The Texan Podcast - Daily Rundown - May 6, 2024

Episode Date: May 6, 2024

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Howdy, folks. Today is Monday, May 6th, 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 off, Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan established a new select committee on securing Texas from hostileile Foreign Organizations chaired by Representative Cole Hefner. The committee will study threats posed by foreign organizations on the Texas economy, security, and ways in which they acquire property, and will also study intellectual property theft. Second, political activist Molly Cook won a special election Saturday to represent Texas Senate District 15 for the remainder of this year,

filling the vacancy left by now-Houston Mayor John Whitmire, who held the seat for more than 40 years. According to unofficial election results, Cook topped state rep Jarvis Johnson with 57% of the vote, with just over 16,000 ballots cast over the course of the special election. While Cook emerged victorious Saturday night, she will only hold the seat through the rest of 2024, representing the district during the interim period. To represent SD15 for the 2025-2026 legislative session, Cook and Johnson will face off again later this month in a Democratic primary runoff election. Next, three new members elected by the voters of Tarrant County will be seated on the Tarrant Appraisal District Board. Eric Morris, Callie Rigney, and Matt Bryant will join the current

members of the board that govern the appraisal district. The election of new board members is a result of an amendment to the Texas Constitution passed by voters in November. According to Senate Bill 2, authored by Senator Paul Betancourt and passed during the second special legislative session last year, counties with a population over 75,000 had their boards of directors increased by three members to be elected by voters to staggered four-year terms. Until the new election was instituted, the current five voting board members were elected by voters to staggered four-year terms. Until the new election was instituted, the current five voting board members were elected by taxing entities within the Tarrant Appraisal District that are apportioned some share of 5,000 votes based on the entity's tax rolls.

Eight persons were vying for the three new seats on the board. Harris County voters had their first crack at placing elected representatives on their appraisal board, electing one candidate but sending others to runoff elections in what is expected to be a very low turnout election in June. Board of Directors Place 1, with just over 50% of the vote, defeating Bill R. Fraser at 46%, and Ramsey Issa Ankar at just under 4%. For Place 2, Kyle Scott led with nearly 47%, and will face Melissa Noriega, who took 25% in the five-way contest. In Place 3, Erica McCrutchin garnered 41%, with Pelumi Adeleke following at 21%. Adeleke just narrowly edged out Amy Lacey by 369 votes. Also, Dallas voters approved 10 bond propositions totaling $1.25 billion on Saturday, May 4. Each of the 10 propositions garnered over 70% of the votes cast in the election,

which turned out less than 40,000 voters of the city's nearly 1.3 million residents. The largest proposition, $521 million for streets and transportation, passed with over 86% of the votes cast in favor. Proposition B aims to provide $345 million in general obligation bonds for parks and recreation facilities in the city. It passed with nearly 82% of the vote. Proposition E was the third largest bond proposal, with $90 million for public safety facilities and

improvements. It passed with 76% of the votes cast in favor of it. In other news, in Travis County, Austin residents of three different neighborhoods voted to disannex from the city. During the 88th legislative session, lawmakers passed House Bill 3053 addressing areas that had been annexed by certain municipalities, intending to end involuntary annexation by mandating elections to potentially reverse such annexations. The legislation includes specific provisions to manage the transition, including retaining municipal ownership of infrastructure and ensuring that disannexed areas meet their financial obligations from the annexation. With over 91% of the vote, residents of Lost Creek voted to disannex from

the city of Austin. Neighborhoods near Blue Goose Road and in River Place also voted to disannex. On top of that, Lubbock voters headed to the polls to vote on a proposition that would have allowed for cannabis, in small amounts, to be decriminalized. Proposition A was defeated, with over 20,500 residents casting votes against it. Thanks for listening. Be sure to visit thetexan.news and subscribe to get full access to all of our articles, newsletters, and podcasts.