The Texas Report 6/26

What’s Happening:

• Florida Governor and Presidential Candidate Ron DeSantis tours Texas border (More here)

• Texas inmates “being cooked alive” in heatwave with no air conditioning (More by KXAN)

• Governor Abbott tweets fake article about Garth Brooks (More here)

• Texas Grid Operator can’t be sued over power failures during 2021 winter storm, Texas Supreme Court rules. (More here)

Ron DeSantis visits Texas border

Republican Presidential Candidate Ron DeSantis toured part of the Texas border on Sunday as he prepares to roll out new immigration policy proposals and, per his spokesman, "take more direct aim at what he sees as President Joe Biden's Failures."

Today, DeSantis is expected to release his plan to secure the border, which will be his presidential run's first formal campaign policy.

Recent polling by NBC News found 51% of Republican primary voters picked Trump as their first choice in the race for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination, while DeSantis drew just 22%. Trump has widened his lead since DeSantis' glitch-filled campaign launch last month. (More here)

Last Friday, DeSantis reiterated a typical part of his campaign messaging for the border at a conference in D.C. "I will finally be the president to bring the issue of our open southern border to a conclusion," he said. "On day one, we declare a national emergency. We mobilize all the assets, including the military."

Friday, Trump told the same audience that he would sign an executive order ending automatic citizenship for children of undocumented immigrants.

In May, DeSantis announced that he would send 1,100 personnel to the Texas border. More than 400 members of the Florida National Guard are deployed there; they're spread across roughly 500 miles from Eagle Pass to Brownsville, said Amelia Johnson, a deputy director with the Florida Division of Emergency Management.

DeSantis' office announced this month that the Florida teams had encountered more than 5,800 undocumented migrants and helped the DPS with more than 190 arrests in cases including felony charges connected to drugs, weapons, and human smuggling.

DPS officials recently said that despite fewer border crossings since the end of Title 42, it's still significantly higher than a few years ago.

In the Eagle Pass and Del Rio area, troopers, and Border agents have been encountering 1,000-1,200 migrants a day.

More here:

Texas inmates “being cooked alive” in heatwave with no air conditioning

The Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) operates 100 units, 14 of which have no air conditioning, and fifty-five have "partial," meaning they have respite areas such as air-conditioned chapels but do not provide AC in the cell blocks.

In emails and letters obtained by Nextar and KXAN, several inmates wrote about the difficult conditions and detailed their experiences trying to make it through record heat with little to no AC.

TDCJ said they provide water, fans, and ice along with rank inmates to prioritize the most at risk. "Core to this department's mission is protecting the public, our employees, and the inmates in our custody," TDCJ Communications Director Amanda Hernandez said. "We take numerous precautions to lessen the effects of hot temperatures for those incarcerated within our facilities. These efforts work."

This past legislative session, there was significant discussion about ensuring all TDCJ units have adequate AC supply for the safety of inmates and state employees. Lawmakers filed legislation requiring universal air conditioning, but the bill never received a full debate on the House floor. In the state budget, a section was added requiring an annual report by TDCJ on inmate complaints on temperature, death caused or exasperated by temperature, and agency procedures to mitigate excessive heat.

In April, State Senator Brandon Creighton (R-Conroe) told Nexstar that the Senate had a ways to go on supporting universal air conditioning. He said, "Texas was a thriving state before air conditioning was even created."

And added, "So our families outside of the penal system and the prison system lived in the state of Texas for decades and decades and decades before air conditioning was even a thing. So we have to balance the cost of that, we have to meet court scrutiny…but at the end of the day, we've got a little ways to go on that one."

As of last Thursday, TDCJ told Nexstar that four inmates have required medical care beyond first aid for heat-related injuries in 2023. Nine staff members have also had heat-related illnesses. Since 2019 the department reported adding 3,598 beds and a plan to add 5,861 more by this year.

Representative Terry Canales (D-Edinburg) weighed in on social media and said:

More by KXAN:

Governor Abbott tweets fake article about Garth Brooks

On Sunday, Governor Abbott quote retweeted an article about famous singer Garth Brooks getting booed off stage. The story described Brooks as performing in the Texas city of "Hambriston" (which doesn't exist) before being booed by patriots. Brooks has recently upset some conservatives after saying that everyone was welcome to his new bar, Friends in Low Places Bar & Honky Tonk, in Nashville.

The site Abbott shared is called the "Dunning-Kruger Times" and states outright that it's part of "a network of parody, satire, and tomfoolery," and adds: "If you believe that it is real, you should have your head examined."

The story shared mentions Brooks has booed off stage at the 123rd Annual Texas Country Jamboree, a completely fictitious event in a city that doesn't exist.

Fake article for reference:

Here's a preserved version of Abbott's tweet by Congressman Greg Casar (D-Austin). Abbott hasn’t said anything else about the issue, and quickly deleted the tweet.

Texas Grid Operator can’t be sued over power failures during 2021 winter storm, Texas Supreme Court rules.

The Supreme Court of Texas, in a 5-4 opinion, decided that the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) qualifies for immunity and will likely be free from lawsuits filed by thousands of Texans for deaths, injuries, and damages following the deadly 2021 winter storm.

Chief Justice Hecht wrote in the majority opinion that because ERCOT manages the power supply, it provides a "provides an essential governmental service," as an arm of State government, regulators or the legislature can hold ERCOT accountable, not the courts.

Freezing temperatures gripped the state during the 2021 winter storm, straining the power supply so much that ERCOT called for cutting power to millions of homes and businesses to prevent the grid's collapse. More than 200 people died. Experts estimated afterward that financial losses totaled between $80 billion and $130 billion, including physical damage and missed economic opportunity.

This isn't the last we will hear about lawsuits related to the 2021 storm, as other defendants like power and distribution companies still face litigation. However, it probably shields ERCOT from any existing litigation.

The ruling sprang from two cases filed against ERCOT. San Antonio's municipally owned utility, CPS Energy, alleged that ERCOT mishandled the soaring price of power during the 2021 winter storm. And private equity investors at Panda Power Funds alleged that ten years earlier, ERCOT issued reports that misled them about how much power the grid needed.

Grid stability is still top of mind for many Texans, as polling by the Texas Politics Project showed 94% of Texans considered it at least somewhat important. Yet, less than 50% of strong Republican voters think the state and legislature have done enough to shore up grid issues.

ERCOT spokespersons said that the organization was pleased with the decision. CPS Energy stated it was disappointed but thankful that four justices agreed with the utility as it sought relief for customers. The utility said the litigation led to "critical discussions at the highest levels necessary to improve our power grid and energy market."

The Texas Supreme Court is the state's highest court for civil matters. It's composed of the chief justice and eight justices elected and serving six-year terms. The court is all Republicans.

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