The Texas Report 5/5

The Texas Report 5/5

What’s Happening:

• Cleveland suspect shooting apprehended (More here)

• Texas Power Grid Updates (More here)

• Texas Legislative Update

• Colin Allred fundraising totals (More here)

• New Polling illustrating Texans may supporting raising the age to buy a gun (More here)

Cleveland Shooting Updates

Francisco Oropeza, the man suspected of killing five of his neighbors after they asked him to stop shooting his gun near their House, attempted to escape to Mexico with the help of his domestic partner (Lama Nava), authorities said Wednesday.

Nava contacted Oropeza's cousins in the area, asking them for help getting Oropeza out of the country. However, they refused to help.

Authorities also believe that Nava was talking to investigators while attempting to help Oropeza, San Jacinto County District Attorney Todd Dillon said at a news conference. She initially told authorities she didn't know his location but later told a federal agent that Oropeza showed up at their House around 1:30 a.m. Tuesday.

Oropeza was arrested there Tuesday evening, about 20 miles from the scene of the shooting. Acting on a tip, authorities found him under a pile of laundry in a closet after a four-day search.

Lamar Nava was identified as Oropeza's wife, though jail records listed her as not married but sharing a home address with him.

Additional details:

• Several others were arrested, although authorities only shared details about one. Domingo Castilla, a friend of Oropeza, was arrested on Tuesday and charged with marijuana possession, and authorities are expected to charge him with obstructing Oropeza's apprehension.

• At a Wednesday news conference, San Jacinto County Chief Deputy Sheriff Tim Kean said he couldn't go into details about the other people who were arrested.

• Oropeza was charged with five counts of first-degree murder for a total bond of $7.5 million.

• (More here)

Texas Power Grid Updates

The Texas Public Utility Commission (P.U.C.) Chairman said that the primary Texas power grid is at risk for outages this Summer if wind turbines don't produce enough electricity when needed.

He further emphasized that other natural-gas-fueled power plants, or batteries, must be built to make the grid more reliable.

During Wednesday's P.U.C. meeting, Lake said, "The Texas grid faces a new reality. "Data shows for the first time that the peak demand for electricity this summer will exceed the amount we can generate from on-demand, dispatchable power, so we will be relying on renewables to keep the lights on."

The energy demand has substantially increased, and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) found the grid may not be able to meet a very high demand for power this Summer if it coincides with low wind and an extreme number of unexpected outages. ERCOT CEO Pablo Vegas said that as the energy demand has grown, wind and solar energy production has increased much more than coal- and gas-powered production.

Judd Messer, Texas vice president for the Advanced Power Alliance, which advocates on behalf of renewable energy, called Lake's warning another example of anti-renewables politics. Messer added, "The reality is that the grid will require all its resources to keep the lights on this summer."

Strengthening the grid is a significant issue this session and, in the eyes of legislators, has probably become even more critical after the P.U.C.'s comments that there may be electricity brownouts this Summer.

Legislatively one of the biggest bills of the session is Senate Bill (S.B.) 7 by Senator Charles Schwertner, which is intended to help further strengthen the grid. This legislation is a significant priority for the Lieutenant Governor and passed out of the Senate unanimously (31-0).

However, things took an interesting turn this week when in the House hearing on the legislation, bill author Todd Hunter asked the P.U.C., ERCOT, and the independent third-party monitor whether they thought this bill was necessary.

To which all essentially replied that it was unneeded to keep the lights on. Now there are even more questions on the bill's future as the House doesn't see it as necessary, while the Senate considers it a major priority. (More here)

All the while, Texans may face significant power issues this Summer.

TEXAS LEGISLATIVE UPDATES

Today, the House will consider S.B, 14 by Senator Donna Campbell, and Representative Tom Oliverson. This legislation is intended by Republican’s to prohibit gender modification treatments for minors, while Democrats see it as an attack on the Transgender community by limiting access to “gender affirming care.”

This is probably the most contentious bill of the session, and it was originally supposed to be heard on Tuesday, but was knocked off the Calendar due to a procedural move by the Democrats. Tuesday, hundreds of protestors showed up to the Capitol to advocate against the bill and it’s expected there will be similar numbers today.

Other bills on the move include:

• S.B. 22 by Senator Drew Springer (R-Muenster) which is intended to provide grants to rural sheriff’s and prosecutor’s offices to support salary increases and improve recruiting efforts. This legislation has been already passed the Senate and should be headed to the floor soon.

• H.B. 5 by Representative Todd Hunter (R-Corpus Christi) would establish a new economic development program intended to attract jobs and investment to Texas through school district property tax abatement agreements. This bill would define an “eligible project” as a project requiring an investment in a school district in Texas of more than $1 billion. This legislation passed out of the House on Thursday, by a 118-22 margin.

• H.B. 9 & H.J.R. 125 by Representative Trent Ashby (R-Lufkin) would if approved by the voters of Texas would authorize $5 billion dollars to be funded for supporting broadband and telecommunications development across the state. This legislation was passed out of the House last week, and has now been referred to a Senate committee.

Next Thursday, is the last day for House bills to be on the House calendar, so by the end of next week the vast majority of legislation would have formally died. House members will then have a couple of weeks to continue considering Senate bills.

Colin Allred, the Texas Democrat running against Ted Cruz

In the 36 hours since launching his campaign Allred has raised more than $2 million. Allred tweeted on Thursday “I’ve been a part of some incredible teams in my life, but y’all have helped me raise over $2 million in just 36 hours since I announced my campaign to represent all Texans.”

In a follow-up news release, Allred’s campaign said more than 34,500 contributors chipped in. Allred added that his campaign “set a record for this cycle raising the most in the first day of a Senate campaign.” It looks like Democratic donors are very engaged in attempting to beat Cruz and elect their first statewide candidate since the 90s.

I haven’t confirmed how much cash on hand Cruz currently has, but as of the end of last year his campaign committee had a balance of $3.4 million. (More here)

Poll finds many Texans, support raising the age for gun purchases

A recent poll by the University of Texas/Texas politics project, 76% of respondents support raising the legal age to purchase a firearm from 18 to 21.

Surveyed Republicans support the proposal 64% to 31% and when all respondents were asked about what they think should be lawmaker’s top they said:

• Immigration/border security at 22%

• Gun control/gun safety at 11%

• Education 7%

• Inflation/Cost of living 7%

When ranking the favorability of prominent Texas Republicans, Governor Greg Abbott had the highest approval rating at 46%.

• Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick at 42%

• House Speaker Dade Phelan at 26% (with the majority not knowing)

• Attorney General Ken Paxton at 39%

Gun reform proposals are unlikely to advance very far this session, with the end date quickly approaching many of the bills supported by gun advocates have either yet to have a committee hearing or be voted out.

Families of victims from Uvalde have been pressing the House Select Committee to approve a bill increasing the age to purchase a semi-automatic rile from 18 to 21. The legislation was heard over two weeks ago, but has yet to be voted out of committee and the deadline to do so is Monday. (More here)