The Texas Report 10/6

The Texas Report 10/6

What’s happening in Texas:

• Texas Special Session #3 agenda announced for October 9th.

• Attorney General Ken Paxton targets House Speaker Dade Phelan and other Republican allies

• Biden Administration says it’s using executive to allow border wall construction in Texas. (More here)

Texas Special Session #3

Yesterday afternoon, Governor Greg Abbott announced the agenda for the upcoming special session starting on October 9th:

The current agenda items are:

• EDUCATION FREEDOM: Legislation providing education savings accounts (ESA/vouchers) for all Texas schoolchildren.

• BORDER SECURITY:

  • Legislation to do more to reduce illegal immigration by creating a criminal offense of unlawful entry into this state from a foreign nation and authorizing all licensed peace officers to remove illegal immigrants from Texas.

  • Legislation to impede illegal entry into Texas by increasing the penalties for criminal conduct involving the smuggling of persons or the operation of a stash house.

  • Legislation to impede illegal entry into Texas by providing more funding for the construction, operation, and maintenance of border barrier infrastructure.

• PUBLIC SAFETY: Legislation concerning public safety, security, environmental quality, and property ownership in areas like the Colony Ridge development in Liberty County, Texas.

• ENDING COVID-19 RESTRICTIONS: Legislation prohibiting COVID-19 vaccine mandates by private employers.

Since January, teacher salary increases, which have been a significant focus of both chambers (and the Governor), are not included on the call. There’s still every expectation that something will get done for teacher salaries, but it is odd to see that issue not specifically on the call.

• Tuesday, Senate Education will meet on its voucher bill.

• The Senate Finance Committee has scheduled a hearing next Monday on legislation increasing teacher compensation and overall state funding to public schools.

The Governor has set an extremely conservative agenda for the legislature, which adds pressure on House Republicans, many of whom are under fire from the right wing of the party after the Paxton impeachment trial.

Here are some things to note. ESAs are likely to be the most high-profile issue of the special session. This has been a significant priority of the Governor and Lt. Governor, who will face the tall task of getting the legislation through the House of Representatives, where it has been historically unpopular.

The Texas House has always been the major barrier preventing vouchers, mainly due to a steady coalition of Rural Republicans and Democrats. During the most recent 88th session, the most prominent voucher bill would have created $8,000 education savings accounts funded by tax dollars that parents could put towards things like tuition at a private school.

This didn’t pass, and there were nearly two dozen rural Republicans against the bill that would have created a voucher system for all students. Political insiders think there is significant potential for a more toned-down version of vouchers to pass the legislature that specifically focuses on students with disabilities or those in failing schools. However, Abbott has reiterated with the language on the agenda that ESAs must be for ALL students.

Other things to note

• There will be lots of border security bills floating around, but I expect to see something similar to H.B. 7 by Representative Ryan Guillen, which died during the 88th Regular Session.

• H.B. 7 would, amongst other things, create a specialized state law enforcement unit for border security, require regular review by DPS on emerging technologies to use at the border, raise the penalty for illegally entering the United States, and make felony smuggling punishable by up to life in prison.

• COVID-19 vaccine mandate restrictions set the stage for a significant conservative vs business policy battle. During a 2021 special session, Senator Bryan Hughes (R-Mineola) introduced anti-vaccine mandate legislation that almost all major Texas business groups fought against due to their fear of potentially creating significant liability opportunities for private employers.

All eyes will be on the Texas House the first day of the special session as the multiple conservative allies of Attorney General Paxton will try and oust House Speaker Dade Phelan.

Additionally, we know that the House Judiciary and Civil Jurisprudence Chair Representative Jeff Leach will carry the House Vaccine mandate bill. This makes things interesting for the business community, who have much stronger relations with Jeff Leach than other conservative anti-vaccine mandate legislators.

Legislators and staff are struggling to understand the truth behind the Colony Ridge situation and what, if anything, the state can do to try and address it.

Paxton makes his first round of legislative endorsements targeting House members

Today, Ken Paxton officially threw down the gauntlet against House Speaker Dade Phelan by announcing his initial list of incumbent House Republicans to target in the upcoming primary election.

House District 21 is represented by House Speaker Dade Phelan (R-Beaumont). Paxton has been outspoken following his trial in the Texas Senate that he would do everything possible to try and unseat Phelan.

• House District 53 is represented by Andrew Murr (R-Junction), the leader of the impeachment effort against Paxton.

• Dr. Lynn Stucky (R-Denton) represents House District 64. Stucky did vote to impeach Paxton but was not part of the impeachment team and has long been targeted by far-right Republicans.

• House District 60 is represented by Glenn Rogers (R-Graford). Rogers, who has been a target by Paxton’s allies like far-right “Defend Texas Liberty,” who have spent millions against him over the last two cycles.

• House District 2 is an open seat after major Defend Texas Liberty ally Bryan Slaton was ousted from the Texas House after an internal investigation determined he had sex with a 19-year-old staff after providing her alcohol.

• Representative Mano DeAyala (R-Houston) represents House District 133.

• Representative Jacey Jetton (R-Richmond) represents House District 26.

All of the targeted incumbent House members voted for Paxton’s impeachment and are some of the most conservative members in the Texas House. As Paxton and allies try to depose Phelan, part of their strategy will be taking out his conservative or moderate supporters.

Should Phelan handily win the upcoming primary battles, that would be a significant victory that goes a long way in helping him retain his Speakership.

This is important because it will impact who leads one of the three most important offices in Texas and is one of the opening shots of the upcoming Texas Republican Civil War. Additionally, millions are going to be spent on these elections. In several cases it will feature the business community, versus the far-right which is led by “Defend Texas Liberty.”

Biden Administration says it’s using executive to allow border wall construction in Texas.

Wednesday, the Biden administration announced they “waived 26 federal laws in South Texas to allow border wall construction. This marked the administration’s first use of sweeping executive power to allow for building more border barriers, a major shift in tactics for the administration.

The Department of Homeland Security posted the announcement on the U.S. Federal Registry with few details outlining the construction in Starr County, Texas, part of a busy Border Patrol sector seeing “high illegal entry.” According to government data, about 245,000 illegal entries have been recorded in this region during the current fiscal year.

“There is presently an acute and immediate need to construct physical barriers and roads in the vicinity of the border of the United States to prevent unlawful entries into the United States in the project areas,” Alejandro Mayorkas, the DHS secretary, stated in the notice.

The Clean Air Act, Safe Drinking Water Act, and Endangered Species Act were some federal laws waived by DHS to make way for construction that will use funds from a congressional appropriation in 2019 for border wall construction. The waivers avoid time-consuming reviews and lawsuits challenging violations of environmental laws.

During the Trump administration, about 450 miles (724 kilometers) of barriers were built along the southwest border between 2017 and January 2021. Texas Governor Greg Abbott renewed those efforts as part of his ongoing immigration enforcement from the state level after the Biden administration initially halted them at the start of his presidency.

The DHS decision on Wednesday contrasts the Biden administration’s posturing when a proclamation to end the construction on Jan. 20, 2021, stated, “building a massive wall that spans the entire southern border is not a serious policy solution.”

Biden said he had no other option but to use the money that was appropriated for the wall because Congress refused to redirect it. This caused many Republicans nationally to cry foul, as well as Democratic advocacy groups who said it was a marked failure by the President.

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