The Texan Podcast - Daily Rundown - July 31, 2026

Starting point is 00:00:04 Well, howdy folks? Today is Thursday, July 30th, and you're listening to the Texans Daily Rundown. I'm the Texan senior editor Rob Lauchess, and here is the rundown of today's news in Texas politics. First up, as Texas Education Freedom Accounts, or TIFA, rolls out this summer, families statewide are navigating the $1 billion education savings account program for the first time. Created through the contentious Senate Bill 2 during the 89th legislative session, TIFA established accounts that allow parents to pay for a variety of education expenses, such as private school tuition, homeschool materials, tutoring, and more. The program awards around $10,500 to qualifying students, up to $30,000 for students with disabilities, and $2,000 to homeschooled students. According to Tifa's June 24th Fax sheet, of the almost 107,000 total

Starting point is 00:01:03 applications awarded, 80% of recipients come from families with a household income of $66,000 or less for a family of four, while the remaining 20% come from households at or below $66,000. Two-thirds of TIFA recipients plan to attend a private school, and the remaining third opted to homeschool. Visit the texan. dot news to read reporter Meredith Dyer's conversations with two families who went through the TIFA application and award processes. In other news, a Travis County District Court closed a case earlier this month dealing with a 2021 Texas Constitutional Amendment ballot proposition. Proposition 2, the contested element on the ballot, stated, quote, the constitutional amendment authorizing a county to finance the development or redevelopment

Starting point is 00:01:53 of transportation or infrastructure in unproductive, underdeveloped, or blighted areas in the county. The ballot proposition passed a statewide vote to become a constitutional amendment, changing the Texas Constitution to allow tax increment financing for transportation projects under county authority. The tool already existed in municipal areas, but the amendment signaled a new development for county authority. It also allowed for the creation of transportation reinvestment zones, a funding tool used by local governments that captures property tax money to fund transportation improvements. The Texas Secretary of State was sued by grassroots groups True Texas Project, Texans Uniting for Reform and Freedom, and Grassroots America, We the

Starting point is 00:02:38 People, as well as their respective leaders, Julie McCarty, Terry Hall, and Joanne Fleming. The plaintiffs were advocating for the proposition to be declared void by Governor Greg Abbott on the grounds that its ballot language left out key information. On July 8, 26, a Travis County District Court delivered the order to close the case, ruling that the results of the November 2nd, 2021 election on Proposition 2, quote, must be declared void. Last but not least, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, or Fire, has released its survey of the written policies of almost 500 colleges and universities, and evaluated their compliance with First Amendment standards, which included 21 Texas institutions of higher learning. Of the 379 four-year public institutions and 114-14 private institutions,

Starting point is 00:03:32 fire gave each campus a red, yellow, or green light rating based on how their written regulations on student expression restrict free speech. Red-light institutions have at least one policy that both, quote, clearly and substantially restricts freedom of speech, or bars public access to its speech-related policies, by requiring a university login and password for access. Rice University and the University of Texas at Dallas both received a red-light rating for one of their harassment policies. Yellow-light institutions maintain policies that, quote, could too easily be applied to suppress protected speech, end quote, or policies that while still restricting freedom of speech,

Starting point is 00:04:14 do so in more narrow circumstances. Nearly 70% of all the colleges and universities surveyed, including 17 in Texas, were in this category. If FIRE finds that a university's written policies, quote, do not seriously threaten student expression, end quote, it is awarded a greenlight rating. Only 76 institutions received this rating, and Texas A&M University was the lone Texas school represented in the group. Thanks for listening. To support the Texan, please be sure to visit the texan.news to get full access to all of our articles, newsletters, and podcasts.

The Texan Podcast - Daily Rundown - July 31, 2026

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