The Texan Podcast - Daily Rundown - September 8, 2025

Starting point is 00:00:00 Howdy, folks. Today is Monday, September 8th, 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, state representative Sam Harless will not be returning to the Texas House of Representatives once he concludes his fourth term, which ends in 2027. He first made the announcement at a luncheon hosted by the Northwest Forest Republican women. His wife, former state representative Patricia Harless, held his seat for the decade preceding his tenure serving House District 126. Harless was endorsed by both Governor Greg Abbott and President Donald Trump for re-election in 2006 prior to his retirement announcement due to his vote in favor of education savings accounts. Next, in response to a civil lawsuit filed against him for wrongful death of their unborn child, Christopher Cooprider has denied the allegations and filed counterclaims,

Starting point is 00:01:06 seeking $100 million in actual damages and $1 billion in exemplary damages. Last month, Leanna Davis filed a wrongful death lawsuit against her neighbor and the father of her unborn child, alleging that he laced her drink with abortion-inducing drugs that caused the death of her baby. Coop Rider denied the allegations. An active-duty Marine stationed at Naval Air Station Corpus Christi, he claimed that after the police declined to prosecute Davis's case, she filed a civil complaint that was then used in testimony before the Texas legislature to encourage passage of House Bill 7, which establishes civil penalties for the production and distribution of chemical abortion pills. He asserted in his court filing that Davis was not pregnant on February 3rd,

Starting point is 00:01:55 when she claimed to be, and when she allegedly requested that Cooprider order abortion-inducing pills. In other news, although recent polling indicates there is bipartisan support for a ban on taxpayer-funded lobbying, a proposal to ban the practice at the state level has again failed for the third time this year. State Senator Mayes Middleton introduced bills to prohibit political subdivisions of the state from hiring or contracting with registered lobbyists during the regular legislative session and again in both special sessions, with the most recent effort launched last month in Senate Bill 13. Middleton said during the bill's layout in the Texas Senate, quote, this will be the fourth time we pass this bill. Texas is not a state of quitters and I will never

Starting point is 00:02:42 ever give up on this, end quote. The bill also banned payment to nonprofit associations that hire or contract with lobbyists, such as the Texas Association of School Boards and the Texas Municipal League, while permitting full-time employees of those associations to provide, quote, legislative services related to bill tracking, bill analysis, and legislative alerts, end quote, to communicate with lawmakers for information purposes, and to testify for or against pending bills, so long as the activities do not require them to register as lobbyists. Also, two Mexican nationals, along with a U.S. citizen and lawful permanent resident, have been shown. charged with conspiracy to transport aliens and bringing aliens to the United States for financial gain in the Western District of Texas.

Starting point is 00:03:33 According to the criminal complaint, between May and October of 2024, the group carried out its trafficking activity that specialized in smuggling minor aliens from Mexico into the United States. The criminal smuggling ring was first discovered in August 2024 when U.S. Border Patrol agents at a checkpoint inside the United States, disrupted the attempted smuggling of a 13-year-old boy. An investigation revealed that the juvenile had been smuggled across the border the day before using documents belonging to a co-conspirator's child. The co-conspirator revealed he had been paid on at least three separate occasions to smuggle alien children into the United States. Last but not least, Richardson Independent School District is putting a $1.4 billion bond

Starting point is 00:04:22 named Bond 2025 on the November ballot in Dallas County. The proposed bond is divided into three segments, Proposition A with $1.3 billion for construction and instructional materials, Proposition B with $54 million for student and staff technology services, and proposition C with 7.4 million for upgrades at the district's two stadiums. The district has a long history of successful bonds, noting on its website that, quote, the RISD community has passed every school bond referendum since the first one the school district put on the ballot in 1951. RISD has approved progressively larger bonds every five years since 1996. The district currently carries $1.03 billion in outstanding bond debt, with $121 million of unissued authorizations remaining. Thanks for

Starting point is 00:05:19 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.

The Texan Podcast - Daily Rundown - September 8, 2025

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