The Texan Podcast - Daily Rundown - October 17, 2024

Starting point is 00:00:00 Howdy folks! Today is Thursday, October 17th, and you're listening to the Texans Daily Rundown. I'm the Texan reporter Cameron Abrams, and here is the rundown of today's news and Texas politics. First up, in the latest clash between the City of Houston's elected officials, Mayor John Whitmire sounded the alarm Thursday on what appears to be a quote, pay to play scheme operated by city controller Chris Hollins that sought sponsorships up to $100,000 for a city operated investor conference. Quote, it's just unimaginable that a city elected official doing city business would look for sponsors for any reason, said Whitmire.

Starting point is 00:00:47 And then you get up to $100,000? That separates the big boys from the little ones real quick. The allegations surrounded an event orchestrated by the comptroller's office of which participants, mostly underwriters of city bonds, were invited to provide sponsorships ranging from $10,000 to $100,000 in exchange for perks that included a private dinner with Hollins. Next, Texas is suing a Dallas-based doctor for illegally providing gender-modifying hormone therapies to at least 21 children. The lawsuit was filed in the District Court of Collin County on Thursday. The lawsuit alleges that Dr. May Lau of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, who serves as medical director of the Adolescent and Young Adult Clinic at Children's Medical Center Dallas, has been, quote, prescribing testosterone to biological female minors for

Starting point is 00:01:46 the purposes of transitioning their biological sex or affirming their belief that their gender identity is inconsistent with their biological sex. Texas law prohibits, quote, surgeries, puberty blockers, and cross-sex hormones for the purposes of transitioning a child's biological sex or affirming a child's belief that their gender identity is inconsistent with their biological sex. After the passage of Senate Bill 14, which the Supreme Court of Texas upheld as constitutional in June. In other news, the San Antonio City Council discussed the planned disbursements of the city's designated Reproductive Justice Fund at its October 16th meeting, with several members expressing their disappointment that none of the funds were being used for abortion transportation. The $500,000 fund was created last year after the failure of a, quote, justice policy charter amendment that would have kept the

Starting point is 00:02:46 city's law enforcement from investigating or making arrests related to abortion crimes within city limits. According to San Antonio Public Health Director Claude Jacob, the city reached out to nearly 4,000 possible vendors who might be interested in applying for grant money under the program. It received only 10 completed applications, he said. Also, the Texas Freedom Caucus sent a letter to the Texas Education Agency and the Legislative Budget Board seeking clarification regarding a, quote, substantial discrepancy in certain revenue numbers reported by the TEA. Quote, it has come to our concern that there is a substantial discrepancy in revenue figures reported by the TEA in its statewide PEIMS district financial actual report in the LBB's

Starting point is 00:03:40 fiscal size up, the letter reads. The caucus alleged that the fiscal reports by the TEA and LBB varied from $4.8 billion to $21.7 billion since 2016. Both the TEA and LBB's reports declare that they reflect the quote actualized revenue figures for the TEA, even though they have substantially differed in the past eight years, as alleged by the Texas Freedom Caucus's letter. In addition, Tarrant County hopes to reassure voters about the integrity of its elections by releasing a list of changes to quote, bolster security and transparency in its election process. Quote, The recent election security and transparency updates in Tarrant County are essential to fostering public trust, encouraging voter participation, and safeguarding against fraud,

Starting point is 00:04:36 County Judge Tim O'Hare told the Texan. The list of 16 changes have been made and implemented over the past 18 months as a combined effort of the elections administrator, election board, and the Tarrant County Commissioner's Court, O'Hare's communications director, Ruth Ray, told The Texan. Last but not least, the lead-up to Texas' November 5th general election is underway, with early voting set to begin Monday, October 21st. Any registered and eligible voter can vote during the early voting period. Visit the Texas Secretary of State's website to confirm voter registration status. A valid government ID must be brought to the polls in order to cast a ballot. Counties in

Starting point is 00:05:19 Texas administer elections and often provide more detailed resources for voters such as sample ballots. Though some early voting polling places may also utilize on Election Day, the list of locations often differ. Check with your county for an updated list of early voting locations. Visit thetexan.news for a list of voting information and resources for each of Texas's 254 counties. 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.

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The Texan Podcast - Daily Rundown - October 17, 2024

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