The Texan Podcast - Daily Rundown - September 4, 2025

Starting point is 00:00:00 Howdy, folks, today is Thursday, September 4th, and you're listening to The Texans Daily Rundown. I'm the Texans assistant editor Rob Lauchess, and here is the rundown of today's news in Texas politics. First up, the Texas legislature has concluded the second-called special session of the 89th legislature, wrapping up a chaotic three weeks of hashing out hot-button issues in the dust of a democracy. quorum break. The second special session was called by Governor Greg Abbott on August 15th, immediately after the conclusion of the first one. It was kicked off amid an ongoing quorum break by most of the Texas House Democratic caucus employed in order to garner national attention and avoid a vote on the Republican-favored congressional redistricting map,

Starting point is 00:00:52 legislation that eventually passed and was signed into law. Among the most high-profile and controversial legislation passed was a handful of social issue bills, in particular, one establishing a civil cause of action against chemical abortion pill providers, and another separating publicly funded private spaces by biological sex. Property tax reform proved to be an item that ultimately flopped, as the bill was rejected by a number of Democratic and right-flank Republican House members on Tuesday, due to it omitting several of the lower chambers previously added amendments. State Senator Brandon Creighton has been named the sole finalist to become the next Texas Tech University System Chancellor and Chief Executive Officer. A graduate of the University of Texas

Starting point is 00:01:38 and holding a law degree from Oklahoma City University, Creighton will now oversee the more than 63,000 students enrolled at the five institutions and 20 different academic locations of the TTIU system. Prior to being elected to the Texas Senate in 2014, Creighton was a member of the House. During his tenure in the legislature, he has chaired a variety of different education-focused committees, often leading on the highest-profile bills. In other news, Texas universities are making policy changes to comply with Senate Bill 37, one of many bills that took effect on September 1st, which changes faculty senates into advisory councils and gives final authority on curriculum and degree programs to boards of regents appointed by the governor. SB 37 author Senator Brandon Creighton said in a press release

Starting point is 00:02:29 that the bill, quote, reaffirms that the authority belongs to the board of regents so that our universities can stay focused on what matters, educating students, conducting research, and preparing the next generation of Texas leaders. The bill also created the Office of Excellence in Higher Education to ensure compliance and investigate complaints. The new faculty advisory councils are required to live stream meetings and make curriculum proposals public. According to the law, faculty advisory councils must represent the entire faculty and advise the administration, quote, regarding matters related to the general welfare of the institution. Each college or school can have two representatives, one appointed by the university president and one elected by the faculty

Starting point is 00:03:15 of that college or school. These faculty representatives can serve a one-year term with a four-year waiting period before serving again. Also, the largest seizure of precursor chemicals used to produce methamphetamine in U.S. history happened in Houston this week, the U.S. Department of Justice announced on Wednesday. Over 300,000 kilograms of chemicals, quote, used to produce methamphetamine and intended for clandestine labs, end quote, were seized at the port of Houston, allegedly being shipped from China to the Mexican Sinaloa drug cartel. The seized chemicals are estimated to be capable of producing nearly 190,000 kilograms of methamphetamine with a dollar value of around $569 million. Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued an order on February 20th, designating the Sinaloa

Starting point is 00:04:08 cartel and several other cartels as foreign terrorist organizations. Last but not least, a new Texas law banning the sale of cell cultured, or or lab-grown meats, became effective September 1st and has already drawn a legal challenge in federal court from two California-based companies who do business with an Austin restaurant, alleging the new law violates the U.S. Constitution. Senate Bill 261 by state Senator Charles Perry defines cell-cultured meat as a food product derived from animal cells, which are then artificially induced with nutrients in a lab-like setting that causes the cells to replicate or grow into consumable quantities of meat tissue. The plaintiff companies, wild type, and upside foods

Starting point is 00:04:54 sold their products to Austin-based restaurants until the new law became effective, the violation of which imposes a hefty daily fine of up to $25,000 and a Class A criminal misdemeanor. Thanks for listening. To support the Texan, please be sure to visit the texan. News and subscribe to get full access to all of our articles, newsletters, and podcasts. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

The Texan Podcast - Daily Rundown - September 4, 2025

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