The Texas Report 8/11

The Texas Report 8/11

What’s Happening:

• Three people die trying to rescue dog from cistern in Texas corn field (More here)

• Money in Politics - The Texas Democratic Party

• Governor Abbott signs property tax cut legislation (More here)

• Texas high-speed rail project between Houston and Dallas may be revived (More here)

Three people die trying to rescue dog from cistern in Texas corn field

Three people and a dog were found dead in a cistern in a Texas cornfield.

Delvys Garcia, 37, Denise Martinez, 26, and Noel Vigil-Benitez, 45, were out hunting with a fourth person when one of their dogs fell into a cistern, the Bastrop County Sheriff's Office said. Officials believe one person went into the cistern to rescue the dog, and two others entered to try and rescue the first person. The fourth hunter, an unidentified man, went to his truck to call 911 and get help.

Recovery efforts were hampered by the fumes, identified as hydrogen sulfide gas, and the stagnant water, the Bastrop County Sheriff's Office said. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, hydrogen sulfide gas can cause irritation to the eyes and respiratory system, apnea, coma, convulsions, dizziness, headache, weakness, irritability, insomnia, and stomach upset. First responders ventilated the cistern and also removed the water.

Officials said recovery was further complicated because the cistern was unstable. First responders tried to dig next to the structure but abandoned the plan over concerns that breaching the side walls of the cistern would weaken it and make entry unsafe. A small drone was deployed to inspect the cistern's integrity.

On Wednesday night, a Bastrop County Sheriff's Office investigator was eventually lowered into the cistern to recover the bodies.

Garcia, Martinez, and Vigil-Benitez were from Florida. A local funeral home took their bodies to the medical examiner's office. An autopsy was ordered. The funeral home also took the dog's body.

Money in Politics - Texas Democrats

As part of our series on Money in Texas Politics, we will examine both political parties and try to understand what strategies and circumstances have led Texas Republicans to dominate every statewide election since 1994.

In 2022, Governor Greg Abbott's faced Beto O'Rourke the best-financed opponent he’d ever had. Despite an unpopular president and baggage from previous statements, Democrats were optimistic that this was the most likely opportunity for a Texas-sized upset in decades.

In 2018 O'Rourke had lost to Senator Ted Cruz by less than three percentage points, and in the eyes of many national Democrats, Texas had truly become a battleground state. As we know, this didn't play out in reality. Governor Abbott would beat O'Rourke by 11 percentage points, and every other statewide Democrat candidate lost by double digits in another widespread Republican victory.

This didn't always use to be the case; once upon a time, Texas was run by Democrats who dominated both chambers of the Texas Legislature, the offices of Governor, Lt. Governor, and more. The 1994 election was the last time Democrats won a statewide election, (albeit Democratic Governor, Ann Richards lost to George W. Bush in the marquee gubernatorial election).

We think it’s important for all of our readers, no matter party affiliation to understand the various forces at work that shape Texas Politics. Analyzing why Democrats have continually lost will help illustrate why Republicans have been so successful. We are a much different state than in 1994, having added nearly 12 million in population, and emerged as one of the world’s top economies.

(Texas Democrats admit to faltering on messaging - 2022)

Out of the statewide elections we compared, the Republicans biggest leads are typically in the Governor's race. In our opinion, part of the issue comes down to candidate quality, and party leadership.

As Governors, George W. Bush, Rick Perry, and Greg Abbott were of varying degrees in popularity within the Republican party, all enjoyed widespread name recognition from anyone that loosely follows state politics. And each candidate proved, time and time agree to be extremely effective fundraisers.

• In 2018, Abbott ran against Dallas County Sheriff Lupe Valdez, and in 2014 Fort Worth State Senator Wendy Davis.

• Valdez lost 55.8% to 42.5% and raised a little over a million dollars for the election. Abbott outraised and out-spent Valdez 15 to 1. Wendy Davis raised well over $3 million, but Abbott had nearly $20 million in contributions in a similar period.

While Abbott was dominating, Lupe Valdez, a little-known congressman from El Paso, was able to mount the most competitive Texas statewide election in decades.

• In 2018, Ted Cruz received 4,244,204 compared to O'Rourke's 4,024,777, while on the same ticket, Abbott had 4,638,582 to Valdez's 3,528,705.

• Across the state, democrats were able to pick up two state senate seats and reduced the Republican house majority from 93-55 to 83-67. This election success culminated in significant speculation that Democrats would be poised to potentially take the House in 2020.

• With all this election success, it brings up the question. Why was there, not a stronger Gubernatorial candidate? Texas Republicans were seen as the most vulnerable they'd been in decades, yet it didn't amount to all that much in the end.

We bring this up because the next round of Texas elections will be here before we know it. National Democrats (including George Soros) have already begun pouring hundreds of thousands of dollars into new political action committees, and the quality of candidates at the top of the ticket for either party impacts all the races down the ballot.

As a political scientist told the Texas Tribune “It boggles the mind that a state this big that has a large Democratic party and lots of Democrats in the big cities in the state, that they can’t find somebody and build up a series of people over time to strengthen their hand,” said Jon Taylor, a political scientist at the University of Texas at San Antonio. “They literally seem to be the people who can’t shoot straight.”

We will continue analyzing these trends and doing what we can to help our readers better understand Texas political parties and the various subset groups that influence Texas politics.

Governor Abbott signs property tax cut legislation

On Wednesday, Governor Abbott ceremonially signed the property tax cut legislation. After months of debate through the regular and first special, the Texas legislature agreed on how it would spend$18 billion for property tax relief during the most recent second special session.

In his statement during the bill signing, Abbott said:

"Today, I am signing a law that will ensure more than $18 billion in property tax cuts—the largest property tax cut in Texas history," said Governor Abbott. "If passed by voters this fall, Texas homestead exemptions will rise to $100,000, senior homeowners will be protected from being priced out of their home, the small business exemption for the Franchise Tax will double, and Texas small businesses will be protected from excessive appraisal increases. None of these monumental changes could have been accomplished without the hard work of Lieutenant Governor Patrick and Speaker Phelan. We all came together to offer Texans the property tax relief they so desperately deserve, and I am proud to sign these new laws today."

Senate Bill 2 (Bettencourt/Meyer) provides property tax relief through tax rate compression, an increase in the homestead exemption, and a pilot project limiting the growth in appraised values. For tax year 2023, this will save the average Texas homestead owner over $1,200. Texas homestead owners over 65 or with a disability will see over $1,400 in savings.

Senate Bill 3 (Bettencourt/Geren) law increases the Franchise Tax "no tax due" threshold to $2.47 million and removes burdensome filing requirements for those who do not owe tax.

The constitutional amendment to provide the largest property tax cut in Texas history will be added to the Texas Constitution if approved by a simple majority of Texas voters on November 7, 2023.

These bills took months of debate between both chambers and Texas political leadership. Now most eyes are on suspended Attorney General Ken Paxton and the impeding September 5th trial in the Texas Senate on full impeachment.

Additionally, most of the rumors around the Capitol say October will be the next month for a special session likely focused on teacher pay and school vouchers.

Texas high-speed rail project between Houston and Dallas may be revived

In 2012, a pitch for a high-speed rail project was made to allow travelers to get from Houston to Dallas in less than 90 minutes.

A high-speed rail project in the state was originally slated for completion in 2020. Still, leadership changes and legal battles over land rights, among other issues, pushed the privately-funded project, which grew from $12 billion to $30 billion, into limbo.

On Wednesday, hopes for the 240-mile project were revived after the original project manager Texas Central Railway and Amtrak announced an agreement to seek opportunities to planning and analysis work associated with the proposed 205-mph rail project.

In a news release, Amtrak said that they believe cities like "Houston and Dallas deserve more high quality high-speed, intercity rail service, and we are proud to bring our experience to evaluate this potential project and explore opportunities with Texas Central so the state can meet its full transportation needs."

Amtrak and Texas Central have submitted applications to several federal programs for further study and design work to attempt and establish a high-speed rail system. They estimate the project would reduce greenhouse gas emissions by over 100,000 tons per year, saving 65 million gallons of fuel while removing 12,500 cars daily from I-45.

It is still in its early stages, but the Mayors of both Houston and Dallas touted their support for the idea and see it as a potentially transformative project.