The Texan Podcast - Daily Rundown - March 17, 2026

Starting point is 00:00:04 Howdy, folks, today is Tuesday, March 17th, and you're listening to The Texans Daily Rundown. I'm the Texans managing editor Rob Lauchess, and here is the rundown of today's news in Texas politics. First up, Texas U.S. Senator John Cornyn is now a co-sponsor of new legislation introduced in Congress that would poll federal approval for the chemical abortion pill Mepha Pristone and allow manufacturers of the pill to be sued for cause of injury, death, or medical complications. Upon introducing the Safeguarding Women from Chemical Abortion Act, its author, U.S. Senator Josh Hawley, expressed frustration with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's pace in reviewing Mifa Pristone. Cornyn is currently the lone co-sponsor of the Act in the U.S. Senate,

Starting point is 00:00:52 having signed on this past Thursday. Nearly all GOP U.S. senators, including Cornyn and U.S. Senator Ted Cruz made their concerns surrounding chemical abortion pills known to the nation's leading federal health directors in early October, writing to the FDA and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to request that the agencies halt the distribution of such products until a comprehensive review is conducted. This came shortly after the FDA approved another generic version of Mifah Pristone, which kicked up the dust among pro-life activists who questioned the current presidential administration's commitment to their cause. In other news, a 39-year-old man in tactical gear, armed with a handgun and taser, attempted entry to Zwing Elementary in Klein Independent School District on March 10th.

Starting point is 00:01:40 Kyle Chris lives four minutes away from the school and was arrested on the evening of March 11th more than 24 hours after the incident. He has a felony charge of unlawfully carrying a weapon in a prohibited place. District officials say Chris was able to enter an initial set of front doors during a 15-second period after a parent entered and before the door shut completely. Zwing Elementary's double-door system kept Chris in the entrance and stopped him from entering the area of the school with access to students. Chris allegedly claimed to be a security guard, although court records show he is currently unemployed and does not hold a security license or peace officer certification. Klein ISD worked with the Federal Bureau of Investigation

Starting point is 00:02:23 and Texas Department of Public Safety and delayed notifying. parents about the situation, saying officials kept Chris under surveillance and wanted to avoid tipping him off before arresting him at his home. Chris's bond was set at $75,000. If released, he will be under 24-hour house arrest with a GPS monitor and be legally prohibited from going near any Klein ISD property. Last but not least, on the day that applications were set to close, U.S. District Judge Alfred Bennett extended the application deadline for the Texas Education Freedom Accounts, or TIFA, school choice program to March 31st. The original deadline for TIFA applications was Tuesday, March 17th at 1159 p.m. Bennett said it was, quote, troubling that no Islamic school had been approved for the TIFA program

Starting point is 00:03:14 and ordered the comptroller's office to send applications to schools that had not received them. Two federal lawsuits have been filed against acting comptroller Kelly Han, Hancock and others, alleging that the TIFA program has excluded Islamic schools. The Tifa program opened vendor and school applications on December 9th and saw over 600 schools apply in the first month. As of March 16th, over 200,000 students had applied and over 2200 schools signed up to participate. The $1 billion program offers around $10,500 to qualifying students, up to $30,000 for students with disabilities, and $2,200,000. thousand dollars to homeschooled students. Low-income students and those with disabilities will

Starting point is 00:03:58 be prioritized. On December 12th, Hancock requested a legal opinion from Attorney General Ken Paxton on, quote, whether any school with ties to terrorist organizations or hostile foreign governments can participate in Texas education freedom accounts. Thanks for listening. To support the Texan, please be sure to visit the texan. News and subscribe to get full access to all of our articles, newsletters and podcasts.

The Texan Podcast - Daily Rundown - March 17, 2026

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