The Texan Podcast - Daily Rundown - September 3, 2024

Starting point is 00:00:00 Howdy folks, today is Tuesday, September 3, 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, the state of Texas and Attorney General Ken Paxton have been granted a nationwide stay against the Biden administration's new rule that would defund federally funded health care providers found to be refusing patients' gender transition procedures. The Biden administration announced a rule change last April under the Affordable Care Act, described as seeking to hold the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services health programs and activities

Starting point is 00:00:45 to, quote, the same non-discrimination standards as recipients of federal financial assistance. On August 30th, U.S. District Judge Jeremy D. Kernoodle ruled in favor of Texas and Montana, ordering that the modification of the Affordable Care Act at issue is precluded from implementation across the nation. Kernoodle wrote in his opinion, quote, here federal agencies are attempting to impose a sweeping new social policy by manipulating and perverting the statutory text that constrains them. Next, the Securing Children Online Through Parental Empowerment Act has gone into effect as of September 1st, but only partially after a district court judge placed a block on one aspect of the law. House Bill 18, also known as the SCOPE

Starting point is 00:01:32 Act, was passed during the 88th legislative session. The law aims to prevent digital service providers from entering into agreements with minors without parental or guardian consent. It also mandates that DSPs include options in these agreements for parents or guardians to permanently enable specific settings. Judge Robert Pittman for the Western District Court of Texas in Austin determined that the monitoring and filter requirements of the SCOPE Act posed a threat to content-based online speech. In the order, Pittman determined that those requirements, quote, fail strict scrutiny, are unconstitutionally vague, and are preempted by

Starting point is 00:02:12 Section 230. All other aspects of the law can go into effect. In other news, Karen Brennan will be the newest Keller City Council member for Place 3, winning a three-way race on Saturday with over 73% of the votes cast. According to her campaign website, Brennan has been a Keller resident for 22 years. She said her decisions as a city council member will be guided by her principles of, quote, enhancing the quality of life for families, prioritizing the needs of seniors, and preserving Keller's distinct small-town charm. Also, new data collected by the Texas Homeschool Coalition indicates that nearly 50,000 Texas public school students withdraw to homeschool every year. THSC announced that although its previous reporting indicated that between 20,000 and 30,000 students per year had left public

Starting point is 00:03:05 schools to homeschool instead, the data was faulty as it had been based on the Texas Education Agency's reports which were, quote, only available for students between grades 7 through 12. According to the TEA, Texas had over 5.5 million students in public schools in the 2022 through 2023 school year. In addition, Hurricane Beryl struck Texas just a few months ago, sparking widespread discussion about its impact on crime and energy supplies in affected areas. The Texas Comptroller's Office has recently released insights into the broader effects of hurricanes, highlighting not only the financial damages but also the loss of lives they have caused. In a recent article, the Comptroller's Office presented a chart that tracked the costliest hurricanes to make landfall in Texas from 1980 through 2021.

Starting point is 00:03:58 The chart highlights Hurricane Harvey, which struck Texas in 2017 as the most financially devastating hurricane, with a Consumer Price Index-adjusted estimated cost of $158.8 billion. Despite not having the highest death toll, Hurricane Rita in 2005 had the highest number of deaths at 119 among the listed hurricanes, yet its financial impact was significantly lower than that of Harvey and Hurricane Ike. Last but not least, bird hunters always have the privilege of kicking off the fall dove season across most of the state each year on September 1st, and officials say this year's game supplies should make it easy for those venturing out to get their limit. According to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, spring and summer rains

Starting point is 00:04:45 created ideal nesting conditions, leading to the high numbers. Texas is home to eight species of dove, three of which are legal game birds, white-winged, mourning, and white-tipped doves. P.S. In episode seven of the Texans' Smoke-Filled Room podcast, senior editor Mackenzie DeLulo and senior reporter Brad Johnson discuss the ever-changing alliances between lawmakers in the Texas legislature. Visit thetexan.news or wherever you get podcasts to listen now. 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,

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The Texan Podcast - Daily Rundown - September 3, 2024

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