The Texan Podcast - Daily Rundown - March 21, 2024

Starting point is 00:00:00 Howdy folks, today is Thursday, March 21st, and you're listening to the Texans Daily Rundown. I'm the Texans Assistant Editor Rob Lausches, and here is the rundown of today's news in Texas politics. State Representative Tom Oliverson declared his candidacy for Speaker of the Texas House today, challenging embattled Speaker Dade Phelan as the incumbent faces a difficult runoff election. Oliverson made the announcement at a press conference at the Texas Public Policy Foundation's 2024 Policy Summit. Two weeks ago, Republican voters across Texas sent a strong and unmistakable signal that Texas needs a new paradigm. Ineffective leadership brought about first. The frustration of the voters underscores the second. For these reasons,

Starting point is 00:00:52 I'm announcing my candidacy for Speaker of the House for the 89th legislative session. He criticized what he called the secretive way in which Attorney General Ken Paxton was impeached by the Texas House last May, the outsized role parliamentarians play in the legislative process, and Democratic members of the House holding committee chairmanships. The lawmaker asserted that under his leadership, there would be no Democratic chairs in the House. As Speaker, Oliverson said his number one policy priority would be school choice and called for action to be taken on legislative emergency items within the first 60 days of the session. Oliverson is in a safe Republican district, rated R-70% in the Texans' Texas Partisan Index, and hasn't faced a primary since he first won in 2016.

Starting point is 00:01:37 Last session, Oliverson shepherded through the lower chamber the legislature's ban on child gender modification, which passed after two delays on successful points of order and a marathon of opposition from House Democrats and protesters in and outside the chamber. A senior official with United States Customs and Border Protection revealed Wednesday that CBP agents in El Paso arrested a man for attempting to enter the country illegally, and a further search led to the discovery of gang connections and alarming images contained on the man's phone. CBP chief Jason Owens announced the arrest on social media, saying the man was from Colombia and shared images of tattoos that connect him with the Clan del Golfo cartel. In addition, Owens said images found on the man's phone

Starting point is 00:02:20 showed people being tortured. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the Clan del Golfo is a multi-billion dollar paramilitary drug cartel based in Colombia, and in addition to being one of the largest traffickers of cocaine in the world, it is considered extremely violent. The group was highlighted by the Department of Justice when one of its former leaders was sentenced to 45 years in federal prison late last year. The announcement comes amid the judicial tennis match over Texas' Senate Bill 4, which would create a state criminal penalty for illegally entering the country. At present, the law is blocked by a district court injunction while the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals decides whether or not the state has a constitutional

Starting point is 00:02:59 right to self-defense against transnational crime at the border. Mackenzie Scott and her yield-giving philanthropy group have pledged $640 million for 361 organizations across the country, including dozens of charitable and non-profit organizations in Texas. Scott divorced from her ex-husband Jeff Bezos in 2019 and received 4% of the Amazon fortune, at the time worth around $37 billion. This made her one of the wealthiest women at the time worth around $37 billion. This made her one of the wealthiest women in the world. She sold off more than $10 billion in her Amazon shares last year. Scott signed the Giving Pledge in 2019.

Starting point is 00:03:39 The pledge was created by Warren Buffett and Melinda and Bill Gates with a stated purpose, quote, to publicly commit to give the majority of their wealth to philanthropy, either during their lifetimes or in their wills. 13 Texas-based organizations will be receiving grants from Scott's fund, including $2 million for the Epilepsy Foundation of Texas, $2 million for the Prison Entrepreneurship Program, $2 million for immigration services organization Arise Adelante, and another $2 million for Bonta Farms in Dallas,

Starting point is 00:04:04 which says it is, quote, disrupting systems of inequity, end quote, by growing organic foods and providing it to the community. Thanks for listening. Be sure to visit thetexan.news and subscribe to get full access to all of our articles, newsletters, and podcasts.

The Texan Podcast - Daily Rundown - March 21, 2024

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