The Texan Podcast - Daily Rundown - September 12, 2025

Episode Date: September 12, 2025

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Howdy, folks. Today is Friday, September 12th, and you're listening to the Texans Daily Rundown. I'm the Texans assistant editor Rob Laus, and here is the rundown of today's news in Texas politics. First up, the suspected killer in the assassination of leading conservative figure Charlie Kirk has been apprehended, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Utah law enforcement. Utah Governor Spencer Cox announced Friday, quote, we got him. Kirk, age 31, was assassinated while speaking at a Turning Point USA event at Utah Valley University. He was engaged in conversation with one of the event participants when he was shot and rushed to the hospital. President Donald Trump confirmed his death shortly after 3 p.m. Central Time on Wednesday, September 10th.

Kirk is survived by his wife and two young children. The shooter was identified as a 22-year-old Utah man, with Cox stating he was brought into custody after making statements to relatives and friends suggesting that he committed the assassination. Cox also spoke to a number of other details, including social media messages and physical evidence. Cox added that a family friend contacted the local sheriff's office and told officers that the suspect confessed to the killing. Video surveillance footage also matched other details relayed to officers. Additional details, such as engravings on spent and unfired ammunition, were also confirmed by Cox. In other news, Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick has responded to Governor Greg Abbott's hemp-derived

T.HC executive order, saying that, quote, on this issue, we disagree. A staunch supporter of an outright ban on THC in Texas, Patrick said in his Friday press release that via the executive order, Abbott, quote, intentionally or not, has sent a signal to the THC industry that they have a state seal of approval on the current THC market. Abbott's order, which comes after his veto of the THC ban in Senate Bill 3 at the end of the regular session, and then two special sessions where the legislature was unable to come to an agreement on regulation, directs the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission and Department of state health services with prohibiting the sale of hemp-derived THC products to minors, but does not

explicitly state a specific age. The executive order also direct DSHS to conduct a review of existing agency rules that deal with total THC content and products, labeling requirements, and record-keeping. Abbott told the Texan in July that he wants to see a 21-year age limit on the sale of hemp-derived THC products, an age he had mentioned in his veto proclamation. Last but not least, the Supreme Court of Texas denied an Austin residence challenge to an upcoming property tax item on the city's ballot on Friday, leaving the ultimate decision up to voters in November, while signaling the measure's potentially illegal wording. Jeffrey Bowen, an Austin property taxpayer and registered voter, filed a lawsuit in the state's third court of

appeals in August, claiming that the city's proposed ballot language for a property tax election in November, misleads voters into approving a substantial tax increase. The Supreme Court of Texas denied Bowen's petition for a writ of mandamus to compel the Austin City Council to either change or remove its ballot language, which will be presented to Austin voters in November. However, in a statement on the decision, Justice Evan Young expressed his concerns with the existing ballot language. Referring to Bowen, Young noted that, quote, relator contends that the ballot language violates the law's minimum standards. The question is close, end quote.

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