The Texan Podcast - Daily Rundown - March 30, 2026

Starting point is 00:00:04 Howdy, folks, today's Monday, March 30th, 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, both the Texas House and Senate released their 26 interim charges last week, with some mutual educational priorities and other chamber-specific areas of focus. Interim charges outline what lawmakers in the House and Senate will focus. on leading up to the next legislative session and provide a way for legislators to examine specific issues in preparation for crafting future legislation. House Speaker Dustin Burroughs released the 53-page House Interim Committee charges on March 26th. Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick initially released the first round of Senate interim charges on January 30th. He announced the second round on March 27th,

Starting point is 00:01:00 a 19-page document that detailed more diverse educational emphases. Both the House and Senate Education committees referenced teacher or talent retention through strengthening the teacher or leadership pipeline, reporting and enforcing educator misconduct, and monitoring agency oversight, including the Texas Education Agency, State Board of Education, and others. Next, a group of Houston residents has sued the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development over a newly constructed public housing project adjacent to contaminated land, allegedly in violation of federal rules. The 400 apartments at the Point at Bayou Bend were approved by HUD to replace Susan

Starting point is 00:01:43 von Clayton Holmes, a 1952 low-income housing project that flooded during Hurricane Harvey and was later designated for demolition to make way for the I-45 expansion project. The Point at Bayou Bend, located at Houston's 800, Middle Street, sits on land adjacent to a former city incinerator, former ash dump, and former lead battery recycling facility, and is across the street from an active lead product smelter, information that was known to HUD, the Houston Housing Authority, and the developer when the property was purchased in 2020 for $54 million. HUD rules stipulate that affordable housing projects must be placed in areas, quote, free of hazardous materials, contamination, and

Starting point is 00:02:29 toxic chemicals, and not in the, quote, general proximity of such areas as dumps, landfills, industrial sites, or other locations that contain or may have contained hazardous wastes. Communications show that HUD officials were aware of the environmental hazards near the site, but under former HUD Secretary Marcia Fudge, the agency greenlit the purchase of the land for $54 million in 2020. In other news, a public transit tunnel will be built, as part of a large urban development in southern Dallas, thanks to The Boring Company, connecting the University Hills development to the University of North Texas Dallas Metro Station. The company, founded by Elon Musk in 2017, announced the Tunnel Vision Challenge in January

Starting point is 00:03:17 and urged entrance to submit proposals for a tunnel up to 12 feet in diameter for construction at the company's expense. The University Hills Loop was one of three winners announced by the company in an ex post on March 24th. A loop tunnel is described by the boring company as, quote, an all-electric zero emissions, high-speed underground public transportation system in which passengers are transported to their destination with no intermediate stops. They are also known as Tesla Zin tunnels. Last but not least, the Dallas Independent School District Board of Trustees approved tuition-free full-day pre-kindergarten for all three and four-year-old. in the district for the 2026-2020 school year. During a March 26th board meeting, the board voted

Starting point is 00:04:06 eight to zero in favor of the policy, with one trustee not present, joining a handful of districts shifting away from state eligibility requirements to offer free pre-K to all students. Under the Texas Education Code, children who are at least three years old qualify for free pre-K if they cannot speak or understand English, are educationally disadvantaged, are homeless, are the child of an active duty service member, are the child of a service member who was injured or killed on active duty, are or have been in foster care, or are the child of a first responder eligible for the star of Texas award. Districts must offer free pre-K for four-year-olds if there are 15 or more eligible students, while free pre-k for three-year-olds is optional. Free pre-k four is a full-day

Starting point is 00:04:54 program, while free pre-K-3 is typically half-day. 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 30, 2026

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