The Texan Podcast - Daily Rundown - June 5, 2025

Episode Date: June 5, 2025

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Howdy folks, today is Thursday, June 5th and you're listening to the Texans Daily Rundown. I'm the Texans reporter Cameron Abrams and here's the rundown of today's news in Texas politics. First up, state Rep. Jolanda Jones formally announced her candidacy for Houston's Congressional District 18 seat Thursday, joining a growing crowd of candidates seeking to replace the late representative, Sylvester Turner. Over the past few months,

Jones had demurred on the question of her possible candidacy, but with the Texas legislative session wrapped up as of this week, she released a statement on social media launching her congressional campaign. Quote, the simple fact is no one will fight harder to stop Republicans from taking away our social security,

our public schools, our healthcare, our constitutional rights, and more," said Jones. A former at-large Houston City Council member and Houston ISD trustee, Jones won a special election for Texas House District 147 in 2022. Jones will join a growing pool of candidates for Congressional District 18 that includes Harris County Attorney Christian Menafee, former Houston City Council member Amanda Edwards, and George Foreman IV.

The late Sheila Jackson Lee held the Congressional District 18 seat from 1994 until her death last year. Turner replaced her on the 2024 ballot and took office in January 2025 until his death last March. Next, in an ever-evolving digital environment, the Texas legislature took proactive measures during the 89th legislative session to pass bills that will work to regulate and oversee the future of artificial intelligence and technology within the state. To the surprise of some, Governor Greg Abbott made the announcement during his State of

the State address at the beginning of February that the establishment of a Texas Cyber Command is one of his emergency items for the session. Spearheaded by Representative Giovanni Cabriglione, House Bill 150 will create the newly established state agency by transferring cybersecurity responsibilities over from the Department of Information Resources in addition to granting it greater authority over education and professional training, incident response, digital forensics, critical infrastructure protection, and regulatory oversight for state agencies, local government, and private partners. Abbott has already signed Senate Bill 2420, which will go into effect January 1, 2026, and creates a new legal obligation for digital app stores in an attempt to safeguard minors from unauthorized app purchases and inappropriate content by mandating age verification, individualized parental consent, content ratings, and limits on personal data collection and sharing.

Representative Jared Patterson proposed a bill that would have prohibited Texans under the age of 18 from using social media platforms, but the legislation was never taken up on the Senate floor. Patterson said the bill's failure to reach Abbott's desk is, quote, the biggest disappointment of my career. For a full rundown of my piece, check it out at thetexan.news. Also, McKinney residents are set to decide whether Bill Cox or Scott Sanford will be their next mayor.

The two are in a runoff election that concludes on June 7th. Current McKinney mayor George Fuller was term limited and ineligible to run for a third term. In May 3rd election, Cox received 47% of the vote while Sanford garnered 41%. McKinney is a rapidly growing city in North Texas with a median household income exceeding $120,000. Its population has grown from 198,000 to 224,000 since 2020, about 13%. Cox has served on the McKinney City Council and is chair of the city's Planning and Zoning Commission. He is a lifelong resident of McKinney having graduated from McKinney High School and then the University of Texas at Austin.

Sanford served in the Texas House of Representatives from 2013 to 2023, representing House District 70. A graduate of Baylor University and a licensed certified public accountant, Sanford is also the executive pastor of Cottonwood Creek Church in Allen. Last but not least, Texas law grants Governor Greg Abbott the power to reject legislation approved by state lawmakers, which requires a two-thirds vote to override. Once the regular session concludes,

the governor is allotted a 20-day window to finalize any veto decisions. Find an updated tracker of the bills nixed by Abbott this session on our website, a catalog of proposals that survive the full legislative gauntlet only to be halted at the governor's desk. We'll keep the page updated throughout the 20-day period. There are already two bills the governor has opted to squash. Thanks for listening. To support the Texan, please be sure to visit texan.news and

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