The Texas Report 5/15

The Texas Report 5/15

What’s Happening:

• Tornado hits south Texas (More here)

• Texas Border Update (More here)

• New school voucher legislation (More here)

• Texas Legislative Update

• Sports gambling advances out of the House likely dead in the Senate

South Texas hit by Tornado

A tornado struck South Texas, tearing through a community before dawn Saturday, destroying dozens of residences, and knocking down powerlines.

One person was killed and at least ten others were hospitalized, including two listed in critical condition. the Cameron County judge, instituted a nighttime curfew for those 17 and under which is expected to end May 16th to “mitigate the effects of this public health and safety emergency.”

The tornado hit around 4:00 a.m. in the unincorporated community of Laguna Heights, located on the mainland across from South Padre.

There was no advance warning and the first warning came as the tornado was touching ground. Winds were clocked at 86-110 mph and it lasted about two to four minutes.

As many as 60 homes were severely damaged. (More here)

End of Title 42

Title 42 has officially come to an end. Title 42 was a border policy initiated by President Trump during the COVID-19 pandemic to stem the spread of coronavirus from crowded detention settings.

Over the weekend following the end of Title 42, there wasn’t an immediate influx of migrants at the southern border defying the predictions of many local and federal officials.

In total, Border Patrol apprehended just over 6,200 undocumented migrants crossing the border on Friday, the first day after Title 42 was lifted, two Homeland Security officials told NBC News on Saturday. That figure was lower than the 11,000 apprehended each day on Tuesday and Wednesday, as well as the 10,000 apprehended on Thursday.

The Mayor of El Paso added in a statement “We have not seen any big numbers” when compared with last week.

El Paso is extremely concerned with their transportation operations. for moving migrants out of the city. When a backlog increases for moving people outside the city it results in shelter space being over run extremely quickly.

Per an article by NBC news multiple migrants said the reason for the decrease could be attributed to rapidly spreading online rumors and whisper network that said the best time to cross was before Title 42’s end.

The new Title 8, creates penalties including a potential five-year ban and criminal prosecution for immigrants repeatedly attempting to enter the U.S. illegally.

Policy Changes in Mexico

Mexico has said they will stop granting permits allowing migrants to travel across the country, unless they have legal documentation, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Monday.

The Mexican government also closed 33 centers throughout the country used to shelter people who had migrated. The government is reviewing the sits following a fire that killed 40 people in the government’s custody. (More here)

Texas Border Response

The Governor of Texas also announced a new Texas “Tactical Border Force” these are specifically trained soldiers within the Texas National Guard intended to be deployed to hotspots along the border to assist in repelling and intercepting large groups of migrants attempting to enter illegally. (More here)

School Voucher

The Texas House Committee on Public Education will meet to discuss a new voucher proposal establishing "Education Savings Accounts (E.S.A.) for parents receiving special education services or students attending a campus rated F for one of the two most recent school years.

This legislation is the House version of a bill that originated in the Senate, and there are major differences between the two.

The House version of S.B. 8 would:

• Eliminate the STAAR test and replace it with the Texas Success Initiative Assessment (TSIA), which wouldn't be required to pass in order to graduate high school.

• One-time-per-year assessments would be replaced with through-year testing three times per year, and the number of state-required tests for elementary and middle school students would go from 15 to 42.

• Estimates allocating $200 million per year in support of vouchers.

The major difference between the House and the Senate version lies in the cost; the Senate school choice bill would apply to 5.5 million students, while the latest House bill would apply to only 800,000 students.

These changes in the House bill are intended to make the legislation more palatable to Rural Republicans, who don't like the idea of taking money out of public schools. There's a block of rural and suburban Republican House members who are the deciding vote for or against voucher legislation.

Following the reports about this new House proposal, the Governor weighed in and expressed significant disappointment with the House plan. In his eyes, the "latest version does little to provide meaningful school choice, and legislators deserve to know that it would be vetoed if it reached my desk. Instead, the original House version of the Senate bill provides a more meaningful starting point to begin House-Senate negotiations."

The Governor plans to call a special session if the bill that reaches his desk isn't closer to the Senate version of the voucher bill.

House Public Education will consider the bill on Monday, and only invited testimony is allowed, which includes representatives from school boards, public and private education advocacy groups, and more.

This issue continues to be one of the most divisive of the session and illustrates significant infighting within the Republican party.

TEXAS LEGISLATIVE UPDATES

This week marks the first week where each chamber will essentially only focus on the other chamber's legislation.

Here are some updates on some of the biggest bills we've been tracking:

• S.B. 763 by Senator Mayes Middleton (R-Galveston) would allow chaplains to serve as counselors in public and open-enrollment charter schools. School districts would be given the authority to employ chaplains or let them volunteer to provide support or counseling services for students. The bill has passed both chambers, but some differences are being lined out between the House and Senate.

• In part, H.B. 9 & H.J.R. 125 by Representative Trent Ashby (R-Lufkin) would authorize $5 billion via a constitutional amendment election to create a new state fund focused on financial assistance for broadband and telecommunications projects.

• S.B. 22 by Senator Drew Springer (R-Muenster) would provide financial pay incentives for rural sheriff and rural prosecutor's offices. Over $330,800,000 is intended to be funded for this program. This legislation is on the House Calendar and could pass out of both chambers early this week.

Other notable bills up this week include S.B. 28 & S.J.R. 75 by Senator Charles Perry (R-Lubbock) and Representative Tracy King (R-Uvalde), which is intended to create a New Water Supply for Texas fund, a statewide water public awareness account, and the Texas Water Fund to help provide financial assistance to addressing pressing water challenges in the state.

Voters of Texas will have to give the final approval to create this new fund, which would utilize over $3 billion from the Texas Rainy Day fund. Texas' water supplies are projected to decline by approximately 18 percent, resulting in a potential water shortage of 6.9 million acre-feet per year in 2070. The Texas Section of the American Society of Civil Engineers has given the state a grade of "C-" for drinking water infrastructure and "D" for wastewater infrastructure.

The House will give final passage to its bill intended to ban "gender modification or affirming care for minors on Monday. S.B. 14 by Senator Donna Campbell (R-San Antonio) is one of the most controversial bills being considered this session, and most Democrats will be doing whatever they can to try and kill the bill on final passage.

Sports Gambling Updates

Legislation to allow sports gambling officially passed the Texas House last Friday by a vote of 101-42. These proposals, if they make it through the Senate, would have to be approved by the voters of Texas.

However, making it through the Senate seems unlikely as Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick said, "Texas is a red state. Yet the House vote on sports betting was carried by a Dem majority. The Texas Senate doesn't pass bills with G.O.P. in the minority. The G.O.P. majority guides our path. H.J.R. 102 also will not be referred. Can't waste committee/floor time in the last days."

The Lieutenant Governor has the authority to refer bills and control the flow of most legislation through the Senate. If he chooses not to advance the legislation, there is little other recourse, and despite receiving over 100 votes in the Texas House, it looks like there's going to be next to no movement in the Senate.

Casino legislation

The push to bring casinos to Texas ended last Friday after House sponsor Charlie Geren postponed (H.J.R. 155), acknowledging that there weren't enough votes to advance the bill from the House.

H.J.R. 155 & the enabling legislation by Representative John Kuempel would have proposed a constitutional amendment for Texas voters that, if adopted, allowed the creation of casinos.