The Texan Podcast - Daily Rundown - May 20, 2024

Episode Date: May 20, 2024

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Howdy folks, today is Monday, May 20th, 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. First up, voting in the 2024 primary runoffs has begun, as the early voting period opened on Monday. Across the state, there are 28 federal and state races on the runoff ballot. The most notable congressional runoffs are for the 12th Congressional District and the 23rd Congressional District, and the state headliner is in House District 21, between Speaker Dade Phelan and Challenger David Covey. In the 12th congressional district, state representative

Craig Goldman faces John O'Shea, a longtime ally of Attorney General Ken Paxton. Congressman Tony Gonzalez faces internet celebrity Brandon Herrera in the other high-profile federal race, in a district that stretches from San Antonio all the way out to the edge of El Paso. Early voting concludes on Friday, May 24th. Polls open on Election Day, May 28th, at 7 a.m. Next, Senator Ted Cruz filed a bill with Alabama Senator Katie Britt to prevent states from making in vitro fertilization, or IVF, illegal. In a statement, the senators explained that, quote, states would be ineligible to receive Medicaid funding if they have enacted an outright ban on access to IVF.

In other news, former President Donald Trump has strongly hinted at considering Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton for a cabinet spot should he win in November, but now he's made it explicit. Over the weekend at the National Rifle Association's convention in Dallas, Trump was asked by Fox 4's Stephen Dial whether Paxton is a name worth considering for U.S. Attorney General. He told Dial, I would actually. He's very, very talented. I mean, we have a lot of people that want that one and we'll be very good at it, but he's a very talented guy. I fought for him when he had the difficulty and we won. He had some people really after him, and I thought it was very unfair. He's been a very good attorney general. Paxton's legal team defeated the impeachment effort last year, and then the long-running case against him over alleged securities fraud was dropped,

just before he was set to go to trial. The whistleblower case against the office of the attorney general, which served as a basis for impeachment, remains underway, though depositions were paused. This isn't the first time Trump has gestured about a Paxton appointment, should he win another term in the White House. Back in November, he mentioned Paxton, among others, in an interview with The Texan. The former president also mentioned Paxton in a February interview with Fox News alongside Governor Greg Abbott, during which he noted the governor as a potential candidate for vice president. Abbott has since said he's

not interested. After that, Senator John Cornyn took up two pieces of Second Amendment-related legislation last week, filing a resolution of disapproval aiming to shoot down a proposed rule by the Biden administration to require federal firearms licenses for most private gun sales, and a separate bill seeking to relax taxes imposed on firearms regulated under the National Firearms Act. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives proposed a rule that greatly expands the circumstances in which someone is required to hold a federal firearms license in order to sell a firearm and when someone must conduct a background check on a potential buyer.

In proposing the rule, the Department of Justice said its purpose was to finalize the implementation of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, legislation authored by Cornyn that passed in 2022. However, Cornyn says the rule violates congressional intent. The rule would greatly expand upon the circumstances in which someone is required to obtain a federal firearms license, including if they rent a table at a gun show, make firearm purchases in an amount

that exceeds their reportable income for a specific period of time, create records that track profits and losses from firearm sales, or any combination of a litany of details that could result in requiring a license. Last but not least, Fort Worth Independent School District's financial department has presented a balanced preliminary budget to the school board after the district reached a budget deficit of over $85 million this school year. On Tuesday, Chief Financial Officer Carmen Candelaria made a

presentation to the school board about the district's financial situation and the 2024-2025 budget. The largest financial issues and decisions made by the district for 2024-2025 include striving for a balanced budget, the end of elementary and secondary school emergency relief funding, February program changes, staff reductions, and a review of all job vacancies, safety and security measures, and the closing of the Wedgwood 6th grade school. 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.