The Texan Podcast - Daily Rundown - June 2, 2025

Starting point is 00:00:00 Howdy folks and happy sine die. Today is Monday, June 2nd and you're listening to the Texans Daily Rundown. I'm the Texans Assistant Editor Rob Lauschis and here is the rundown of today's news in Texas politics. First up, the 89th legislative session will come to a close Monday after 140 days in Austin full of policy fights over education, the Texas lottery, infrastructure, tetrahydrocannabinol or THC products, and the state budget. This legislative session began on January 14th with an intense, brutal fight over the House speakership that left more questions than answers about how this session was going to go.

Starting point is 00:00:48 Visit thetexan.news to read senior reporter Brad Johnson's overview of Sine Die in the 89th regular session. Next, state judges will get their 25% pay raise after the Texas House and Senate resolved their differences in a standoff over elected official pension benefits tied to the base judicial salary. Under the deal, judicial base pay will rise to $175,000, and that number will also serve as the basis for lawmaker pensions. However, following this pension increase, decision-making over future increases will be shifted to the Texas Ethics Commission for five-year reviews beginning in 2030.

Starting point is 00:01:28 The standoff began on Friday when the Senate declared the House's amendment to Senate Bill 293, delinking the pension from the base judicial salary, non-germane. In current state law, lawmaker pensions are a factor of the years of service and a percentage of the base of service and a percentage of the base judicial salary. The House wanted to delink that entirely and in their committee substitute anchored the pension equation to the current base pay of $140,000. But the Senate disagreed and declared that the change was not germane to the original

Starting point is 00:02:00 bill. That sparked a couple days of intense negotiations between the two chambers over how to structure something that could get across the line. In other news, a bill aimed at expanding the availability and accessibility of Texas medical cannabis program is headed to Governor Greg Abbott's desk following revisions to earlier legislative efforts that had encountered various obstacles. The conference committee report for House Bill 46 underwent a number of changes and rewrites

Starting point is 00:02:28 in the weeks leading up to its 138-to-1 passage on Sunday. The bill caused quite a stir between Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick and Representative Tom Oloverson, who exchanged volleys on social media the week prior regarding the inclusion of chronic pain and other qualifying conditions under the Texas Compassionate Use Program or T-Cup bill. However, they did eventually come to an agreement on a new version.

Starting point is 00:02:54 The passage of HB 46 is part of a compromise between the House and Senate concerning Senate Bill 3, which bans most THC products from being manufactured, sold, or possessed in Texas. While both bills have passed the legislative process and are on their way to Abbott's desk, low-dose THC retailers, hemp farmers, and business groups have mounted an effort to ask the governor to veto SB 3. Also, the Conference Committee report for Senate Bill 8 passed in the Texas House on Sunday seeking to enhance cooperation between state and federal law enforcement agencies

Starting point is 00:03:30 in order to enforce immigration law. The bill was co-authored in the upper chamber by Senators Charles Schwartner and Joan Huffman and was carried in the House by Representative David Spiller. It has undergone significant alterations and received increased attention since its filing. SB 8 authorizes state or local law enforcement to enter into agreements with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement through Section 287-G of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 to enforce federal immigration law. Last but not least, for six years Diane Hensley has been fighting to defend her right to practice

Starting point is 00:04:09 her religious beliefs by not performing same-sex ceremonies as a Justice of the Peace in McLennan County. Now, her case has been remanded to the trial court level for further proceedings on her claim under the Texas Religious Freedom Restoration Act. Hensley, a Justice of the Peace in Waco since 2015, was issued a public warning by the Texas State Commission on Judicial Conduct in November 2019 for, quote, casting doubt on her capacity to act impartially to persons appearing before her as a judge

Starting point is 00:04:40 due to the person's sexual orientation in violation of Canon 4A-1 of the Texas Code of Judicial Conduct. However, Hensley created a referral system for those seeking services for same-sex ceremonies, including one just three blocks from her office for the same price that she charges. 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.

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The Texan Podcast - Daily Rundown - June 2, 2025

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