The Texas Report 4/28

The Texas Report 4/28

What’s Happening:

• Governor Abbott Announces Seizure of Over Half a Million Lethal Doses of Fentanyl in Austin. (More here)

• Texas Women denied emergency abortion blames Cruz, Cornyn in Senate Judiciary Committee hearing. (More here)

• Texas House advances Marijuana Decriminalization Bill.

• Bill for removing Texas DAs not prosecuting crimes advances. (More here)

• Texas Legislative Update

• Baseball Size Hail Falls in Texas. (More here)

• Texas Named Best State for Business for Record-Shattering 19 Years in a ROW. (More here)

• Two Texas “Trump Train” participants settle lawsuit claiming they harassed 2020 Biden Campaign bus. (More here)

FENTANYL SEIZURE

Governor Abbott announced the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS), seized over 507,000 lethal doses of fentanyl along with other narcotics, guns, ammunition, and several stolen vehicles in major drug bust in Austin Thursday morning.

DPS Special Agents found six handguns, ten rifles, two shotguns, thousands of rounds of ammunition, thermal infrared binoculars, three ballistic vests, and one suppressor. Additionally, the DPS Special Agents found two stolen motorcycles and three stolen box trailers.

Two people were taken into custody and will face federal charges. The defendants indicated the drugs had come from Mexico and the weapons were heading to Mexico later this week. The investigation remains ongoing at this time.

In March, Governor Abbott directed DPS to provide assistance to the City of Austin Police Department to help reduce crime and improve safety in the state's capital through AVCTF, a data-driven violent crime suppression task force composed of troopers, Special Agents, and intelligence-level policing. (More here)

Abortion

Wednesday, Amanda Zurawski one of five women suing the state of Texas over it’s abortion laws testified in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Zurawski was diagnosed with an “incompetent cervix”, and was told her baby would not survive. The suit adds that since her baby still had a heartbeat, Zurawski was told there was no other care the hospital could provide.

She eventually went septic, and delivered the child who soon passed away. Amanda blames both Cruz and Cornyn saying she nearly “died on their watch.” She added “I wanted to address my senators, Cruz and Cornyn, neither of whom, regrettably, are in the room right now. I would like for them to know that what happened to me… it’s a direct result of the policies that they support. I nearly died on their watch… as a result of what happened to me, I may have been robbed of the opportunity to have children in the future.”

Senators Response:

• Cornyn responded by questioning witnesses, on the panel saying if they (as medical experts) thought her doctors violated the standard of care, it should give rise to a medical malpractice case.

• Cruz proceeded to blast the Democratic positions on abortion, addressing “radical” and “unelected judges to set national abortion standards.

How we got here:

In 2021, Texas was the first state to pass a six week abortion ban dubbed the “Heartbeat Bill.”

• This legislation prevented abortions from being performed after six weeks.

• Authorized a person to bring a civil action against any one who performs, induces, or knowingly engages in conduct to aids the performance of abortion. Claimants could be awarded $10,000 under this section if they prevail in the civil action.

TEXAS HOUSE - Marijuana

Yesterday, the Texas House of Representatives passed House Bill (H.B.) 218 to decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana. The legislation was passed unanimously by the House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee last month, and would remove criminal penalties for the possession of up to one ounce of marijuana or cannabis concentrate.

When explaining the legislation in committee, bill author Joe Moody (D-El Paso) said “Basically, the person is given a ticket goes to court, they’re assessed a fine, then the court tells them, ‘You’ve got six months to pay and you need to stay out of trouble during that time.” The Texas House of Representatives passed similar cannabis decriminalization bills during the last two legislative sessions, but failed to gain approval in the Texas Senate.

H.B. 218 would reduce penalties for the following offenses:

• Possession of one to two ounces to a Class B misdemeanor.

• Possession of two to four ounces to a Class A misdemeanor.

PUBLIC SAFETY

The Texas House advanced legislation yesterday to create a mechanism for removing locally elected prosecutors who do not enforce certain laws. The legislation passed 92-55 and is expected to clear final passage today before heading to the Senate.

H.B. 17 bill author said the "purpose of this bill is to eliminate politics from prosecution," This also sets up sufficient guardrails for prosecutors … that want to legislate instead of prosecuting. I would urge that they run for a seat in this House as opposed to running for DA."

Currently, elected prosecutors can only be removed after the filing of a removal petition that accuses a district attorney of "incompetency, official misconduct or intoxication." The legislation would add a "policy of categorically refusing to prosecute specific criminal offenses under state law," with certain exceptions, to the definition of "official misconduct."

This is intended to punish District & County Attorneys who've made campaign statements or policies limiting the prosecution of certain offenses.

The petition can be filed by anyone who has lived in the county for at least six months and would be handled by a judge in a nearby county. Representative Terry Canales (D-Edinburg) raised concerns about this potentially affecting border prosecutors who lack the resources to keep up with surging migrants. Canales also introduced an amendment requiring the person who filed the petition to pay the prosecutor's legal fees if the prosecutor prevails in the proceeding. (More here)

TEXAS LEGISLATIVE UPDATES

The House advanced legislation this week to add billions in funding for school safety and teacher pay.

• H.B. 11, Allocates nearly $100 million per year to stipends for teachers practicing a year-long residency. Waives all teacher and certification fees.

• H.B. 13, Increases the School Safety Allotment from $9.72 per student to $100 per student. Adds a new stipend for trained, armed personnel on campuses.

• H.B. 100, Invests $4.5 billion into the public school finance system and requires districts to devote 50% of new money to educator and staff pay. Increases the transportation allotment to $1.54 per mile, a 54-cent increase, to offset fuel costs.

The Texas Senate passed all of the Lieutenant Governor’s priority bills to “pushback on woke policies in higher education nationwide.” Lieutenant Governor Patrick added “The Texas Senate has now drawn a line in the sand and stated loud and clear that these woke policies will not be tolerated in Texas. I look forward to the swift passage of these bills through the Texas House.”

Specific Higher Education bills:

• S.B. 15, by Sen. Mayes Middleton, R-Galveston, would prohibit student athletes from competing on intercollegiate teams in the sex different then their biological sex at birth.

• S.B. 16, by Sen. Bryan Hughes, R-Tyler, bans faculty members at higher education institutions from compelling a student to adopt a belief that any race, sex, ethnicity, or political belief is inherently superior to any other.

• S.B. 17, Banning Discriminatory “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion” (DEI) Policies in Higher Education, by Sen. Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe, bans the establishment or maintenance of DEI offices and hiring practices at Texas universities.

• S.B. 18, Eliminating Tenure at General Academic Institutions, by Sen. Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe, prohibits general academic institutions of higher education from granting an employee tenure or any kind of permanent employment status.

Other legislation on the move includes:

• H.B. 6 by Representative Craig Goldman (R-Arlington) which would transfer several opiates from Penalty Group 1 to Penalty Group 1-B. Additionally, it would increase from a state jail felony to a third degree felony the penalty for manufacturing or delivering a controlled substance in Penalty Group 1-B.

• S.B. 1515 by Senator Phil King (R-Fort Worth) would require the public display of the Ten Commandments in public schools. This legislation has already passed the Senate and is set for hearing on Tuesday in House Public Education. Each public elementary and secondary school classroom would need to display the Ten Commandments.

Baseball Hail in Texas

Several Central Texas towns were hit with hail during storms Wednesday night. In McLennan and surrounding counties, homeowners document hail ranging from quarter-size to near-softball. (More here)

Texas Best State for Business

Texas was named the Best State for Business for the 19th year in a row, by an annual survey conducted by Chief Executive Magazine. The magazine surveys CEOs’ and their assessments of each state’s business climate, workforce, and quality of life. Texas has been the top of the list since the survey began in 2001.

Governor Abbott released a statement celebrating the achievement. "Texas is attractive to CEOs and their businesses because we offer the freedom and opportunity that cannot be found elsewhere: no state income tax; a stable, predictable regulatory structure; and a young, educated, and growing workforce ready to take on the jobs of tomorrow.” (More here)

Harassment of Biden Campaign Bus

Two of the eight Trump supporters accused of participating in a “politically motivated conspiracy” by closely following, honking at and slowing down a campaign bus for President Joe Biden during the 2020 presidential election have settled for an undisclosed amount with former state Senator Wendy Davis and three others on the bus.

According to a press release from Project Democracy the two drivers issued formal apologies for participating in the “Trump Train” one specifically said, “Looking back, I would have done things differently. I do not feel that I was thinking things through at the time, and I apologize to the occupants of the bus for my part in actions that day that frightened or intimidated them.”

The plaintiffs claimed in the lawsuit that the drivers violated the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871 and Texas law when they and dozens of people in vehicles with Trump flags surrounded the bus as it drove on I-35 from San Antonio to Austin.

The confrontation resulted in at least one minor collision and led to Texas Democrats canceling three scheduled campaign events in Central Texas due to “safety concerns.” The lawsuit against the “Trump Train” participants remains ongoing against the six other plaintiffs. In March, federal judge John Pittman set a trial date for April 22, 2024. (More here)