The Texas Insider

January 18, 2023

The TEXAS Insider

Happy Wednesday!

News from across the State

Governor Greg Abbott and Lt. Governor Dan Patrick were sworn in on Tuesday in front of members of the Texas Senate, House of Representatives, and a few thousand over citizens.

Here's a link to watch the official ceremony if you're interested.

Some of the highlights from the inauguration:

Dan Patrick went over some of his priorities:

Starting with property tax cuts and again emphasizing his support for raising the homestead exemption for Texas taxpayers.
Patrick specifically said that "Governor Abbott and I are in on school choice!" (Notably, not mentioning the Speaker of the House)
The Lt. Governor plans on ensuring public institutions of higher education are prevented from teaching "critical race theory and indoctrination." Patrick plans to evaluate university tenure, and several bills have already been filed.
In his closing, he mentioned the importance of bipartisanship and ensuring Austin doesn't turn into Washington, DC.

Governor Abbott then began his speech by thanking Texans, the men and women in uniform, and specifically the Texas National Guard for defending our border.

Some of the Governor's priorities:

He reiterated that the budget surplus facing Texas belongs to the people, and he intends to deliver the most significant property tax cut ever.
He mentioned the increased investment in infrastructure like roads and ports.
The Governor emphasized that when it comes to education, curriculum must be reformed, and parents should be able to contest curriculum they deem inappropriate.
Abbott further stressed the importance of school safety and said this should

Both Abbott and Patrick said they support substantive increases in teacher pay.

The Texas Freedom Caucus released a statement on Tuesday petitioning the Texas Attorney General to review recent guidance by the Texas Association of School Boards on "Legal Issues Related to Transgender Students." (Link to statement)

Tuesday morning, the University of Texas at Austin blocked access on its Wi-Fi to TikTok. Following their announcement, multiple other Texas universities did the same, like the Texas A&M System and the University of Texas at Dallas.

A Conroe brewery was scheduled to host a "rally against censorship" featuring guest speaker Kyle Rittenhouse and a leader of the TEXIT movement. (Rittenhouse is most known for being acquitted after fatally shooting two people in Kenosha, Wisconsin, during a 2020 Black Lives Matter protest. The brewery canceled the event and has been inundated with harassment and threats. (Link to the story)

Start Survey

Here's a link to the inauguration response by the Texas House Democrats. (Link)

Essentially blames Governor Abbott and Lt. Governor Patrick for, in their eyes, failing to come up with a plan to alleviate the burden families are feeling due to rising costs.

The first drafts of the state budget are supposed to be released today by both the Senate and House. The state budget is a massive document, so we'll save you reading through all 900 pages of it and try to summarize the most important things and if there are any differences between the two versions.

Legislative Report

Over 1,871 bills have been filed as of 1/18/23. The first drafts of the state budget should be released this week.

Agriculture

HB 1389 by Representative Ryan Guillen (R-Rio Grande) would do away with any rules by cities relating to the height or maintenance of vegetation for an agricultural operation.

Elections

SB 94 by Senator Nathan Johnson (D-Dallas) would allow seventeen years old to pre-register to vote.

SB 293 by Senator Nathan Johnson (D-Dallas) would, among other things, establish a third-degree felony for threats made against election officials.

SB 399 by Senator Bob Hall (R-Rockwall) would create separate federal and Texas elections.

Education

SB 390 by Senator Bob Hall (R-Rockwall) would, among other things, repeal the statute that gave authority for schools to exclude certain students who lacked required immunizations during times of emergency or epidemic.

SB 459 by Senator Angela Paxton (R-McKinney) would allow parents studying at a public institution of higher education to get access to early registration.

Your Legislators

Representative Gary VanDeaver has eleven bills as of 01/18/23. If you'd like to reach out to his office, they can be contacted at (512) 463-0692

Senator Bryan Hughes has filed eleven pieces of legislation as of 01/18/23. If you'd like to reach out to his office, they can be contacted at (512) 463-0101.

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