The Texan Podcast - Daily Rundown - February 19, 2025

Episode Date: February 19, 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/Learn more about the Data Center Coalition at: https://www.centerofyourdigitalworld.org/texasThe 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, February 19th, and you're listening to the Texans Daily Rundown. I'm the Texans assistant editor Rob Lausches, and here is the rundown of today's news in Texas politics. First up, a Houston television station that used footage from Nazi Germany in a news report about the Cypress Fairbanks Independent School District's exclusion of controversial material from textbooks, has drawn public outcry and condemnation from federal and state lawmakers. In a segment aired by KPRC Houston last week, reporter Joel Eisenbaum led with footage of Adolf Hitler giving a speech and Nazis burning books while Eisenbaum narrated, quote, book banning in one form or another goes back a long time and now it's fashionable again,

at least in some of our school districts, end quote. Eisenbaum's story regarded a six-to-one vote by CFISD board members last May to remove 13 chapters from science and health textbooks that board president Scott Henry told the Texan lacked balance. According to Henry, the chapters removed included negative portrayals of the oil and gas industry, claims that the earth cannot sustain the human population, and positive views of assisted suicide.

Stay tuned for more news updates after this short message. Data centers fuel 364,000 Texas jobs, generate $3.5 billion in state and local taxes, and power essential services like banking, healthcare, and video calls. With 21 connected devices per household and soaring data demands, these hubs drive Texas's booming economy, shape its technological future, and keep your data here in the U.S. To learn more, visit centerofyourdigitalworld.org slash Texas. Now returning to your daily Texas news. Next, President Donald Trump campaigned on a promise of mass deportations and securing

the southern border. And now, CBP has released numbers showing the impact of his rhetoric and new measures put in place. Between January 21st and January 31st, Customs and Border Protection reports reveal an 85% decrease in apprehensions along the southwest border compared to the corresponding period in 2024. The CBP report also details how in the 11 days following the termination of the CBP1 app, inadmissible alien encounters at the border have fallen 93% as compared to the 11 days prior. In other news, Texas Representative Chris Turner is taking aim at the Tarrant Appraisal District's board-approved

reappraisal plan in new legislation. House Bill 2786 would amend the Texas Tax Code to require appraisal districts to conduct annual reappraisals. The current language allows for periodic reappraisals andiser to develop a reappraisal plan that froze residential properties at their 2024 level and called for a reappraisal of them in 2027. Next, the latest development in the case of death row inmate Robert Roberson involves a new filing in the highest court for criminal matters in Texas, the Court of Criminal Appeals, with claims of new evidence regarding his conviction. Roberson was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death in 2003 in connection with the death of his two-year-old daughter Nikki Curtis in 2002. Over the course of his sentence, his legal representation has

continually attempted to appeal his death sentence without success. The new filing is asking the court to take another look at earlier decisions by previous courts where they refuse to grant relief. Roberson's argument now is that there have been changes in the law and the court should either determine actual innocence or order a new trial. If the court does not decide on either innocence or a new trial, Roberson alternatively asks the court to allow new claims to be considered under specific legal articles and then send his case back to the trial court for further proceedings. Last but not least, a plethora of bills related to the latest abortion-related battlefield, in vitro fertilization, have been filed in both chambers of the Texas legislature, mostly consisting of Democratic efforts to solidify the right to IVF in Texas alongside abortion.

While IVF generally remains ambiguous in terms of which party supports it more, Republican state representatives have yet to file bills supporting it for the 89th session. However, Texas Republicans have a strong showing federally in the pro-IVF cause due to Senator Ted Cruz's continued efforts to get his and Senator Katie Britt's IVF Protection Act across the line, with backup support from Senator John Cornyn. Additionally, President Donald Trump signed an executive order on February 18th to expand access to IVF and, quote, aggressively reduce out-of-pocket and health plan costs for such treatments, end quote, garnering both support and criticism from

his pro-life base. Thanks for listening. To support The Texan, please be sure to visit thetexan.news and subscribe to get full access to all of our articles, newsletters, and podcasts.