The Texas Report 8/30

The Texas Report 8/30

What’s Happening:

• New Community College Funding Structure

• Lt. Dan Patrick orders all witnesses in Paxton impeachment trial to appear on the first day (More here)

• Four Texas National Guard Members Punished after using WhatsApp to spy on migrants (More here)

On Friday, 774 bills will officially take effect. We’ll do a brief summary of some of the most impactful, and continue to update our readers over the next several weeks on each major new law.

Some of the major changes include bans on transgender athletes participating in collegiate sports, new social media company regulations, and requirements that parents or guardians consent minors to create online accounts. As well as increased penalties for someone who provides a "fatal" dose of fentanyl and an extension of postpartum Medicaid coverage from two months to one year.

New Community College Funding Structure

Last week, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) officially adopted the new funding structure for community colleges created by H.B. 8.

H.B. 8, by Representative Gary VanDeaver (R-Texarkana), overhauls the state’s portion of community college finances. Much of the legislation came from recommendations of a bipartisan commission created during the 87th legislative session. The Commission included legislators from both parties, community colleges, private sector leaders, and more.

This legislation makes 95% of the formula funding from the state to community colleges based on performance outcomes. Institutions are given metrics, each of which is a potential deliverable for a student. This could mean transferring from a community college to a four-year institution, getting a certification/credential in a high-demand field, and much more.

Anytime a student achieves one of these outcomes, the institution is funded based on that success point. 5% of state dollars will be used as “base funding,” primarily for rural community colleges.

Here’s why this matters

• Despite not making up most of the community college budgets, state formula funding plays a significant role. Over $684 million was appropriated by the Texas Legislature for H.B. 8.

• $428 million is for formula funding, meaning institutions will be financially incentivized to achieve as many performance outcomes as possible through students.

THECB already has planned how much each college will receive, and the various measured metrics are:

During his discussion of the new system last week, Commissioner Keller emphasized that this is a starting place. There will be tweaks to the formula and potentially a supplemental appropriation next session to account for any budget shortfalls.

As part of H.B. 8, over $200 million is set to help expand financial aid opportunities for low-income students at the community college and dual credit level.

To calculate the State Funding Formula, add the below outcome completions multiplied by the funding rate.

• Student characteristics also add weight to the outcomes. Schools are incentivized to serve economically disadvantaged students, defined as Pell recipients, academically disadvantaged students who are not Texas Success Initiative (TSI), and adult learners twenty-five years or older.

Community college financing has significantly changed, and the state is adding significant resources to try and make higher education more affordable for low-income students. There is some concern amongst institutions about adjusting to this new system and lacking the ability to track and report the data to the state.

Lt. Dan Patrick orders all witnesses in Paxton impeachment trial to appear on the first day

Yesterday, Lt. Governor Dan Patrick announced that the Court of Impeachment for suspended Attorney General Ken Paxton would require all witnesses to appear outside the front door of the Senate Chamber on the first day of the trial.

This is important because it will show from day one, all the major players

The Dallas Morning News recently obtained a copy of the list of potential witnesses. At the top is Paxton, whose lawyers have already said they will not testify. House impeachment managers have argued that Paxton must take the stand if subpoenaed but can refuse to answer questions by invoking his constitutional right against self-incrimination.

Some of the other individuals on the list include:

• The eight former Paxton employees turned whistleblowers whose corruption allegations against Paxton resulted in the impeachment proceedings.

• Nate Paul, the Austin real estate developer, is at the center of the impeachment case.

• Laura Olson, whom Paxton allegedly had an affair with

• Paxton has Republican strategist, critical Karl Rove, and two sitting state senators, including his wife Angela Paxton and Senator Bryan Hughes (R-Mineola).

• Hughes and Paxton were roommates when they served in the House, and Hughes is referenced in the articles of impeachment.

For context, four of the eight whistleblowers sued the office of the Attorney General. The parties reached a $3.3 settlement earlier this year. However, State lawmakers refused to fund the settlement, prompting a House ethics committee investigation into Paxton, resulting in his impeachment.

Also on the list is Houston lawyer Brandon Cammack. Paxton chose Cammack to work as a “special prosecutor,” allegedly at the request of Nate Paul. Cammack issued over three dozen subpoenas to banks and individuals linked to Paul’s business and legal troubles. A judge quashed the subpoenas after Penley, one of the whistleblowers, argued that the agency had not authorized Cammack to do so.

More on who is defending Paxton:

Four Texas National Guard Members Punished after using WhatsApp to spy on migrants

Four members of a Texas National Guard (now disbanded) intelligence wing have been punished after whistleblowers reported the surveillance operation violated long-standing rules against state-run spy operations.

Six Texas National Guard members met with Homeland Security Investigators in El Paso in 2022. The officers, which included the group's top two leaders, told federal agents they'd secretly infiltrated invite-only WhatsApp group chats filled with migrants and smugglers and wanted their help investigating the targets they'd identified, according to a sworn statement attached to a whistleblower complaint filed later that month.

The Homeland Security officials in the meeting rebuffed the Texans on the spot — with one official saying that they were an investigative body and "not an intelligence agency," the whistleblower recalled

An investigation by Military Times and the Texas Tribune found that National Guard leaders disbanded the intelligence wing after whistleblowers reported the WhatsApp surveillance. Primarily because they believed it violated long-standing rules against state-run spy operations.

At least four intelligence officers have faced interim administrative discipline in the debacle's wake:

• Lt. Col. David "Eric" Tyler led the border intelligence section from December 2021 to fall 2022.

• Maj. Dezi J. Rios, the intelligence wing's deputy director, allegedly oversaw the WhatsApp collection operation.

• Chief Warrant Officer 2 Eric E. Hack led the El Paso team that allegedly shared classified FBI intelligence.

• Then-1st Lt. Emmanuel L. Pierre, a military intelligence officer from a subordinate unit, allegedly began the WhatsApp intelligence operation about a month before Rios arrived at the border.

The agency told the Tribune that the watchdog concluded its investigation in September 2022 but has yet to share its final report.

According to an official document Rios provided to Military Times and the Tribune summarizing part of the investigation, the inspector general's office found that the WhatsApp scheme was an unauthorized foreign intelligence operation. It faulted Rios for overseeing Pierre's work — a finding Rios disputes. It's unclear if the inspector general concluded that other officers broke the rules.

Two implicated officers, Tyler and Rios, told Military Times and the Tribune that senior leaders set them up to take the fall for the operation. Both claimed they shared concerns about the legality of Pierre's WhatsApp work with the mission's top brass at the time, Brig. Gen. Monie Ulis and Col. Kevin Boates could not convince them to end it.

According to the partial summary of Rios's investigative report, the inspector general substantiated intelligence oversight violations by at least Pierre and Rios. The officer received the document, a summary of "adverse information" in a restricted Army database because the investigation's findings blocked his promotion to lieutenant colonel. c

It was nearly a year before Tyler, Rios, and Pierre received administrative investigation flags on their military personnel records in May 2023 — one day after Rios emailed a Texas Military Department general to ask why his promotion had been blocked. Tyler and Rios also confirmed that their security clearances are suspended.

More from the Tribune and Military Times here: