The Texan Podcast - Daily Rundown - July 21, 2025

Episode Date: July 21, 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/The 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's Monday, July 21st and you're listening to the Texans Daily Rundown. I'm the Texans Assistant Editor Rob Lauschus and here is the rundown of today's news in Texas politics. First up, the 89th Texas Legislature gaveled in to begin its first special session of 2025 at noon on Monday, having been tasked with addressing 18 different issues by Governor Greg Abbott. Abbott first indicated that a special session would be on the horizon just 30 minutes before midnight during the June 22 midnight veto deadline. He made it official the next day after he vetoed 28

bills that members would be returning to Austin, saying that quote, there is more that we can do. THC in Texas, congressional redistricting, and flood response measures are sure to occupy a bulk of the attention by lawmakers, but members will only have 30 days to pass legislation during the special session. Abbott is granted authority by the Texas Constitution to call an unlimited number of special sessions, so if his top issues go unaddressed at the end of the 30 days,

it's possible he could call another one. Visit thetexan.news for a more in-depth look at all the issues lawmakers have been called to hit this special session. Next, a new House committee will handle the political hot potato that is Congressional redistricting during the first special session of 2025. Speaker Dustin Burroughs announced the new body on Monday morning before the legislature

convened for the start of the special. The 21-member committee is made up of 12 Republicans and 9 Democrats, a three-vote majority for the GOP. Its chair is Representative Cody Vasut, and its vice chair is Representative John Rosenthal. Vasut and Rosenthal are carried over as heads of the Standing Redistricting Committee in the House that was entirely dormant during the regular session. Only two members on that Standing Committee, State Representatives Tom Oloverson and Jolanda Jones, the latter of whom is running for Congressional District 18,

were not included in this new select committee. In other news, Harris County Judge Lena Hidalgo appears to have caught her colleagues off guard when she announced a proposal to raise taxes again this year to cover one of several social programs launched with federal COVID-19 relief funds. During an interview with ABC 13 last week, Hidalgo said she wanted a quote, penny proposal to increase property taxes by one cent for every $100 of a property's valuation. A home valued at $300,000 would see an annual increase

of at least $30. Hidalgo said quote, that would allow us, enable us, to continue these programs and actually expand them a little bit. The increase would cover costs for a taxpayer-funded childcare program known as Early Raising Educational Access

for Children in Harris County or Early Reach. The Harris County Commissioner's Court voted along party lines to create the temporary program in 2022, using up to $48 million in Federal American Rescue Plan Act funding for child care for 1,000 children under the age of four. The county has estimated that the continuation and expansion of the program would cost at least $60 million. Hidalgo's announcement came as a surprise to other members of the court. Commissioners

Adrian Garcia, Tom Ramsey, and Leslie Briones told ABC 13 they had not been provided with a proposal. Last but not least, on July 21, 1821, the Spanish flag over the Presidio in San Antonio was lowered for the last time. Spain had ruled over its North American lands for nearly three centuries, but the Mexican War for Independence had brought that reign to an end. Texas was now a territory of Mexico. Visit the Texan.News for reporter Kim Roberts' account of the 300 years of Spanish rule over Texas from its arrival in

1519 to the Mexican War for Independence, today in Texas history. 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.