections. Calling a slew of election-related proposals the, quote, Integrity 7, Senator Paul Bettencourt told the Texan the changes are necessary. Betancourt said, These changes are needed due to real-world examples of what not to do.

Starting point is 00:00:56 They're based upon my central tenet, which is a voter role with integrity in election results that the public can believe in. Among the seven bills Betancourt is championing is a refiling of his 2023 proposal to create a new civil complaint procedure that would allow candidates, heads of special purpose PACs, county and state political party chairs, and precinct election officials to request documentation related to apparent election irregularities. Next, financial and regulatory fallout from the 2021 blackouts across the Electric Reliability Council of Texas Power Region sparked a slew of lawsuits, another of which has now been resolved after a denial of motion to reconsider the case. The first court of appeals in Texas denied a motion for rehearing en banc, meaning in front of the full court rather than just a three-judge panel, in a dispute from

Starting point is 00:01:45 hundreds of customers against dozens of power generators. Five different cases against various generators, including Luminant, NRG, Calpine, and others, were consolidated into one lawsuit. The customers alleged gross negligence on the part of the power companies in failing to prevent outages during the severe winter weather. In the initial proceedings, the trial court dismissed some of the plaintiffs' charges but allowed the negligence-focused ones to proceed. The generators then appealed to the appellate court to have the rest dismissed, calling the suits baseless. In other news, Texas and 10 other states have sued three of the world's largest financial companies, alleging the trio violated antitrust laws to push coal power plants out of commission. Attorney General Kim Paxton announced he and 10 other attorneys general sued BlackRock, Vanguard, and State Street in federal district

Starting point is 00:02:43 court in Tyler, Texas. The filing asserts, quote, each defendant has individually acquired substantial stock holdings in every significant publicly held coal producer in the United States. The suit then points to the Climate Action 100 Plus Agreement, onto which all three firms signed a 2021 pact that laid out decarbonization commitments. BlackRock and State Street announced their withdrawal from the pact earlier this year. The plaintiffs are asking the court for forced divestiture of each company's coal plant holdings and to fine the defendants $10,000 per violation under the Texas Business and Commerce Code, along with miscellaneous other requests. Last but not least, Attorney General Kim Paxson has sued the Sunrise Homeless Navigation

Starting point is 00:03:33 Center, a South Austin-based nonprofit organization, alleging that it is, quote, operating as a common nuisance in violation of Texas law. The suit states, quote, In South Austin, a once peaceful neighborhood has been transformed by homeless drug addicts, convicted criminals, and registered sex offenders. These people do drugs inside of children, publicly fornicate next to an elementary school, menace residents with machetes, urinate and defecate on public grounds, and generally terrorize the surrounding community. The suit goes on to say that it is the center, quote, who's responsible for the alleged issues.

Starting point is 00:04:13 Paxton's suit also points out that the center, quote, operates mere feet from an elementary school. The lawsuit is asking the court to stop the Sunrise Homeless Navigation Center from operating within a thousand feet of schools, playgrounds, or youth centers, or in ways that disturb the surrounding community. Additionally, the state requests that the center be ordered to close for one year. P.S. Did you miss the Texans' 50% off annual subscription sale? No worries, because we've extended our offer until midnight tonight. Don't miss out on your chance for a year's worth of news you can trust for just half the price. Visit thetexan.news for more information. Thanks for listening. To support The Texan,

Starting point is 00:04:57 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 - December 3, 2024

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