The Texan Podcast - Daily Rundown - February 3, 2025
Episode Date: February 3, 2025Want to support The Texan and help us continue providing the Lone Star State with news you can trust? Subscribe today: https://thetexan.news/subscribe/The Texan’s Daily Rundown brings you a quick re...cap 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!
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Howdy folks, today is Monday, February 3, 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. Governor Greg Abbott delivered his 2025 state of the state address to more than 1000
people on Sunday in Austin, outlining his slate
of emergency items that covers property tax relief, infrastructure and cybersecurity spending,
and a long-awaited school choice program. Abbott underscored some of the top themes of his tenure
as governor in his opening, quote, Texas is the most powerful economy in America. Ranked as the
best state for doing business for 20 years, Texas is number one
for the most new jobs, number one for economic development, and number one as the best state
to start a new business. He delivered his State of the State address at the South Austin headquarters
of Arnold Oil Company, founded originally in 1939 in Corpus Christi. In attendance were Speaker
Dustin Burroughs, dozens of state lawmakers, Alexis Nungere, mother of 12-year-old Jocelyn who was murdered last year allegedly by illegal immigrants from Venezuela, and more.
Next, a group of Texas House Democrats gathered at Palmer Lane Elementary School in Austin on Monday to issue a response to Abbott's State of the Stateress, where lawmakers railed against school choice legislation. Abbott named the creation of an education savings account program as one of
his emergency items for the 89th legislative session during his address Sunday, saying,
quote, government-mandated schools cannot meet the unique needs of every student.
House Democrats wasted no time responding to Abbott's declaration and held their press
conference the next day.
Notably, at the same location, the governor signed House Bill 3 in 2019, which increased public school funding.
In other news, former Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg defended the indictments of three of Harris County Judge Lena Hidalgo's staff
in relation to an alleged bid-rigging scheme for millions of
dollars in federal COVID-19 relief funds after the Texas Office of the Attorney General moved
to drop the charges against two of the three defendants last week. Ogg told the Texan,
quote, these cases were absolutely worthwhile and a jury of local citizens should hear these cases.
Ogg and the Texas Rangers investigated circumstances surrounding a
2021 $11 million COVID-19 vaccine outreach contract the county awarded to Elevate Strategies,
a firm owned and solely staffed by Felicity Pereira and founded in 2019.
Pereira had been the deputy campaign manager for County Commissioner Adrian Garcia, and worked for both Hillary
Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign and the Democratic National Committee. Also, the dynamic
between Texas Congressman Chip Roy and the man in the White House continues on with the consistency
of a roller coaster, up, down, and corkscrewed all over, the latest example of which came in the most
recent fight over raising the debt ceiling in Congress. Roy and President Donald Trump established a dicey
relationship in the public eye early on in the latter's first term, with Roy angering both the
president's loyalists by not unconditionally endorsing Trump's actions and the Republican
leadership by pushing back against increased federal funding, and the Republican
leadership by pushing back against increased federal funding. This all came to a head during
the federal funding race right before Christmas, when Roy and Speaker Mike Johnson clashed and the
former called for a funding bill that would omit an extension of the debt ceiling, a demand made
by the president-elect, though unbeknownst to Roy. Visit thetexan.news to read
reporter Mary Elise Cosgrave's one-on-one interview with Roy about his turbulent relationship with the
new president. Last but not least, dozens of lawmakers joined the Texan at our 89th session
kickoff event on Tuesday, January 28th to discuss the most pressing political issues for the 89th
legislative session. Check out the audio and video recordings of our panels on public education and school choice,
as well as border and immigration, two of the most hot-button topics of the day.
Also take a look at the latest episode of our Send Me Some Stuff podcast,
where reporter Cameron Abrams and I explore the executive orders,
the confirmation hearings, and the cultural changes of the second Donald Trump
administration. Visit thetexan.news or wherever you get podcasts to watch or listen now.
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