The Texas Report 5/19

The Texas Report 5/19

What’s Happening:

• Abbott expands busing program to Colorado (More here)

• 8-year old girl dies in US Border Patrol Custody (More here)

• Texas Legislative Update

• Texas Senator John Cornyn on former President Trump (More here)

• Texas Legislature emphasizes no public money will be used for Attorney General Paxton’s whistleblower lawsuit

Governor Abbott announces first Bus of Migrants Arrive in Denver

Governor Abbott today announced the expansion of the Texas busing operation transporting migrants from Texas to "self-declared sanctuary cities." Abbott today announced the arrival of the first group of migrants bused to Denver, Colorado.

In his statement on the issue, Abbott said, "Until the President and his Administration step up and fulfill their constitutional duty to secure the border, the State of Texas will continue busing migrants to self-declared sanctuary cities like Denver to provide much-needed relief to our small border towns."

In April 2022, Abbott directed the Texas Division of Emergency Management to begin chartering buses to transport migrants from Texas to Washington, D.C. The Governor has expanded the program to include New York City, Chicago, and Philadelphia. Since the beginning of the busing strategy, over 19,000 migrants have been transported across the United States.

Denver Mayor Michael Hancock (Democrat) called the Texas move a stunt and added, "What is happening at the border, and what is showing up at the doorsteps of cities across the country, is a humanitarian crisis. What none of us need is more political theater and partisan gamesmanship pitting jurisdictions against each other and exacerbating this situation instead of advocating for real solutions to this challenge."

Many Democratic leaders have accused Abbott of using migrants as political pawns and expressed frustration for not coordinating the migrant drop-offs. However, some politicians, like New York Mayor Eric Adams, have criticized the Biden administration and demanded more federal support. (More here)

8-year-old dies in Border Patrol custody.

Wednesday, a young girl with heart problems died in Border Patrol custody. The second death of a Latin American child in the hand of The U.S. government in nearly two weeks.

The 8-year-old girl and her family were held in Harlingen, Texas, which is one of the busiest corridors for migrant crossing. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has struggled with overcrowding at its facilities due to large increases in migrants ahead of the expiration of Title 42.

The girl's name was Anadith Tanay Reyes Alvarez, and she was from Panama, and her parents were from Honduras. She was traveling with her father, mother, and two older siblings.

Anadith experienced a "medical emergency," and emergency medical services were called. CBP said she was taken to the hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

Her father said she was born with heart problems and had been operated on three years ago in Panama. This is the second death of a minor in two weeks near the border region. Last week Angel Eduardo Maradiaga Espinoza, a 17-year-old Honduran boy traveling alone, died in the U.S. Health and Human Services Department Custody.

Border facilities have faced significant overcrowding and worsening health conditions, in part prompting Border Patrol to begin releasing migrants in the U.S. without notice to appear in immigration court. Rather directing them to report to an immigration office within 60 days. (More here)

Senator John Cornyn Sounds off on President Trump

Yesterday, Senior Texas Senator John Cornyn went on record about former President Trump's chances for the 2024 presidential election. Saying the Republican Party needs "a candidate who can win."

When asked about the 2024 Republican presidential primary, he said, "I think President Trump's time has passed him by." "I don't think President Trump understands that when you run in a general election, you have to appeal to voters beyond your base."

Cornyn is a former chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, Senate Majority whip, often one of the most productive U.S. Senators in passing legislation, and he scored the highest legislative effectiveness among Senate Republicans for the 117th Congress.

Cornyn didn't endorse any other declared candidate or potential contender. However, he praised Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, and his U.S. Senate colleague Tim Scott.

This isn't the first time Cornyn has disagreed with the former president, as in 2021, Cornyn announced he wasn't planning to object to the certification of the Electoral College Vote in Congress. Trump responded with "Weak and ineffective RINO section of the Republican Party" to heed his supporters' wishes for an election reversal. (RINO stands for "Republican In Name Only.") Trump also tagged two other senior Senate Republicans: Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Majority Whip John Thune, who previously incurred Trump's wrath for dismissing some House Republicans' intentions to dispute the Electoral College outcome. (More here)

Cornyn isn't the only Texan recently weighing in on the 2024 election, as former Texas Governor Rick Perry has said he has not ruled out a possible third run.

Perry, who unsuccessfully sought the 2012 and 2016 GOP presidential nominations, told CNN in an interview that he hasn't "written off" the idea of running for president in 2024, saying there was "a lot of time" before a decision would be made. (More here)

When asked about Trump, the former Governor said, "I'm still trying to sort that out for myself." As many of y know, Rick Perry is the longest-serving Texas Governor in history and a former Secretary of Energy under President Trump.

And former San Antonio U.S. Congressman Will Hurd has traveled to early presidential primary states like New Hampshire.

TEXAS LEGISLATIVE UPDATES

Yesterday, the Texas Senate Border Security Committee debated H.B. 7 by Representative Ryan Guillen (R-Rio Grande) and sponsored by Senator Brian Birdwell (R-Waco). H.B. 7 is a House priority and significant border security bill to address funding shortages in the Texas border region by supporting increased funding for public safety, law enforcement equipment, and more. As the bill left the House, it would have established a new "Border Protection Program" within the Department of Public Safety (DPS.) The Senate has added various changes to the bill that will likely cause the legislation to go to a "conference committee," which allows both chambers to reconcile their differences.

School Safety

The Texas Senate Education Committee also voted out the House school safety bill, H.B. 3, with some significant changes. The biggest differences between the House and Senate versions of the bill are:

• Removes the House provision requiring armed security on every campus

• Lowers the per-student allotment from $100 to $10

The Senate said that the cost of the House bill was just too high. The House legislation would have been about $1.3 billion over two years, and the Senate's version is down to about $330 million.

We are in the final days of the Texas legislative session, with bills only having a couple more days to pass and reach the Governor's desk. It appears that education voucher legislation will not make it out of the House Public Education Committee, considering Chairman Buckley and committee members met today and voted out several bills he said that was likely the last hearing of the regular session.

Voucher legislation wasn't voted out, and while there's still an opportunity for it, time is not on its side. The Governor has signaled that if voucher legislation doesn't pass, he will call a special session to try and get it down. Rumors around the Capitol suggest the special session may be in September, at least in part because teachers won't be able to advocate or protest at the Capitol in mass like they could during the summer.

Most members of the Capitol community expect a special session at some point on vouchers. However, the Governor is facing a significant uphill battle in convincing at least two dozen primarily rural and suburban Republicans who don't want any public money flowing to private schools.

Other bills to watch in the upcoming days

• S.B. 1750 by Senator Paul Bettencourt (R-Houston), which would get rid of the Harris County Election's Administrator's office. Harris County elections have been under a lot of scrutiny over the last several years due in no small part to likely perceived and legitimate election administration concerns. This bill would result in the state forcing a county to fire their employee.

• S.B. 7 by Senator Charles Schwertner (R-Round Rock). This bill is the major grid proposal and a significant Senate priority. The legislation has gone through significant changes now that it has reached the House, and while it will soon reach the floor, there are still significant disparities between what both chambers are agreeable to.

Texas Attorney General will not be able to use state funds for Whistleblower Lawsuit

As we've previously mentioned, Texas Attorney General (AG) Ken Paxton agreed to a $3.3 million whistleblower settlement with four former deputies who said they were fired in retribution for accusing him of corruption in law enforcement.

The multi-million dollar settlement would give back pay to four former employees and include an apology from Paxton as well as other concessions. However, the agreement needs to be approved by state lawmakers, and after the recent release of the most updated state budget projections, both chambers seem in agreement that the Office of the Attorney General will not be able to use appropriated (public) funds for paying off the lawsuit.

In the state budget, there is a specific rider for the Attorneys General's office prohibiting the use of any public money for the settlement.

Legislators on both sides of the aisle and in both the Senate & House have routinely called for the Attorney General to come to explain the need for using public money to pay off the whistleblower suit. However, judging by what I've seen, the A.G. has not come to any public hearing to discuss the $3.3 million settlement.

I'm trying to do a little more research to see what action the whistleblowers can take to recover the agreed damages.

The lawsuit was filed after eight deputies to Paxton accused him of bribery and abuse of office in October 2020 and reported Paxton's alleged actions to authorities. All eight of those employees were either fired or resigned.

No charges have been filed against Paxton, but the reports to authorities set off an FBI investigation into Paxton. He has denied wrongdoing.

Filings in the whistleblower suit revealed more details about the crimes the former employees alleged Paxton committed, including doing political favors for real estate developer Nate Paul, a friend and political donor who gave Paxton $25,000 for his 2018 campaign. The allegations said Paul helped Paxton with a home remodel and by hiring Paxton's alleged girlfriend. Paxton is married to state Sen. Angela Paxton, R-McKinney. (More here)