The Texan Podcast - Daily Rundown - September 16, 2024
Episode Date: September 16, 2024Want to support The Texan and help us continue providing the Lone Star State with news you can trust? Subscribe today: https://thetexan.news/subscribe/The Texan’s Daily Rundown brings you a quick re...cap of the latest stories in Texas politics so you can stay informed with news you can trust.Want more resources? Be sure to visit The Texan and subscribe for complete access to our in-depth articles, subscriber-exclusive newsletters, videos, podcasts, and more.Enjoy what you hear? Be sure to subscribe and leave a review!
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Howdy folks, today is Monday, September 16th, 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, former President Donald Trump survived another attempted assassination this weekend while golfing in Florida on Sunday.
At his Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida on Sunday, a U.S. Secret Service agent spotted a man, now identified as Ryan Wesley Routh, crouched in the bushes near the golf course armed with a long gun. Routh, armed with an AK-47-style rifle with a scope, two backpacks with ceramic
tile, and a GoPro camera, was just 300 to 500 yards from Trump, according to law enforcement
officials. Secret service agents opened fire on the suspect before Routh attempted to flee.
He was eventually found and taken into custody. The Federal Bureau of Investigation has assumed the investigation into the incident.
Next, the first Democrat in the race for the Texas House Speakership joined over the weekend
as State Representative Ana Maria Ramos announced her run for the chamber's top position.
On Monday, Ramos sent a letter to her Democratic colleagues saying,
quote,
I have decided to enter the race for the Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives to champion the rights and freedoms of all Texans.
This race is about we, not me.
Ramos told the Texas Tribune that she decided to jump in after attending the Democratic National Convention last month in Chicago, she serves on the Human Services and Natural Resources Committees,
but is not one of the Democratic members who have either a committee chair or vice chair position.
Ramos was rated the third most liberal member of the Texas House in Mark P. Jones' post-special session rankings on the 88th legislature.
She was first elected in the 2018 Beto wave as one of the 12 Democrats to flip a House seat that year, defeating incumbent state representative Linda Koop.
In other news, Governor Greg Abbott signed a proclamation declaring the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, or TDA, a foreign terrorist organization during a press conference in Houston on Monday.
Abbott said, quote, We will bring the full weight of
the government against TDA. By declaring TDA a foreign terrorist organization, Texas will use
force to halt their operations, use civil asset forfeiture to take their property, use enhanced
criminal penalties to keep them in jail behind bars for longer periods of time. Abbott signed
a similar order in September 2022 after writing a
letter to the Biden administration, which declared any criminal cartels that trafficked fentanyl
into Texas as terrorist organizations. Also, no elective abortions have been performed in Texas
since August 2022, according to the most recent data from the Texas Health and Human Services Commission,
a trend that started shortly after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
In the 22 months following the Supreme Court's decision that no constitutional right to abortion
exists, 113 medical necessity or life health exception abortions were performed in Texas. Texas Alliance for Life, a pro-life
organization, stated that the data from the HHSC, quote, refutes the Kamala Harris campaign's false
claims, unquote, that doctors cannot or will not perform medically necessary abortions due to
potential legal consequences. Last but not least, the City of Arlington approved the
first reading of its $722 million budget for fiscal year 2025 during Tuesday's City Council
meeting. This budget includes measures to increase the property tax rate as well as water and
wastewater utility rate adjustments. The fiscal items were approved by the council by a vote of 7-2,
with council members Nikki Hunter and Andrew Peel voting against the budget and tax increases.
The utility rate adjustments were approved unanimously. Only one member of the public
spoke on the topic, encouraging a smaller budget. All measures are set for a second and final
reading and vote by the Arlington City Council tomorrow on Tuesday, September 17th.
Fiscal year 2025 begins on October 1st, 2024.
P.S. On the latest episode of the Send Me Some Stuff podcast, the Texans' Brad Johnson, Cameron Abrams, and yours truly discuss everything policy predictions, polling percentages, and presidential debates.
The team takes a look into the Harris campaign's newly released policy issues,
but starts off with a dark and stormy image from the Atlantic. Tune in to this episode
of Send Me Some Stuff to get the best deep dive in all things Texas politics.
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