The Texan Podcast - Daily Rundown - July 11, 2024

Episode Date: July 11, 2024

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Howdy folks, today is Thursday, July 11th, and you're listening to the Texans Daily Rundown. I'm Cameron Abrams, reporter for the Texan, and here's the rundown of today's news and Texas politics. First up, a new poll from the University of Houston's Hobby School of Public Affairs puts Trump Trump up nine points on Biden, just one percent from the 50 percent line. Independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is a distant third at five percent, with Green Party nominee Jill Stein at two percent. The poll comes after Trump's conviction in New York for allegedly using campaign funds to pay off Stormy Daniels, which shows little effect on his supporters or detractors' position on his candidacy. However, most of the poll's runtime came before the presidential debate on June 27th that has thrown the Democratic Party into disarray and hit the

incumbent hard in swing states. In the U.S. Senate race, Hobby's poll has Senator Ted Cruz up three points on Congressman Colin Allred. That margin is closer to the Texas Hispanic Policy Foundation's April poll than it is the Texas Politics Project's one last month, the latter of candidates posted large fundraising hauls for the second quarter of 2024, with Cruz reporting $12.6 million raised and Allred raising $10.5 million. Next, Attorney General Kim Paxton accused the House General Investigating Committee of trying to impeach him again at the body's meeting next week. There is currently no indication that it is related to Paxton or the Office of the next week. There is currently no indication that it is related to Paxton or the Office of the Attorney General. After months of silence following Paxton's acquittal in the Senate on impeachment charges, the General Investigating Committee announced

a meeting for July 17th concerning an undisclosed issue. Paxton stated, quote, Next week's House General Investigating Committee is yet another desperate attempt by the Republican establishment to impeach me. Their bitter obsession with taking me down knows no bounds, and they will stop at nothing to remove me from office. Committee Chairman Andrew Murr denied the allegations, stating quote, There is absolutely no truth to Mr. Paxson's far-fetched fantasy that the House General Investigating Committee is meeting to talk about him. Our committee's agenda was never related to the Attorney General. The House General Investigating Committee will be convening on a completely unrelated matter. Consistent with the

committee's long-standing policy to not comment on matters under its jurisdiction, the subject of our hearing remains confidential. In other news, a pair of state lawmakers have formally requested the House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee Chair Joe Moody, a Democrat, allow the committee to consider two hot-button topics they say House Speaker Dade Phelan has ignored. In a letter to Moody penned Tuesday, Republican State Reps Nate Schatzlein and Brian Harrison asked that the committee hold interim hearings on recent allegations that Texas Children's Hospital has continued to provide child gender modification treatments in violation of state law, quote, as well as potential illegal selective prosecution of those whistleblowers who are Texans by federal officials. Schatzlein and Harrison also requested

that the committee examine the prosecution and detention of two Venezuelan nationals who had entered the country illegally and were charged in the murder of a 12-year-old. Next, electric buses are coming to Fort Worth's ISD's school bus fleet. The Environmental Protection Agency announced that the district was awarded $6.1 million to purchase 15 electric buses as part of the EPA's $5 billion Clean School Bus Program. So far, the Clean School Bus Program has awarded $2.7 billion for the purchase of 8,651 buses. The program is in its third year and is scheduled to end at the close of the fiscal year 2026. The program aims to

replace, quote, substantial portions of America's nearly 500,000 school buses. Fort Worth ISD has 306 buses that run daily. Lastly, the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act passed on Wednesday by a vote of 221 yes, 198 no, and 14 U.S. House members not voting. The act was spearheaded and authored by Representative Chip Roy and would amend the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 to require states to verify U.S. citizenship and identity through documentary proof in person. Reps Henry Cuellar and Vicente Gonzalez were among the only five Democrats to vote in favor of the bill, while all Republicans from Texas voted in favor, except for Reps Dan Crenshaw and Kay Granger, who did not vote. Thanks for listening. To support The Texan,

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