The Texan Podcast - Daily Rundown - May 9, 2024

Starting point is 00:00:00 Howdy folks, today is Thursday, May 9th, and you're listening to the Texans Daily Rundown. I'm the Texans Marketing and Media Manager, Daniel Friend, and here's the rundown of today's news in Texas politics. To begin with, yesterday evening, U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson survived a motion to vacate brought up by Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene. The final vote was 359-43, with 11 Republicans and 32 Democrats opposing the motion to table Greene's resolution. Congressmanship Roy was the lone Republican in Texas to vote against the motion to table. Five Texas Democratic representatives joined Roy in voting no on the motion. Greg Kassar, Joaquin Castro, Lloyd Doggett, Veronica Escobar, and Sylvia Garcia. Next, in a letter addressed to President Joe Biden, Governor Greg Abbott opposed a new Air Force proposal that would transfer Air National Guard units performing space missions into the

Starting point is 00:00:55 U.S. Space Force. Abbott said that the proposal, quote, poses an intolerable threat to the Texas National Guard. In other federal news, the U.S. Department of Justice filed suit last week against the Texas Department of Criminal Justice for employment discrimination. The complaint alleges that the TDCJ violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 when it failed to quote, reasonably accommodate an employee's religious practice of wearing a head covering. Also, a federal court in the northern district of Texas sentenced a Ukrainian national to 13 years and 7 months in prison for his role in ransomware attacks that demanded over $700 million. Cyberattacks are on the rise, with private companies and public

Starting point is 00:01:35 entities like local governments being targeted. The perpetrator, also known as Robotnik, conducted the attacks using ransomware, known as S No Kibi or Ransomware Evil. He was ordered to pay over $16 million in restitution for his part in over 2,500 ransomware attacks. In border news, landowners affected by border crime may now be compensated up to $75,000 through a newly launched program that was approved by the legislature last year and is now administered through the Office of the Attorney General. The program will require landowners to file claims within 90 days of the incident and document it through written law enforcement agency report in order to receive funds. No compensation will be awarded to landowners

Starting point is 00:02:14 who experienced border crime property damage before September 1, 2023. Next, a special committee under the Texas House of Representatives tasked with investigating the historic panhandled wildfires, released its findings in a comprehensive report examining every facet of the disaster and proposed legislative reforms for the next session. The committee learned how the power line pole that caused the fire was inspected a month prior and marked it as a priority for replacement. However, the utility provider failed to replace it in time. Economic damages resulting from the wildfire are estimated by the committee to exceed $1 billion and are expected to continue disrupting numerous businesses into the future. Turning to more local news, beleaguered Houston Police Chief Troy Fenner submitted his resignation to Mayor John Whitmire on Tuesday night

Starting point is 00:02:59 following evidence that the chief may have known about a code widely used by the department to suspend the investigation of incidents due to, quote, lack of personnel as early as 2018. Whitmire said he had not yet determined whether a permanent replacement for Fenner would come from within or outside the department and emphasized the need for additional police officers and a return to focus on the victims of crime. Thanks for listening. Be sure to visit thetexan.news and subscribe to get full access to all of our articles, newsletters, and podcasts.

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The Texan Podcast - Daily Rundown - May 9, 2024

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