The Texan Podcast - Daily Rundown - November 26, 2024

Starting point is 00:00:00 Howdy folks, today is Tuesday, November 26. 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, a Texas doctor has gone viral on social media after advising patients that they may ignore Governor Greg Abbott's executive order requiring health care providers to ask patients for their citizenship status, which Abbott warned could threaten his employer's Medicaid funding. In a TikTok video that has now amassed over 1.2 million views, Dr. Tony Pastor, assistant professor and cardiologist at Texas Children's Hospital, advises patients that they, quote, do not have to answer this question, referring to the question of U.S. citizenship. He said to the camera, quote, wouldn't it be amazing if everyone who comes in doesn't answer it and it really messes with the data they're looking for? Abbott responded on X, quote,

Starting point is 00:01:01 Hey, Texas Children's Hospital and Baylor College of Medicine, this doctor is putting your Medicaid and Medicare funding at risk. Abbott continued, quote, You better think twice and have crystal clear records. There will be consequences for failing to follow the law in the executive order. Next, organized retail theft or ORT is neither tracked sufficiently nor effectively prosecuted in Texas, reads a new report from the Comptroller of Public Accounts. At the Texas Legislature's direction, Comptroller Glenn Hagar convened the Texas Organized Retail Theft Task Force to evaluate the problem of retail theft in the state, a committee that included retail businesses, law enforcement, and other stakeholders. The report's summary reads, a committee that included retail businesses, law enforcement, and other stakeholders. The report's summary reads,

Starting point is 00:01:52 As the task force listened to expert testimony and comptroller staff visited retailer sites, ORT task force members noted three recurrent themes, a lack of ORT data, a need for coordination among ORT stakeholders, and a need for consistency in the application of ORT laws. Data from 2019 pegged the costs associated with retail crime at $3.9 billion across Texas and $68.9 billion across the United States. Another estimate in 2022 put the loss total at $442 million in Texas, with $21 million in projected state tax revenue lost. The task force suggested creating a statewide database by which to track instances and patterns of ORT across Texas, along with establishing a central agency to head up the operation. Other recommendations include expanding the law enforcement footprint dedicated to rooting out

Starting point is 00:02:42 instances of ORT, a tricky task as the sophisticated operations span multiple jurisdictions, and reforming existing laws to make it easier for charges to be pressed. Last but not least, Governor Greg Abbott and incoming presidential border czar Tom Homan visited the U.S. southern border on Tuesday. Homan was one of the first appointments made by President-elect Donald Trump, who wrote that, quote, Homan will be in charge of all deportation of illegal aliens back to their country of origin. Speaking before Abbott and Homan was General Land Commissioner Don Buckingham, who was joined by the mother of Houston murder victim Jocelyn Nungary. Buckingham

Starting point is 00:03:21 warned about the dangers of sanctuary cities, quote, who release illegal immigrants back onto the streets. This stops now. Two illegal immigrants who are suspected to have ties to a notoriously violent Venezuelan gang, Trende Aragua, have been charged with murdering the 12-year-old Nungare earlier this year. The February abduction and killing of Laken Riley, which recently resulted in a life sentence without parole, involved a perpetrator who is also an illegal immigrant. In other news, get ready for Black Friday because the Texans' annual subscription will be 50% off this Friday, November 29th. This sale will continue through Cyber Monday, so don't miss out on your chance for a year's

Starting point is 00:04:01 worth of news you can trust for just half the price. Visit thetexan.news for more information. Remember, this sale runs this Friday through next Monday, so don't miss out. 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.

The Texan Podcast - Daily Rundown - November 26, 2024

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.